UA Little Rock to Present Exhibition Featuring Arkansas Artist Laura Raborn
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will host an exhibition featuring the artwork of Laura Raborn, an Arkansas artist and teacher, from Dec. 11 to Jan. 12.
The “Laura Raborn: Words Create Reality” exhibition, which is free and open to the public, will be on display in the Focus Gallery in the Windgate Center of Art and Design from Dec. 11, 2023, to Jan. 12, 2024. Her artwork includes acrylic on paper, acrylic and oil on canva-paper, and acrylic, charcoal, graphite, and pencil on paper. A reception will be held from 5-7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 14, at the Windgate Center.
“The art making process prompts me to see the humanity of every person I paint,” Raborn said in an artist statement. “I often present a solitary figure rather than a group. While multiple figures interact with each other, the single figure interacts with me as the artist and, later, with the viewer. Making and viewing the art becomes a way to spend time with the person, as if we exist together in another reality. While the materials and methods I use vary, resulting in multiple bodies of work, the underlying theme of all the work is to reflect how we view each other in modern times.”
Raborn earned a Bachelor of Art degree from Rollins College and a master’s degree in art from UA Little Rock. She has participated in three prestigious art residencies at the Women’s International Study Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in Amherst, Virginia, and Breck Create in Breckenridge, Colorado. She has taught mixed media workshops in art schools such as the Ah Haa School for the Arts in Telluride, Colorado, Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, and Schola Artis Pro Vobis in Assisi, Italy.
Raborn’s paintings are exhibited in multiple collections in Arkansas, the U.S., and the Bahamas. Her work has earned numerous awards and has appeared in publications such as “Women Make Arkansas: Conversations with 50 Creatives” by Erin Wood of Et Alia Press.
The UA Little Rock Art Galleries in the Windgate Center are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Saturday, and 2-5 p.m. Sunday.
For more information, contact Nathan Larson, interim art gallery director and curator, at 501-916-5104 or nglarson@ualr.edu.
