- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

��Vlog��ýLR hosts Ted Grimmett photography exhibit

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 17:42:37 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Art Gallery will host an exhibit featuring the photography of Ted Grimmett. The exhibit, “Surface Tension,” will be on display July 5-28 in Gallery II in the ��Vlog��ýLR Fine Arts Building. The work represents Grimmett’s thesis exhibition for his Master of Art degree from ��Vlog��ýLR. A reception for Grimmett, ��Vlog��ýLR print shop supervisor, will be held Friday, July 15, from 4-6 p.m. Grimmett photographs objects and sites that exhibit transparent, translucent, and reflective surface properties. These images provoke questions about the tension between surfaces, how they interact to reveal and withhold detail, and how they present to the eye. The artist thinks of these objects as artifacts found in situ and his photographs as affirmations of a constructed, found, and realized world that is often unseen or unrecognized. The gallery is also holding an exhibit featuring the artwork and artifacts of the nomadic Bedouin people of Saudi Arabia. The exhibit, “Traditional Arts of the Bedouin,” is on display until Aug. 5. The gallery is located in the ��Vlog��ýLR Fine Arts Building. Summer hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday or by appointment. For more information, contact Gallery Director Brad Cushman at becushman@ualr.edu or 501.569.8977. In the upper right photo, Ted Grimmett’s photograph, “Mirror Glass Construction,” is shown.

��Vlog��ýLR’s Joli Livaudais to lead Feed Your Mind Friday Talk

Ajani Oyindamola — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 17:26:02 +0000

A University of Arkansas at Little Rock professor will lead a discussion on her artwork that is on display in one of the region’s most prestigious art exhibitions. Joli Livaudais, an assistant professor of photography, will discuss her artwork featured in the 58th Annual Delta Exhibition during the Feed Your Mind Friday talk July 8 at the Arkansas Arts Center. The talk, which begins at noon, is free and open to the public. The Delta Exhibition began in 1958 to feature contemporary artists from Arkansas and bordering states. It has grown to encompass works in all media, showcasing the dynamic vision and traditions of artists of the Mississippi Delta region. Livaudais’ talk will focus on her artistic process and the inspiration behind her artwork. She has two pieces in the exhibit, “Sacred Earth No. 1” and “Grassland No. 4,” that were inspired by cycles of life and patterns in nature. “I’m really interested in how people think about things, like the constructs that we use to understand the world,” she said. “I think that we see patterns in nature. We look for patterns in cycles of life and the way things grow. We see patterns and they comfort us. We want to make these patterns something that we can predict.”

Joli Livaudais’ “Grassland No. 4.” Photo courtesy of Arkansas Arts Center.

The artwork consists of photographs printed on kozo paper, aluminum, and epoxy resin, which are folded into an origami tessellation. “My art pieces are folded into patterns, but the patterns are also disrupted. Although there are patterns in nature and life, that doesn’t really give us control over anything. Life cannot be contained,” she said. Livaudais earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in experimental psychology from the University of Texas at Arlington before establishing herself as a freelance commercial photographer in Dallas. She received an MFA from Louisiana Tech University in 2013 and joined ��Vlog��ýLR as an assistant professor in 2014. The is on display at the Jeannette Edris Rockefeller and Townsend Wolfe Galleries until Aug. 28. The center is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays. For more information on the exhibit, visit Delta Exhibition’s .

��Vlog��ýLR artists featured in Delta Exhibition

Ajani Oyindamola — Fri, 24 Jun 2016 19:25:15 +0000

Eight artists with ties to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Department of Art represent more than a quarter of the 30 artists selected for one of the region’s most prestigious art exhibitions. The 58th Annual Delta Exhibition at the Arkansas Arts Center includes 52 artistic works selected by the show’s juror, Liz Garvey, co-founder and owner of Garvey-Simon Art Access, Inc. Nearly 460 artists applied, and more than 1,000 entries were submitted. The is on display at the Jeannette Edris Rockefeller and Townsend Wolfe Galleries until Aug. 28. The center is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays. The exhibition began in 1958 to feature contemporary artists from Arkansas and bordering states. It has grown to encompass works in all media, showcasing the dynamic vision and traditions of artists of the Mississippi Delta region. David Bailin, a former adjunct professor of drawing and painting in the ��Vlog��ýLR art department was the winner of the Delta Award and a $750 prize for his charcoal, pastel, and coffee piece, “Lamp.”

