‘Art in its Natural State’ exhibit to bring installations to Petit Jean Mountain

The Winthrop Rockefeller Institute is set to launch the “Art in its Natural State” exhibit that organizers hope will become an annual event and the institute director believes will help “elevate the arts community in Arkansas.”

The public, outdoor, temporary art exhibition will launch April 28, at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute and Petit Jean State Park. The exhibition will include 10 installations from artists across the South. The installations are original and were created to be site-specific, enhancing or contrasting the natural beauty of Petit Jean Mountain. Eight of the installations will be on the Institute’s campus, and two will be located in Petit Jean State Park.

“Through this exhibition, the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute is helping to elevate the work of this group of amazing artists,” said Dr. Marta Loyd, executive director of the Institute. “And by collaborating with our distinguished list of partners, we are helping elevate the arts community in Arkansas.”

Activities are planned April 28 to mark the beginning of Art in its Natural State. The festival-type event will be free and open to the public. The artists, who are from Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas, will all be on hand to give artist talks throughout the day.

The event will include exhibits and interactive experiences from other Arkansas arts organizations, including Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art; the Arkansas Arts Center; the Arkansas Arts Council; the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra; the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre; the University of Arkansas School of Art; and the Thea Foundation.

That evening the Institute will host a ticketed reception – $50 per ticket – to provide an opportunity to meet and mingle with the artists and fellow art enthusiasts. The reception will include food and beverages, music from the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra’s Rockefeller Quartet and will culminate in a concert by country/folk artist Bonnie Montgomery.

THE ARTISTS
The 10 art installations, which represents the work of 13 artists, were selected in October by a panel of judges after a call for entry went out to every state in the South. The judges were from Crystal Bridges, the Arkansas Arts Center, the Arkansas Arts Council, the University of Arkansas School of Art, the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism. The eight installations on the Institute’s campus will be on display for one year; the two at the State Park will be on display for at least six months.

Descriptions of the installations are being withheld so the April 28 launch event will include a “reveal” of the artwork. The artists are: Lee and Betty Benson of Jackson, Tenn.; Monica Dixon of Kansas City, Mo.; Russell Lemond of Little Rock, Ark.; Phoebe Lickwar and Laura Terry of Fayetteville, Ark. (collaborating); Marshall Miller of Hot Springs, Ark.; Karina Pais and Edwin Penick of Miami, Fla. (collaborating); Nathan Pierce of Cape Girardeau, Mo.; Heather Joy Puskarich of Houston, Texas; Sabine Schmidt of Fayetteville, Ark.; Don Wilkison of Kansas City, Mo.

Program Officer Payton Christenberry first envisioned the idea of Art in its Natural State after encountering Horizons, a public art competition in the Sancy region of France. He honed the idea by meeting with public art experts in San Francisco and then working with the organizations that then served as the judging panel for Art in its Natural State.

Each artist is being awarded a $5,000 stipend to offset the cost of materials and transportation for their artwork.

“We firmly believe, as Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller did, that investment in the arts raises a state’s quality of life,” said Janet Harris, director of programs for the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute. “We are proud to collaborate with this collection of wonderful organizations to create a unique opportunity for artists and to provide access to art that did not previously exist. This exhibit and event are the first of their kind in Arkansas, and we believe it will give artists and art patrons in other states a reason to look our way and realize that the arts are thriving in the Natural State.”

In 2005, the University of Arkansas System established the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute with a grant from the Winthrop Rockefeller Charitable Trust. Program areas include agriculture, arts and humanities, civic engagement, economic development, and health.