Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts' Delta Exhibition

Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Announces Changes to Beloved Delta Exhibit

By KATIE ZAKRZEWSKI

hen you think of iconic Southern art, the annual Delta Exhibition at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts (AMFA) stands out as a bridge between the artistic community and the beauty of the W Natural State. Founded in 1958, the Delta Exhibition is one of the longestrunning and most prestigious juried exhibitions in the region and represents the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts’ commitment to artists born in or living in Arkansas and its border states. The program is part of the museum’s continued commitment to growing and supporting artistic talent in the region. The Delta exhibit is the most beloved and longstanding exhibition in the museum’s history, entering its 64th year.

Renata Cassiano Alvarez, Autorreferencia y Artefacto, 2021, ceramic, gold and paint, 12 x 8 x 4 in.

“Just as the Mississippi River has been a force that continually altered the landscape around it, likewise the art of the Delta has shifted our perception of the region,” says Brian J. Lang, Chief Curator and Windgate Foundation Curator of Contemporary Craft.

When AMFA closed during the pandemic and for renovations, they didn’t want to stop the most beloved exhibit they had. So, the Delta exhibit got a makeover.

The 2022 release of Delta Voices: Artists of the Mid-South will be a three-part exploration of the artists’ perspectives on Place — how their region’s history and culture inform their artistic practice, Content — the stories and ideas expressed in their art and Form — how those ideas take shape through the artists’ materials. Through intimate vignettes of each artist’s process and connection to their cities, assumptions about often underrecognized sites on the national art map are thwarted, and a deeper understanding of the region’s cultural richness emerges. This year’s artists work in drawing, painting and sculpture, representing the outstanding artwork made throughout the Mid-South today.

Each of the three episodes features an artist selected by curators at participating institutions across the Mid-South. Delta Voices will allow for deeper engagement with the art, craft and inspiration of the featured artists through short videos, conversations between artists and curators and more.

“We are excited to be able to bring these voices together for a conversation on how place, form and content intersect in the work of these artists; through their art and dialogue, we can gain a deeper understanding of our region,” Lang adds.

Following the 2022 release of Delta Voices: Artists of the MidSouth, AMFA will host connected programming in 2023, and the first Delta Exhibition in its new triennial format in 2024, at the redesigned Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts. Catherine Walworth, the Jackye and Curtis Finch Jr. Curator of Drawings, states, “Through the evolution of the Delta into a triennial, artists can create new bodies of work that transform each exhibition. AMFA plans to make the Delta even grander in terms of roll-out and programming. As a result of all these things, we are better poised to elevate the best work of our region, be its biggest booster and help give it a voice at a national level.”

The artists featured in this year’s exhibit are Renata Cassiano Alvarez of Fayetteville, Arkansas; Vaughn Davis, Jr. of St. Louis, Missouri; and John Isiah Walton of New Orleans, Louisiana.

“There are stories here that can only be told by people from these places. These stories have not always been part of the larger conversation around art, and that is to the detriment of the national dialogue,” notes AMFA Curator Theresa Bembnister.

Since Delta Voices is a regional exhibition, AMFA is working with several notable partners in the Delta region, including the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans and the Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis.

AMFA released a digital series during the pandemic to keep the tradition alive, highlighting three different artists. This year, they’re doing the same thing, but they’ve upped the ante: AMFA has another announcement to make regarding the Delta Voices exhibit. Fayetteville Artist Renata Cassiano Alvarez. Photo courtesy of AMFA.

The Delta Exhibition will be triennial instead of annual, which comes as AMFA’s first programmatic announcement under their rebranding and with a new space.

“For over 60 years, the Delta exhibition has had a profound impact on the artistic community in Arkansas and the surrounding states,” says AMFA Executive Director Victoria Ramirez. “Through the video series Delta Voices: Artists of the Mid-South, the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts has been able to broaden the reach of this region’s cultural richness.

AMFA will continue in its dedication to amplify voices of this region through the Delta triennial and annual programming – such as this year’s event in partnership with ACS – that will invite artists and audiences to expand the conversation on the years between the triennial exhibitions.”

Delta Voices: Artists of the Mid-South will be released to the public as a three-part series on Aug. 24, Aug. 31 and Sept. 7, 2022, via YouTube; AMFA members and email subscribers will receive early access. Top (left): New Orleans Artist John Isiah Walton. Photo courtesy of AMFA. Top (below): John Isiah Walton, The Lovers, 2022, oil pastel and acrylic on canvas, 36 x 24 inches

Bottom (left): Vaughn Davis Jr., The Hills The Hurry, 2021, PVA sizing, pigment on canvas, 129 x 42 in. Bottom (right): St. Louis Artist Vaughn Davis Jr. Photo courtesy of AMFA.