Meadows Museum of Art plans artist talk for September 14
SHREVEPORT, LA — On September 14 at 6:00 p.m., Little Rock artists Aj Smith and Marjorie Williams-Smith will hold an artist talk for their exhibition, Shared Visions, at the Meadows Museum of Art at Centenary College. The event is free and open to the public.
Shared Visions is a part of the Fall 2022 exhibition season at the Meadows Museum. The exhibition, which opened August 29, will be on display at the Museum through December 3, 2022. While on campus, Smith and Williams-Smith will also lead a silverpoint studio workshop in Assistant Professor of Art Shea Hembrey’s Drawing Studio class.
Aj Smith attended Queens College, City University of New York, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in painting and printmaking. He apprenticed for five years with Robert Blackburn, distinguished artist and founding Director of the Printmaking Workshop, Inc. New York, NY, and is recognized as a Master Printer in fine art printing. Smith specializes in drawing with additional interests in painting and traditional fine art printmaking processes.
Smith’s work reflects his journey through the Arkansas and Mississippi Delta regions as told through the faces of individuals who live there. He is known for an extensive national and international exhibition record of graphite pencil drawings, metalpoint drawings, and fine prints. His work can be found in various public and private collections throughout the United States, China, and Czech Republic. He has had notable art review publications within the New York Times Weekend Arts, Los Angeles Times, and Flash Art Magazine.
Marjorie Williams-Smith first started drawing flowers as a way to preserve floral gifts given by family and friends. She started to see the beauty of forms, which began to take on metaphorical significances. Williams-Smith received a Master of Fine Arts degree from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. After completing her academic training, she worked for several years as a graphic artist in New York City.
Williams-Smith’s recent drawings reflect the history of African Americans as told through the crops they cultivated as enslaved people and sharecroppers. The fields also offer a metaphorical view, as they present an inviting landscape that hides a dark past. She has exhibited regionally and nationally, and her work is included in many collections across Arkansas and Indiana. She has also received numerous awards for her art and was honored to create art for the United States Mint. Williams-Smith was most recently awarded the Arkansas Governor’s Arts Award for an Individual Artist.
About the Meadows Museum of Art
The Meadows Museum of Art is located on the campus of Centenary College of Louisiana at 2911 Centenary Boulevard in Shreveport, Louisiana. The Museum is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The Museum is closed on Sundays and College holidays. For more information or to schedule field trips, call the Museum at 318.869.5169 or visit themeadowsmuseum.com.