David Bailin

Other art department faculty members in the show include Mia Hall, an associate professor of furniture design, Win Bruhl, a professor emeritus of drawing and printmaking, Heidi Hogden, a visiting professor of painting, and Joli Livaudais, an assistant professor of photography. Livaudais, who has two pieces in the exhibition, said it was an honor for her work to be displayed in the prestigious show. “The series of work that these two pieces come from is inspired by cycles and patterns in nature, and my personal meditations on science, spirituality, and human limitations,” Livaudais said. “I enjoy the Delta Exhibition because it’s a wonderful opportunity to see the strong artwork being made by the artists in our region, and it’s great to have my pieces seen in such a beautiful venue.” In addition to ��Vlog��ýLR professors, Anne Greenwood, a ��Vlog��ýLR art student from Hot Springs, Arkansas, also has two pieces in the show. Two alumni – Laura Raborn, a 2014 graduate with a master’s degree in art, and Nathaniel Roe, a 2015 graduate with a master’s degree in art — also are featured. “I was thrilled to have so many of our faculty and students chosen to participate in the exhibition,” said Tom Clifton, chair of the art department. “Considering the standing of the Delta Exhibition and its reach, it’s an honor to be so well represented. I believe it speaks to the quality of education available to our students and the positive impact that our presence has on the region.” These talented ��Vlog��ýLR faculty members and students are looking forward to teaching and learning in the new visual arts building, which is scheduled to open in early 2018. The state-of-the-art building will be funded by a $20.3 million grant, the second largest gift in ��Vlog��ýLR’s history, from the Trustees of the Windgate Charitable Foundation. The new facility, located at 28th Street and East Campus Drive, will integrate ��Vlog��ýLR’s Applied Design, Art History, Art Education, and Studio Art classes into a facility that promotes collaboration and creativity between students, faculty, and guests under one roof. In order to attract and retain the region’s best and brightest art students, a scholarship campaign is underway to help art students who will benefit from learning and collaborating at the new visual arts building. “The new visual arts building will give our faculty, who have helped design it, the best possible spaces for instruction in all media,” said Joseph Lampo, director of development and external relations for the ��Vlog��ýLR College of Arts, Letters, and Sciences. “Our focus is the students who will be taught in these spaces by our award-winning faculty, and this scholarship campaign is critical to bringing the best art students here.” For more information on the exhibition, visit Delta Exhibition’s. In the upper right photo, ��Vlog��ýLR artist Mia Hall stands next to her artwork with her daughter, Fiona Clemmons.

��Vlog��ýLR to host exhibition on nomadic Bedouin people

Ajani Oyindamola — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 15:08:03 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Gallery will host an exhibition featuring artwork and artifacts from the nomadic Bedouin people of Saudi Arabia. The exhibition, “Traditional Arts of the Bedouin,” will be on display from June 16 to Aug. 5 in the ��Vlog��ýLR Fine Arts Building. A second exhibit will feature the master’s thesis exhibition of Ted Grimmett. His photography will be on display in Gallery II from July 5-28. The nomadic people occupying the deserts of the Middle East are known as the Bedouin. The Saudi Arabian Bedouin are iconic nomads immortalized in films such as “Lawrence of Arabia.” They have captured the imagination of the Western world since their first contact with Europeans during Napoleon’s conquest of Egypt in the 18th century. Organized through ExhibitsUSA and Mid-America Arts Alliance, the exhibition includes artworks and artifacts, from elaborately embroidered textiles and embellished metalwork to ceremonial coffee accoutrements and incense burners. The exhibition focuses on aspects of traditional Bedouin life that survive today. Visitors to the exhibition will learn how Bedouin arts and crafts frequently bridge the gap between aesthetic and utilitarian purposes, as well as recognize the unique tenacity of Bedouin traditions in an ever-changing political, social, and environmental landscape. Bedouin crafts require the knowledge of natural environment that has developed over the centuries. Animals are bred not only for desert survival, but also for their hair, skin, hoof, and bone, while other natural materials such as clay and acacia wood are used for everything from pottery to writing instruments. Traditional arts of the Bedouin reveal the Bedouin to be artists with a legacy of incredible work, not widely known outside their own cultures. The featured jewelry shows each artist’s use of obscure techniques to produce intricate pieces. Bedouin weaving, still crafted on a stick loom, demonstrates ancient knowledge of natural dyes and fibers, and traditional patterns. The women who created textiles used native stitches, not known outside the Bedouin world, to embroider meaning into the objects. The exhibition is curated by Dr. Amber Clifford-Napoleone, an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Central Missouri. The exhibition came from the Nance Collection, which is owned and housed by the McClure Archives and the University Museum at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg. The gallery is located in the ��Vlog��ýLR Fine Arts Building. Summer hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday or by appointment. For more information, contact Gallery Director Brad Cushman at becushman@ualr.edu or 501.569.8977. In the upper right photo, a face mask with cotton, silver beads, glass beads, coins, and leather is shown from the “Traditional Arts of the Bedouin” exhibition.

- University News Archive - ����Vlog��ý Little Rock

����Vlog��ýLR hosts Ted Grimmett photography exhibit

����Vlog��ýLR’s Joli Livaudais to lead Feed Your Mind Friday Talk

����Vlog��ýLR artists featured in Delta Exhibition

����Vlog��ýLR to host exhibition on nomadic Bedouin people

- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

��Vlog��ýLR hosts Ted Grimmett photography exhibit

��Vlog��ýLR’s Joli Livaudais to lead Feed Your Mind Friday Talk

��Vlog��ýLR artists featured in Delta Exhibition

��Vlog��ýLR to host exhibition on nomadic Bedouin people