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

��Vlog��ý Little Rock to host African American art exhibit

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 19 Dec 2018 14:55:16 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will present an art show featuring art created by black artists from the mid 1800s to the present. “On Their Own Terms” will be showcased in Brad Cushman Gallery and the Small Gallery in the Windgate Center of Art and Design on the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock campus from Jan. 17 to March 10. A reception for the exhibit will be held from 5-7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1, in the Windgate Center. A conversation with art collector Juan Rodriguez and gallery owner Garbo Hearne will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 5. The exhibit activates a narrative between art created in the 19th century by notable artists Robert Scott Duncanson, Edward Mitchell Bannister, Charles Ethan Porter, and Henry Ossawa Tanner with art created by modern and contemporary artists. The exhibition examines how artists influence each other directly and indirectly. During the 2019 spring semester, Dr. Lynne Larsen, assistant professor of art history, will teach an art history seminar course on African-American art focusing on the works in the exhibit. The exhibition was curated by ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Art Gallery Director Brad Cushman. Additional artists with work in the show include Delita Martin, James Phillips, Joyce Scott, Lorna Simpson, Whitfield Lovell, David Driskell, Robert Pruitt, AJ Smith, Alfred Conteh, Deborah Roberts, Herbert Gentry, Aminah Robinson, Bisa Butler, Ron Adams, Bessie Harvey, Benny Andrews, Elizabeth Catlett, Kerry James Michael, Vicki Meek, Zoe Charlton, Sam Gilliam, Henry Tanner, Mikalene Thomas, Phoebe Beasley, Marjorie Williams-Smith, Romare Bearden, Caitlin Cherry, Kara Walker, David Clemons, Amy Sherald, Kehinde Wiley, Justin Bryant, and Reverend George Kornegay. The 19th century painters are part of the Juan Rodriguez Collection, and Hearne Fine Art is facilitating this loan. Modern and contemporary works are on loan from Darrell and Lisa Walker, Karen and CJ Duvall, Karen and Kevin Cole, Pamela and Anthony Vance, Dr. Imani Perry, Pierrette Van Cleve, other private collections, individual artists, the Arkansas Arts Center, and the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Permanent Collection. The exhibit and events are 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. For more information, contact Cushman at becushman@ualr.edu or 501-916-5103. In the upper right photo, Kerry James Marshall’s 1994 crayon and charcoal piece, “Study for Supermodel #2,” is on loan from the Arkansas Arts Center and will be showcased in the “On Their Own Terms” show.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock to host underwater photography exhibit exploring Mexican legends

Ajani Oyindamola — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 14:02:05 +0000

A new art exhibit at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock will display a series of underwater photographs inspired by traditional Mexican legends and culture. In partnership with the Consulate of Mexico in Little Rock, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock will display photographs by Mexican artist Mauricio Silerio from Aug. 15 to Sept. 20 in the Maners/Pappas Gallery in the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Fine Arts Building. The exhibit – titled “Los demonios de mi tierra” or “Demons of This Land” – is a collection of 20 underwater photographs exploring traditional Mexican legends. The artist explores universal concepts that can be understood by any spectator, even if they do not have a profound knowledge of Mexican culture. “Every moment of life is a step closer to the destruction and disappearance and so every moment is a moment of lack of proximity to the infinite being,” Silerio said. Silerio was born in Queretaro, Mexico, in 1979. He has studied diverse courses in painting, drawing, engraving, writing and photography in different institutes of the state of Guanajuato and Romania. He has held more than 50 individual exhibits in Mexico, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Serbia, Cuba, U.S. and Costa Rica, in addition to more than 45 collective exhibits in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Canada, Cuba, Malaysia and Romania. The exhibit is free and open to the public. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and closed university holidays. For more information, contact Gallery Director Brad Cushman at 501-916-5103 or becushman@ualr.edu. The upper right photo shows Mauricio Silerio’s 2015 piece, “Circulos de vida” or “Circles of Life,” from his “Demons of This Land” collection.

