The Traveler

Issue date: 9/17/08 Section: Life & Style

Media Credit: Veronica Pucci Jess Jackson enters three pieces of art for the "A is for Art" exhibit, sponsored by the Anne Kittrell Art Gallery. Jackson is one of 20 featured artists who will be contending for the top prize. The winner will be announced at tomorrow's reception.

The University Programs Anne Kittrell Art Gallery, located on the fourth floor of the Arkansas Union, is hosting its second "A is for Art" exhibition, in which about 20 UA students and regional art educators will compete for a prize for the best of show.

"[Last year's exhibit] was a great turnout," said Sarah Busch, gallery coordinator. "We are trying to make it an annual [competition]. It's a good chance to bring the community together and a chance [for the artists] to showcase their art to their friends and family."

Thirty pieces in various mediums are displayed through Sept. 30.

The exhibit does not require the artists to adhere to a specific theme, which allows the artists to have creative control, Busch said.

"[It allows the viewers] to envision what the artists are trying to portray," she said.

Participant Jess Jackson, an art teacher at Fayetteville High School, entered three pieces in the show, titled "Anticipation," "Do You Ever Feel Like That?" and "End of Rookie Year."

Jackson said he would describe two of the pieces as non-objective works and one as a self-portrait.

"'Anticipation' was done in chalk pastels, and is a piece that I created about a month before the birth of my son Tyler," Jackson said. "The piece is representative of the coming changes and feelings that new parents face. 'Do You Ever Feel Like That?' was created after going through my first artistic block. I felt that nothing I was creating was successful on any level."

Jackson said that particular piece is still one of his favorite pieces "because there are still new things I am discovering in [my] work."

"End of Rookie Year" is a self-portrait Jackson created after he completed his first year of teaching at Northside High School in Fort Smith.

"It is a piece that reflects on the lessons learned in my first year, and [I am] looking forward to new lessons as I continue down this new career path," he said.

The five judges, made up of UP members, art students, the art gallery committee and UA art professors, will judge the artwork on technique and creativity," Busch said.

The prizes are gift cards to Art Emporium. In addition to the top prize, the committee will announce artists who are first place, second place and honorable mention.

The winners were announced yesterday, but the committee will officially announce them at a reception tomorrow in the art gallery, Busch said.

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