ARTIST ANITA HUFFINGTON DONATES SCULPTURE TO THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Acclaimed artist Anita Huffington has donated the sculpture Rebirth to the University of Arkansas.

Rebirth depicts a curled figure of a young woman, carved from translucent alabaster. Huffington said she sees the work as "a metaphor for change and growth and the many lives we lead-a continuum of all that has been passed on to us from countless lives past and present, as well as what will be."

Huffington finished the sculpture a month before her daughter's death. Lisa Huffington Duque was a UA student when, in 1982, she was killed by a drunk driver.

"My daughter was and is the inspiration for much of my sculpture," said Huffington. "The many sculptures I have made and all the art I've loved have helped me to learn about life. Now I feel I can part with Rebirth, knowing I'm not apart, letting the light of Lisa's gentle spirit shine on the lives that follow, here where she was a student, in this place of learning about life."

Huffington said she also made the donation in appreciation of Dean Bernard Madison of Fulbright College. "I wanted to recognize the commitment of Dean Madison, who has been a leader in acquiring art for the campus and who clearly knows the importance of art in our lives," said Huffington.

Throughout his 10 years as Dean, Madison secured support to bring several works of art to campus, such as the statue of Ben Kimpel, the Fulbright Peace Fountain, and the sculpture of former Senator J. William Fulbright, scheduled to be installed near Old Main this fall.

Madison said he was honored and quite pleased to have a piece by Anita donated to the U of A on his behalf. "I have been an admirer of her art since we raised funds to purchase Spring from her last year," said Madison.

A bronze female figure, Spring was permanently installed in the Bogle Exhibit Hall on the fifth floor of Old Main during a special ceremony in May 1998.

Rebirth will be permanently installed in Mullins Library in July, on the second floor landing of the circular staircase in the new east addition. Jim and Diane Blair will help underwrite the cost of installation.

"The University Libraries are delighted to accept Anita Huffington's generous gift, which will greatly enhance the quality of the surroundings in Mullins Library," said Juana Young, Acting Director.

Huffington's sculptures are displayed in galleries in Dallas, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and other cities. Her work is also regularly exhibited in one of the most important American art events of the international scene, the February Armory Art Show in New York. In 1997 the American Academy of Arts & Letters in New York presented her with the Jimmy Ernst Award at the annual Ceremonial, given to a painter or sculptor whose lifetime contribution has been consistent and dedicated.

Her history includes a long period in New York City starting in the late fifties, when she came to study dance with Martha Graham. She became involved with artists of the New York School, such as Kline and de Kooning, as well as a vibrant group of painters, musicians, poets, and sculptors.

These experiences and her life in the Arkansas Ozarks are apparent in her sculptures of stone and bronze, which reflect both the world of art and the natural world of streams and woods in which she lives and works.

Recent shows have been held at the O'Hara Gallery in New York City, the Triangle Gallery in San Francisco, the Louis Stern Gallery in Los Angeles, and the Valley House Gallery in Dallas. Huffington was one of 10 sculptors, in company with Calder, Baskin, Lachaise, and Nadelman, included in the exhibition "The Figure in 20th Century Art" at the Two Sculptors Gallery in New York City.

Of her art, Huffington writes, "We can see in nature an organic energy and essential beauty, a power that has the force of a religious experience, an illumination, an intuitive flash wherein we glimpse our original nature. In my sculpture, through reduction and simplicity of form, balance and tension, and interaction with the material, I seek this revelation."

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