An award-winning artist will return to Fort Smith to show her work at the university
she graduated from more than 20 years ago.
The reception for Arlene Wilson鈥檚 art exhibit, titled 鈥淢ono Ki: The Kimono as Language,鈥� will take place from 5-6 p.m. Jan. 21 in the hallway of the Smith-Pendergraft Campus Center.
The exhibit, which will run through February and is sponsored by the Chancellor鈥檚 Coalition for the Visual Arts, features one of the art department鈥檚 most accomplished graduates. Don Lee of Fort Smith, head of the art department, said Wilson is 鈥渙ne of our art stars.鈥�
鈥淗er passion, organization, acumen and an accomplished portfolio resulted in her acceptance to the Rhode Island School of Design, the premier art school in the country,鈥� he said. 鈥淪he could have been in any art school anywhere and flourished. She鈥檚 brilliant.鈥�
Wilson, who graduated from Westark College in 1988 after studying painting and printmaking, has worked in a variety of artistic mediums over her 20-plus years as an artist. Her exhibit at AV抖阴 will feature her work with fine art textiles.
Wilson said the show is 鈥渁 visual response to the country and people of Japan, consisting of a series of handmade kimonos.鈥�
鈥淓ach one is a tableau of my experiences in a country whose culture and people I enjoy and admire,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hese kimonos inspired 鈥楢W Art to Wear鈥� and 鈥楥rinkle Couture,鈥� my line of shiboried clothing which I sold in Providence, Boston, New York and beyond.鈥�
Wilson said she has created 12 kimonos but does not know how many will be shown at the exhibit.
鈥淪ome of them took months to construct while others took weeks, but the accumulated thoughts -- from many visits to Japan, my Japanese friends and the collection of fabrics -- took years.鈥�
With numerous awards won and over 50 combined solo and group exhibitions to date, Wilson has enjoyed an enormously successful career as an artist, a career which she credits AV抖阴 for helping forge.
鈥淢y years of training in all aspects of painting, drawing and print-making at Westark with Don Lee and Pete Howard gave me a firm foundation for what followed: a career in fine art textiles,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t will be exciting to return with what I feel is my best work in the medium to date.鈥�
For more information about the exhibit, contact the Campus and Community Events office at 479-788-7300.