Art museums of all shapes and sizes are scattered throughout the natural state. 

Bentonville’s Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Little Rock’s Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, Pine Bluff’s Arts and Science Center, El Dorado’s South Arkansas Arts Center, Russellville’s Arkansas River Valley Arts Center, it’s hard to find a major location devoid of a gallery for full-time artists — except in Conway.

Though Conway residents have always had access to UCA’s Baum Gallery and Hendrix’s Windgate Museum of Art, neither is exclusively for professional artists.

The Central Arkansas Collective hopes to change that.

Composed of nine artists living in the central Arkansas area, Central Arkansas Collective held its first art exhibition of the year on Feb. 2.

The exhibition included a variety of unique paintings, experimental photography, ceramic sculptures and more.

Faye Hedera, president of the collective said, “Each person brings a very unique perspective and as we curated the group of professional artists, we really focused on keeping it a very diverse collection so that when you come to a show, you’re seeing so many different aspects of art.”

Central Arkansas Collective first came to life during the summer of 2023, yet its origins stretch back as far as December 2022.

“It started off with talking with Barbara Satterfield and James Volkert, and we realized that there needed to be some kind of opportunity in Conway for professional artists, and our goal was to create a place where we could exhibit our work,” Hedera said. “So from there, we met with Nick Stevens from the Creative Institute, who helped guide us into forming a mission statement and coming together, and eventually, over the course of — I think it was eight months — we gathered together a group of extraordinary artists, and we created this gallery.”

One of the collective’s founding members, Barbara Satterfield, brought two ceramic works to the gallery titled “Nested Jar” and “Root.”

Satterfield finds deep inspiration from the nature that surrounds society, always finding a way to incorporate it into her work.

“I collect things in nature like shells and stones, turtle shells, dirt dauber nests, roots and things that interest me,” Satterfield said. “When I walk in the woods, I just pick up things that I find fascinating, and I make molds of them or I use them.”

Having been the Baum Gallery’s director for 10 years, Satterfield also worked as a curator for the exhibition.

“Each member brings one to three artworks every month and we put all the artworks out and then usually I place them as kind of the curator. I arranged what the exhibit would look like. We wanted to make sure that it looked like a gallery, meaning that everybody’s work would not be exhibited together,” Satterfield said. “For instance, all of Faye’s work wouldn’t be shown together. We would organize the gallery in terms of color, shape, directionality, variety, so that when somebody comes in to enjoy the gallery, they’re not just looking at one person’s work, they’re looking at the entire arrangement of all the artwork.”

Another artist in the collective with an eye for nature is Jeanetta Darley.

Darley brought three pieces to the exhibition titled “Lichen in Verde Gris, Aubergine and Burnt Amber,” “In Between with Moss and Rocks” and “Lichen in Citron and Verde Gris.”

Darley’s overall theme between the three pieces was the microscopic idea of nature.

“It’s kind of recapturing those essences that are out in nature that people, I don’t think they look at those small elements of things. They kind of look at the bigger picture, but they don’t often notice the super tiny details,” Darley said.

Collective member James Volkert finds inspiration in art history, studying works from artistic legends such as Raphael and George Bellows.

“It’s more of an investigation for me. It’s about trying to figure out how did they do what they did, and can I replicate that? Can I go through the same process that they went through? That’s sort of why art history pulls me,” Volkert said.

Volkert brought three pieces to the exhibit, including “Bellows, Erector #2,” “Evidence (Gravity): After Raphael” and “Blow winds and crack your cheeks!: After Turner.”

Volkert’s love for art history comes from over 30 years of working in art museums.

“I did undergraduate and graduate work in fine art and then worked in museums for 35 years,” Volkert said. “And then when I finished that, Barbara [Satterfield], my wife, bought me a paintbrush and said ‘You should start painting again.’ This was 20 years ago. And so I did.”

The Central Arkansas Collective’s art can now be seen at 1120 Oak St. on Thursdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The collective can also be seen in the upcoming fourth season of the Conway Art Walk starting March 1, from 5-8 p.m.

The art walk will take place on the first Friday of every month until November.