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

��Vlog��ý Little Rock art galleries feature work by former art professor

Janea Snyder — Sun, 02 Jun 2019 15:18:53 +0000

Photography by Carey Roberson, a former ��Vlog��ý Little Rock art and photography professor, is on display through June 28 in the Focus Gallery of the Windgate Center of Art and Design, located at 28th Street and Campus Drive East. The exhibit, “Fallen Caution,” includes 19 iPhone images Roberson took on his daily walks, which he calls his “Morning Stroll Surprise” series. The gallery is open during regular campus business hours. Photo by Carey Roberson

Windgate Center subject of Architecture and Design Network lecture

Ajani Oyindamola — Thu, 05 Apr 2018 20:45:18 +0000

The design of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s new Windgate Center of Art and Design will be the subject of an April 10 lecture by the Architecture and Design Network. The Windgate Center of Art and Design, which opened in January 2018, is the result of a $20.3 million gift from the Windgate Charitable Foundation. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 6 p.m. in the Windgate Center with a reception at 5:30 p.m. The panelists feature members of the Windgate Center’s building committee, including Tom Clifton, dean of the College of Arts, Letters, and Sciences; Mia Hall, director of Penland School of Crafts and former chair of the Department of Art and Design; Floyd Martin, professor of art history; Carey Roberson, chair of the Department of Art and Design; and John Greer, principal architect for WER Architects. The Windgate Center is physically divided into two distinct architectural forms based on the unique use of the spaces. Both forms are connected and share common utilities and circulation patterns. The studio arts portion of the building is a three-story, structural steel-framed building that houses classrooms, galleries, a lecture hall, departmental administration suite, and permanent collection storage that make up the visual arts program. The applied design area of the building is a single-story, high-bay industrial-style space that lends itself to three-dimensional forms of art. The building is designed to have a strong community presence to help strengthen the various community partnerships that have been forged over the years. Access for gallery shows, art festivals, and other events is an important component in the building design. Sustainable measures are fully integrated into the building orientation, exterior envelope, and support systems to support energy and long-term maintenance efficiencies. The building will pursue LEED Gold and is currently being registered in the LEED Certification program. The talk is a part of the Architecture and Design Network’s. For additional information, contact ArchDesignNetwork@gmail.com.

CRE8 event showcases new Windgate Center, raises scholarship money

Janea Snyder — Tue, 20 Feb 2018 21:04:34 +0000

Hundreds of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock supporters got a first look inside the Windgate Center of Art + Design on Feb. 16 at the signature event CRE8, honoring the Windgate Charitable Foundation for its gift that made the center possible. The Windgate Foundation gave $20.3 million to build the center, which houses all of the university’s art and design programs. More recently, the foundation gave an additional $603,000 of which $425,000 will be used to endow the Windgate Professorship in Art and Design, a permanent, tenure track position. Of the remaining money, $103,000 will support a visiting artist-in-residence for two years in contemporary crafts, and $75,000 is dedicated for gallery program and support. CRE8, presented by , drew more than 350 people and raised more than $92,000 with proceeds earmarked for scholarships for art and design students. “This gift is not just a building. It is an opportunity for us to make a huge difference in the lives of our students,” Tom Clifton, interim dean of the College of Arts, Letters, and Sciences told the crowd. “It is a chance to give them pathways they wouldn’t otherwise have and change their lives and their futures.” CRE8 also showcased the many types of creative work taking place daily in the center, from ceramics and 3D design to furniture design. In the yard foundry, Sculpture Art Professor Michael Warrick demonstrated a bronze pour twice during the evening. Visitors saw woodworking, metalsmithing, blacksmithing, jewelry making and ceramics, while other faculty conducted demonstrations in photography, portrait lighting, 3D prints and laser, character animation, graphic design and painting. Visitors explored the center’s two galleries that house works from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Permanent Collection and the visiting exhibit “.” While most visitors expected to see lots of art, they didn’t expect to take home a piece of art. ��Vlog��ý Little Rock sculpture art professor Michael Warrick and other art faculty and students created more than 200 “spirit houses” for their guests.

Michael Warrick individually numbers the wooden “spirit houses” for CRE8.

The wooden houses came boxed with a simple explanation: “Each unique house is given as an expression of appreciation for the special and kind gesture of supporting the creative spirit.” Warrick has made hundreds of the houses over the past 20 years to give friends and family as a thank-you of sorts. The project started when his wife had serious complications during childbirth. To thank the many friends and family who helped them, he gave a simple wooden house he crafted. He thought the spirit houses would be a perfect way to say thanks to the university supporters who attended Friday night’s ticketed event. Using scraps of hardwood, faculty members Peter Scheidt and Julia Baugh helped Warrick cut, sand, and glue the wood pieces. Graphic design professor Kevin Cates designed the Windgate Center for Art + Design logo. Andy Huss, a local sculptor, volunteered time sanding and clear coating the pieces. Graphic design student Chassidy Siratt laser-cut a Windgate Center logo on the bottom of each house, and Warrick individually numbered the houses – like art collector pieces. In photo top right: Former and current chairs of the Department of Art from the past 30 years attended CRE8 on Feb. 16 to celebrate the Windgate Center for Design + Art. From left: Don Van Horn (1988-93), Floyd Martin (1994-95), Jane Brown (1996-98), Win Bruhl (1998-2013), Tom Clifton (2013-2016), Mia Hall (2016-2017), and Carey Roberson (2017-present).

