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

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Gallery Director Brad Cushman Retires After 22 Years

John Hill — Wed, 13 Apr 2022 19:53:14 +0000

Brad Cushman, art gallery director and curator of exhibits at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, has retired after spending more than two decades bringing art and culture to Arkansas. While Cushman came to work as the gallery director in 2000, this wasn’t the first time he has called ��Vlog��ý Little Rock his home. In his first job after graduating from college, he worked as an adjunct instructor in the Department of Art in 1986 and 1987, teaching art appreciation and drawing 1 classes. “��Vlog��ý Little Rock was my first teaching gig,” Cushman said. “I got my professional start at the university, and then I moved on and I came back to finish my career of 34 plus years of working in education. That’s the sum of my professional career.” A native of Springfield, Illinois, Cushman earned a bachelor’s degree in studio art and minor in business administration from Illinois College in Jacksonville, Illinois, and a Master of Fine Arts in painting from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Cushman also worked as an adjunct instructor at the University of Central Arkansas and a high school art teacher in Illinois before joining Southeastern Oklahoma State University. He would work at the university for 12 years and would depart as the chair of the Department of Art. “It was a small town, and I was looking for something new in 2000,” Cushman said. “I got a call from Gary Cawood, who taught photography at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock at the time, who told me they needed a gallery director. I thought that it would be a cool thing to throw my hat in the ring.” As gallery director, Cushman was in charge of overseeing the university’s exhibition program, building an annual exhibition schedule, managing and growing the university’s permanent art collection, teaching classes, and fundraising to support the arts at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. “My passion as a gallery director was to put together exhibits that celebrated diversity and inclusion,” Cushman said. “I felt that it was important in gallery programming to represent the voices that were underrepresented – Black artists, Hispanic artists, minority artists, LGBTQ artists, and women artists. It was a good forum for those discussions across disciplines.” Cushman marks his greatest accomplishment at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock as the preservation and conservation of the Joe Jones mural, “The Struggle of the South,” that is now on display at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Downtown. The mural wrapped around the walls of the dining commons at Commonwealth College in Mena, Arkansas, where students met to discuss social and political issues. The mural imagery depicts sharecropping, coal mining, and lynching.

Visitors to the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Downtown Center participate in a program discussing the Joe Jones mural on display. Photo by Ben Krain.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock purchased the 44-by-8-foot mural in 29 pieces in 1984, after it was found in an old house in Mena. They sat in storage until 2009, when Cushman received a phone call from a curator at the Saint Louis Art Museum who wanted to display the mural in an upcoming exhibit on Joe Jones. “At that point, I’d been at the university for nine years, and I’d never seen the mural because it was so fragile,” Cushman said. “The people from St. Louis came and looked and offered to conserve a portion of the mural for the exhibit. I spoke to Chancellor Joel Anderson, and I said we have an opportunity for a major museum in the country to preserve the mural.” Conservation work began in 2010, and a part of the mural was displayed in the “Joe Jones: Painter of the American Scene” exhibit from October 2010 through January 2011 at the Saint Louis Art Museum. Following renewed interest in Jones’ work, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock received three grants to complete restorative work on the mural. The Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council awarded the university $536,000 to be used for the conservation of the mural. “Helen Houp and her team in Dallas had the mural for four years and brought it back to life,” Cushman said. “It became a passion project for me. It was like an antique roadshow on steroids where you find the masterpiece under the bed. This was a very large piece that should never have survived, but it did. It falls back to my interest in diversity and cross-disciplinary discussions, and I think it will be a great resource for the university in years to come.” Outside of his work at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, Cushman has been actively involved in promoting the arts in Arkansas by serving on the boards of the Arkansas Arts Center and the Thea Foundation. He is also a member of the Artspace Advisory Board for Little Rock/North Little Rock and the Public Art Advisory Board of the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport.

Brad Cushman (right) visits with art collector Pierrette Van Cleve (left) in the Windgate Center of Art and Design. Photo by Ben Krain.

