Arkansas artists swept the four top awards at the "58th Annual Delta Exhibition" at the Arkansas Arts Center.
The show's juror, Elizabeth K. Garvey, announced the winners at a lecture and reception for the artists and Arts Center members Thursday evening. Garvey is the director of Garvey/Simon Art Access in New York City and has been a fine art dealer and adviser in New York for more than 20 years.
The exhibition opens to the public today.
Tim Hursley of Little Rock won the Grand Award with a chromagenic print titled Pocahontas, AR, which shows the quirky interior of a storefront. The Grand Award has a prize of $2,500.
David Bailin and Katherine Toler, both of Little Rock, won the show's two Delta Awards, each with a prize of $750.
Bailin, a past Delta and Grand Award winner, was honored for LAMP, a charcoal, pastel and coffee on prepared paper. Toler's mixed media installation is titled Hush/Flux.
Lawrence McElroy of Alexander won the Contemporaries' Delta Award and its $250 prize for his oil on canvas, Portrait of Gabriel Sword. Contemporaries is an Arts Center auxiliary membership group.
Honorable mentions were awarded to Julie Brook Alexander of Houston; Pokey Alrutz of Springfield, Mo.; Michael Elliott-Smith of Alexandria, La.; Paula Kovarik of Memphis; and Mark Lewis of Tulsa. Lewis won the Delta's Grand Award last year.
Garvey selected 52 works out of more than 1,000 entries from 457 artists. Works by 30 artists, including 19 from Arkansas, make up the exhibition.
The Delta exhibition is a regional showcase of artists of the Delta region, including Arkansas and nearby states.
Sponsors include Isabel and John Ed Anthony, Lisenne Rockefeller, Bank of the Ozarks, Capital Hotel, Delta Regional Authority/Delta Leadership Institute, JPMS Cox PLLC, Dianne and Bobby Tucker, AAC Contemporaries, Munro Foundation, Bill and Kay Patton and Terri and David Snowden.
The Grand Award is supported by the Andre Simon Memorial Trust in memory of those who have died of AIDS.
The exhibition continues through Aug. 28 at the Arkansas Arts Center, Ninth and Commerce streets, Little Rock. More information is available at arkansasartscenter.org or by calling (501) 372-4000.
Metro on 06/10/2016