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

��Vlog��ýLR announces new visual arts building: Second largest gift in university history

Gloria King — Mon, 11 May 2015 16:40:01 +0000

With a target date to open in fall 2017, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s newest building will be among the finest higher education facilities in the country for visual arts education. ��Vlog��ýLR unveiled the design concept for the 71,636 square-foot building today during a news conference in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall. The visual arts building will be funded by a $20.3 million grant award approved by the Trustees of the Windgate Charitable Foundation, headquartered in Siloam Springs, Ark. The grant, designated for building construction and equipment, is the second largest gift in ��Vlog��ýLR’s history. ��Vlog��ýLR serves about 1,000 students each year who are enrolled in visual arts classes. This semester, 180 students have designated visual arts as their major, and there are 16 full-time faculty devoted to visual arts programs. The new facility, to be located on the ��Vlog��ýLR campus at 28th Street and East Campus Drive, will bring together under one roof the applied design program currently located at University Plaza and the art history and studio arts programs currently in the Fine Arts Building, a structure built in 1977 to house the departments of art and music. The new building will integrate ��Vlog��ýLR’s Applied Design, Art History and Studio Arts classes into a facility that promotes collaboration and creativity between students, faculty and guests under one roof. Drawing/Painting/Printmaking/Art History and 2D Design and Illustration classrooms will be located on the north side of the building to make use of the large expanse of glass along 28th Street. Faculty and administrative offices will be oriented on the south side to take advantage of the campus and natural plaza views. Photography and Graphic Design spaces will complete the programs that are housed within the visual arts track. Students and visitors have the opportunity to experience two generous art galleries within the building showcasing both permanent and transitional exhibits or attend a guest lecturer speaking in the 80-seat lecture hall and reception venue on the ground floor. The Applied Design spaces will be organized within a single story industrial high bay section of the building to take advantage of the expansive volumes of space necessary for Sculpture/Metalsmithing/Furniture Design /3D Craft & Fibers/Ceramics. Each of these spaces has access to an outdoor studio space that allows work on large pieces with natural ventilation and sunlight. The building will be designed to achieve a LEED Silver rating with the USGBC LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system. The Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Art/Applied Design track, a unique program in Arkansas, primarily serves students interested in the study of traditional arts and crafts representative of the South Central region of the U.S., with particular emphasis upon craft practices within Arkansas. “The vision of the Department of Art is to be a destination center for students intent on pursuing lifelong careers in the visual arts,” said department chair Tom Clifton. “This new facility will enable the department to embrace traditional, contemporary, and technological approaches to the visual arts in central Arkansas and provide opportunities for students throughout the southern region of the United States. The Windgate Charitable Foundation has provided consistent and visionary support of the ��Vlog��ýLR Department of Art through scholarships, program support, visiting artists, workshops and gallery exhibitions.

Oxford American and South on Main to host annual artists’ event

Gloria King — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 20:54:57 +0000

Students in the visual and performing arts at ��Vlog��ýLR will present their work at South on Main from 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday, May 7. The event is free and open to the public. Seating at the bar is open, but reservations must be made for table service. Reservations may be made at 501.244.9660 or at opentable.com. For the third consecutive semester, visual artists will display their work for the viewing public at the event known as Co-opt. “Twenty students will have the chance to hone and share their craft with a public audience at an established location and promote the arts at ��Vlog��ýLR,” said Taimur Cleary, ��Vlog��ýLR Artist in Residence and instructor of the course that inspires the event. ��Vlog��ýLR’s Department of Art and Department of Theatre Arts and Dance are teaming up with Oxford American magazine and South on Main to host the semi annual event in order to promote these emerging artists. Cleary and his students will speak briefly at 7 p.m. during the show. Following their talk, students from the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance will share a selection of four plays all written, directed, and performed by the students. This will be the first time performing artists from both music and theatre will be included in the show. In addition to the live presentations, artwork will remain on display in Oxford American’s Annex Gallery from Thursday, May 7, through Saturday, May 9. According to Cleary, the title Co-opt carries a number of meanings, namely to cause someone to become a part of your movement. It also refers to cooperative learning strategies that the class uses. In Cleary’s class, Learning Co-Op, students representing almost every department on campus create works of art through printmaking, painting, ceramics, and sculpture. Cleary is a painter and teaches full time at ��Vlog��ýLR. His artistic direction is informed and fueled by evolving interests in art history, perception, meteorology, memory, abstraction, and photography. Learn more about Co-Opt at: www.facebook.com/ualrcoopt.