In retirement, Cushman plans to spend his time enjoying life by making art, traveling, and engaging in other creative projects. He will start this new chapter of his life with a trip to Venice and Barcelona later this spring. “I’m a maker by nature, and I have a studio art background,” Cushman said. “I do like to write creatively. I love to travel. I love to travel to see art. I’ve curated exhibits for over 30 years. There might be exhibit projects down the line, but I am going to take a break and reflect over the next month and a half and reset. I have a feeling that making art, creative projects, and some travel, if my health and physical being and the world allow it, will be a part of it. Some days, I will do nothing. I don’t have a definite plan yet, but I won’t just sit around and twiddle my thumbs.” As Cushman reflects on his long career in the art world, his advice to art students who want to be successful is to show up in the studio and make art. “That sounds simple, but it’s that commitment to go into the studio and work regularly that makes a difference,” Cushman said. “The more you do, the better you get. The next thing you know, it’s 20 years later. You just have to show up, believe in your own hand, and have confidence in what you are doing. And go to see other artists. Go to galleries, go to exhibits, and travel to get inspired by what other artists are making.”

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Will Launch Cuban Art Exhibit on Jan. 18

John Hill — Fri, 14 Jan 2022 18:18:38 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will open an exhibit of Cuban art on Jan. 18. The exhibit, “Arte Cubano,” will run through March 8 and be on display in the Brad Cushman Gallery and the Manners/Pappas Gallery in the Windgate Center of Art and Design at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. The traveling exhibition organized by Exhibits USA will be enhanced with artworks from the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Permanent Collection, and a local private collection. Building on changing relationships between the governments of the United States and Cuba, this timely exhibition reflects more than 25 Cuban artists’ ruminations on the quotidian, social, and political realities of the island and the contemporary world. The island geography and political intensity of Cuba inform the work in a way that is immediately identifiable, often concealing coded, even subversive, ideas while simultaneously celebrating the richness of Cuba’s cultural identity. Peeling away the layers of Cuban art often reveals a story of struggle caused by economic and political consequences, and the social upheaval that a true revolution produces. The intensity and depth of meaning, with the specific physical and political context, make Cuban art immediately identifiable and powerful, and an important voice in the art world today.

Esterio Segura’s 1970 “Santiago de Cuba”

“Just like Cuba, the art in the exhibit has a unique mix of traditional and modern, ordinary and special, and simplicity and incredible complexity,” said Brad Cushman, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock art gallery director. “The same can be said for the politics, the literature, the architecture, and the people of the island.” Mid-America Arts Alliance and ExhibitsUSA, a national program of Mid-America Arts Alliance that brings more than 25 exhibits to tour more than 100 small and mid-sized communities every year, co-organized “Arte Cubano” with the Center for Cuban Studies (NYC) to synthesize two extraordinary private collections generously made available for the project. This exhibition could not have been made possible without their collecting vision and loan generosity. The Center for Cuban Studies opened in 1972 and was organized by a group of scholars, writers, artists, and other professionals, in response to the effects of US policy toward Cuba. The exhibit is free and open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday or by appointment. Contact Cushman at becushman@ualr.edu or 501-916-3182 for more information or to schedule an appointment.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock to Host Second Exhibit on American Outsider Folk Art

John Hill — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 13:18:44 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will host the second part of an exclusive exhibit on outsider folk art beginning Oct. 4. The exhibition, “The Road Trip Continue s,” will be on display from Oct. 4 to Dec. 1 in the Ann Maners and Alex Pappas Gallery in the Windgate Center of Art and Design at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. Curated as a two-part special exhibit by ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Art Gallery Director Brad Cushman, the exhibition features more than 80 works of non-conventional work, including folk art, outsider art, and self-taught art, created by artists not formally trained. The artwork comes from as early as 1854-60 to works created throughout the 20th century, as well as objects made in the 21st century. The first exhibition, “A Visionary Vernacular Road Trip,” has been extended through Oct. 24. “The series features visionary makers of pictures and sculptural objects inspired by a divine spirit, as well as seemingly ordinary people making marks and transforming commonplace materials into extraordinary art to communicate messages to a keen observer,” Cushman said. This exhibit spotlights creative people that have not always had representation in the established institutions of the art world. Their voices engage in spiritual storytelling, philosophical, political, and pop culture commentary. Functioning outside the social norms, these artists have important messages to communicate. Cushman will give an ArtWorks lecture on the two exhibits at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 8. The lecture is free and open to the public, but registration is required . A catalog will accompany the exhibition published by the gallery program. A free reception for the two-part exhibition of American outsider folk art curated by Brad Cushman will be held from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 15, in the Ann Maners and Alex Pappas Gallery in the Windgate Center. The ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Art Gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday. Patrons can also make appointments to visit the galleries outside of the public hours by contacting the gallery director. For more information, contact Cushman at becushman@ualr.edu or 501-916-5103. In the picture above, Annie Lucus’s 1964 “Angels on High” will be displayed in the exhibition at the Windgate Center of Art and Design.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock to host two ArtWorks Virtual Presentations on “A Visionary Vernacular Road Trip” exhibit

