Strengthened by adversity

Tiffany Black sticks to community art during lockdown

Story by T.L. SIMPSON | Photos by LIZ CHRISMAN

Tiffany Black left her home in New York for an artist residency at Arkansas Tech University with one thing on her mind: An opportunity to create community art.

But what is community art? "I'm a painter and a mural artist,” Tiffany says. “And, wherever I can, through design or the actual painting, I like to open up the process to collaboration. I like to involve other people, and for me, that's how it all takes shape. I get a lot of fulfillment from making art in that way, rather than isolated in a studio somewhere.”

Tiffany, 33, is originally from Danville, Indiana, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hanover College. She went on to earn her Master of Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute of College Art. Back home in New York, Tiffany works in set design. She’s worked on shows like Manifest, Younger, The Loudest Voice, Dickinson, High Fidelity, and others.

While in residency at Arkansas Tech University, Tiffany taught an intro to drawing class. But her passion is for less commercial endeavors — for murals, specifically. "I've always been drawn to painting on a large scale," she says. "I like the physicality of it. You have to use your whole body, and it's in a public space so it almost becomes like a performance. It has a huge capacity to transform entire spaces, and I like that.” "It's something I think a lot about,” Tiffany says. “Murals have to do with our relationship to our environments. They have to do with beautification. It shows a place is well cared for, and they have a big capacity to inspire. Maybe it becomes a part of the background when you see it every day, but at a subconscious level something is still happening." >>

"I've always been drawn to painting on a large scale," she says. "I like the physicality of it. You have to use your whole body, and it's in a public space so it almost becomes like a performance.”

Tiffany arrived at Arkansas Tech University in January, the school's second artist in residence in school history. Soon she announced her first community project — a mural painted on wood panels to be displayed in downtown Russellville. Tiffany had planned the mural for community involvement where locals could stop by to throw up a few dabs of paint and help contribute to the finished project. She didn't just want the mural to beautify downtown Russellville. She wanted locals to feel like the mural was their own because they'd helped create it.

"We were going to have a paint party with this mural," Tiffany says. "We were going to let people help paint by preparing it as paint by numbers so that we could scale the design up to 32 feet long to 16 feet high."

Then the coronavirus outbreak struck and everything changed.

For Tiffany, the project remains community-based and is "almost ready," although, she had to scrap some of her plans along the way. To still enable community involvement in the mural’s creation, Tiffany utilized ATU photographer and ABOUT maga-

zine photography editor Liz Chrisman to collect images that represent the area. Locals then voted on which ones made the mural. Voters decided on a view of Lake Dardanelle, apple blossoms, and a jumping bass. ”It's designed to express the spirit of this area,” Tiffany says, “and my hope is that this image will inspire people to be connected to where they live and to be proud of where they live.” Instead of the event Tiffany originally planned, she came up with another way to involve the community, and that's with a food drive and another mural.

Tiffany says she partnered with River Valley Food 4 Kids, a local nonprofit that fights food insecurity in children, and is planning a second mural on the side of their building at 407 North El Paso Avenue in Russellville. To involve the community on that one, Tiffany says she asked kids to submit drawings of their own favorite foods to become part of the mural.

Tiffany described the process of physically creating a mural: First, you select and design the image in a small scale. Then you blow it up to the size of a building wall. Tiffany doesn’t use a projector like some artists. Her preferred method is using a grid.

“A one inch square on the original may translate to one foot on the mural,” she says. >>

The River Valley Mural is being painted on separate wooden dark. A lot of it expresses stress and anxiety. It's hard to describe. panels which will be attached to a wall in town. The mural was Kind of surreal." originally planned for 203 North Commerce in Russellville, but Tiffany says she had zero expectations on what Arkansas was Tiffany says its location is now undecided. going to be like when she found out she'd Not only did the coronavirus outbreak inter”It's designed to express gotten the residency. rupt Tiffany's plans for her mural, it also has prevented her from seeing her family, who the spirit of this area,” "I didn't know anything about Arkansas," she says. Her only connection came when were planning to visit her in Arkansas. When Tiffany says, “and my she found out about the defunct Dogpatch her residency ends in July, she says her first stop will be Indiana to see her parents. "Then I'll head back to Brooklyn where, hope is that this image will inspire people to be theme park nestled in the hills of the Ozark Mountains. Dogpatch was based around the Li'L Abner newspaper comic, which hopefully, they are still making TV shows," connected to where they featured a group of hillbillies living in the she jokes. The coronavirus has also led to a lot of live and to be proud of mountain village of Dogpatch, USA. Tiffany says her school did a play based on time alone working on her art. The isolawhere they live.” Li'L Abner. tion and difficult realities of the world at "That was my one connection," she says. large has definitely shaped her art, Tiffany says. "That might have been my only context." "I've been making a lot of drawings," she says. "I was supposed But she didn't find Arkansas much like the ramshackle hillbillies to have an exhibition of my work, and that work has been pretty of the Li'l Abner comics. What she found was good people, new

OVER

YEARS IN BUSINESS

friends, and scenic beauty in all directions.

