Marking three decades of excellence, the Texarkana Regional Arts and Humanities Council opens the 30th annual Juried Exhibition today with a reception.
Held from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. tonight, the opening reception will introduce 103 accepted entries of artwork from 76 artists, 21 from the local area. In all, 98 artists from 19 states submitted 332 entries for this show, which has grown in national reach in recent years.
This year's show was juried by Sean FitzGibbons, director of the Meadows Museum at Centenary College of Louisiana, who will speak tonight. A total of $3,750 in prizes will be given. The public is invited to attend and business attire is requested.
Amy Donohoe, the outgoing director of visual arts and community programs at TRAHC, has been pleased to see the event grow into a national one over the past five-and-a-half years.
"With national artists now entering year after year, TRAHC's juried art competition is starting to make a place for itself on the national stage. However, the quality of the Texarkana-area artists continues to shine through even at a national level, highlighting the immense amount of talent we have in this community," Donohoe said.
Trends she saw in this year's entries include surreal landscapes, conceptual sculptures and a variety of portraits. The art at this year's show ranges from paintings to mixed media and sculptures to watercolors.
"I was impressed by the craftsmanship of the work as well as the willingness to revisit traditional methods and subjects while pushing back on preconceived notions of what art should be," Donohoe said.
One of the more nontraditional yet natural pieces is Louisiana artist Tamara Robertson's "Learning to Swim," a sculptural relief work which consists of a bed of shells arranged as if to mimic the dynamic motion of water and waves swirling into each other.
Or there's the work of Indiana-based painter Nathan Taves, oil on panel work that, in "Rickrack Space," depicts the wintry scene around a house but with conflicting perspectives built into the arrangement.
Strong, lively use of color finds a home in such works as "Spirit Self Portrait," an oil by Waxahachie, Texas artist Leah Lawless-Smith, who here uses a striking deep blue blouse, red lips, intense eyes and then golds and yellows to capture the skin tone and proud gaze of an artist. Just a few feet away, Houston-based Toria Hill's gorgeous acrylic "Member of the FAMILY" employs a similarly bold use of colors: reds, blues, greens, yellows.
Oklahoma City artist Juan Barroso's evocative portrait of a man, adorned in traditional Native American dress, being pushed along while seated in his wheelchair, features powerful use of shading and shadow. The title of this work? "A People That Dance Without Legs." Another work by the same artist, "Street Musician from Janitzio," portrays an accordion player whose rough but sensitive hands and gray jacket come to life with oils on the canvas.
Artists from outside the Texarkana region hail from such states as Rhode Island, California, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Local artists include Carol Flori, Ivory Henderson, Gary Bachers, Linda Larey, Amber Fenix and Polly Cook.
Donohoe's position will be filled by Becky Black, who will become the coordinator of visual arts and community programs for TRAHC.
(The 30th annual Juried Exhibition runs through Aug. 25. The Regional Arts Center is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, at 321 W. 4th St. More info: TRAHC.org or 903-792-8681.)