Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Artmobile In Emmet May 20-21

The Arkansas Arts Center's Artmobile, a 40-ft mobile gallery containing original works of art from the permanent collection, will be at the Emmet Public Schools on May 20 and 21.

It features an all-new exhibition called 'Trains, Planes and Automobiles.' It includes 19 framed works and eight three-dimensional objects from the center's Decorative Arts Museum and its annual exhibition, Toys Designed by Artists.

Among the artists in the exhibition are three Arkansans Warren Criswell, Ronnie Nichols and Sammy Peters. They join notable artists, including Robert Cottingham, Roy de Forest, Red Grooms, Bernard Sanders and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

The artmobile provides a visual arts experience for those whose distance from an art museum prohibits regular visits. "It is great for schools, colleges/universities, festivals, special events and, because it is a mobile gallery, it is a wonderful way to introduce audiences to art in their own communities," Ned Metcalf, state services director at the center, said.

An art educator, Virgil Lawrence, travels with the artmobile to conduct guided tours. A fully-illustrated catalogue and study guide developed especially for the exhibition are also available.

Day or evening hours may be set to accommodate school, public or community tours. Check with local sponsors on the schedule of this tour.

'Trains, Planes and Automobiles' was organized by the Arts Center's curatorial staff who selected works that display the divergent manner in which artists have approached the presence and the impact of different modes of transportation some with visual accuracy, others with imagination.

"In many works, the artists have significantly modified some aspect of their subject; thus, a collective commentary on transportation develops," Brian Young curator of art at the center, said. "Individual pieces can also serve as catalysts for significant discussion.

"From a comical lithograph by Red Grooms to a cast iron tank by Terry Lee Dill to the impressive scale of Matt Tasley's Truck, a binding denominator in this exhibition is the notion that, as the role of transportation grows, relationships between people and their sense within society can change," Young said. "The exhibition with its accompanying curriculum materials should provide a lively exchange between teachers and students of all ages."

The exhibition will travel for a two-year period and is available for scheduling statewide through June 2000. It is funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Additional program support is provided by the Stella B. Smith Charitable Trust, International Paper Company Foundation, Southwestern Bell Foundation, Union Pacific Foundation, Entergy, and Potlatch Corporation.

All Arts Center touring programs are supported in part by the Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

Locally, this artmobile tour is sponsored by the Potlatch Corporation.

In addition to the artmobile, the Arts Center's State Services Department also schedules 15 different traveling exhibitions framed works ready to be hung at your location, and three professional children's theater productions by the traveling Tell-A-Tale Troupe.

The Arkansas Arts Center wants to be a resource to your community for visual and performing arts needs.

Anyone interested in receiving more information on the Arts Center's touring program should call the State Services Department at 1-800-264-2787.