Area students show works in Young Arkansas Artists exhibit

A group of students from the Smithzonian Art Center in Arkadelphia won a Best of Class award for a mixed-media piece, Happy Bird-Day! The students include Sara Stockslager, from left, Kelsey Boyles, Georgia Stockton, Lauren White, Alli Arnold and Allison Blakely.
A group of students from the Smithzonian Art Center in Arkadelphia won a Best of Class award for a mixed-media piece, Happy Bird-Day! The students include Sara Stockslager, from left, Kelsey Boyles, Georgia Stockton, Lauren White, Alli Arnold and Allison Blakely.

Several young artists from the Tri-Lakes Edition coverage area have their work on display in the 55th Young Arkansas Artists exhibition at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock.

The exhibit will be on display through July 24 in the Alice Pratt Brown Atrium and the Sam Strauss Sr. Gallery.

“We at the Arkansas Arts Center strive to promote quality arts-education initiatives and achievement in the visual arts,” said Todd Herman, Arkansas Arts Center executive director. “Through the Young Arkansas Artists exhibition, we are offering a platform to celebrate artwork created by our young Arkansans and are helping to empower them to express themselves in a positive way.”

This annual art exhibition showcases artwork by Arkansas students, from kindergarten through the 12th grade. This year, 157 teachers or instructors from 161 schools submitted 525 works in a variety of media. A jury of art professionals selected 105 works for the exhibition, representing 63 schools across the state. The award structure was changed this year to include one Teacher’s Choice Award per grade level, selected by current Arkansas Art Educators Association members.

Tom Clifton, art department chair and professor of illustration and drawing at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, served as the grand juror. Clifton was responsible for selecting one Best of Class and two honorable mention awards for each grade. A second guest juror, Debbie Poe of North Little Rock, a retired art educator of 34 years, selected recipients of the Mid-Southern Watercolorists Award for Achievement in Watercolor and the Ray Smenner Award for Achievement in Painting.

Each winning artist’s school receives a monetary award to support the school’s art program. Selected works from the exhibition travel to schools and other venues around the state as part of the Arkansas Arts Center’s State Services Program.

The young artists were recognized at a Family Festival and Awards Ceremony on May 7.

Local students with works in the show and their respective schools include the following:

Bryant Middle School

Sixth-grader Aidan Russell’s accepted piece was made with a marker and titled California Coastline.

Howard Perrin Elementary School, Benton

Kindergartner Lily Boyette has an oil pastel and tempera piece, Fox in the Winter, in the show.

First-grader Zackari McKinzie won an honorable mention with an oil pastel and tempera work titled Sunflowers.

Fifth-grader Savanna Harrison’s accepted work is a charcoal piece called Three Pears.

Pine Haven Elementary School, Bauxite

First-grader Isabella Acosta has a watercolor titled Blue Dog in the show.

Smithzonian Art Center, Arkadelphia

A third-grade group project — a mixed-media piece titled Happy Bird-Day! — won Best of Class. Participants include Alli Arnold, Allison Blakely, Kelsey Boyles, Sara Stockslager, Georgia Stockton and Lauren White.

The Arkansas Arts Center is at Ninth and Commerce streets in Little Rock. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays. The center is closed Mondays and major holidays. There is no admission charge.

For more information, call (501) 372-4000 or visit www.arkarts.com.

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