New gallery exhibit explores oppression of the people of Southeast Asia

Ajani Oyindamola — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 13:52:42 +0000

A new gallery exhibit on display at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock hosts artwork exploring the moral and political oppression of people living in Southeast Asia and India. The exhibit, “Memory/Commitment/Aspiration,” features work from The Pierrette Van Cleve Collection and is on display in the Brad Cushman Gallery in the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Windgate Center of Art and Design from Aug. 1 to Sept. 28. The exhibit will also serve as a backdrop for a new art history course, Global Contemporary Art, being offered this fall by the Department of Art and Design. Art collector Pierrette Van Cleve has traveled throughout Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Tibet, China, and India, establishing personal relationships with artists in these countries. As a collector, Van Cleve is drawn to stories about freedom, equality, and fights for justice. Memory, commitment, and aspiration fuel these defiant and powerful artistic voices. The conditions of life these artists have survived and experienced and what they hope to obtain in the future are hallmarks of their creative output. A reception for the exhibit will be held in the Windgate Center of Art and Design lobby and galleries from 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 5. Van Cleve also will give talks on the exhibit at 12:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 4, and Thursday, Sept. 6, in room 101 of the Windgate Center. Artists with work on display in the exhibit include You Khin, Leang Seckon, Prom Vichet, Oeur Sokuntevy, Anida Yoeu Ali, Linda Saphan, Amy Lee Sanford, Surjit Akre, Shaw Ghosh, Preyawit Nilachulaka, Liu Yan, Xiong Lijun, Jiang Jung, H.M. Thang, and Phan Thahn Minh. The exhibit is free and open to the public. The gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and closed on university holidays. After Labor Day, the gallery will also be open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday and 2-5 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, contact Gallery Director Brad Cushman at 501-916-5103 or becushman@ualr.edu. In the upper right photo, Leang Seckon’s 1974 piece “Sun” was created using mixed media, photos, advertisements, acrylic paint, and stitching.

Artist creates unique installation at Windgate Center of Art and Design

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 08 Aug 2018 13:37:44 +0000

Artist Jowita Wyszomirska has transformed the Small Gallery in the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Windgate Center of Art and Design with an installation called “Water Memory.” The installation will be on display from Aug. 1 to Sept. 28. A reception for the exhibit will be held in the Windgate Center of Art and Design lobby and galleries from 5-7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018. Wyszomirska will give an artist talk about her installation at 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 28, in the Windgate Center room 101. After participating in the Wrangell artist residency in McCarthy, Alaska, in 2017, Wyszomirska was inspired to create the installation to remind her of the beautiful landscape of the national parks and glaciers she saw in Alaska. “Water Memory” includes nine-foot-tall drawings on mylar and other mixed media with glass containers at the foot of the drawings containing water from the Arkansas River. A native of Poland, Wyszomirska immigrated with her family to Chicago in the early 1990s. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Illinois State University and her Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Maryland, College Park. With an interdisciplinary approach to drawing, and projects ranging from site-specific installations to video experimentations, she expands beyond the two-dimensional surface to explore edges of tangible and intangible of what cannot be seen with a naked eye. Wyszomirska’s work has been shown in exhibitions at the Baltimore Museum of Art, the VisArts in Rockville, Maryland, the Foundry Art Centre in St. Charles, Missouri, and the Maryland Institute of Art in Baltimore, among others. Wyszomirska has completed numerous residencies, including the Soaring Gardens Residency in Meshoppen, Pennsylvania, Jentel Foundation in Wyoming, Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts in Nebraska, and the International School of Painting, Drawing and Sculpture in Umbria, Italy. She is also a 2014 recipient of the Board of Governor’s Award from the William G. Baker Jr. Memorial Fund. The exhibit is free and open to the public. The galleries are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and closed on university holidays. After Labor Day, the galleries will also be open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday and 2-5 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, contact Gallery Director Brad Cushman at 501-916-5103 or becushman@ualr.edu. In the upper right photo, Jowita Wyszomirska’s installation “Water Memory” is on display in the Small Gallery at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Wingate Center. Photo by Ben Krain.

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.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Annual Student Competitive on display March 26 to April 15

Ajani Oyindamola — Tue, 20 Mar 2018 16:08:37 +0000

University of Arkansas at Little Rock art and design students will show off the best of their work during the Annual Student Competitive art show on display in the Brad Cushman Gallery in the Windgate Center of Art + Design from March 26 to April 15. The winners of the competition will be announced during an awards reception at 12:15 p.m. Tuesday, March 27, at the Windgate Center of Art + Design lobby. Joshua Brinlee, assistant professor of art at the University of Mississippi, will serve as the competition’s juror. The exhibition includes drawing, paintings, prints, graphic design, photography, illustrations, textiles, metals, sculptures, ceramics, and furniture. The ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Art Gallery, which is free and open to the public, is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays, and 1-5 p.m. on Sundays. For more information, contact Gallery Director Brad Bushman at becushman@ualr.edu or 501-916-5103. In the upper right photo, Alecia Walls-Barton, a fall 2017 graduate of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, shows off her art pieces on display.

