A unique creation by Laura Terry was chosen for inclusion in the 54th Annual Delta Exhibition. This juried exhibition opens Friday, Jan. 27, and remains on display through March 28 in the Townsend Wolfe Gallery at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock. It presents innovative and provocative works in all media and showcases current trends in art.

A reception is planned from 6-8 p.m. Thursday for members of the arts center. 

Terry’s mixed media piece, titled “A Map, Etched (observations from the 35th parallel),” was one of 54 works by 50 artists selected for the exhibition by Tom Butler, executive director of the Columbus Museum in Columbus, Ga. More than 900 works by 427 artists were submitted.

Terry, an associate professor of architecture in the Fay Jones School of Architecture, created two panels – one 24 by 24 inches, the other 24 by 36 inches – and put them together to form a diptych. She attached a hand-drawn map to one of the panels. The map, to be opened by the viewer, is intended to direct the viewing of the painting. The 24-by-24-inch map is a fairly accurate depiction of her home on Sugar Mountain. It contains hand-written information about nature, weather and other facts.

The Delta Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture was created in 1956 to feature contemporary works by artists from Arkansas and the bordering states. The Delta Exhibition has grown to encompass works in all media and displays the dynamic vision of the artists of the Mississippi Delta region. The Delta Exhibition is open to all artists who live in or were born in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.

Curatorial interests of Butler, the exhibit’s juror, include American art, drawings and photography. Butler has organized more than 100 exhibitions of paintings, sculpture, graphics and contemporary crafts. He authored the catalog Lines of Discovery: 225 Years of American Drawing for a touring exhibition presented at the Arkansas Arts Center in 2007.

This exhibit is sponsored by
Janet and Sam Alley. The Grand Award supported by The John William Linn Endowment Fund. The exhibition is supported by the Andre Simon Memorial Trust, in memory of everyone who has died of AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome).

Arkansas Arts Center programs are supported in part by the City of Little Rock; Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Arkansas Arts Center is located at Ninth and Commerce streets in Little Rock. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. The gallery is closed on Mondays and major holidays. Admission is free.

For more information, call 501-372-4000 or visit www.arkarts.com.