UA Little Rock to Host Three New Art Exhibitions This Fall
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Windgate Center of Art and Design will welcome art lovers this fall with three new exhibitions that showcase student talent, innovative fiber and mixed media work, and contemporary photography exploring identity and intimacy.
The exhibitions include the 2025 Annual Student Competitive, “Lauren DiCioccio: Soft Skills,” and “Naima Green: Seismic Feelings.” The exhibitions, which are free and open to the public, will be on display beginning in mid October and continuing throughout November, and December in the Windgate Center art galleries.
The 2025 Annual Student Competitive exhibition will run Oct. 20 – Nov. 7 in the Brad Cushman Gallery. Open to all students enrolled in a School of Art and Design studio art course, the juried show highlights emerging talent and creativity across multiple disciplines.
The show’s juror is Kevin Cole, a nationally recognized artist whose work is included in more than 4,000 public, private, and corporate collections worldwide. Cole, a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, the University of Illinois, and Northern Illinois University, selected 53 works by more than 25 student artists for the exhibition. The Annual Student Competitive reception will be held from 2-4 p.m. Nov. 7 in the Windgate Center with student awards being announced at 2:30 p.m.
The Maners Pappas Gallery will feature “Lauren DiCioccio: Soft Skills” from Oct. 16 – Dec. 8. DiCioccio, who earned a BFA from Colgate University, has worked in fiber arts for more than 20 years, specializing in sculpture and mixed media. Her work explores the tension between presence and disappearance in everyday objects through meticulous hand-sewing and embroidery.
“Hand-sewing and hand-embroidery explore the presence, and disappearance, of objects common to day-to-day life and the relationships we make to them,” DiCioccio said. “The materials, tools, and time-intensive labor conjure opposing feelings of precious and pathetic that these ubiquitous, and often disposable or overlooked, objects possess.”
Rounding out the fall lineup is “Naima Green: Seismic Feelings,” on display from Nov. 3 – Dec. 8 in the Focus Gallery. Green, the Windgate Center Artist-in-Residence for the Fall 2025 semester, is an artist and educator whose photography examines the nature of intimacy, sensuality, and self-recognition. Her work documents individuals and communities in relationship to place and pleasure, synthesizing archival research with conversations and oral histories to create images that serve as “kinetic, living histories.” A reception will be held for Green in the main lobby of the Windgate Center from 5-7 p.m. on Nov. 20.
The UA Little Rock Art Gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekends. Patrons may also schedule appointments to visit the galleries outside of regular hours by contacting the gallery director. For more information, contact Young at [email protected] or 501-916-5103.