U of A Fayetteville Campus to Host Arkansas College Art History Symposium for First Time

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas at Fayetteville will host the 28th annual Arkansas College Art History Symposium, the first time the event has been held on this campus. The J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design, the School of Art and the humanities program have collaborated to host the March 8-9 symposium, which celebrates future historians.

The symposium was born through friendship and an awareness that undergraduate students in the state of Arkansas did not have an opportunity to present their research — a critical experience and education for future art historians.

Floyd Martin, of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and Gayle Seymour, of the University of Central Arkansas, are the symposium founders and visionaries. The 30-year friends saw a need and established the Arkansas College Art History Symposium in 1991.

The organizers of this year’s symposium are Kim Sexton, associate professor of architecture, and Lynn Jacobs, Distinguished Professor of art history, both at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.

The symposium experience echoes the expectations given to professional historians. Students have the opportunity to formally present their work, network with students in the state with similar interests and give greater attention to the discipline. The symposium also provides a unique opportunity for art history faculty from colleges and universities across the state to interact.

The symposium opens Thursday night with the guest art historian, professor Vivien Green Fryd of Vanderbilt University's department of history of art. She will deliver the keynote address, "Henry Ries: The Berlin Wall as a Counter-Monument atop the Ruins of War, Terror, and Division."

This year, the U of A partnered with Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, which will host this address at 6 p.m. in the Walker Landing room. This event is free and open to the public.

On Friday, students take the stage at the U of A to deliver 20-minute illustrated presentations on their areas of research. The symposium features 12 students who were selected by the host school based on proposals submitted earlier in the year.

The symposium presentations are free and open to the public. The public is encouraged to stop by to see the work of students from across the state. The following is a schedule of the presentation categories, times and locations:

• Sessions 1 and 2: Honors College Study Hall, Room 258, Gearhart Hall
  • 9-10:30 a.m. – Women and Portraiture
  • 11 a.m. to noon – Aesthetics: Sound, Space, Form
     
• Sessions 3 and 4: Ken and Linda Sue Shollmier Hall, Vol Walker Hall
  • 1:15-2:15 p.m. – History, Conflict, and Visual Culture in the New World
  • 2:45-3:25 p.m. – Space and Power

"For many students, giving a 20-minute presentation is challenging and requires a lot of preparation," Martin said. "Once the event occurs, there is a celebratory atmosphere, as students see their hard work affirmed by students and faculty."