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

Arkansas High School Students Learn New Art Skills at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Summer artWAYS Program

John Hill — Thu, 21 Jul 2022 13:19:07 +0000

More than 60 students from across Arkansas spent the week of June 20-24 learning new art skills during a free residential summer intensive program for juniors and seniors at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The artWAYS 2022 camp was provided at no cost thanks to a generous grant from the Windgate Foundation. This included all art materials, meals, housing costs, and evening activities. During the program, students took the following sessions: Drawing the Dynamic Figure with Robert Bean, drawing instructor; Lensless Photography with Joli Livaudais, associate professor of photography; From Start to Finish: Learn to Make Your Own Jewelry with Lydia Martin, artist-in-residence of metals; and Typographic Sculptures with Kevin Cates, professor of graphic design. “It was a great experience,” Livaudais said. “The students did some amazing work, and it was a lot of fun. We had them doing primitive photographic techniques, like taking photos with cardboard cameras. They also worked in the darkroom using historic photographic processes like cyanotype.” In Cates’ class, students designed layouts and created 3D typographic sculptures based on quotes. The sculptures included a 3D guitar sculpture that held up displayed quotes about the American rock band Weezer. All the students in the program signed the guitar, which Cates plans to display in his office. “My favorite part was seeing the sculptures in the lobby for everyone to see,” Cates said. “Attending the program really helped get the creative juices flowing and helped students get excited about what they can do in college.” Students also enjoyed evening activities including tie dying t-shirts, movie night, water wars, a campus tour, open art studio, and indoor and outdoor games.

High school students from around Arkansas participate in the weeklong immersive visual arts summer program artWAYS in the Windgate Center for Art and Design at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. Photos by Ben Krain

The 62 Arkansas students who attended the program include: Alleyah Evans, Alexa Whisenhunt, Alexandro Vazquez, Alice Neely, Allyson Ramsey, Anna Johnson, Anna Reber, Ariana Langley, Aubree Wright, Bella Garbett, Kim Bitna, Brooke Weinzimer, Cailey Stover, Carla Servin, Dawn Phillips, Deliliah Duguld, Destiny Montogomery, Eliot Spann, Emily Flores-Ayala, Emma Herbold, Evelyn Flores, Hanna Pruitt, Jadon Parks, Jenna Phillips, Jessalyn Cotton, Jillian Thorpe, Josslyn McCall, Judson Ogle, K’lari Collins, Karrington Bost, Kennedi Green, Kennedy Lucas, Kevin Rivera, Kimberly Bright, Kloe Jackson, Lani McClure, Lillith McAfee, Macy McLaughlin, Marisela Morales, Maryn Asbury, McHarvey Morrison, Mikka Reid, Nhi Le, Niko Maxey, Noelia Borkowski, Olivia George, Paley Honeysuckle, Paris Enriquez, Rebecca Worthington, Samantha Smith, Sidnye Nealy, Sofia Theodore, Sophia Bozeman, Sydnie Maxwell, Tarini Eswaran, Tristan Johnson, Vaida Stacy, Ximenia Gonzalez, Yessenia Gonzalez, Zach Miller, Zenobia Kelley, and Zoe Tarbille. “The program is super good,” Noelia Borkowski, a student at Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School. “I felt like I was interested in all the classes and learned a lot from them. I would highly recommend it to everyone who is interested in art.” Kennedy Lucas, a student at Joe T. Robinson High School, said she attended the artWAYS program because she was interested in learning new kinds of art. “I’ve been doing art for years. It’s always been my favorite class in school,” Lucas said. “My favorite artWAYS class was jewelry making. I got to do something different, and we got to learn different metalworking techniques to make jewelry. I also learned a lot about figure drawing that I will use in the future. It was a really good experience. I’ll probably apply again next year.”