Walls-Barton explores identity and childhood memories through artwork

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 13 Dec 2017 22:23:23 +0000

When Alecia Walls-Barton was a little girl, she loved watching her grandfather work with fabrics in the small shop in his home in Sheridan, Arkansas. “My grandfather was a carpenter and an upholster,” Walls-Barton said. “I grew up watching him make fabrics. He always worked for himself and had a little shop at his house.” Walls-Barton graduated Dec. 16 with a Master of Arts degree with a concentration in studio art. Her artwork combines photography and textiles to create unique pieces. She owes her love of working with textiles to those cherished early memories with her grandfather. “My love of textiles and fabrics and wanting to work with my hands comes from him,” she said. “He taught me how to sew on his great big industrial-size sewing machine.” Given Walls-Barton’s fond childhood memories, it came as no surprise that her master’s thesis exhibition, “Personal Myth,” is based largely on moments spent with her grandfather. The body of work explores Walls-Barton’s fragmented childhood memories and how people develop a personal identity based on information that might be flawed. “What I discovered is my memory is not finite,” Walls-Barton explained. “My memories have shifted as I have aged. There are things I don’t remember that I wish I did and things I remember that I’m not sure are true. Some of the work is based on fragmented childhood memories and feelings, so they are not exactly recreations of childhood memories, but they are related to them.” One of her pieces, “When We Gathered,” is based on a memory of gathering eggs with her grandfather. “I have this memory of him taking my hand and leading me across the yard to the roosting box,” she said. “It was the first time I collected eggs. That memory is foundational to my relationship with my grandfather. It’s a really important experience that I’m not sure that I had. In the image, I am wearing a denim outfit like he would have worn. It’s not a perfect recreation of that experience, but it represents my emotional attachment to my grandfather.” Another piece, “Mother Feels Like Satin,” is an up-close image of hands grasping at a satin top. “I have this very vivid memory of my mother at two. I was really afraid of the dark and would end up in my parents’ bed,” she said. “My mom always wore satin pajamas, and she would give me her pajamas to use as a security blanket. I grew up seeing a photograph of a similar scene, and I’m sure that is where the memory came from.” For Barton, her show is not about perfectly recreating foundational childhood memories. She has explored how people create their own life stories by filling in gaps in memories. “I feel like we are the sum of our experiences. The question this work poses is how do you reconcile your memory and who you are if you can’t trust your memory, if you can’t be sure those are your memories,” she said. “What I learned through the making of this work is that we are all made of myth, and we all create the myth of our lives.” Walls-Barton joined ��Vlog��ý Little Rock in 2015. She worked as a graduate assistant and taught photography classes with her mentors, Joli Livaudais, assistant professor of photography, and Carey Roberson, associate professor of photography. “They are the best,” she said. “They really pushed me to discover what I wanted to make. Joli and Carey encouraged me to experiment a lot. Grad school is not easy, so it’s nice to have people who are really invested in what you are doing and believe you have something to say.” While at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, she won first place in the humanities category at the Research and Creative Works Expo in 2016. Earlier this year, she was one of the first members to join “No-Type,” a photography club for ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students and alumni who held their first show this fall at Historic Arkansas Museum. After graduation, Walls-Barton plans to find a position teaching art and eventually earn a Master of Fine Arts degree. She also plans to complete a new body of work featuring her grandfather. “My grandfather has dementia now, so the urgency is there to spend more time with him and take more photographs,” she said. Walls-Barton encourages new students at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock to take some art classes. “While you are here, allow yourself to take an art class and give yourself the freedom to follow your passions and broaden your scope,” she said. “I think the arts, especially, are important to people’s growth. I think I am a better, more well-rounded person because of the arts. I’m glad I came back to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock to take the time to make my work.” In the upper right photo, Alecia Walls-Barton holds pieces from her master’s thesis exhibition, “Personal Myth,” in the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Art Gallery. Photo by Lonnie Timmons III/��Vlog��ý Little Rock Communications.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock grad wins $20,000 prize for photo

Janea Snyder — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 19:40:48 +0000

Trinity Kai of Little Rock, a 2017 graduate of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Art and Design Department, recently won the grand prize in the Kennedy Center’s 2017 VSA Emerging Young Artists Competition with a photograph that will be part of a national traveling exhibit. Kai, who completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in May 2017, won $20,000 and an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. to attend three days of professional workshops and the exhibition opening. The VSA is the Kennedy Center’s international organization on arts and disability. “These young artists challenge us to see the world from a different point of view and through their personal lens,” said Betty Siegel, director of VSA and Accessibility of the Kennedy Center. “Their work will spark debate and conversation and ultimately ignite understanding.” Kai’s winning entry “Insight” is a fine art photograph printed in the historical photographic process of gum bichromate over palladium. The photograph was one in a series of photographs she created as part of her BFA thesis project, using a combination of traditional darkroom and historical photographic techniques. The art will be part of a year-long traveling exhibition titled “Electrify” featuring the work of 15 young artists with disabilities, ages 21 to 25. The 15 artists were selected from a pool of hundreds of applicants by a jury of noted art professionals. Kai was born with oculocutaneous albinism, a genetic condition that results in poor vision and oversensitivity to light. For her winning entry, Kai turned the camera on herself to create an image that speaks to spirituality, identity, and feelings of alienation. “My time as a student in the Department of Art and Design at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock was very influential and helped me become the artist I am today,” Kai said. “For me, (Professors) Joli Livaudais and Carey Roberson were and still are mentors to me. They motivate their students to push themselves and their art. They care about students finding their voice in their art. Those qualities and their guidance helped me grow as an artist and as an individual.” She is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas, and plans to teach art at the university level someday while working as a professional artist.

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