‘The Penland Experience’ open in Fine Arts Building

Gloria King — Wed, 21 Jan 2015 17:50:47 +0000

A new exhibit, “The Penland Experience,” has opened in Gallery I of the Fine Arts Building at ��Vlog��ýLR. Guest artist Ken Baskin, whose piece Opposite Attract, 20th Century Artifact Series is included in the exhibition, will deliver a talk at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 21, in Room 161 of the Fine Arts Building. Baskin has taught courses at the Penland School. His lecture is free and open to the public.

Tom Shields, The Pines, Wood, 2012

Founded in 1929 by Lucy Morgan, Penland School was originally an outgrowth of a craft-based economic development project. Today, the Penland School of Crafts is an international center for craft education dedicated to helping people live creative lives. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, Penland offers a variety of workshops in books and paper, clay, drawing, glass, iron, metals, photography, printmaking and letterpress, textiles, and wood. The school also offers artists’ residencies, community collaboration programs, and a gallery and information center.

Susan Dewsnap, Inset Lid Jar, Soda-Fired Stoneware, Slips, Glazes, 2012

Over the past three years, ��Vlog��ýLR has collected art objects made by artists with ties to the Penland School of Crafts in support of its applied design curriculum, which focuses on functional ceramics, furniture design, fiber construction, cast metals, blacksmithing, and small metal fabrication. Other works on exhibit are on loan from local Little Rock artists who have participated in the Penland experience and from the various local collections, including Robyn and John Horn, Joe Lampo and Terry Jefferson, and David Clemons and Mia Hall. “The Penland Experience” focuses on design by contemporary object makers and the discourse of traditional techniques versus conceptual and material use to push the envelope in regards to craft. A reception will be held from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 1, in the Fine Arts Building. Guest Lecturer Jean McLaughlin, director of the Penland School of Crafts, and Steve Miller, letterpress artist, will present a talk at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 25. The talk is free and open to the public. The galleries will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays, and 2 to 5 p.m. Sundays. Contact Brad Cushman, gallery director and curator in the Department of Art, at 501.569.8977 or becushman@ualr.edu for more information. Also opening Artist Jeffrey Clancy’s exhibit, “Revere,” has opened in the Maners/Pappas Gallery and will run through Feb. 26. A reception is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 1, from 2 to 4:30 p.m., with an artist lecture at 3 p.m. in the Fine Arts Building, room 161. The exhibit speaks to the power of one of the most widely reproduced metalware objects in the U.S., often referred to as a Paul Revere style bowl or a Revere bowl. The object is reproduced in silver, pewter, and silverplate and is almost always absent of the original engraving and presented in only form, speaking boldly to the timeless nature of its design. The different works have positioned the artist to begin mining the historical precedence and contemporary contextualization of the work. The exhibit is an examination through modernist art reference, facsimile/production, and artistic invention/re-presentation. While each piece operates individually, together a narrative begins to develop about the artist’s place within the lineage and (r)evolution of the metalsmiths trade. Clancy, a professor in metals at the University of Wisconsin, was awarded a bachelor of fine arts degree in 1999 from Kutztown University and a master of fine arts degree in 2005 from San Diego State University in metalsmithing and jewelry. He has lectured and instructed extensively throughout the country at institutions such as Bowling Green State University, the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, ��Vlog��ýLR, and the University of Wisconsin. He also participated in an artist-in-residence program at Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College in England and has also taught at the Rhode Island School of Design and was a professor at the Maine College of Art. In Gallery III Finally, in Gallery III, the exhibit “Facade” showcases the work of ��Vlog��ýLR Artist-in-Residence Taimur Cleary, on display from Jan. 14 to Feb. 26, 2015. A reception will be held Sunday, Feb. 1, from 2 to 4:30 p.m., and an artist’s lecture, free and open to the public, will begin at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 17, in room 161 of the Fine Arts Building. Cleary’s work attempts to find a relevant, contemporary aesthetic for traditional techniques in landscape painting. Although the work is representational, the imagery courts abstraction through composition, repetition and subject matter. All the locations represented in this exhibition are from places in and around Little Rock. His art is made possible by generous support from his family, colleagues, and friends. Cleary has undergraduate degrees in painting and photography from Miami University, as well as an MFA from Pratt Institute. As an artist and educator, he has received a range of grants, awards, and residencies.

