Young Arkansas Artists exhibit to run through July 24

The 55th Young Arkansas Artists (YAA) Exhibit will run through July 24 at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock, presenting more than 600 works in a wide variety of media, including drawings, paintings, prints, photographs, collages, crafts and sculptures. The showcased artwork is exclusively from Arkansas students from kindergarten through grade 12.

Works are juried by a professional panel that includes professional artists, collectors, and art educators, and a chief juror selects a “Best of Class” and two “Honorable Mentions” for each grade. Monetary awards will be provided to each winner’s school.

Each year, selections from the exhibition travel to schools and other venues throughout the state as part of the Arkansas Arts Center’s State Services program, which is made possible in part by a grant from the Department of Arkansas Heritage, funded by a 1/8-cent conservation tax, Amendment 75.

Financial awards are sponsored by Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Fine Arts Club of Arkansas, and Mid-Southern Watercolorists.

The Arkansas Arts Center was founded in 1960 with the mission to develop, preserve and exhibit its outstanding permanent collection, while offering a variety of art from other collections and presenting programs for the education and cultural benefit of the public. The YAA began one year later in 1961.