John Hill — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 14:15:50 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock is hosting two Zoom ArtWorks virtual presentations for “A Visionary Vernacular Road Trip” exhibit that is on display in the Brad Cushman Gallery in the Windgate Center of Art and Design until Oct. 15. The first Artwork virtual presentation, “Here, There, and Everywhere,” will be presented by Julie and Bruce Webb at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 17. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required The Webbs have been promoting and selling contemporary and visionary art for more than 30 years. They house their gallery in a 1902 building in Waxahachie, Texas. They routinely visit art environments all over the world. As owners of the Webb Gallery, they will discuss folk art, self-taught art, and outsider art exhibits during their lecture. The second ArtWorks virtual presentation will be given by ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Art Gallery Director Brad Cushman, curator of “A Visionary Vernacular Road Trip,” at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 8. The lecture is free and open to the public, but registration is required . Cushman is the voice of “Picture This” on NPR in central Arkansas. His audio essays on art and design have been broadcast since 2005. He will give a detailed discussion of the works in “A Visionary Vernacular Road Trip.” Examples of non-traditional work, such as folk art, outsider art, and self-taught art, is shown in the exhibition, which was made by artists who were not formally trained.

Brad Cushman, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Art Department Gallery Director and Curator. Photo by Benjamin Krain

Cushman has served as the gallery director and curator at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock since 2000. He received a B.A. in Studio Art from Illinois College and an M.F.A. in Painting from Cranbrook Academy of Art. For more information, contact Cushman at becushman@ualr.edu or 501-916-5103.

Windgate Foundation Awards ��Vlog��ý Little Rock More Than $3 Million in Grants for Art Outreach, Art Acquisition, and Children International Education and Outreach Efforts

John Hill — Thu, 02 Sep 2021 16:25:59 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock has received more than $3 million in grants from the to support art education at the university, acquisition of art from working artists for ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s permanent art collection, and support of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Children International’s education and outreach programs. “These three grants from the Windgate Foundation will go a long way to support art education and outreach programs in our community,” said Chancellor Christina Drale. “We are thankful to the Windgate Foundation for their continued dedication to artists, art educators, and students across the state.” Windgate’s first grant will provide $1.56 million for ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Children International, which serves approximately 2,100 children and youth in central Arkansas. The first $1.5 million will create an endowed fund to cover operational expenses. Children International will receive $60,000 as a bridge grant to use in the next year. “We are impressed by the efforts of the hard-working staff of Children International to provide education and outreach activities for children in the Little Rock School District,” said Pat Forgy, executive director of the Windgate Foundation. “I’d encourage others to consider supporting their work to help children become healthy, educated, and self-reliant. There is so much more Children International could accomplish with additional help from the community.” Now in its 27th year, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Children International offers a variety of school- and community-based programs, including after-school and summer programming, cooking classes, emergency food assistance, and college preparation and career training. “We’re grateful for the continued support of the Windgate Foundation,” said Ryan Davis, director of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Children International. “This endowed fund will allow us to plan further, dig deeper, and reach higher in our work with children and youth in central Arkansas” The second grant provides $1 million to create an endowed art acquisition fund. The funding will be divided equally, with $500,000 going to acquire contemporary craft art from living artists and the other $500,000 to acquire art from living artists. “The Windgate Foundation has been a champion of the gallery program for 10 years,” said Brad Cushman, director of the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Gallery Program. “Their financial support of exhibition programming and acquisitions began in 2011. The Windgate Foundation has granted acquisition funding to major museums and art institutions across the country. They have certainly put the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Gallery Program and Permanent Collection in prestigious company.” With this grant, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock will acquire more art for the university’s permanent art collection, which holds over 1,700 items, and provide a broader range of exhibits for the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Gallery Program. “Windgate’s support has allowed us to bring more contemporary craft into the collection,” Cushman said. “Their support has also helped us to diversify the voices represented in the collection to include more women, Black, Hispanic/Latino, LGBTQ, and other artists.” Additionally, Windgate has awarded ��Vlog��ý Little Rock a multi-year additional support grant for the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Art Outreach Program. Windgate originally awarded ��Vlog��ý Little Rock a grant of more than $750,000 in November 2018 to establish a series of educational art workshops for Arkansas high school students and art teachers.

