The UCA Artists in Residence program celebrated its 25th anniversary with special guests and events.
The Artists in Residence program, funded by students’ fine and performing arts fee, brings performance professionals such as actors, dancers, writers, musicians and artists from around the world to campus to take part in showcases, exhibitions, classes and workshops with students and the Central Arkansas community.
The Artists in Residence program started Feb. 18, 2000.
The same year, arts events took over the newly constructed Reynolds Performance Hall, which was built with funds from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation — a foundation existing to improve facilities for local Arkansas, Nevada and Oklahoma nonprofits since 1954.
“Perhaps the millennium inspired this dedication to the arts, which, in retrospect, caused a kind of Renaissance at UCA,” Gayle Seymour, associate dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and organizer of Artists in Residence events, said.
The purpose of the Artists in Residence program, as stated in the Board of Trustees minutes for the Feb. 18 meeting that started it all, is to “expand artistic opportunities that supplement and enhance university life and academic program.”
In the first year, nine artists were brought to campus. Since 2007, UCA has seen 15-20 artists each year.
Residency duration and complexity have also grown through supplemental grant funding from the Arkansas Arts Council, the Mid-America Arts Alliance, the National Endowment for the Arts and other sponsors.
“In Spring 2023, for instance, artist Fabiola Jean-Louis was in residence for four months in order to create a major art installation, along with our students and students from Morrilton High School, that will be featured at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum,” Seymour said.
Since 2022, the Artists in Residence program has seen support from Engage Management, Pyramid Art and Book and Custom Framing in Little Rock.
“I want to encourage all students, not just the arts students, to take advantage of these events. Many are scheduled at x-period, and we welcome all comers,” Seymour said. “For most of them, you don’t need a ticket. There is no dress code or anything that might be considered a barrier to participation.”
This year, the lineup of artists includes Jonathan Christen Caballero for ceramics and sculpture, who will be on campus Sep. 15-21 and Nov. 3-9, Ama Codjoe for poetry, who will be on campus Sep. 23-24.
The Jim Self and John Chiodini Duo will perform jazz on campus Sept. 30-Oct. 4. Fashion designer Korto Momolu will visit Sept. 30-Oct. 11. The AIDS Memorial Quilt will be displayed Oct. 1-13. The Indigo Girls will perform Oct. 13. Author Mecca Jamilah Sullivan will be on campus Nov. 6-7.
“We are so fortunate to have the Artists in Residence program, unique in our state and the region,” Seymour said.
For more information about the Artists in Residence program and events, contact Gayle Seymour at [email protected]. The full Artists in Residence schedule can be found online at uca.edu/cahss/artists-in-residence.