Donors pledge nearly $500k for art and design scholarships

Ajani Oyindamola — Thu, 23 Feb 2017 19:41:14 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock has raised nearly $500,000 for endowed scholarship funds for art and design students. Tom Clifton, dean of the College of Arts, Letters, and Sciences, announced the scholarship campaign progress during a Feb. 23 topping out ceremony at the site of the future Windgate Center of Art + Design, located on the northeast corner of campus off 28th Street near Fair Park and Boulevard. “The Windgate Center is the culmination of a 22-year relationship with the Windgate Foundation,” Clifton said. “As our commitment, the university has promised to raise $3 million in scholarships for students attending this art school.” Construction is 25 percent complete on the new state-of-the-art educational facility scheduled to be completed in November and open Jan. 8, 2018. The new center is funded by a $20.3 million gift from the Windgate Charitable Foundation. After the new building was announced, the university launched a $3 million endowed scholarship campaign to make art and design education more affordable to students. During the ceremony, Nabholz construction officials raised a 400-pound beam — signed by Robyn Horn of the Windgate Charitable Foundation, Chancellor Andrew Rogerson and his wife, Janessa, as well as donors and art faculty — to the top floor of the Windgate Center. The American and Arkansas flags as well as a ceremonial tree lie on top of the beam.

Nabholz construction officials raise a 400-pound beam to the top floor of the Windgate Center on Feb. 23. Photo by Lonnie Timmons III/��Vlog��ý Little Rock Communications.

The Windgate Center shows the university’s commitment to providing a high-quality and affordable educational experience for art and design students in central Arkansas. “Current studies are showing that creative industries account for about one in six jobs,” Rogerson said. “It’s imperative that we include liberal arts as an equally valuable education component. Today, employers are seeking students with an arts and design background. They have the skills for a creative workforce, and employers value abilities in communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and problem solving.” In addition to educational programs in art and design, the Windgate Center will provide non-credit classes open to the community as well as art exhibitions, workshops, and lectures. The Windgate Center will become a premier gathering place for the arts in Little Rock. The ceremony was broadcast live on Facebook and a replay can be viewed at . Contact the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Office of Alumni and Development at 501-569-8326 or visit to support art and design scholarship at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. In the upper right photo, donors, art faculty, and administrators sign the beam that marks the highest point of the Windgate Center of Art + Design at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Pictured, from left to right, are Win Bruhl, Deborah Baldwin, Belinda Schultz, Janessa Rogerson, and Anne Mourning. Photo by Lonnie Timmons III/��Vlog��ý Little Rock Communications.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock to announce scholarships for art and design students

Ajani Oyindamola — Thu, 16 Feb 2017 21:35:34 +0000

Feb. 23 topping out ceremony will be broadcast on Facebook Live

Next week, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock will announce a significant total of donations raised for endowed scholarship funds that will make quality art and design education attainable for more ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students. The scholarship campaign update will be announced at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 23, during a topping out ceremony on the construction site of the new Windgate Center of Art + Design, located on the northeast corner of the campus. The brief ceremony will be streamed on Facebook Live as construction crews will raise the center’s highest beam on the 64,000-square-foot building. The beam will bear signatures of scholarship donors, art faculty, and others, and display the American and Arkansas flags and a ceremonial live tree. According to an , the tree celebrates a safe construction site, expresses hope for the completion of the building, and blesses the building and its future occupants. The public is invited to attend the ceremony, view the ceremony live on , or watch the video at a later time. Parking is available in Lot 15, off 28th Street near Fair Park Boulevard. Viewers will hear from Chancellor Andrew Rogerson and Tom Clifton, dean of the College of Arts, Letters, and Sciences, among others, who will describe educational and community opportunities at the center and an update on scholarships.

Construction is 25 percent complete on the new state-of-the-art educational facility scheduled to open Jan. 8, 2018. The new center is funded by a $20.3 million gift from the Windgate Charitable Foundation. After the new building was announced, the university launched a $3 million endowed scholarship campaign to make art and design education more affordable to students.

