Two exhibits currently featured in the UALR art galleries deal with the idea of how the human world and the nature world intersect in artful ways.

In Gallery I, “Poetic Transformations” features works by artists Alice Leora Briggs, Sylvie Rosenthal, Jacqueline Bishop, Holly Laws, and Jennifer Anderson.

“Between their fixed ideas, these artists poetically navigate iconic symbols through drawn, painted, and sculptured forms. There is an intimacy in the artworks exhibited by these women,” said Brad Cushman, gallery director. “Private, personal, and political, the tone and tenor of their remarks make them vulnerable as they examine how the relationship between the human world and the natural world continues to transform.”

A reception for the artists will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 28, in the lobby of the Fine Arts Building. The exhibition runs through Oct. 3.

In Gallery II is “Solitude,” featuring works by Win Bruhl, chair of the UALR Art Department.

“The American landscape is a subject that attracts Win Bruhl’s attention and his prints and drawings examine that motif,” Cushman said. “The landscape provides an opportunity for one to be in a quiet place, often in solitude. Brilliant colors, gentle breezes, and natural patterns and rhythm supply a harmony of visual and audible information for an artist’s interpretation while the subject remains always dynamic. Seasons, times of day, and atmospheric effects constantly change. The subject of landscape is inexhaustible. “

Bruhl contends that solitude is not sensory deprivation.

“Writers, poets, and painters depend upon solitude within to function creatively. An artist’s need for solitude and silence runs contrary to academic practices that suggest, according to Susan Cain in ‘The Rise of the New Groupthink,’ solitude is out of fashion,” Bruhl said. “She further states that, to our detriment, schools and our culture are committed to the assumption that creativity and achievement evolve out of team work, ‘offices without walls,’ managers who push people skills, and collaboration. Never mind that for centuries creative achievements have come from the human spirit that does not function within the ‘buzzing static of the moment.’”

“Solitude” runs through Sept. 21.

Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. After Labor Day, weekend hours are 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays and 2 to 5 p.m. on Sundays. The galleries are closed during university holidays.

For more information, contact Cushman at 501-56.-977 or at becushman@ualr.edu.