‘Abstract Visions’ come to UAFS at Second Street

by The City Wire staff ([email protected]) 97 views 

The University of Arkansas at Fort Smith has scheduled an Aug. 27 reception and art talk for “Abstract Visions,” an exhibit at UAFS at Second Street, 101 N. 2nd St.

The 5 to 6:30 p.m. event, sponsored by the Chancellor’s Coalition for the Visual Arts, will include remarks by all six photographers with work hanging for the exhibit — J.P. Bell, Steve Jones, Michael Leonard, Larry Millican, Henry Rinne and Ray Wallace. Each photographer will speak about his work and his approach to the art of photography.

The 29 photographs on display cover a range of topics and subjects, from a scene at the Louvre in Paris, France, to well-known personalities, to a kayak on Lake Michigan.

Wallace, provost and senior vice chancellor at UAFS, said his black-and-white images are his artistic endeavors at painting with light, “arriving hopefully at another perspective than that of the sensibleness in front of the lens.”

“For me,” Wallace said, “photography has always been about the abstract journey from an otherwise authorized world.”

Bell, formerly of Fort Smith and now of Fayetteville, said his prints in the exhibit come from a larger series which featured musicians who played at the former Second Street Live. Second Street Live still exists as an organization, even though UAFS purchased the building and is now calling it UAFS at Second Street.

“A print of the late Dick Renko, music agent and founding director of Second Street Live, is also included in this series,” said Bell. “As Second Street Live came into being, Dick invited me to photograph the nationally-known performers appearing at this small venue theatre. He introduced me to a new kind of image making, as I met and photographed a wide variety of musicians.”

Bell said Renko lured him away from the world of landscapes to the drama and emotion of people making music.

“I can hardly go to a concert these days without wanting to sit on the front row with camera in hand,” said Bell, who still maintains a gallery in Van Buren.

Millican, who is primarily a nature photographer, has taught photography classes at Bedford Camera and Video, where he is employed. He said he enjoys helping others to learn to share their photographic vision.

“My photographic goal is to capture a moment in time in such a way that the viewer will appreciate the world we live in,” said Millican.

The exhibit is in the main gallery at UAFS at Second Street and will hang through the end of September. With the exception of the Aug. 27 event, the exhibit is only available for viewing when the facility is open for events scheduled there.