��Vlog��ý Little Rock to Host Exhibit by Donnie Copeland

John Hill — Mon, 28 Feb 2022 13:50:07 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will host a new art exhibit debuting Monday, Feb. 28, by Donnie Copeland, professor of drawing and painting at Ouachita Baptist University. The exhibit, “Continuum: Painted Collage by Donnie Copeland,” will be on display Feb. 28 to April 1 in the Focus Gallery at the Windgate Center of Art and Design at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. “The works presented here represent more than a decade’s labor on a project involving painting and collaging to produce a sort of hybrid work that I generally refer to as striations due to their striped format,” Copeland said. “The earliest works included here represent a mood or spirit of exploration and intuition in regard to approaching composition and media. The later works included benefit from the earlier mostly in regard to the sense of freedom brought about by those earlier pieces.” Copeland, a native of Greenville, South Carolina, studied painting at the University of Dallas (MFA) and at Ouachita Baptist University (BA). For the last several years, Copeland has worked primarily with painted paper to produce non-objective, collaged canvases that emphasize pattern, texture, color, and mark. His works are a synthesis of the visuality of landscapes such as planted fields and prairie that run along the rivers of Arkansas as well as that of peoples and cultures local and distant, rural and urban. His work has been exhibited in Arkansas and beyond including exhibits in Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and the United Kingdom. The exhibit is on display from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday in the Focus Gallery on the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock campus. For more information, contact Focus Gallery Director Joli Livaudais at jklivaudais@ualr.edu.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock to Host Photography Exhibit by Alum Trinity Kai

John Hill — Thu, 20 Jan 2022 14:38:39 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will host a photography exhibit by alumna and award-winning photographer Trinity Kai. The exhibit, “Shifting in Time,” will be on display Jan. 24 to Feb. 25 in the Focus Gallery at the Windgate Center of Art and Design at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. Kai utilizes materials such as fabric, handmade photographic printing processes, and sculptural materials to create layers of language that express and reflect the dimensionality of experiences and spaces. Kai stated that her body of work in the exhibit depicts the vulnerability and tension that she feels during times of vulnerability and the strength that comes from finding the balance and acceptance of oneself. “My work analyzes the body as our perspective in the world and as a symbol of absence and presence within public and institutional spaces,” Kai said. “I create spaces in my work that reflect my experiences as a person with Albinism, who is classified as an other, and that confront and counter systems of discrimination and stereotypes that we all encounter in different ways. ‘Shifting in Time’ examines the internal and external emotions of the various periods in one’s life when you go through changes, self-reflection, and awareness.” Kai holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Arkansas. Kai creates work through the lens of her own personal narrative that examines societal systems of discrimination. She creates multiple forms of language through self-portraiture, written language, and materiality to share her experiences and bring viewers into conversations that can be reflective and transformational. Her work has been exhibited nationwide and resides in the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Permanent Collection of Art. In 2017, Kai won the grand prize in the Kennedy Center’s 2017 VSA Emerging Young Artists Competition with a photograph she created as part of her BFA thesis project. For her work, she received a $20,000 prize, and her photograph was featured in a year-long traveling exhibit featuring the work of young artists with disabilities. Kai was born with oculocutaneous albinism, a genetic condition that results in visual impairments and sensitivity to light. The exhibit is on display from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday in the Focus Gallery on the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock campus. For more information, contact Focus Gallery Director Joli Livaudais at jklivaudais@ualr.edu.

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.