Tiffany says she tried to keep her expectations without stereotypes as much as possible. She grew up in Indiana hearing people make assumptions about her own state. The last thing she wanted was to do the same to another.

“I didn’t know anything about it,” she says. “I had never been. I figured it was in the Ozark Mountains, but you could say I’ve

been surprised by everything. I’ve loved it here. I love being in nature.”

In a way, she says she feels grateful to have spent the majority of the outbreak in Arkansas rather than in New York. "I'm lucky," she says. "Really grateful to be here despite all that, and I have a safe place to isolate, that isn't the coronavirus capital of the world, and good friends who bring me coffee." l

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Crow Group Announces 2020 Summer Intern Class

Emily Hoelzeman is from Morrilton and in her final year studying drafting at the University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton. Emily began her internship with Crow in the spring and will continue through the end of the summer. She has already gained hands-on experience working in the Crow Group Design Department. Emily said, “I hope to gain real world experience with the purpose of aiding in my future career and to make everlasting relationships with my coworkers.”

Logan Criswell is from Cabot and is a senior Emergency Management student at Arkansas Tech University. He will be assisting the Crow Group HSE Department with safety assessments and implementing a new online training platform. Logan said, “I chose Crow Group for my internship, because it was a really great opportunity to gain knowledge and experience in the construction field. I can see good opportunities that could open up for me in the future having this experience.”

Sydney Bratton is from Bryant and is a senior studying Civil Engineering at Louisiana Tech University. Her focus in on water/wastewater, and she will be working with the Crow Group engineering team on active design projects. Sydney said, “I

Crow Group Summer Interns; Emily Hoelzeman, Logan Criswell, and Sydney Bratton

am looking forward to learning more and gaining experience in the water/wastewater field!”

The Crow Group internship program is designed to expose students nearing graduation to a real-world experience working in the construction and engineering industry. The interns at Crow will be working side-by-side with professional engineers, construction project managers, and safety professionals and will get to participate in the planning and execution of actual projects.

Civil Engineer and Program Mentor John Doyle, P.E. said, “I think the nature of our company as both a design and construction company provides a really unique opportunity for students to be exposed to the inner workings of a broad cross section of the industry. It gives them a chance to evaluate multiple options for their future career path in one place. The design-build delivery method is growing quickly, and an internship within a firm like ours gives them a chance to gain valuable experience early. This can set them apart from other college graduates that want to get into this field.”

Landscape Architect and Program Mentor David Watkins, P.L.A. added, “We want to create a fun environment that gives interns well-rounded construction and design experience so that they can apply what they have learned during their studies to real world projects.”

Crow Group President Brian Rohl

man said, “We are so excited to have this bright group of interns working at our firm for the summer. They bring a fresh perspective on new technologies and practices from each of their respective programs. They are already proving to be a valuable addition to our team, and we just hope they learn as much from us as we are learning from them.”

Crow is a client-focused construction and engineering firm headquartered in Morrilton, Arkansas. They provide design-build, construction management, general contracting, and engineering services across multiple divisions. For more information, contact Morgan Zimmerman at 479-264- 4332 or mzimmerman@crowgrp.com.

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Lydia Grate

ATU alumna chosen for national women’s empowerment program

Arkansas Tech University alumna Lydia Grate has traveled the world. Now she is ready to apply what she has learned in support of others here at home.

Grate is one of 39 women from around the United States selected to the B.A. EmpowHER 2020 cohort. The eight-week program will allow her to perform internships for Heifer International and Global G.L.O.W. (Girls Leading Our World). She will also network with her fellow cohort participants, gain access to field-specific mentors, receive career coaching and develop her leadership skills.

“I have now spent the majority of my adult life overseas --- from 2011 to 2019 ---- and I hope to contribute a somewhat worldly perspective to the EmpowHER cohort and program,” said Grate. Continued on page 25...

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With our senior population at higher risk, we want to provide support and peace of mind for families to ensure good health and safety.

It’s times like these that we, as a community, must look after one another.

Please do not hesitate to call us during this challenging time for care.