Artist Kendall Buster Brings Lecture, Exhibition to University of Arkansas

Photo Submitted

“New Growth” (2007), by Kendall Buster

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – A solo exhibition of work by Kendall Buster, titled “Architecture By Way of Biology,” will be on display Nov. 4 through Dec. 18 at the University of Arkansas Student Gallery, known as sUgAR, 114 W. Central Ave., in Bentonville. An opening reception is planned for 5:30-7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 5, with a gallery talk at 6 p.m.

This display of inventory, drawings and models is presented by the Fay Jones School of Architecture and the University of Arkansas department of art in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. In addition, Buster will present a lecture, also titled “Architecture By Way of Biology,” at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 8, at Ken Shollmier Hall in Vol Walker Hall on the University of Arkansas campus. This is the Martha Dellinger Memorial Lecture, sponsored by Jim and Sharon Parker, as well as the Joy Pratt Markham Fund. Admission is free, and seating is limited.

Buster is a professor of sculpture in the department of sculpture and extended media at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va. She first studied microbiology and received a Bachelor of Science in medical technology before pursuing an education in art. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Corcoran College of Art and Design and a Masters of Fine Arts in sculpture from Yale University. She also participated in the Whitney Museum’s independent study studio program in New York City.

Her work has been exhibited in numerous venues nationally and internationally, including the Hirshhorn Museum and the Kreeger Museum, both in Washington, D.C.; Artists Space and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, both in New York City; the Haggerty Museum of Art in Milwaukee; the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City; the Boise Art Museum in Boise, Idaho; Suyama Space in Seattle; the Bahnhof Westend in Berlin: and the KZNSA Gallery in Durban, South Africa.

Buster has created commissioned sculptures for the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and Wilmer Cutler Hale, both in Washington, D.C.; Markel Corp. in Glen Allen, Va.; Massey Cancer Center in Richmond, Va.; the Science Center at the Episcopal School in Alexandria, Va.; the Bank of Oklahoma Center in Tulsa; the Agave Branch Library in Phoenix, Ariz.; as well as a roof-top sculpture at the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno. Recently completed projects include a pier for the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s Virginia B. Fairbanks Art and Nature Park, where Marlon Blackwell Architect also designed the Ruth Lilly Visitors Pavilion. Other completed projects are Buster’s sculptures for the new Chemistry Building at Princeton University and Gilman Hall at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Upcoming projects include sculptures for the San Francisco International Airport and the Romare Bearden Park in Charlotte, N.C.

Buster has been interviewed by Neda Ulaby on NPR’s Morning Edition as part of a series on art and science and was the recipient of a 2005 American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in the Arts. She currently lives and works in Richmond, Va.

The sUgAR Gallery is open Thursdays, from 2-6 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sundays, from 1-5 p.m.

For more information, contact sUgAR at 479-273-5305.