Last September, the building was unveiled. Now, one year later, the artwork will be displayed for all to enjoy.
The Donald W. Reynolds Campus and Community Center at Southern Arkansas University, Magnolia, opened to the public in September 2004. Since that time, five regional artists have been busy creating works that will be displayed throughout the facility.
Everyone is invited to attend a special “Southern Arkansas Evening” art exhibit and show to be held from 7 to 9 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 17, at the Reynolds Center located on the University campus.
This exhibition will include pieces of art to be distributed throughout the Reynolds Center. Other pieces of work from the various artists will also be on display. Music will be provided by the SAU Department of Music, and heavy hors d’oeuvres will be served.
Featured artists include Ann Downs, Dennis McCann, Carey Roberson, Jason Scull, and Jody Stephenson.
Downs is a native of Magnolia and finds excitement and challenge in seeking to express the essence of a subject or the emotion it evokes. She is a signature member of Mid-Southern Watercolorists. She uses a wide variety of media, as well as styles, to express herself. From watercolor on paper and oils on canvas, to acrylic and enamel on folding wooden screens and furniture, she has explored both the traditional and the eclectic.
Dennis McCann is a life-time resident of Arkansas and he tries to reflect the uniqueness of the landscape in his artwork. He has achieved considerable recognition as a regional artist, having had his work accepted in 139 regional and national juried exhibitions, where he has won 33 awards. He has had 12 one-man exhibitions and is included 83 private and corporate collections.
Roberson has been a freelance photographer since 1992. He earned his B.F.A. in studio art from Henderson State University and his M.F.A. in photography from Louisiana Tech University. He currently serves as an assistant professor of art-photography at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Roberson has had several exhibitions and earned various awards for his work.
Scull’s work can be found in public, private, and corporate art collections across the United States, Canada, and Great Britain and has been shown in galleries in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas. His dream of becoming a professional sculptor became strong enough that he made the decision to pursue art as a full-time vocation, and he has never turned back.
Jody Stephenson has been painting for 30 years and has won numerous awards. She earned her B.A. in art history from Kansas University and has done post-graduate work at Central Missouri State, the University of Iowa, the University of Arkansas, and Loveland Academy of Fine Arts. She also taught at the Eureka Springs School of the Arts and the Chilson City Center in Loveland, Colo., and private classes in studio.
After enjoying the artists’ work in the Reynolds Center, everyone is encouraged to visit the exhibition “Printmaking from the French Avant-Garde: Selections from the Arkansas Arts Center Foundation Collection,” located in the Brinson Fine Arts building.
This group of 19 prints shows a cross-section of printmaking from the Paris area. Most of the prints are from the late 19th and early 20th century, with a number of them dating to the late 18th century.
“We are fortunate to be able to have works displayed on our campus from some of art’s great masters,” said Doug Waterfield, chair of the Department and assistant professor of art.
Included in the exhibit are works from Eugene Delacroix, Marc Chagall, Andre Derain, Fernand Leger, Georges Roualt, and a couple of pieces from Pablo Picasso and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
For more information regarding the art exhibit and show, call 870-235-4001.
