UA Little Rock School of Art and Design

09/25/2026

09/24/2026

NEXT THURSDAY!
October 1, 2026

Please join us in the Windgate Center of Art + Design Lecture Hall (WCAD 101) for a special artWORKS lecture:

'The Synthesis Project' with

Bryan Parnham is an American artist and jeweler. Concerned with the relationships between photography, painting, printmaking and metalsmithing, his practice combines techniques of each with the goal of synthesizing their history and vocabulary. Parnham’s photographic imagery is produced through chemical etching, photopolymer resists and a range of surface treatments, grounded in the tradition of photogravure.

A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, he has been a resident artist and lecturer at various universities and institutions across the country and abroad. Notably, he was awarded the Core Fellowship at Penland School of Craft, was a Resident Artist in Cortona, Italy with the University of Georgia, and featured in the Museum of Art and Design show MAD about Jewelry in 2022. He was awarded the Art Jewelry Forum Young Artist Prize at Munich Jewelry Week 2024. He is currently focused on sharing his contributions to studio scale photolithography with university students around the country.

09/23/2026

This summer UALR received three significant works by two donors by celebrated American realist, William Beckman. The first of the three works to enter the permanent collection is Beckman’s Overcoats II. This staggeringly large drawing is typical for the artist in that it crosses over from self-portrait and figure study and vice versa. Notably, a companion piece of nearly identical title, size and medium resides at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, Washington D.C.

Image 1:
William Beckman
Overcoats II, 1998
Charcoal on paper, 90 x 80 inches
resides at UA Little Rock (not currently on view)

Image 2:
William Beckman
Overcoats I, 1997
Charcoal on paper, 90 x 80 inches
resides at the National Portrait Gallery
Washington, DC (not currently on view)

09/22/2026

This past Friday we had our our first senior BFA critiques of the semester! (Pictured: Stefan Jacquot and Jacia Gilbert)

Bachelor of Fine Arts students choose specific emphasis areas and work closely with faculty through a rigorous program. These early semester critiques guide them as they develop their final BFA showcase.

09/21/2026

We had a full house for the Windgate Fall 2026 Artist in Residence: David Schnuckel lecture last week. We are thankful to the Windgate Foundation for grant programming that allows us to bring in a new AIR every semester.

This is such a valuable experience for our community, but especially for our students who get one on one time with nationally and internationally recognized artists. Grateful we have this program to help push students forward in their futures.

09/18/2026

Last week 2 of our faculty members took 12 Art & Design students on the Amtrak for an Art & Architecture tour of Chicago. We are so grateful to donors who make these opportunities available to our students!

The most impactful part of the trip was seeing the city and having the opportunity to see incredible sights such as the river and buildings. I also loved connecting with classmates and peers that I normally wouldn’t have talked to much at all otherwise.
-Parker Rouse

I deeply appreciate and am so very thankful for what you have made possible. This was the best trip of my life genuinely and it made such an impact on my life and my work, thank you. As someone who’s family doesn’t have a lot of money at all, or the health to travel, it has made such an impression on me to be able to experience Chicago and not have to worry about financial constraints.
-Macey McLaughlin

09/17/2026

TONIGHT!!!!

David Schnuckel is an artist whose work thinks through glass, a writer who examines issues related to glass, and an educator who challenges students to find solutions to conceptual problems with and/or because of glass.

His work has been exhibited internationally and is held in the permanent collections of the GlazenHuis in Lommel, Belgium; the Shanghai Museum of Glass in Shanghai, China; and the Museum of American Glass in Millville, New Jersey. He has taught at Alfred University, Toyama Institute of Glass Art, Pilchuck Glass School, Penland School of Craft, and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.

As a writer, Schnuckel explores aspects of the glass field, his making, and his teaching through solo and collaborative writing projects. He has also been a regular contributor to GASnews, the newsletter of the Glass Art Society.

Schnuckel is Associate Professor of Glass and the Charlotte Mowris Fellow in the
School for American Crafts at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New
York.

09/16/2026

Students in Dr. Hood's Art Theory and Criticism class recently spent time in the School of Art and Design galleries practicing describing works of art. Description is often considered the first step in art criticism. At the same time, a successful description of an art work can stand on its own as a work of art criticism. In this exercise, students are encouraged to slowly consider all aspects of an artwork's medium, form, subject matter, and context and include each of these elements in their descriptions.

09/10/2026

Student Gallery Assistants are getting the galleries ready for our upcoming Society of Photographic Education: South Central programming.

09/09/2026

North and South Galleries / Andrew Kuebeck and Christina P.Day: The Intersection of Craft and Photography

August 3 - November 12, 2026

Reception: Friday, October 23, 6:30-7:30pm

(Image: Caden in Profile, 2021, silver, Fine silver, enamel)

Focus Gallery / Society of Photographic Education South Central Members Exhibition

August 31 - October 25, 2026

Reception: Friday, October 23, 6:30-7:30pm

(Image: Marilyn Waligore, Aluminum Red Fish #20, 2024, archival pigment print on cotton)

Featured SPE Members:
Lauren Allen, Amanda Breitbach, Rebecca Drolen, Margo Duvall, Bryan Florentin, Nilu Ghasempour, Frank Hamrick, Mehdi Heidari, William Nieberding, Dason Pettit, Donna Pinckley, Carol Record, Carey Roberson, Sierra Greenslade, Marilyn Waligore