Drawing of the new Windgate Center of Art + Design

��Vlog��ýLR graduate: The secret of my success

��Vlog��ý Little Rock — Wed, 12 Oct 2016 14:34:34 +0000

Laura Raborn, who recently earned her Master of Arts with a focus on painting from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, shares how her ��Vlog��ýLR education helped her live out her dreams as a successful artist. I’ve always been an artist, but I knew my mediocrity could not sustain an art career. After waiting almost 20 years to return to school, I finally enrolled in figure drawing at ��Vlog��ýLR and was immediately hooked. During those post baccalaureate classes, Marjorie Williams Smith advised me. In her calm, dedicated manner, she explained the process of applying to the graduate program. I worried that working part time to pay for school and being a parent of two young daughters would make graduate school an unbearable challenge. But it became a great joy. The harder I worked and the more passionate I became, the more the faculty helped make my dream come true. I earned my Master of Arts with a focus on painting two years ago. Now, I have a commission portrait business, gallery representation, teach mixed media workshops at the Arkansas Arts Center, and write an art blog about museums and exhibits all over the world. None of this would be possible without the classes and professors at ��Vlog��ýLR. Admittedly, I chose this school based solely on location. It is the university right down the road. Little did I know that it would soon exceed my expectations and become the school I would have hoped for anywhere. Convenience was just the beginning on a long list of qualities that surfaced during my time here. People place value on all sorts of things: money, appearance, power. But for me, time is the ultimate gift. How we spend our time, day after day, week after week, and year after year, defines us. How we spend time carves our paths, and for some, leaves a mark for the history books, or perhaps the art history books. If I could capture my ��Vlog��ýLR experience in a couple of sentences, I suppose I would say this: I knew every single minute spent at ��Vlog��ýLR was one of great value. My every second in classrooms here helped me grow. Not a moment was wasted. There really is no better compliment. I had professors like David Clemons and David Bailin question my intent constantly, pushing me to learn and develop. Their questions were not rote. They were customized specifically for my work, my strengths, and my weaknesses. Eric Mantle again and again used my personal quirks, such as my love of desserts, to come up with the perfect metaphors, so I would frequently have that “ah-ha” moment in the studio. Mia Hall advised me many times in her office, and I wasn’t even one of her students! She suggested competitions, exhibitions, and books to help build my career. She did not have to do this. When an organization employs talented, knowledgeable people who care, who engage, who truly make a positive impact on students, what more can you want? Well, I suppose there is something … a facility to match the level of excellence that has existed for years within the art program. The new facility will provide crucial components to a strong arts program: such as spaces for studios, for storage and for meetings like critiques. Some of the most valuable critiques came from professors working in a variety of mediums and art departments. But I was not located near many of these professors. My time with other students was limited — also due to a lack of workspace. Hauling artwork to the critique site was not simply strenuous, but also impractical and sometimes prohibitive. I see the new facility boosting student productivity, teacher effectiveness, overall participation, communication and interaction to skyrocket in one new home. With areas of the world in turmoil and with a lack of education in many places, we can maintain a deep gratefulness for the opportunity to learn, and we can give thanks for this campus by celebrating every new opportunity that arises. Thank you for allowing me to share my ��Vlog��ýLR experience with you.

��Vlog��ýLR to break ground on new visual arts building

Ajani Oyindamola — Fri, 07 Oct 2016 17:41:51 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will break ground on a new visual arts building funded by a $20.3 million grant from the Windgate Charitable Foundation on Tuesday, Oct. 11. ��Vlog��ýLR students, employees, alumni, friends and members of the community are invited to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Windgate Center of Art + Design. The ceremony will take place at 10:45 a.m. in parking lot 15 near the intersection of 28th Street and East Campus Drive. In the event of rain, the celebration will be held in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall in the ��Vlog��ýLR Fine Arts Building. The 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. Speakers include Tom Clifton, interim dean of the College of Arts, Letters, and Sciences, Chancellor Andrew Rogerson, Laura Raborn, a ��Vlog��ýLR graduate and Little Rock artist, and Christian O’Neal, vice chancellor of advancement.

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

����Vlog��ý Little Rock to host African American art exhibit

����Vlog��ý Little Rock to host underwater photography exhibit exploring Mexican legends