UAFS opens art series in Bakery District

The University of Arkansas – Fort Smith and The Bakery District have officially opened their art series, "The District Art Galleries," to bring fine art to the unconventional spaces in the community.

In addition, the university also has a permanent collection on campus in the Windgate Gallery.

The goal of the partnership is to build a forum for community engagement with the arts.

The university's Gallery of Art & Design, and Department of Art & Design appointed its gallery director, Matthew Bailey, to choose three adjunct professors, Mary Elkins, Jarrod Cluck, and Owen Buffington to display their latest projects.

Mary Elkins makes work focused on memory, motherhood, and family. She works with fiber, clay, and other household objects. The love of cataloguing and remembering momentous but especially small, mundane moments in life has inspired much of her work.

Elkins received her BFA in Ceramics from the University of Arkansas Fayetteville in 2008 and her MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in Craft/Material Studies in 2011.

Jarrod Cluck works with locally collected native plants, waste, and recovered iron objects. He uses prints and video to tell same old story of lost knowledge and rediscovery except through the perspective of an Ozark natural.

Cluck graduated from the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith in 2015 with a BA and the University of Hartford's Nomad MFA program in 2020 with an MFA before returning to teach at his alma mater.

Owen Buffington is a mixed-media artist whose work explores the intersection of geography and the visual arts — in particular the role drawing plays in shaping how we describe, define and organize everyday spaces.

Owen earned an MFA, with an emphasis in drawing, from the University of Arkansas in 2017, and has taught at universities, community art nonprofits, and public schools.

The artists' inaugural exhibition, “Process/Experience/Place” will run from June 1 through September 18, with a reception celebrating the installation and the partnership to be announced soon.

Viewing is free and the exhibition is open to the public during the Bakery merchants’ open hours.

Katie Waugh, chair of the Department of Art & Design, said the space will be a new visual art center to expand the presence of the university's art department in the downtown area.

“This is a vital forum for contemporary art that I hope the UAFS and Fort Smith communities will enjoy,” she said.

New exhibitions will be quarterly with the intent to develop a continuous, competitive program of modern and impactful installations that truly engage the community.

Bailey said the District Art Galleries will also be a training ground for students in art gallery practice.

“The training aspect is intended primarily for art students to gain art handling and gallery experience, though volunteer opportunities will be open to any interested student,” he said. “Volunteers will assist with exhibition installations, and in the future, we hope to utilize this venue as part of our developing academic program in art handling and museum practice.”

Waugh said Bailey also initiated a program to hire student workers for the gallery.

“These opportunities are an important extension of our students’ academic programs," she said. "Working on exhibitions in this new space will expand both their academic understanding and their professional repertoire in developing exhibition spaces and overcoming design challenges.”

Bailey said he had to get the ball rolling after discussing a plan for a gallery in the community with Waugh for a long time.

"We had such a lot going on, on campus to develop the gallery and exhibition programming here that, when we put on the faculty show, I just knew these artists would be perfect as a start for it," he said.

Bailey said Waugh and Bill Hanna, president of the board for Hanna Oil and Gas Company and owner of The Bakery District, worked together to develop the program to "get the most out of it."

Now, the organizers await public perception.

Bailey said the process has been positive and exciting.

"It's always nice to complete it and step back and see what we as a group have accomplished," he said. "Take a breath and then go on to the next project."

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: The District Art Galleries opens in partner with UAFS