33 Arkansas artists make cut for annual Delta exhibit

Thirty-three Arkansas residents made guest juror Kenneth Cole’s final cut of 49 artists for the annual Delta Exhibition at the Arkansas Arts Center. The exhibition opens May 3.

Cole, a Pine Bluff native now living near Atlanta, is a member of the pioneering Chicago-based AfriCOBRA Arts Collective, one of the oldest artists collectives in the country. His work was part of a 50th anniversary AfriCOBRA show at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center in Little Rock.

Returning to the Delta Exhibition are Mark Lewis of Tulsa, who won the exhibition’s top prize, the Grand Award, in 2013 and 2015, and Jason McCann of Maumelle, who won an honorable mention in 2017.

Cole will select the winners of the Grand Award, which has a $2,500 prize and two Delta Awards of $750 each. The Contemporaries, an auxiliary membership group at the Arts Center, will select a Contemporaries Delta Award with a $250 prize.

Award winners will be announced at an Arts Center members preview and reception on May 2.

Artists selected for the 2019 show:

■ Jason Rankin, Ray Scott, Sandra Sell, Holly Tilley, Mabry Turner, Michael Warrick, Lauren Welshans, Nancy Wilson, Emily Wood, John Alhen, Joshua Asante, Carrie Ballinger Porter, Zachary Blair, Bryan Frazier, John Green, Karen DeJarnette, Daniella Napolitano and Yelena Petroukhina, all of Little Rock.

■ Mark Payne and Rashawn Penister of Pine Bluff, Scinthya Edwards of Helena-West Helena, DebiLynn Fendley of Arkadelphia, Janet Goodyear of Eureka Springs, Kim Brecklein of Harrison, Debra Callahan of Jonesboro, Olevia “Libby” Caston of Russellville, Virmarie DePoyster of North Little Rock, Alice Guffey Miller of Monticello, Heather Christine Guenard of Cabot, Carol Hart of Fayetteville, Jason McCann of Maumelle, Keith Melton of North Little Rock and Laura Terry of West Fork.

■ Kenneth Baskin of Lake Charles, La.; Katelyn Vaughan of Monroe, La.; Dale Newkirk of Hammond, La.; Cynthia Buob of Columbus, Miss.; Kevin O’Brien of Ocean Springs, Miss.; Julie Darling, Ivy-Jade Edwards and Zachary Roach, all of Memphis; Pam-ela Harrison of Dallas; Sherry Leedy of Kansas City, Mo.; Jay Sage of Oklahoma City; Mark Lewis of Tulsa; Hunter Stamps of Lexington, Ky.; Loren Bartnicke of Auburn, N.Y.; Amber Imrie of Sunnyvale, Calif.; and Dylan Eakin of Seattle, Wash.

The exhibition is open to artists who live or were born in Arkansas and its border states. Washington resident Eakin was born in Fort Smith; California resident Imrie was born in Berryville and Bartnicke, who lives in New York, is a St. Louis native.

The Delta Exhibition dates are May 3 through June 30.