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Art in the Park exhibition features ��Vlog��ýLR artists

Gloria King — Thu, 08 Jan 2015 16:28:42 +0000

The public is invited to an opening reception to celebrate several artists, including a large number with ties to ��Vlog��ýLR, who are included in Wildwood Park for the Arts’ second annual Art in the Park exhibition. The reception will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15, in Wildwood Park’s North and South Lobby. Refreshments will be served, and admission is free.

Still Life by Mia Hall

The exhibition, which is on display from Jan. 8 to Feb. 15, includes recent work of nearly 40 faculty, students, and alumni of the ��Vlog��ýLR Department of Art, and may be viewed weekdays between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and on Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m.

Meditation #7, bronze, 15’ x 15” x 8”, 2014 by Michael Warrick

Exhibiting artists include ��Vlog��ýLR Department of Art faculty such as Tom Clifton, department chair and professor of illustration and drawing, who will show work alongside students and alumni, and Furniture Design Professor Mia Hall, whose functional and conceptual work has been exhibited locally and nationally. Student work ranges from printmaking and sculpture to the abstract painting of alumna Amanda Hubbard, a 2013 BFA graduate in applied design. These artists are only a few whose work will inspire and enlighten attendees. Art in the Park’s vision is to create a dynamic environment for the visual arts to be in conversation with contemporary culture, the community of Little Rock, and the natural environment of Wildwood Park. Wildwood Park for the Arts is located at 20919 Denny Road in west Little Rock. For more information, contact Sofia Gonzalez at sofia@wildwoodpark.org or 501-821-7275.

The following artists are included in the exhibition:

Jasmine Av

Heather Beckwith

Win Bruhl

Justin Bryant

QuestionofAscent by Joli Livaudais

Byron Buslig

Kevin Cates

Lane Chapman

Taimur Cleary

Tom Clifton

Brad Cushman

Jennifer Danielle Perren

Mia Hall

Kerrick Hartmon

Morgan Hill

Linda Holloway

Amanda Hubbard

Mehreen Khalid

Joli Livaudais

Chelsye Mae Garrett

Jeffrey B. Grubbs

Eric Mantle

Ian Park

Tiffany Partin

Katherine Purcell

Laura Raborn

Casey Roberson

Sandra Sell

Emily Shiell

Allison Short Weaver

David Smith

Aj Smith, Professor

Mesilla Smith

Joe Tollett

Joanna Waldron

Michael Warrick

Marjorie Williams-Smith

Spencer Zahrn

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‘Songwriter’s Showcase’ features student compositions Nov. 8

��Vlog��ý Little Rock — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 16:46:26 +0000

The “Songwriter’s Showcase” will be held at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8, in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall, featuring the work of six student composers that will premiere during the first half of the show. Following intermission, ceramicist and flutist Rey Ortega will premier “Maya Lullaby” by Resident Composer Dr. Robert Boury and Associate Professor Laura Amrhein. Ortega will recreate ancient Mayan flutes using traditional building and firing techniques. He will also conduct a master class at 3 p.m., Nov. 8, in the Fine Arts Ceramics Studio. Parking is free in Lot 8 near the Fine Arts Building. For more information, contact Dr. Boury at 501.569.3096 or rxboury@ualr.edu. The annual event is hosted by the ��Vlog��ýLR Music Department, Department of Art and the Office of Campus Life.

Art gallery to be renamed in honor of couple supportive of arts

��Vlog��ý Little Rock — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 01:06:48 +0000

Brad Cushman, gallery director and curator for the ��Vlog��ýLR art galleries, announces that Gallery II of the Fine Arts Building will be renamed the Ann Maners and Alex Pappas Gallery. A renaming ceremony and reception in honor of the couple will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5, in the Fine Arts Building. Drs. Ann Maners and Alex Pappas relocated to Arkansas from South Carolina in 1985 and have been strong supporters of the arts at ��Vlog��ýLR for over two decades, according to Cushman. In 2001, they established an endowment to help fund operations of the gallery program and support guest artists and lecturers. They continue their involvement through the Pappas Study Abroad Endowment, established to provide ��Vlog��ýLR art students travel opportunities. “Travel is important to the couple and they enjoy helping students gain a global perspective,” said Cushman. Dr. Pappas is a former professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Since 1985, Dr. Maners has practiced as a radiation oncologist for the Central Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute (CARTI). The ��Vlog��ýLR galleries showcase exhibitions by established artists and student exhibits throughout the year. In addition to temporary exhibitions, the gallery program maintains more than 1,600 works of art in the permanent collection. For more information, contact Cushman at 501.569.8077 or becushman@ualr.edu.

