MORE THAN
360 SHOWS.
MORE THAN
2000
CONTEMPORARY ARKANSAS ARTISTS.
MORE THAN
YOU THINK.
L
et’s paint the landscape. It’s the early 1970s. You are an artist. You live in Arkansas. The art scene is close to bleak when it comes to exhibiting your art. The state’s largest cultural institution is focused on bringing great art to Arkansas. There are very few galleries in existence, let alone ones focused on Arkansas artists. There is no Boswell-Mourot Gallery, no Gallery 221, no Heights Gallery and no Argenta Arts District. And that is in central Arkansas, the hub of the state’s cultural activity in the 70s. There is essentially no downtown Little Rock public venue focused on exhibiting contemporary Arkansas art, aside from one. And you won’t believe who it is...Historic Arkansas Museum. In 1973, Historic Arkansas Museum (called the Arkansas Territorial Restoration in those days) debuted its Gallery for Arkansas Artists. Today the museum celebrates 40 years of exhibiting, identifying and elevating contemporary Arkansas art. Forty years of fostering an appreciation for the talent that is right here in Arkansas. And see how we have all been rewarded. After decades of Historic Arkansas Museum nurturing a community of Arkansas artists and patrons, we have all seen a resurgence of an interest in local talent. Today, the art scene for Arkansas artists is thriving in a way it never was before. Creativity at the local level is embraced by business owners, cultural
institutions and residents across the state. TWO VISIONARIES AND A CAR Imagine sitting shotgun with two of Arkansas’s great leaders—Peg Newton Smith and Ed Cromwell—as they travel the state in the early 1970s, reaching out to Arkansas artists and artisans to exhibit their work in Historic Arkansas Museum’s gallery and sell their works in the Museum Store. It was clear to these two visionaries that there is a continuum, from the fine and decorative art made in the territorial times that the museum focused on to today’s art and craft. There is a creative legacy that lives on from the 19th century
In 1973, Peg Smith Newton Smith and Ed Cromwell had the idea of supporting contemporary Arkansas art. Forty years later, their vision continues to grow.
ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO ARKANSAS TIMES
OCTOBER 17, 2013
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