GRAD��Vlog��ýTE STUDENT SPOTLIGHT ON JENNIFER TIPPIT

John Hill — Fri, 21 May 2021 17:32:14 +0000

Jennifer Tippit, of Benton, Arkansas, graduated in the spring 2021 semester with a bachelor’s degree in applied communication. She transferred to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock from ��Vlog��ý-Pulaski Technical College and is the first in her family to get a bachelor’s degree.�� Tell us a little bit about yourself. I was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, and graduated from Bryant in 2002. I’ve been married for 16 years and have a beautiful 9-year-old daughter. I’ve worked at Arkansas School for the Deaf for 15 years. My college journey started after high school at the University of Central Arkansas for only a year and a half. In 2016, I transferred to Pulaski Tech and finished my degree at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. I enjoyed going to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock because the student population is so diverse. You see people from 18 to 80 years old. They could be single parents or international students. Why did you choose to major in applied communication? I originally majored in mass communication but switched to applied communication because I could take classes online to fit my schedule. It was a good move because I enjoyed the courses so much more. Plus, I think the perfect learning environment is both in-person and online. Applied communication teaches you the science behind communications and how to apply it in everyday situations. Everyone thinks they are a good communicator, but communicating consistently in a positive way takes skill. I’ve learned how to deliver good and bad news with my training. Tell us about working for the Arkansas School for the Deaf. Deaf people are no different from hearing people. They have the same hopes and dreams, and are just like everyone else. It has been very inspiring to be a part of this campus and community.

Jennifer Blanks, center, communicates in sign language to other staff members at the Arkansas School for the Deaf about boarding students onto buses before the school’s weekend dismissal. Photo by Ben Krain.

What were some of your favorite courses? Surprisingly, I enjoyed crisis communications and conflict management. The persuasive presentations course teaches you how to overcome your fear of public speaking. Now, I have no problem standing on stage and presenting to my peers at the deaf school. Who were some of your mentors? Dr. April Chatham-Carpenter and Professor Katie Halford pushed me to do my best and have always been there for me while a part of this department. Dr. Kristen McIntyre helped me with my capstone project. She taught me how to be real and avoid perfectionism. She said done is better than perfect! Professor Joli Livaudais told me that students pay for their education and must advocate for themselves, and that I belonged here as much as the next person. The former communication director at the Deaf School, Stacey Tatera, told me something that has always stuck with me. She said, “Always remember who you are addressing when you send a message and adjust to accommodate them. Always ask yourself before, ‘Who am I talking to?'” What do you want to do with your degree? I would love to stay at the Deaf School eventually overseeing communications on campus. I think effective communication is desperately needed in public education. So wherever I end up, I would like to stay within the educational realm.�� How did you celebrate your graduation? My husband and daughter walked with me in the hybrid graduation ceremony. Dr. Carpenter was there to cheer me on. My whole family will celebrate together when the graduation video is posted in June.�� My 80-year-old grandmother is my best friend, and in 2019 she was hospitalized. I made her promise me she would come to my graduation and she said only if I graduated with honors. Well, I got a cumulative 3.5 GPA and a current GPA of 4.0 this semester. I busted my rear to keep my promise. Since she couldn’t come to my graduation, we are going to have a photoshoot together where she will be wearing my honors cord. I kept my part of the bargain, so now she is going to do her part of the bargain! This graduate profile was compiled by Toni Boyer.��

��Vlog��ý Little Rock hosts photo exhibit on Arkansas Delta by alum Beverly Buys

John Hill — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 17:56:57 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will host a photography exhibit by alumna featuring photos from the Arkansas Delta. The exhibit, “Evocations From the Arkansas Delta, 2011-2021,” will be on display March 29 to April 23 in the Focus Gallery at the Windgate Center of Art and Design at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. The images were created using the historical photographic printing process of cyanotype and are part of Buys’ “Delta in Blue” photo series. Buys graduated from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock with a Master of Arts in photography in 1994. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in art education from Henderson State University and an MFA from the University of Memphis. She worked as a professor of photography at Henderson State University from 1997 until her retirement in 2014 and served as director of the Russell Fine Arts Gallery at Henderson from 1997 to 2009. Buys was awarded the Polly Wood Crews Scholarship by the Arkansas State Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts in 2016 and the 1998 Arkansas Arts Council Fellowship Award in Visual Arts. She has been included in state and national juried exhibitions and has shown her work in many one-person shows. She is represented by Justus Fine Art Gallery in Hot Springs, Arkansas.�� The exhibit is on display from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday in the Focus Gallery in the Windgate Center of Art and Design on the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock campus. For more information, contact Focus Gallery Director Joli Livaudais at jklivaudais@ualr.edu.

