Skip to main content

UA Little Rock Art Gallery Hosts July Exhibitions

Professor Kevin Cates teaches students during a graphic design class at UA Little Rock.
Professor Kevin Cates teaches students during a graphic design class at UA Little Rock.

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Art Gallery will host two exhibitions this summer featuring artwork of a talented graphic design professor as well as an enthusiastic overview of the field of printmaking.

The first exhibition will celebrate the work of Kevin Cates, a professor of graphic design at the UA Little Rock School of Art and Design. The exhibition, “KCDesignForThePublicGood,” will be on display in the Ann Maners and Alex Pappas Gallery in the Windgate Center of Art and Design from July 24 to Aug. 16.

Cates is a professor and freelance graphic designer and web developer who has previously worked as a printshop typesetter, assistant art director, and graphic artist. He earned a bachelor’s degree in graphic design and illustration from UA Little Rock and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Memphis. He has been teaching graphic design at UA Little Rock since 2006.

Every seven years, tenured professors can apply for a semester of leave to focus on professional and academic growth. In this exhibition, Cates will display a series of freelance projects from more than 25 clients, with a focus on pro bono work for local non-profit organizations, completed during his fall 2022 semester off-campus duty assignment. He brings his real-world experience into the classroom to inspire students to be successful artists.

The second exhibition, “Surface Impressions,” will be on display in the Brad Cushman Gallery in the Windgate Center from July 31 to Aug. 27. The exhibition will involve an overview of what is possible within the medium of printmaking.

The artwork in this exhibition is curated to give printmaking students and those interested in printmaking examples of traditional, alternative, and experimental techniques. Through this exhibition, UA Little Rock hopes to engage visitors and to encourage students to test the limits of printmaking.

Artists who will be featured in “Surface Impressions” include Melissa Gill, Acadia Kandora, Jay Fox, David Warren, Dominique Simmons, Kristin DeGeorge, Perrion Hurd, Jonathan Wright, Win Bruhl, Miranda “Randi” Young, Matthew Castellano, Warren Criswell, Ivan Thorpe, and AJ Smith.

Both exhibitions are free and open to the public. 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.