Texarkana Entertainment Blog

Two new exhibits are opening up right here in Texarkana.

Just opened is the Four States Regional Art Club’s annual show, and for the second year in a row the exhibit makes its home at TAMU-T’s Bringle Lake campus. The exhibit is situated inside the John F. Moss Library on the third floor of the new University Center, a space which is proving to be an attractive one for art. About 50 works from several club members are featured in this year’s rendition, covering a range of themes, mediums and styles. There’s no thematic rubric for this year’s show, but there is an unmistakable emphasis on natural settings. The exhibit will be displayed until Dec. 9. Check out our story about it on the Accent page in tomorrow’s edition of the Gazette.

In the pipeline to open soon (Nov. 8th) is the annual “Small Works on Paper” exhibit at the Regional Arts Center, which year in and year out presents a range of interesting works organized by the Arkansas Arts Council. This is the exhibit’s twenty-fourth year, and Texarkana is the final stop for this year’s exhibition. Work featured is small (no bigger than two feet by two fee), created by Arkansas artists (ones found on the Arkansas Arts Registry) and selected by a juror from outside the state, according to info from the folks at the Arkansas Arts Council. A total of 39 pieces comprise this year’s exhibition. Check out one example below and, better yet, go see it in person when the exhibit opens. Art: best seen in person. And the admission at either location? Free.

- Aaron Brand

North Little Rock artist Brian Cormack’s “Route 66 in Newkirk, N.M.,” is one of the featured pieces in the 2011 "Small Works on Paper" touring exhibition on display Nov. 8-26 in Texarkana.

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Saturday morning there will be a reception for the Texarkana Regional Arts and Humanities Council’s 23rd Annual Adult Regional Juried Exhibition with a ceremony and announcement of winners ’round noon. Like local art? Check it out and meet some local artists.

I visited the gallery space today and enjoyed much of the work. There are great pieces by familiar faces like Cindy Holmes, Carol Flori, Polly Cook, Nicole Brisco and others, plus some new artists in there, as well. At just under 50 works displayed on the first and second floors at the Regional Arts Center, it’s a little scaled back from other regional juried shows I have seen at the RAC, but there is great depth and quality to be found. For one thing, I’m always amazed at the quality of light in Carol Flori’s pieces. We’ll have an advance story next week; if you like local art, you should get down and see the exhibit. It’s there until Aug. 20.

- Aaron Brand

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I’m catching up on a couple news and notes items that I’ve meant to jot down here on the blog.

Klipsch will continue its Klipsch Music Festival held in conjunction with its annual pilgrimage tour for Klipsch speaker fans. This year’s second annual music fest on Saturday, June 11, has five bands set to play, according to the festival Website, with an emphasis on country, rock and blues. Jason Helms Band, Liquid Kitty, Hazy Jayne, The Night Hawk Band and Black Water are tapped to perform. Helms and Hazy both played the festival last year. Free is the exact price of admission and the public is invited to come on out to Fair Park in Hope, Ark., to enjoy the festivities. Live music kicks off at 3 p.m. and the stage show runs until around midnight. It’s all ages. Bring a lawn chair or blanket for cozy seating.

The 19th Annual Juried Student Art Exhibit kicks off this Saturday at the Regional Arts Center with a noon reception. The exhibit runs through June 11 and shows off the many artistic talents and visions of young, local artists in the schools. I think year in and year out, to be honest, the kids give their elders a run for their money at this show (which is typically followed by the adult juried show exhibition). Sometimes kids have an imagination more unbridled than their adult counterparts, making for some interesting art. Check it out if you can.

- Aaron Brand

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TRAHC’s reader’s theater event,”Voices of Freedom: Overcoming Barriers,” is coming up Thursday with a performance starting at 6 p.m. at the Regional Arts Center downtown. Six historically significant and fascinating Americans will be explored in dramatic monologue fashion. They are baseball player Jackie Robinson, singer Lena Horne, civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks, educator Mary McLeod Bethune, author James Weldon Johnson and sculptress Edmonia Lewis. What a collection of great people! I’ve been able to see two of the performances so far and TRAHC’s African American committee has impressed me each time. The crew of amateur actors and actresses puts their heart and soul into this more casual theatrical entertainment, and the focus is on the words, the storytelling and the power behind them. If you can catch it, go see it; I highly recommend it.

- Aaron Brand

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Watercolors have an image issue—well, probably that’s more with me than with others. Usually when I think of watercolors, in my mind’s eye I think of light and airy landscapes, paintings where you can feel how the sweet breeze and sunshine poured over the canvas. Pleasant stuff.

There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, and that art has its place in the world, but a new exhibit at the Regional Arts Center, I believe, shows the diversity possible in watercolor works. Culled from an impressive collection at the Arkansas Arts Center, these 24 pieces include a healthy share of landscapes, but even there included in the exhibit is an interesting array of techniques and approaches, from the warm, organic and earthy feel of “Headin’ West” to the more realistic “Whitaker Hollow.” Other works too, such as “Nude Resting” and a few portraits, underscore the subtle diversity to be found in watercolors. It’s an excellent exhibit and just opened at the RAC, where it will be displayed through May 7. Check out our Friday Accent piece about it: Watercolors at RAC.