Women to Watch at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock: Joli Livaudais

John Hill — Mon, 08 Mar 2021 17:19:23 +0000

In celebration of Women’s History Month, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock is profiling women in leadership positions who are making a difference at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock and in the community. The first Woman to Watch at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock of 2021 is Joli Livaudais, associate professor of photography and graduate coordinator for the Department of Art and Design.�� Tell us about yourself? I started out my education in the field of experimental psychology, but although I love psychology I found I was unhappy unless I was able to be creative. I earned my MS in psychology, but instead of continuing on to a Ph.D. I changed gears and decided to pursue art, and photography in particular. I’ve worked as a commercial photographer in Dallas, Texas, and Monroe, Louisiana. I had a studio and an art gallery in the downtown Monroe area for seven years, but I knew I really wanted to pursue fine art photography and teaching. I went back to school to get my MFA at Louisiana Tech University and graduated in 2013. I started working at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock in 2014. What are your job duties at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock? I teach the photography classes in the department, which is my primary responsibility. I also serve as the graduate coordinator for the Art and Design department. We have a Master of Art degree with emphases in art history and visual art. Although the MA has been around for many years, we restructured it in 2018, so in many ways it’s a fledgling program. I am also the director for the Focus Gallery, which is a small gallery space in the art building. We bring in a new exhibition every 4 – 6 weeks, which is hard work but a lot of fun. I enjoy being able to work with other artists, and it’s great for the students to see the artwork, and the shows are free and open to everyone. Much of my personal artwork is not what most would call traditional photography. Historical photographic processes are one aspect of�� alternative photographic methods, which includes not only methods used before commercially made film was invented, but also some types of printmaking processes, hand-coloring photos, or creating photo sculptures and installations. It lets you be very hands-on in photography. We gained many incredible advantages when photography went digital, and I love to teach digital photography, but we did lose much of the hands-on craft that was part of working in the darkroom. It’s fun to teach students the older methods. There are always a percentage of my students that fall in love with it. For several years, you and your photography students have run a popular annual fundraising event where you take professional photos of dogs. How did the Puppy Mugs fundraiser get started? Puppy Mugs is a dog portrait fundraiser put on by the students, faculty, and alumni from the photo program. For the past six years, we have held the fundraiser when we teach the studio lighting class. It is a great opportunity for the photography students to use what they’ve learned, and it’s always been a really fun day, with dogs and their people filling the Art and Design department for a few hours of fun. Proceeds from the fundraiser have been used to purchase photography equipment for student use, such as new strobe equipment for the Photographic Lighting class and new film cameras for the View Camera course. This year, we had to cancel Puppy Mugs due to pandemic safety precautions.

A photo taken at a Puppy Mugs event.

What inspired you to want to be an artist? I’ve always been a creative person and dabbled in art, but as a young person I never had confidence in my abilities to think I could “be an artist.” I tell people I tried everything else first, including the military, psychology, and commercial photography. None of that satisfied me. I needed to do fine art to be happy, and I felt that teaching was a great fit, and it wasn’t until I accepted that and had faith in it that things came together for me. How did you get involved in the “Arkansas Women to Watch” art exhibit? There is a biennial international exhibition at Washington D.C. at the National Museum of Women in the Arts known as Women to Watch. They have a different theme for every Women to Watch exhibition. For 2020, the theme was paper, and the show was titled “Paper Routes.” The Arkansas Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts asked Allison Glenn, associate curator of contemporary art at Crystal Bridges, to curate and nominate a list of Arkansas Women for the national show. I was honored to have one of my pieces selected to show in D.C. in 2020. For 2021, all four of the artists that Allison selected will tour the state together. Being in the D.C. show is the most exciting thing that has happened to me professionally, but I am thrilled about the Arkansas tour because I can travel to those venues to install my artwork personally, which is important because of the nature of the pieces. The exhibit that made it in the D.C. show is my installation of the origami beetles folded from photographs called “All That I Love.” For the state show, I am showing a second installation, which is paper grass blades that come out of the wall, also folded from photographs. I worked on them for a couple years. As soon as they took my information to nominate me for the national exhibit, I started working as if I had gotten it. I was on a really rigorous folding schedule for the past two years. I folded over 1,400 beetles and 900 pieces of grass. It was over 2,000 hours of work to do the beetles, and the grass blades takes 45 minutes each. My hands were always busy. Some people knit, but for the past two years, I was always folding beetles and grass blades.

