NWACC Hosts 35th Small Works

by Keith Edwards

NorthWest Arkansas Community College Integrated Design Lab hosted the President’s Advisory Council on Art’s Small Works on Paper exhibit from April 4-25.

For 35 years, this juried art exhibition sponsored by the Arkansas Arts Council is a yearlong touring exhibition that showcases the (small) 2-D works no larger than 18×24 inches by Arkansas artists who are members of the Arkansas Artist Registry, which is a free service provided to the visual arts community. Eligible mediums include painting, photography, drawing, printmaking, mixed media and collage.

The SWOP exhibition travels to up to ten venues throughout the state in a yearlong show, which offers Arkansas artists opportunities to display their artwork to patrons throughout the state. Each year the juror is allotted an amount of money to select a few purchase awards from the exhibit. This year, Steven Wise, NWACC art instructor is one of the participating artists. His oil painting titled “Face,” was purchased.

“I like my work to reside in a gap between pure abstraction and representation. This work does this for me by creating a face in an otherwise field of abstract marks,” said Wise of his oil painting on yupo, which is a Japanese synthetic paper.

“We’ve been lucky enough to be hosts a few times over the years and I’m very excited to have our beloved Integrated Design Lab as the new venue for what is always a fantastic show!” said full-time art faculty Eric Smith, and member of PACA.

Submissions open May 2022 for Small Works on Paper 2023, according to information on the Arkansas Arts Council web pages. Entry requirements and eligibility to participate in SWOP require enrollment in Arkansas Artist Registry. For more info on the traveling exhibit contact http://www.arkansasheritage.com/arkansas-art-council/aac-programs/small-works-on-paper.