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New course uncovers ‘shades of gray’ in Little Rock neighborhoods

��Vlog��ý Little Rock — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 15:40:48 +0000

Days before fall break, Dr. Kristin Mann, associate professor in the ��Vlog��ýLR Department of History, is standing next to a giant overhead slide outlining a map of vacant homes that cuts a swath across the city. “And what is this long empty space here?” she asks a crowd of about 30 students, as she points to a light-colored ribbon of space that weaves its way through the map of Little Rock like a ghostly snake. “Railroad tracks,” correctly responds one of the students.

Brandon Snider, Lexus VanPelt, and Rebekah Grissom are three of the students enrolled in an interdisciplinary course on neighborhood studies.

Mann and her colleagues, Dr. Stacy Moak of the Department of Criminal Justice and Dr. Laura Amrhein of the Department of Art, are using an interdisciplinary approach this semester to engage students enrolled in a new course on neighborhood studies at ��Vlog��ýLR. The students are just beginning the second unit of their studies, where they will be required to research a community problem, discover its history and evolution, and, perhaps more importantly, identify a possible solution. #neighborhoodstudies In the first unit of the course, the students used Instagram to document, study, and discuss what they saw in the Promise Neighborhood of Little Rock, using the hashtag #neighborhoodstudies. The neighborhood, bounded by Interstate 630 to the north, Fourche Creek Bottoms to the south, Martin Luther King Drive to the east, and Boyle Park to the west, has seen a long, steady decline in property values over the decades, along with a corresponding increase in crime rates. A 2011 U.S. Department of Education grant is beginning to turn things around, but it may take a while to undo long-held perceptions of the neighborhood as a threat. “Perception is reality,” said Mark Webre, a veteran of the Little Rock Parks and Recreation department, and recent guest speaker for the class. “You can say there’s nothing to be fearful of, but if you go into an area, and it feels unsafe, then people are going to be afraid,” he said. “And they will avoid it.” “The course does a great job connecting the dots across the disciplines,” said Brandon Snider, a senior history major, whose first unit project focused on the ramifications of building an interstate through the Promise Neighborhood. Lexus VanPelt, a senior criminal justice major, said the contributions of history and art majors working on her team provided a more holistic viewpoint on her research into a woman advocating for equal pay. “It’s like the pieces finally fall into place and create a complete picture,” she said. Rebekah Grissom, also a senior history major, agreed. “For me, it’s like you learn a broad scope of different kinds of history, but in this class, you see what is happening in a specific town or area. You see the effects of redlining, for example,” she said. Redlining is a long-held practice of denying or limiting financial services to certain neighborhoods, usually based on race and/or socio-economic status. Snider said the course is also helping make connections from historical to contemporary times, such as recent news about separate entrances to the same building, one for wealthy residents and one for poor residents of affordable housing units, in a New York City highrise. “The (discrimination) just wears a different mask; it doesn’t change,” Snider said. Interdisciplinary studies and community engagement The Neighborhood Studies course was funded following the provost’s initiative to create and teach across the disciplines, according to Moak. The disciplines for the course include art history, history, and criminal justice. There is also a strong community service component. The third unit of the course, in fact, will pair students with opportunities to help 22 neighborhood associations in some capacity across the Promise Neighborhood, culminating with a portfolio presentation. “We’re hoping to get to teach it again next fall and hopefully each fall, so that over time our students can have a measurable effect on the neighborhoods surrounding the university and a deeper appreciation of the multiple lenses through which we can study neighborhoods,” said Mann. “At the very least, we want to expose the students to new concepts and get them to think about these things differently,” Moak said. “When you’re more connected, you are more inclined to have that civic engagement,” she said. “The students have so much technology, they can exist in a virtual world without ever realizing the great divide in sections of our society. My job is to help them to see the gray. If they learn that everything isn’t necessarily black and white, then I’ve done my job.” The students’ work will also be archived at the ��Vlog��ýLR Center for Arkansas History and Culture located in the Arkansas Studies Institute and displayed in various locations throughout the Promise Neighborhood.

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Department of Art announces newest exhibits

��Vlog��ý Little Rock — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 13:31:14 +0000

The ��Vlog��ýLR Department of Art newest exhibition, “Perception/Reality,” opening in Gallery II of the Fine Arts Building. All objects in the exhibition are constructed out of concrete, a noticeably contradicting material, causing an immediate reaction when interacting or touching the work, according to ��Vlog��ýLR Art Gallery Director and Curator Brad Cushman. “The recent work by Mia Hall is an exploration into the perception a viewer may harbor when encountering certain functional objects,” Cushman said. “A seemingly light and fluffy pillow or a table covered in soft, draped fabric is, upon further investigation, hard and unyielding,” he continued.