Joli Livaudais’ installation “Imperata Grassland”

What’s next in your professional career? I am really looking forward to my upcoming OCDA, or what many call a sabbatical. I submitted a proposal for a new body of artwork, and it was approved for Fall of this year. The project involves microscopic photography, and I will use a layered combination of historical photographic printing processes, printmaking, and hand-coloring. It’s an exciting blend of art and science, and I am eager to get to work on it.�� What woman has inspired you the most and why? Although many women artists have inspired me with their talent, the person who has inspired me the most in my creative career is Jes Schrom. Jes was photo faculty at Louisiana Tech University when I was a graduate student, and she was one of my graduate committee members. Not only did she teach me to love historical and alternative photography, which has become my primary form of art making, she also helped me find the meaning in my artwork and has become my role model for what it means to be a great teacher and mentor.�� What advice would you give to the next generation of women artists? The best advice I can give anyone is to be persistent and don’t give up. I think every field is competitive. If you want to be one of the best, it will be challenging no matter what field you are in. The ones who succeed are the ones you don’t quit. You have to decide that is what you want, and go for it.�� How have you adapted to life during COVID-19? I miss being with my students in the classroom. We’ve been careful and diligent with everyone’s safety. We’ve split our classes into groups, so we can meet with fewer people in the space. I’ve learned how to do YouTube videos and online demos. I miss being with my students and helping them on the fly. There is so much of what we do that is demo based and being able to mentor students is important. With photography, I’m lucky. Photography has a digital aspect that I can use, regardless of whether I am teaching online or in person.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock to hold artist talks in February

John Hill — Thu, 11 Feb 2021 15:17:52 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will hold three virtual artist talks during February to celebrate its spring 2021 art exhibits.�� The first artist talk begins at 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 12. Susannah Schreckhise, a multidisciplinary visual artist, will discuss her work in the “Arkansas Women to Watch: Paper Routes” exhibit. Additionally, Brad Cushman, director of the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Art Gallery, will discuss the work and artists featured in the “Arkansas Women from the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Permanent Collection” exhibit. The second artist talk will feature John Seed, a professor of art and art history at Mt. San Jacinto College, who will give his talk “Disrupted Realism,” Friday, Feb. 19, at 6 p.m. is also a writer who has written about art and artists for Arts of Asia, Art Ltd., Catamaran, Harvard Magazine, International Artist, HuffPost, and Poets and Artists. The final February artist talk will begin at 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26. The event will feature Joli Livaudais, professor of photography at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, and Kim Brewer, an artist in Little Rock, who will discuss their work in the “Arkansas Women to Watch: Paper Routes” exhibit. The artist talks will be held via Zoom and are part of the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock artWORKS program. To register, visit the following websites: Feb. 12 – Feb. 19 – Feb. 26 –

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Hosts “Sompasauna” exhibit by alumni Dylan Yarbrough

