Alum Tonya Oaks Smith to close out Leadership Lecture Series May 9

Ajani Oyindamola — Thu, 02 May 2019 12:51:06 +0000

An expert in higher education communication and marketing will close out the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Department of Applied Communication’s third annual Leadership Lecture Series on Thursday, May 9. Tonya Oaks Smith, executive director of university communications and marketing at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana, will present her talk at 7 p.m. at the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Downtown Center, at 333 President Clinton Avenue in Little Rock. In this lecture, “First, Do No Harm: Why Maintaining Integrity in Public Communication is More Important Than Ever,” listeners will unpack their perceptions and learn to hold public communication to a higher standard. “We are starting to see pushback for professional communicators who are not forthcoming or truthful,” Smith said. “Their ethics have been called into question. People often think that those who work in public relations aren’t truthful or don’t communicate with the best intentions. I have always framed my work as different from that.” As the spokeswoman for a public university, Smith understands that people must be able to place their trust in public institutions. “The perception of people who do public communications is not always the best,” Smith said. “I’ve had reporters who have chastised me for not being forthcoming. I felt like that is the furthest thing from what I am doing. It is important to be trustworthy when you are the voice of an organization that is at the heart of a community. People have to be able to have trust in you and the institution you are representing.” Smith graduated from Louisiana State University in 1994. She put her journalistic skills to use as a reporter for the Livingston Parish News and later the Ruston Daily Leader. “In the beginning, I was doing everything from sports to business to taking photos at baby showers, weddings, and other events,” she said. “As I got more capable, I moved into design and editing and later management roles.” After joining the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Office of Communications and Marketing in December 2006, Smith began a graduate program in the Department of Applied Communication to improve her communication skills. “I absolutely enjoyed the opportunity to learn from the scholars in the Department of Applied Communication,” she said. “The first time I had to give a speech in the program, I had to have a trash can next to me because I felt so sick. That is how far the program has helped me grow. I would never be able to do this talk without having been in the program. I still recommend the program to people who need a graduate program to up their skill set.” Smith earned a master’s degree in applied communication from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock in 2010. Her master’s thesis was focused on the use of social media to communicate preventative health care advice during the H1N1 scare of 2009. In professional roles, she has previously served as executive director of marketing and communications at Henderson State University and director of communications at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s William H. Bowen School of Law. Tickets are $20 for members of the community and $5 for ��Vlog��ý Little Rock faculty, staff, and students. To register and purchase tickets, visit the.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock exhibit features artwork of Frank Hamrick

Ajani Oyindamola — Thu, 04 Oct 2018 16:38:31 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock is hosting an exhibit, “It Was There All Along,” by photographer and book artist Frank Hamrick through Oct. 26 in the Focus Gallery in the Windgate Center of Art and Design. Hamrick serves as an associate professor and coordinator of the Master of Fine Arts program at Louisiana Tech University’s School of Design. His work mixes photography, storytelling, handmade books, and found objects. Frank received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from The University of Georgia and his Master of Fine Arts from New Mexico State University. NPR has written about Hamrick’s handmade books, and Oxford American Magazine listed him as one of the 100 Superstars of Southern Art. His work is housed in collections including The Art Institute of Chicago, The Amon Carter Museum of American Art, and The Ogden Museum of Southern Art. His limited edition artist’s book, “,” which combines papermaking, letterpress printing, and tintype photography, earned the 2017 Houston Center for Photography Fellowship and was awarded first place in the Los Angeles Festival of Photography’s 2017 Photobook Competition. In addition to the exhibit, Hamrick will hold a public lecture at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 19, in the Windgate Center of Art and Design Room 101.

Frank Hamrick’s photograph, “Heather & Alexis”

Hamrick also will hold a free three-day workshop from Oct. 19-21 in the Windgate Center. He will assist participants in curating and sequencing an existing collection of their photographs in order to tell a story, as well as work with students to create a handmade book for their images. The workshop will take place from 5-9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 19, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 20-21. The workshop is free, but space is limited to 12 participants. Email Joli Livaudais at jklivaudais@ualr.edu to sign up for the workshop. The exhibit is free and open to the public. The galleries in the Windgate Center of Art and Design are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, and 2-5 p.m. Sunday.

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

Alum Tonya Oaks Smith to close out Leadership Lecture Series May 9

����Vlog��ý Little Rock exhibit features artwork of Frank Hamrick

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

��Vlog��ý Little Rock exhibit features artwork of Frank Hamrick