501-918-3025
calsfoundation@cals.org
calsfoundation@cals.org
Springtime Art Exhibitions and Experiences at CALS
This spring offers a bountiful bouquet of opportunities to view and experience art at the Central Arkansas Library System through exhibitions, events, and classes.
Exhibitions
The exhibition Courtesy of the Collectors: Portraits of African Americans in Photographs, Paintings, and Drawings opened in the Underground Gallery in the CALS Roberts Library in January and is in its last days.
On loan to the Central Arkansas Library System from private and public collections in Arkansas, the works in this exhibition present a selection of diverse portrayals of African Americans to illuminate their wider participation and inclusion in the American experience from the nineteenth century to today.
Pictured here are visitors at a reception for the exhibition held last month following our February Legacies & Lunch panel discussion about Dunbar High School.
Catch Courtesy of the Collectors soon, because March 30 is its last day! Roberts Library visiting information is here.
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Opening in the same space on April 12 is Jay Youngdahl’s exhibition What Did You Learn in School Today? It will be on view in the Underground Gallery through June 29.
Featuring photography and sculptural elements, this exhibition focuses on the influence of textbooks that were used by students in Little Rock and throughout Arkansas in the mid-twentieth century.
The artist Jay Youngdahl, a Little Rock native, received his MFA at the Art Institute of Chicago and is a photographer, writer, and conceptual artist.
In addition to viewing the art, visitors will be able to use coins in the thematic “Penny Machine,” providing a souvenir from the show.
During 2nd Friday Art Night on April 12, Jay Youngdahl will be available at 4:30 p.m. in the Underground Gallery to welcome visitors to the exhibition and will give an artist’s talk and presentation at 5:30 p.m. in the Rock It! Lab.
Events
Join us on April 12 for 2nd Friday Art Night (2FAN), in its new location in the CALS Rock It! Lab at 120 River Market Ave.
Drop in between 5 and 8 p.m. for this free after-hours art event that happens on the second Friday of each month, hosted at several locations in downtown Little Rock by various organizations. So stop by each second Friday to chat with local artists, shop locally from Arkansas makers, take in some music, and sip wine with friends.
For April’s 2FAN, three artists will be selling their creations: Ekaterina Kouznetsova, Chris Massingill, and Robert Bean — and Matt Stone (solo guitar) will be performing.
PLUS
Come knit and sip with us! Bring your WIP to 2FAN and hang out for an evening of social knitting.
Don’t know how to knit? We’ll teach you. Supplies provided.
Work by Ekaterina Kouznetsova
A sock monster by Chris Massingill
Work by Robert Bean
For more information about all downtown 2FAN activities, visit the 2nd Friday Art Night Facebook page.
Classes
Two classes are coming up, one using mixed media with artist Sulac and one featuring wire work with Krystal Cornelius. Both classes are free, with registration required.
Mixed Media Art Class with Sulac
The Rock It! Lab
Saturday, March 30, 1-4 p.m.
Come make art using layers of assemblage to create overlapping drawings, paintings, and collages.
Sulac (a.k.a. Sean Sapp) is a mixed-media artist who was born in west Texas and moved to Little Rock at the age of eighteen. Currently living in North Little Rock, he is also a full-time parent and part-time musician. He has had solo shows at the Thea Foundation, Historic Arkansas Museum, Ketz Gallery, and elsewhere, as well as group shows at Chroma Gallery, Oval Gallery, A.C.A.C., Wildwood Park for the Arts, The House of Art, Gallery 360, Dedicated Art Studio, The Rep, Laman Library Main Branch Gallery, and Gallery 26. His work is in the permanent collection of the Historic Arkansas Museum.
Supplies provided. Register at https://events.cals.org/event/10192862
Wire Work Basics with Artist Krystal Cornelius
The Rock It! Lab
Saturday, April 13, 1-3 p.m.
Come make your own beautiful, unique earrings.
Krystal Cornelius of Krystal Bijoux Jewelry will show participants how to make beaded wire earrings. She will demonstrate basic wire techniques such as how to link together beads with wire and how to terminate the piece with ear wires, clasps, etc. Once students are confident in their technique, they can expand into making necklaces, bracelets, and any other pieces.
Supplies will be provided, or bring your favorite charms and/or beads to create beautiful earrings.
Supplies available: beads, 20-gauge wire, jump rings, round-nose pliers, bent-nose pliers, and wire cutters. Register at https://events.cals.org/event/10293823; maximum of twenty-five attendants
For questions about art classes, contact Shannon Holmes at sholmes@cals.org or 501-320-5792.
Art events and classes are made possible by generous funding from the Windgate Foundation.