John Hill — Thu, 04 Feb 2021 15:46:26 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will host a photography exhibit by alumni Dylan Yarbrough that documents the gatherings around a public sauna in Finland. The exhibit, “Sompasauna,” will be on display from Feb. 22 to March 19 in the Focus Gallery at the Windgate Center of Art and Design at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. This ongoing photography project documents the community that gathers around a public sauna in Helsinki, Finland. The communal bathing space, known as Sompasauna, has been nestled between the urban wasteland of a former harbor and the Baltic Sea since 2011.�� “Regardless of gender, race, class, nationality, or any other disposition, visitors are expected to coexist in peace,” Yarbrough said. “Unlike commercial saunas, Sompasauna relies on the effort of every visitor to fetch water, chop wood, make repairs, and clean up. The point is to literally bare all, enjoy the Finnish ritual of Löyly, be invigorated by cold water, and share life and ideas. Construction of luxury condos in the area is expected to expand and eventually threaten the existence of this place.” Until then, Sompasauna inspires a diverse sub-culture of people who celebrate the notion of egalitarian bathing space. This body of work raises questions about place, community, trust, and larger expectations for well-being in society. , an adjunct professor of photography at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, graduated from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock with a BFA with an emphasis in photography in 2016 and completed his MFA in photography from Columbia College Chicago in 2020. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including recent shows at the Center For Creative Photography, Arcade Gallery, Midwest Center for Photography, and Historic Arkansas Museum. He is currently the 2020 Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Lives Artist and was the recipient of the 2019 Stuart Abelson Fellowship. The exhibit is on display from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday in the Focus Gallery in the Windgate Center of Art and Design on the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock campus. For more information, contact Focus Gallery Director Joli Livaudais at jklivaudais@ualr.edu.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock hosts ‘Calling Home’ exhibit by alumni artist Diane Harper

John Hill — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 20:25:53 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock is hosting an exhibit by alumni artist Diane Page Harper until Feb. 19.�� The exhibit, “Calling Home,” is a collection of mixed media collages that explore ideas of weighted memories and the emotional imprint of cultural and personal history. “I long for connection to the past, to the military communities and family that raised me,” Harper said. “What most see as cultural detritus from the 1960s and 70s, I see as potential anchors to the images I’m building of my memories. Those anchors, combined with an extensive archive of family photographs, help me to heal the homesickness I feel but that I never seem to cure. All of the bits of memories, the images, the sounds, the smells, find their way to me from time to time, made all the more vibrant and real when I dig through and combine them in an attempt to ��reconcile my own fractured past.” Harper is a mixed media collage artist. Trained as a medical social worker, Harper returned to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock to earn a bachelor’s degree in studio art and graduated in 2013. She finds meaning in helping others connect with their most creative selves by teaching through her studio and other venues. Harper is a current faculty member of the Museum School of the Arkansas Art Center and previously worked as an adjunct instructor at Henderson State University. Harper has been selected as the 2020-2022 Artist in Residence for the Museum of the American Military Family in New Mexico.�� The exhibit is on display from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday in the Focus Gallery in the Windgate Center of Art and Design on the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock campus. For more information, contact Focus Gallery Director Joli Livaudais at jklivaudais@ualr.edu.

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

Arkansas High School Students Learn New Art Skills at ����Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Summer artWAYS Program

����Vlog��ý Little Rock to Host Exhibit by Donnie Copeland

����Vlog��ý Little Rock to Host Photography Exhibit by Alum Trinity Kai

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

GRAD����Vlog��ýTE STUDENT SPOTLIGHT ON JENNIFER TIPPIT

����Vlog��ý Little Rock hosts photo exhibit on Arkansas Delta by alum Beverly Buys

Women to Watch at ����Vlog��ý Little Rock: Joli Livaudais

����Vlog��ý Little Rock to hold artist talks in February

����Vlog��ý Little Rock Hosts “Sompasauna” exhibit by alumni Dylan Yarbrough

����Vlog��ý Little Rock hosts ‘Calling Home’ exhibit by alumni artist Diane Harper