The ARTSpace on Main Street in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, is currently the home to the UAPB 2023 Senior Art Exhibition through Thursday, February 9, 2023. The community is invited to attend, and gallery admission is free. The UAPB Seniors whose works are on exhibition are Austin Dunn and Zach Webb. We encourage you to come support and celebrate art in the community.
We anticipate an exciting evening at the UAPB 2023 Senior Art Exhibition closing reception at the ARTSpace on Main on February 9, 2023, from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm. The closing reception, in addition to the Arts & Science Center’s “Art Night on the Block,” will also include UAPB Alumnus Kevin Cole’s book signing, additional art viewing events, and hands-on activities until 7 pm.
An Interview with Artist and UAPB Senior Zach Webb
During the Senior Art Exhibition, we spoke with UAPB Senior Zach Webb about the exhibit, and he explained that he is a versatile artist who just “likes creating.” Thoughtfully he shared that his key museum piece “shows the complexity of life, the vividness of colors and the many smooth and rough textures.”
During the conversation, he shared a look into his background, his future, and his purpose. Zack’s hometown is Memphis, TN. As a child, he loved to draw, so he took art classes in middle and high school but continued to “learn art on his own.” Some of his early works of Elvis Presley were displayed at the Memphis International Airport. He also had art displayed as part of the Civil Rights Museum’s MLK 50 Anniversary Art Show.
While Zach’s undergraduate degree will be in Business Finance, he takes art classes at UAPB and consults with Dr. Karen DeJarnette, UAPB Art and Design Department Chair and the art department to continue learning techniques that refine his artwork. He plans to enter the UAPB MBA program and enjoys the rewards of his commercial art projects.
If you’re ever on the UAPB Campus, Zach’s commercial work includes the Student Union Game Room and inside the Rust Tech Building. Zach explained his consultative approach and process to creating commercial art while working with Dr. Charles Colen, Jr., UAPB’s Industrial, Technology Management & Applied Engineering Chair, to visually tell the story about the variety of technology programs, industries, products, and services that are available for students to pursue and build a career.
According to Zach, “meeting with his clients to determine their needs, doing research, creating a storyline and selecting potential sample imagery with the client doing homework too, happens before he begins the actually creating sketches and rendering. He has found that his process is important to completing the project on time and meeting the client’s expectations.”
Zach’s purpose is “to shed light on injustice. And find ways and resources to bring us together regardless of the potential backlash. He doesn’t want to just talk about it but determine how to change it.” In concluding the conversation, I asked him to share some advice with others. Zach shared advice that he uses: “Get aligned with the right people because the right people introduce you to your purpose. The right people will say the right words. And those words unleash what God has placed inside of me.” Want to follow Zach and see his artwork on Facebook? Go to https://www.facebook.com/zach.webb.79827
You’re Invited to All of the Art Night on the Block Activities
Visitors are invited to The Arts & Science Center for Southeast Arkansas (ASC) for Art Night on the Block, a night of art viewing and creative, hands-on activities from 4-7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023. Art Night on the Block is a free event that welcomes ASC’s newest exhibiting artists and showcases its latest collaboration with the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) and the Mid-America Arts Alliance. Art Night on the Block will continue at The ARTSpace on Main, at 623 S. Main St.
Renowned AfriCOBRA artist and Pine Bluff native and UAPB alumnus Kevin Cole will be there on February 9 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. for a signing of his book “Where Do We Go From Here?” The book highlights Cole’s newest exhibition, “Where Do We Go From Here? II: Exploring Gerrymandering and Voting Rights,” which is on view at the Hearne Fine Art Gallery in Little Rock through March 4.
UAPB senior art students Austin Dunn and Zach Webb will have a closing reception at the ARTSpace on Main to celebrate their exhibition on February 9 from 4:00-6:00 p.m. in the Kline Gallery. Dunn combines his photography skills with graphic design to create mock-up magazine covers to explore his personal horizon. Webb’s abstract paintings explore different elements of texture and tone, reflecting on personal instances that inspired him to try new things.
Additional Exhibitions and Activities include:
At ASC’s home facility at 701 S. Main St., visitors can attend an opening reception for a new exhibition, “Becoming Once More” by artist Leah Grant from 5-7 p.m. “Becoming Once More” recontextualizes Grant’s experiences by revealing and concealing the vulnerable parts of her identity to create new ones through the use of various collage techniques and images taken from a personal archive. Her exhibition will be on view from Feb. 9 to April 29, 2023. The exhibition is sponsored by Simmons Bank. Reception libations are sponsored by MK Distributors.
“Spectrum Dynamic” comprises a series of dye-sublimation prints and an accompanying video that presents visual interpretations of motor stereotypes, sometimes termed stimming. Indiana University’s Caleb Weintraub and Dr. Dan Kennedy collaborated with staff and students at CIP Bloomington, Indiana, — an agency that assists young people on the autism spectrum — to complete this series of artworks. The exhibition will be on view from Feb. 9-April 3 in the Loft Gallery of The ARTSpace.
Artists can attend an informational happy hour with the Mid-America Arts Alliance to learn how to apply for a new grant. Catalyze fellowships award $10,000 to 25 artists in central Arkansas. The session will begin at 5:30 p.m. at The ARTSpace on Main.
For more information about Art Night on the Block, visit asc701.org or call 870-536-3375.
UAPB News 
I hope their exhibit comes to Northern California.