Also coming up at the RAC: next Thursday’s Occasional Thursday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. brings the wine out. Los Pinos Ranch Vineyard of Pittsburg, Texas, will be on hand to give tastes of their wines—Sangiovese, Grand Reserve, Pinky Tuscadero and others. Women for the Arts provide the wine pairings, and you can even get down and make some of your own art in the basement. Like all Occasional Thursday events, it’s free and open to the public. More info: 903-792-8681.

- Aaron Brand

Submitted photo. “Boy with Gull,” a watercolor by Hugh Gumpel, is one of the works on display at the Regional Arts Center in Texarkana. The painting is from the Arkansas Arts Center Foundation Collection.

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Texarkana usually has a few youth whose artistic talents shine in the “Young Arkansas Artists” exhibition organized by the Arkansas Arts Center each year.

This year three Arkansas High School students get the honors as honorable mentions in the exhibition, according to an Arkansas Arts Center press release out today. They are ninth grader Brandon Edwards for the piece “Sarah,” tenth grader Carli Hemperly for art titled “Behind the Mask,” and twelfth grader José Diaz for the work “Wisdom with Age.”

All three were selected as one of two statewide “honorable mention” winners for their grade level by judge Blaine Caldwell (a University of the Ozarks art professor), which is quite an honor.

Works are on display at the “Young Arkansas Artists 50th Annual Exhibition” starting Tuesday. The exhibit, which features art from youngsters from kindergarten through twelfth grade, runs through April 17 at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock. Typically a selection of works, including local art pieces, comes to the Regional Arts Center as part of a state tour.

Texarkana should be proud of its young artists. Kudos to Brandon, Carli and José.

- Aaron Brand

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Thursday evening’s auction of 23 artistic “chairs” earned more than $2,500 for the Texarkana Regional Arts and Humanities Council’s Arts on Main community art class program for both kids and adults. That’s an average of more than $100 per chair and a nice overall haul for scholarships and supplies the program needs.

Artists reworked a bunch of plain, brown club chairs into things altogether different—beautiful works where people may sit and others completely unique and fantastic simply to see and admire. Sitting in the Regional Arts Center’s Cabe Hall, they made for a colorful crew. Jeff Sandford, chamber of commerce president, served as the quick-witted auctioneer for the night, and for about half the auction the room was absolutely packed. The top money earner was Jerome LeGrand’s “Flowing Steel” (it fetched $400), while People’s Choice awards went to “Enchairted Garden” by Rachel Freeman and Lisa Sloan in 1st place and “Chair-O-Kee” by Cari and Vince Brown and Doris Vaughn in 2nd place. I caught a few pics you can see below.

- Aaron Brand

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Next Thursday’s “CHAIR-ity Bizarre” auctions the artsy chairs the Regional Arts Center has exhibited since early September. About two dozen artistically re-imagined chairs will be auctioned to benefit Arts on Main, where TRAHC conducts art classes for kids and adults. The auction festivities start at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the RAC. It’s free and the public can come on by to watch, bid, and enjoy margaritas and munchies.

The next few days until the auction are also the final ones to check out the exhibit and even take your photo sitting in a chair. Evan Lewis’ project for “The CHAIRS” asks people to take a portrait and send it to trahcchairs@hotmail.com. His chair portraits (and others who’ve taken their photo in a chair) can bee seen at TRAHCChairs.com.

More info on the “CHAIR-ity Bizarre”: call 903-792-8681.

- Aaron Brand

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Got the urge for art? If so, tap it. Just opened in recent weeks and running through August 21 at the Regional Arts Center is the 22nd Annual Adult Regional Juried Exhibition. Typically I really enjoy what I see as the freer energy and more unbound imagination of the Juried Student Art Exhibition, which shows at the RAC before the adult art arrives for the summer, and that was definitely true this year. The adult show this year, though, has a pleasing balance of more traditional work with more experimental forms, all of it technically accomplished and interesting, in my view. It’s a fantastic exhibit. Carol Flori’s “Nancy’s Red Wig” took honors as Best of Show, and she is joined by plenty of other regional artists, including faces new to this annual show. We discussed it in our Accent page coverage last Sunday: Teapot and a Red Wig. Checking it out is well worth your time if you love art and want to see what local imaginations are making.

- Aaron Brand

Meghan Russell looks at a grouping of works by artist Gary Bachers included in the 22nd Annual Adult Juried Exhibition at the Regional Arts Center in this staff photo by Eric J. Shelton.

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Let’s hear it for the youth. I have always been impressed with their level of talent here in Texarkana when it comes to the fine arts, and the 18th Annual Juried Student Exhibition now open at the Regional Arts Center only further displays that talent. The show began last Saturday and among these pieces, ranging from mixed media to photography and from sculpture to paintings, are some hidden gems. There’s something endearing about the unbridled, free energy shown by young artists. It’s an innocent art they make. As juried and judged by Louisiana artist M. Douglas Walton, the awards were distributed well, although Hooks and Pleasant Grove districts took home the most honors. All schools participating showed up with top notch work, however, and the exhibit is available for your viewing pleasure through June 12. Don’t miss it. It will give you hope for the future. See Sunday’s Accent page for the full story.

- Aaron Brand

Treveyun Roberts, 7, studies one of the artworks displayed at the 18th Annual Juried Student Exhibition at the Regional Arts Center. Staff photo by Eric J. Shelton.

Students from various schools show their ribbons and certificates after the 18th Annual Juried Student Exhibition awards ceremony at the Regional Arts Center. Staff photo by Eric J. Shelton.

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