The Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock: 2011-2012 schedule of exhibitions
“This season's exhibition schedule continues the 50th anniversary celebration of the Arkansas Arts Center,” said Executive Director Dr. Todd Herman. “The theme is ‘Your Arkansas Arts Center’ and the exhibitions focus attention on our permanent collection and on traditional exhibitions that highlight the Arts Center's continued outreach into the artistic community such as the Delta Exhibition, Young Arkansas Artists and the National Drawing Invitational.”
In celebration of New York artist Will Barnet’s 100th birthday, the Arkansas Arts Center will present the special exhibition Will Barnet at the Arkansas Arts Center: A Centennial Exhibition. This exhibition will display a vast array of works by Will Barnet from the Arkansas Arts Center collection.
Dr. Herman said, “The Arts Center is very proud to organize the exhibition Will Barnet at the Arkansas Arts Center: A Centennial Exhibition. A centenarian, Will Barnett has experienced and absorbed all the major art movements in American Modern art. Not only was Will Barnet an influential artist in negotiating a transition from figural art to abstraction in the ‘40s and ‘50s, but as a teacher at the Art Students League in New
York, Barnett influenced a number of America's most original modern artists such as Jasper Johns. The Arts Center will display more than 75 drawings given to the AAC by the artist in honor of his long-time friendship with former director Townsend Wolfe.”
Every year, the Arkansas Arts Center holds the Collectors Show & Sale, a favorite of visitors. This annual tradition brings a taste of the New York gallery scene to Little Rock. The show encourages local collecting by presenting a variety of works on paper in all media from more than 20 New York galleries.
“This year will also feature the popular Collector's Show and Sale, now in its 43rd year. After scouring galleries in New York, a selection of works will be brought to Little Rock for display at the Arts Center--and everything is for sale,” stated Dr. Herman. “Given my background in Old Master drawings, look for a few more earlier examples of the draftsman's art in this year's installment as well as contemporary craft and glass works. I hope this exhibition inspires even more people to begin collecting art.”
“This is YOUR Arkansas Arts Center and a treasure for this state. I would encourage those who are seasoned members and visitors to take a moment on your next visit and reacquaint yourself with an old “art friend” or discover something new within these walls—we are always changing. For those who haven’t visited us before, I invite you to experience the wealth of cultural activities the Arts Center offers. Spend a day with us, dine, shop, view art, see a performance—we are free to the public.”
The exhibition schedule features the following exhibitions:
Building the Collection: Art Acquired in the 1980s, Through October 9, 2011
Texting: Selections from the Permanent Collection, Through September 11, 2011
In Search of Norman Rockwell’s America, July 29 – September 18, 2011
Museum School Faculty: Past and Present, September 16 – November 13, 2011
Will Barnet at the Arkansas Arts Center: A Centennial Exhibition, October 7, 2011 – January 15, 2012
Cast, Cut, Forged and Crushed: Selections in Metal from the John and Robyn Horn Collection, October 7 – January 15, 2012
Building the Collection: Lino Tagliapietra, October 21 – January 29, 2011
43rd Collectors Show & Sale, December 2 – 31, 2011
Horizons Interrupted, January 13 – March 11, 2012
Masters of American Watercolor, January 27 – March 28, 2012
54th Annual Delta Exhibition, January 27 – March 28, 2012
Building the Collection: Art in the 1990s, February 10 – May 13, 2012
The New Materiality: Digital Dialogues at the Boundaries of Contemporary Craft, April 13 – August 5, 2012
Dan Massad: Recent Work, April 13 – June 10, 2012
51st Young Arkansas Artists, April 17 – May 27, 2012
National Drawing Invitational, April 20 – July 15, 2012
The Rockefeller Influence, May 25 – August 19, 2012
Arkansas Arts Center programs are supported in part by the City of Little Rock; Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage and the National Endowment for the Arts.
ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER
9th and Commerce / MacArthur Park
Little Rock, Arkansas
Web site: www.arkarts.com
