'Small Works' Showcasing Arkansas Artists Opens Sept. 24
/Pine Bluff’s Kimiara Johnson Among Artists in Show
Proud Tower by John Ahlen is one of the Purchase awards in the 2020 Small Works on Paper exhibition.
Small Works on Paper, the annual touring visual arts exhibition, will stop again at ASC. The exhibition opens Thursday, Sept. 24, and will be on display through Saturday, Oct. 24, in the International Paper Gallery.
Now in its 34th year, Small Works on Paper showcases Arkansans’ artworks in a variety of media that are no larger than 18 by 24 inches. Thirty-nine pieces are featured in this year’s show.
The Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of the Division of Arkansas Heritage, coordinates the exhibition and makes it available for loan to qualifying galleries. (The Arts & Science Center is a frequent Small Works host; last year’s tour kicked off at ASC in January 2019.)
After the exhibition leaves ASC, the 2020 tour will close out its run at the South Arkansas Arts Center in El Dorado.
The artists are members of the art council’s Arkansas Artist Registry, which is free and open to all artists in Arkansas.
“Small Works on Paper is an extraordinary opportunity for some of our best emerging and established Arkansas artists to showcase their artwork at locations all over our state,” said Stacy Hurst, secretary of The Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism. “We are honored to be able to support and highlight Arkansas artists’ amazing talent, skill, and hard work. In our exhibition, you can view and buy artwork you’ll not find anywhere else in the world.”
Painter Jamie Adams, associate professor of art at the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, juried this year’s entries.
Ozark Gaming by Terra Fondriest are two of the Purchase awards in the 2020 Small works on Paper exhibition.
Adams reviewed nearly 300 submitted artworks to pick the artwork for the exhibition. He also selected the following works to receive Purchase Awards, which are cash prizes equivalent to the value of the artwork. Purchase Award pieces become part of the Small Works on Paper permanent collection. Up to $2,000 total is available each year.
This year’s Purchase Awards are:
Proud Tower, acrylic, and collage, by John Ahlen of Little Rock
Self-Portrait, charcoal, by Martin Balsam of Little Rock
Ozark Gaming, photograph, by Terra Fondriest of St. Joe
Post, photograph, by Cary Jenkins of Little Rock
Reflections of Winter Series 1, Winter’s Kiss, watercolor, by Charlotte Bailey Rierson of Fairfeld Bay
Jonathan, graphite, by Jane Rockwell of North Little Rock
Nola Reception Couture Gown, mixed media, by Kimiara Johnson of Pine Bluff
Pine Bluff Artist Kimiara Johnson Featured in Small Works
Pine Bluff resident Kimiara Johnson’s mixed-media painting Nola Reception Couture Gown is among the works selected for the exhibition.
“I’ve always wanted my work displayed at the Arts & Science Center,” Johnson said. “I feel so honored to be included in this opportunity, as a native of Pine Bluff and as an artist in the Small Works on Paper touring exhibition.”
Her painting is “a story of timeless love when two different worlds collide to become one,” she said. “The vines of the painting illustrate the obstacles the love faces, the colors illustrate the range of emotions felt as the vines fluctuate between shapes (or motions) to bridge the two worlds together. As you view the work, it begins to resemble a plant being watered with love in order to grow in the formation of a couture gown.”
She has been painting and designing since she was 3. Using diverse mediums, she is inspired by culture, fashion, and texture, she said.
Johnson graduated from Pine Bluff High School in 2008 and attended the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. In 2011, she withdrew from the university after an accident, the injuries of which left her immobile and unable to walk. She said she painted with the best of her abilities, which motivated her to learn to walk again and produce art. Johnson reenrolled and graduated from UAPB in 2013, with a Bachelor of Science degree in human development and family studies.
Johnson has since been involved in state, national and international art shows. She loves to create art experiences for a range of diverse populations, especially individuals with disabilities, she said.