Woodworking Professor Peter Scheidt assists visiting art educator Loni Rainey as she builds a small Shaker table during the artWAYS furniture and woodworking program in the Windgate Center of Art and Design. Photo by Ben Krain.

The additional $470,713 grant will continue to support art education outreach efforts for high school students and art teachers in Arkansas through December 2024. The final payment for 2023 is contingent upon an increase of students in ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Art and Design Department. “We appreciate the opportunity that the Windgate Foundation has given the department,” said Tom Clifton, chair of the Department of Art and Design. “Sharing our expertise with the community of art teachers has been an incredibly fulfilling experience for the department faculty. We’re looking forward to providing more programming and meeting new participants in the future.” ��Vlog��ý Little Rock was unable to hold the high school student visits and workshops for K-12 art educators during summer 2020 due to the pandemic. With social distancing procedures in place, the Department of Art and Design continued programming this summer with seven week-long workshops for art educators from across the state. Faculty members Kevin Cates, Jeremy Couch, Joli Livaudais, and Peter Scheidt taught workshops on drawing, graphic design, painting, photography, and woodworking. Art Outreach Specialist Andrea Tompkins reports more than 50 teachers from 33 Arkansas schools attended the workshops and earned 30 hours of professional development credit each. In summer 2022, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock plans to offer two camps for art educators and one camp for highly motivated high school students who are considering majoring in the visual arts. The workshops are free to high school students and art teachers. The Windgate grant will cover on-campus housing, meals, supplies, and instructional materials. In the upper photo, a group of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Children International students display their denim artwork during an Art in Action Camp taught by Lorria Eubanks of A Different Stroke of Art.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock to open three new exhibits the week of Aug. 16

John Hill — Thu, 12 Aug 2021 15:17:29 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Art Gallery will open three new exhibits beginning the week of Aug. 16. They will feature an exhibit of non-conventional artwork from 22 states, the 34th Annual Small Works on Paper touring exhibit, and the work of self-taught mixed-media artist Butch Anthony.�� The first exhibit, “A Visionary Vernacular Road Trip,” will be on display in the Brad Cushman Gallery in the Windgate Center of Art and Design from Aug. 16 to Oct. 15. The exhibition features non-conventional work, including folk art, outsider art, and self-taught art, created by artists not formally trained. The work comes from as early as 1854-60 to works created throughout the 20th century, as well as objects made in the 21st ��Գٳܰ��.�� This represents the first of two special exhibits curated by Gallery Director Brad Cushman. Works are on loan from 18 public and private collections from Arkansas, Texas, Tennessee, and Michigan. A reception will be held from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 15. A catalog will accompany the exhibition published by the gallery program. “The series features visionary makers of pictures and sculptural objects inspired by a divine spirit, as well as seemingly ordinary people making marks and transforming commonplace materials into extraordinary art to communicate messages to a keen observer,” Cushman said.