David Bailin, Papers, Mixed Media, Drawing, 2013

“Benches topped with stuffed, tufted pillows, ornate picture frames, candlesticks, and crystal chandeliers have been rendered out of this common construction material. The work invites the viewer to contemplate the ideas of perception and the reality presented, which brings the work to life in the moment.” Beginning Oct. 16, a group exhibition featuring studio art and design created by the full and part-time ��Vlog��ýLR faculty in the Department of Art will be displayed during the ��Vlog��ýLR Faculty Biennial in Gallery I.

Joli Livaudais, All That I Love, Mixed Media, 2012 to the Present

Every two years faculty artists are invited to submit one or two works that represent their studio practice. This year, 23 artists are represented, including faculty who have recently retired. Among the faculty represented are: Maribeth Anders, David Bailin, Win Bruhl, Kevin Cate, Gary Cawood, Stephen Cefalo, Taimur Cleary, David Clemons, Tom Clifton, Brad Cushman, Jeffrey Grubbs, Mia Hall, Lali Khalid, Joli Livaudais, Eric Mantle, Catherine McKnight, Carey Roberson, Aj Smith, David Smith, Marjorie Williams-Smith, Rachel Trusty, Michael Warrick, and Emily Wood A variety of studio disciplines are featured in this group exhibition including drawing, printmaking, photography, painting, graphic design, metals, ceramics and various sculptural processes. There will be a reception for the exhibits from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5 with a special announcement at 5:30 p.m. in the galleries. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. For more information, contact ��Vlog��ýLR Gallery Director and Curator Brad Cushman at becushman@ualr.edu or 501.569.8977.

Faculty to represent ��Vlog��ýLR at upcoming Southeastern College Art Conference

��Vlog��ý Little Rock — Thu, 25 Sep 2014 20:07:51 +0000

Several ��Vlog��ýLR faculty will represent the Southeastern College Art Conference (SECAC) Oct. 8 through 11 in Sarasota, Fla., including current SECAC president and ��Vlog��ýLR Professor of Art History Floyd Martin.

Dr. Floyd Martin

SECAC is a national organization of college and university teachers of studio art, art history, and art education, with membership and participation from all parts of the United States. Martin will preside at the board of directors meeting, the awards luncheon, and the membership meeting. In addition, he will participate in the panel titled, “Whence Come We, Where Are We, Whither Are We Going? SECAC’s 70th Meeting,” with remarks on “30 SECAC Meetings: Reflections and Observations.” The meeting will mark the end of Martin’s three-year term as president. For the next three years, he will serve on the board as the organization’s past president. Dr. Laura Amhrein, associate professor of art history at ��Vlog��ýLR, represents Arkansas on the SECAC board of directors. She will co-chair a session on “Sacred Spaces in Pre-Columbian Art.” ��Vlog��ýLR Associate Professor of Art Kevin Cates will host the session “Is Graphic Design Fine Art? Does It Matter?” and ��Vlog��ýLR Professor of Art Jane Brown, a former board member, will also attend the meeting.

��Vlog��ýLR artist named among 2014’s “Arkansas Visionaries”

��Vlog��ý Little Rock — Fri, 12 Sep 2014 19:53:28 +0000

David Bailin, a ��Vlog��ýLR adjunct professor in the Department of Art, was recently named among several 2014 “Arkansas Visionaries” in the Aug. 28 issue of Arkansas Times. The publication described Bailin as a “cerebral artist whose drawings are narrative works that reflect an evolution of his ideas in archetypical form.” The article detailed the constant revisions Bailin undergoes to achieve perfection in each of his works. The article quotes Bailin as saying his studio has never been his friend, but if the process was all smooth sailing, he’d be “making wallpaper.” Bailin’s next project is about memory and senility. His recent show at the ��Vlog��ýLR art galleries included several large-scale narrative works focused on an isolated male figure in an office space, executed on a heavyweight-prepared paper in charcoal and coffee. Bailin has a master of arts degree from Hunter College in New York City  and a bachelor of fine arts degree in painting from the University of Boulder in Boulder, Colo. He moved to Arkansas in 1986 with his wife, Amy Stewart.

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

����Vlog��ýLR announces new visual arts building: Second largest gift in university history