Arkansas Arts Center takes Delta Exhibition virtual
by June 17, 2020 1:33 pm 396 views
The Arkansas Arts Center will take the programming for the 62nd Annual Delta Exhibition into a virtual space this summer. Following the exhibition’s move to a digital format, virtual programming allows the Arts Center to engage with artists and audiences outside of central Arkansas while maintaining social distancing for the health and safety of participating artists, audiences and staff.
The virtual exhibition and its associated programming is part of the Arts Center’s new digital engagement initiative, “Arkansas Arts Center Amplified,” through which the center is offering engaging art experiences online. The exhibition, organized in collaboration with Historic Arkansas Museum, Thea Foundation, ACANSA Gallery and the Argenta Branch of the William F. Laman Library, will be open for online viewing beginning Friday (June 19), and Delta programming will run through August 23.
“The innovative slate of programming accompanying the 62nd Annual Delta Exhibition delves into work by 63 talented artists exploring what it means to making art in our world today,” Executive Director Victoria Ramirez said. “We look forward to honoring, celebrating, and, most importantly, learning from these artists and the work they have created.”
The exhibition will open with a virtual celebration for Arkansas Arts Center members and Delta artists Thursday (June 18). The event will begin with a conversation between guest juror Stefanie Fedor and Brian Lang, Arkansas Arts Center Chief Curator and Windgate Foundation Curator of Contemporary Craft, about the process of selecting works for the exhibition. Following the conversation, Fedor will announce the grand award winner ($2,500), delta award winners ($750), and the contemporaries award winner ($250).
On select Tuesdays at noon, the Arts Center will host virtual artist talks, studio tours and conversations with Delta artists living and working across the region and the country. The artist talks, hosted on Zoom, are free and open to the public. Those to be featured include Ajamu Kojo of Brooklyn, N.Y. in conversation with Toni Phinisey-Webber from the Central High School National Historic Site, Barbara Satterfield of Conway, Joel Boyd of Little Rock, Joe Morzuch of Starkville, Miss., Louis Watts of Burlington, N.C., Kayla O’Neal of Shongaloo, La. and Sharon Havelka of Memphis. For the full programming schedule and event registration details, visit arkansasartscenter.org/delta.
Delta partner locations – Historic Arkansas Museum, Thea Foundation, ACANSA Gallery and the Argenta Branch of the William F. Laman Library – will also host programming to coincide with Little Rock’s Second Friday Art Nights on July 10 and August 14 and North Little Rock’s Third Friday Art Walks on June 19, July 17 and August 21.
The 62nd Annual Delta Exhibition features 63 artworks selected by guest Juror Stefanie Fedor, Executive Director of the Visual Arts Center of Richmond, Va. Elevating artistic voices from the American South and beyond, the Delta Exhibition addresses identity, place, history, heritage and power. As one of the longest-running and most prestigious juried art exhibitions in the region, the Delta Exhibition represents the Arts Center’s commitment to artists living and working in our community today – and to continuing to grow artistic talent in the region.
Showcasing artists born in or living in Arkansas and its border states, the Annual Delta Exhibition presents a vision of contemporary art in the American South.