Minnie Evans’ “Reshoot” will be featured in the “A Visionary Vernacular Road Trip” exhibit.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock will also host the 34th Annual Small Works on Paper touring exhibition in the Maners/Pappas Gallery in the Windgate Center from Aug. 18 to Sept. 27. The exhibit showcases 26 artists from across Arkansas and 38 artworks during the yearlong tour. The Arkansas Arts Council, a division of the Arkansas Department of Heritage, sponsors the traveling exhibition. “Small Works on Paper” is a juried visual art exhibition that showcases artwork no larger than 18-by-24 inches. Now in its 34th year, the exhibition spotlights Arkansas artists who are members of the , an online gallery. Judy Ledgerwood, a professional artist and recently retired professor from Northwestern University, served as the competition juror. She reviewed about 200 submitted artworks and selected 38 pieces for the show.�� The third exhibit features work by Butch Anthony, a self-taught mixed media artist and art collector from Seale, Alabama. Anthony’s work will be on display in the Focus Gallery in the Windgate Center from Aug. 17 to Sept. 27. Anthony lives on an 80-acre compound filled with outdoor art, animals, and his house. It’s also known for the Museum of Wonder, which is described as a modern-day cabinet of curiosities filled with art, artifacts, and found or gifted objects. In conjunction with the “Road Trip” survey exhibits this semester, the exhibit will feature Anthony’s mixed media vintage photograph combinations from the collection of Jeanne Lockeby Hursley and Timothy Hursley of Little Rock. The ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Art Gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday. Patrons can also make appointments to visit the galleries outside of the public hours by contacting the gallery director. For more information, contact Cushman at becushman@ualr.edu or 501-916-5103. In the upper right photo, Susan Chambers’ “Coreopsis and Coxcomb” will be featured in the 34^th Annual Small Works on Paper exhibit.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock announces winners of 2021 Annual Student Competitive

John Hill — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 15:02:28 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock has announced the winners of the 2021 Annual Student Competitive. This year’s competition featured 41 works of art by ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students involving drawing, paintings, prints, graphic design, photography, illustrations, textiles, metals, sculptures, ceramics, and furniture. Melissa Wilkinson, associate professor of art and painting at Arkansas State University, served as the juror/curator for the 2021 Student Competitive exhibition. The winners include: Hearne Fine Art (courtesy of Garbo Hearne) – Daleesha Hood Art Supplies and Materials (courtesy of Kerry Kemp, owner of Art Outfitters) – Concera Davis, Caleb LeFevre, Ashlee Stanley, and Courtney Wilson Frame Shop Certificates (courtesy of Helen Scott and Cindy and Clarke Huisman, owners of Cantrell Gallery) – Carley Brown Starving Artist Awards Sarah Lassiter – (courtesy of Capi Peck, Brent Peterson, Stephanie Toon Caruthers, owners of Trio’s Restaurant) Jessica Fuller and Reece Henderson (courtesy of Christina McGehee, owner of Boulevard Bread Company) Taylor McKinney (courtesy of Corri Bristow-Sundell & Jack Sundell, owners of The Root Café) Annika Wade (courtesy of Corri Bristow-Sundell & Jack Sundell, owners of Mockingbird) ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Gallery Acquisition Purchase – Hannah May for “Perception”�� Friends of the Arts $500 Purchase Awards – Reece Henderson for “Brothers” Wilma And Jack Diner $750 Scholarship Award – Bailey Holley and Rebekah Wilson Wilma And Jack Diner $500 Purchase Award – Yelena Petroukhina Wilma And Jack Diner $500 Cash Award – Andrew Chun and Rachel Stuckey The 2021 Student Competitive exhibit can be viewed virtually through the

��Vlog��ý Little Rock to host two exhibits by 2020 Arkansas Living Treasure Michael Warrick

