Wednesday deadline to enter 61st Annual Delta Exhibition
LITTLE ROCK — Wednesday is the deadline to enter the 61st Annual Delta Exhibition.
Atlanta-based artist Kevin Cole will serve as guest juror for the exhibition, which will be on view May 3 through June 30 at the Arkansas Arts Center.
“Showcasing artists living and working in Arkansas and its border states, the Annual Delta Exhibition presents a vision of contemporary art in the American South,” the release said. “Founded in 1958, the exhibition provides a unique snapshot of the Delta region and features work in all media. The exhibition reflects the region’s strong traditions of craftsmanship and observation, combined with an innovative use of materials and an experimental approach to subject matter.”
The competition is open to all artists who live in or were born in one of the following states: Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee or Texas. All work must be completed during the last two years and must not have been exhibited previously at the Arkansas Arts Center.
Cole will select the artworks to be exhibited as well as a $2,500 Grand Award and two $750 Delta Awards. Additionally, a $250 Contemporaries Delta Award will be selected by the Contemporaries, an auxiliary membership group of the Arkansas Arts Center.
Interested parties may enter their information and upload images of their work at http://www.ArkansasArtsCenter.org/ delta by Wednesday. The entry fee is $20 for one entry and $10 for each additional entry. Artists may submit up to three entries. Notifications will be emailed on March 1 and all accepted work must be received by March 24. Artists will be responsible for all shipping arrangements.
Cole is a contemporary artist best known for sculptural works, paintings, and intentional use of color, the arts center said in a news release. An Arkansas native, Cole has over the past 32 years received 27 grants and fellowships, 75 awards in art, 51 teaching awards, and more than 45 public art commissions. His artwork has been featured in more than 475 national and international exhibitions, including the 42nd Annual Delta Exhibition at the Arkansas Arts Center.
He has been a member of AfriCOBRA since 2003 and was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame in 2018. Among his public commissions are a 15-story mural commissioned by the Coca-Cola Co. for the
1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta and a 20-by 55-foot sculpture commission at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Atlanta. His recent sculpture, “When My Scars are my Testimony,” is featured in the
2019 Atlanta Biennial at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center.
The 61st Annual Delta Exhibition is presently sponsored by Isabel and John Ed Anthony; Bank OZK; Philip R. Jonsson Foundation; Lisenne Rockefeller; Dianne and Bobby Tucker; Terri and Chuck Erwin; Friday, Eldredge & Clark, LLP; the AAC Contemporaries; Phyllis and Michael Barrier; Sandra and Bob Connor; East Harding Construction; Barbara Rogers Hoover; and Don A. Tilton, The Capitol Group.
The Grand Award is supported by The John William Linn Endowment Fund. The exhibition is supported by the Andre Simon Memorial Trust in memory of everyone who has died of acquired immune deficiency syndrome.