Public artist Morton Brown, a University of Central Arkansas alumnus, has kicked off the eighth season of UCA?s Artists in Residence program with the Conway Community Mural project.
The Conway City Council appropriated $6,000 in January to help finance a city mural, which will be a historically-themed, 26 feet x 36 feet mural celebrating the relationship of UCA and the city of Conway. It will be located on the south side of Conway City Hall facing Simon Park.
Brown, 34, who grew up in Clinton, earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from UCA in 1996 and his Master of Fine Arts in painting from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art in Philadelphia. From 2003-2006, he was program coordinator for The Sprout Fund?s Public Art Program in Pittsburgh. He is working with UCA art students on the mural, which will be unveiled Oct. 6 during a day-long celebration of the arts in Conway.
?One of the things that is new this year is we have two extended residencies,? said Gayle Seymour, associate dean of CFAC. ?Typically, they?ve been for a day or two, but Morton is here for six weeks and [violinist] Katie Lansdale will be here for two one-week periods.?
This is Brown?s third trip to Conway during UCA?s Centennial year. In the spring, he met with the UCA community and the public for ideas and feedback on the proposed mural design.
?The actual painting began last Monday [Aug. 13],? Seymour said. ?All kinds of students are involved, but there?s a core group of student artists working alongside Morton and other students in and outside of the art department who are helping with developing the Web site, publicity and other things. It?s a university-wide effort.?
As part of the residency, Brown will give an illustrated lecture Aug. 30 at 7 p.m. in McCastlain Hall room 143 about the progress of the mural. The lecture is free and open to the public.
?Another thing that?s exciting is we?re trying some alternative venues,? Seymour said. ?The Alloy Orchestra, which composes and performs sound effects for silent films, is going to perform in the courtyard of Short-Denney Residential College, so that will be fun. They are going to perform for a screening of The Phantom of the Opera from 1925.?
The fall 2007 residency schedule includes:
? Morton Brown, public artist — Conway Community Mural, Aug. 14-Oct. 6;
? Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison: The Architect?s Brother – Exhibition featuring narrative images on view in the Baum Gallery, Sept. 13-Oct. 5;
? Katie Lansdale – Violinist who has performed at the White House and with Yo Yo Ma, Sept. 5-6, Oct. 20, Nov. 1;
? The Alloy Orchestra – Performance during a screening of the 1925 version of The Phantom of the Opera, Oct. 16;
? Michael Cunningham, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Hours, which was recently adapted for film – Reading from his work, Oct. 16;
? Naomi Shihab Nye, poet and essayist – Reading from her work, Nov. 6;
? The Virtuoso Horn Duo with Kyle Turner – Performance, Nov. 9;
? The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, one of the oldest (founded 1935) and largest professional non-profit theatres in the country – Performance, Nov. 16.
The Artists in Residence program is funded through UCA?s arts fee and administered by the College of Fine Arts and Communication.
?Our own faculty make recommendations about who they want to work with our students, so really this program makes it possible for UCA students to interact with the finest international performing/visual/communication artists,? Seymour said.
The UCA College of Fine Arts and Communication is celebrating its 10th anniversary during the University?s Centennial. CFAC was founded in 1997; what is now UCA was founded in 1907 when the Arkansas Legislature approved a bill to establish the state?s first teacher-training school. It was called Arkansas State Normal School, Arkansas State Teachers College and State College of Arkansas before becoming the University of Central Arkansas in 1975.
The institution has grown from 100 students to more than 12,000 and is Arkansas?s second-largest, four-year comprehensive university.
For more information, call the Office of the Dean, College of Fine Arts and Communication, at (501) 450-3293 or e-mail gayles@uca.edu.