John Hill — Thu, 27 May 2021 20:09:01 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will host two exhibits by 2020 Arkansas Living Treasure Michael Warrick, a professor of art at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, from June 1 to July 20 in the Windgate Center of Art and Design.�� The first exhibit, “Michael Warrick: Clay, Metal, Stone, Wood,” highlights work created by Warrick over the past decade. The exhibit will be on display in the Brad Cushman Gallery on the second level of the Windgate Center. “The majority of work in this exhibit will be figurative and portrait sculpture from the last decade,” Warrick said. “The range of styles for that work are classic academic studies to rough, expressive, and very colorful. In addition to these, there are a few abstract seed-like forms in stone and a number of outdoor sculpture proposals that have been 3D printed.” The second exhibit is a new site specific installation titled “Michael Warrick: Spirits.” The display will feature seven monumental meditation portraits cast in Hydrocal with fiberglass reinforcement. These portraits were inspired by the sculptural installation, “Astronomers’ Dream,” which Warrick created for a solo exhibit at the Arkansas Arts Center in 1996.�� The�� new portraits will be suspended at eye level throughout the Maners/Pappas Gallery in a low light. These portraits represent mentors and spiritual guides. This represents Warrick’s first site-specific installation sculpture in 25 years. Boswell Mourot Fine Art in Little Rock represents the artist.�� “To produce a grouping of the cast portrait work has been an interest of mine for a year now,” Warrick said. “I could isolate and compose the suspended works in a unique space with unique lighting that would enhance them. Each person portrayed in the exhibit is photographed and then sculpted in an oil base clay on top of a sculpted styrofoam skull. Once the clay portrait is finished, I make a multi-piece rubber mold and plastic mother mold that allows me to cast various materials like water-based clay, cold cast bronze, paper, plaster, concrete, and sculptors wax that will be later translated in metal through the lost wax casting method.”

This piece by Michael Warrick will appear in a new exhibit, “Michael Warrick: Clay, Metal, Stone, Wood.”

Warrick is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship through the Ragdale Foundation in Lake Forest, Illinois, a Visual Arts Grant/Fellowship from the Southeastern College Art Conference in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, an Arkansas Arts Council Visual Arts Fellowship, and Artist Grants from Art Matters, Inc., the Pollack-Krazner Foundation both located in New York City. In 2009, he received the Award for Outstanding Artistic Achievement by the Southeastern College Art Conference.�� He has created sculptures for parks in Changchun, China, and Hanam, South Korea. In the Little Rock area, he has created sculptures at the National Park Services Central High Museum, the Central Arkansas Library System, the Statehouse Convention Center, The Vogel Swartz Sculpture Garden, the University of Arkansas Ottenheimer Library, The CARTI Cancer Center, The Ronald McDonald House, The Bernice Garden, the Maumelle Library, and the ��Vlog��ýMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute.�� The exhibit can be viewed virtually through the .�� The ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Art Gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Patrons may call or email to confirm a visit to campus to view the exhibitions. For more information, contact the main office at 501-916-3182 or email Brad Cushman at becushman@ualr.edu.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock to host MA Thesis Exhibit April 26-May 7

John Hill — Thu, 22 Apr 2021 13:58:24 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will host a series of paintings by Sarah Lassiter in her thesis exhibition. “Suspension” will feature around 15 paintings and be on display from April 26 to May 7 in the Maners/Pappas Gallery in the Windgate Center of Art and Design. Lassiter, who is graduating with a Master of Arts in May, uses painted and mixed media surfaces to explore the cognitive dissonance that accompanies trying to build a life in a world that is falling apart. Aggressive marks created with a palette knife, the use of pure red and black, and surfaces of the paintings encrusted with bottle caps and aluminum beer tabs express turmoil and dread. “�ę��ܲ��Բ��ǲ�’ is a series of paintings inspired by my own emotional reaction to the strangeness of our times,” Lassiter said. “As the last few years have unfolded, the world has felt like an increasingly unstable place. I find myself between college and career, at a stage in life when I should be making long-term plans. But the sense that the future is precarious makes this type of thinking feel difficult, at times even absurd. Hoping to reach others who experience this halting effect, I’ve spent the last year and a half creating this series, exploring the cognitive dissonance that accompanies trying to build a life against a backdrop of uncertainty.” Using interior scenes from the artist’s home depicts the way exterior anxieties invade daily life. The inclusion of both quiet scenes and noisier, more abstracted elements is a means of exploring the counterintuitive relationship between outer chaos and stillness. By exploring her struggles in such an open and vulnerable way, Lassiter invites others to let their own guard down, to reach for support and connection. While Lassiter has enjoyed the arts since childhood, she didn’t explore art as a career until she took some classes at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, which made her feel as if a world of artistic possibilities had opened up in front of her. “I think, deep down, I’ve always wanted to be an artist,” Lassiter said. “With art, the more you learn, the more salient the gulf between your skill level and what’s possible becomes, and few things are as satisfying as closing the gap between what exists in the mind’s eye and what you can create. The continual challenge is intoxicating. The drawing classes led to watercolor classes, which led to enrolling in post-bac art courses here at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, which led to pursuing this MA degree, where I’ve been learning oil painting. Art is what I always seem to come back to, and I feel incredibly thankful for the opportunity to pursue my creative interests.” Following her graduation, Lassiter plans to use the time to practice experimentation and creative play in her painting. “I’ve learned a lot in the past few semesters, and can’t wait to practice applying the techniques and concepts to which I’ve been introduced,” she said. “As excited as I am to be graduating, I feel as though my artistic education has only just begun. I would love to pursue further education in visual art within the next few years.” The exhibit can be viewed virtually through the �� The ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Art Gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Patrons may call or email to confirm a visit to campus to view the exhibitions. For more information, contact the main office at 501-916-3182 or email Brad Cushman at becushman@ualr.edu.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Student Competitive Winners Will Be Announced April 9

John Hill — Thu, 08 Apr 2021 17:32:39 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s 2021 Student Competitive Exhibit is on display in the Brad Cushman Gallery in the Windgate Center of Art and Design through April 12.�� The annual competition features artwork created by students taking studio art and design classes in the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Department of Art and Design. The winners will be announced during at 5 p.m. April 9 via Zoom. The artists whose work is on display include Carley Brown, Jessica Fuller, Rebekah Wilson, Annika Wade, Bailey Holley, Taylor McKinney, Daleesha Hood, Morgan Morrow, Rachel Stuckey, Concera Davis, Andrea Benbrook, Ashlee Stanley, Felecia Bearden, Sarah Lassiter, Caleb LaFevre, Reece Henderson, Andrew Chun, Hannah May, Logan Hunter, Courtney Wilson, and Yelena Petroukhina. Works representing the variety of studio disciplines being taught at the university are considered for the exhibition, including drawing and design, painting, printmaking, graphic design and illustration, photography, textiles, metals and furniture design, sculpture and ceramics. Melissa Wilkinson, associate professor of art and painting at Arkansas State University, will serve as the juror/curator for the 2021 Student Competitive exhibition. She received her BFA in painting from Western Illinois University and her MFA from Southern Illinois University. Her work has been featured in three editions of New American Paintings. She received a grant for painting in 2012 and a “Woman to Watch” award in 2016 from the Arkansas Arts Council. The 2021 Student Competitive exhibit can be viewed virtually through the The ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Art Gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Patrons may call or email to confirm a visit to campus to view the exhibitions. For more information, contact the main office at 501-916-3182 or email Brad Cushman at becushman@ualr.edu.

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

����Vlog��ý Little Rock Gallery Director Brad Cushman Retires After 22 Years

����Vlog��ý Little Rock Will Launch Cuban Art Exhibit on Jan. 18

����Vlog��ý Little Rock to Host Second Exhibit on American Outsider Folk Art

����Vlog��ý Little Rock to host two ArtWorks Virtual Presentations on “A Visionary Vernacular Road Trip” exhibit

Windgate Foundation Awards ����Vlog��ý Little Rock More Than $3 Million in Grants for Art Outreach, Art Acquisition, and Children International Education and Outreach Efforts

����Vlog��ý Little Rock to open three new exhibits the week of Aug. 16

����Vlog��ý Little Rock announces winners of 2021 Annual Student Competitive

����Vlog��ý Little Rock to host two exhibits by 2020 Arkansas Living Treasure Michael Warrick

����Vlog��ý Little Rock to host MA Thesis Exhibit April 26-May 7

����Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Student Competitive Winners Will Be Announced April 9