Back to ExhibitionsAMFA's annual Young Arkansas Artists Exhibition highlights the remarkable talent, creativity and perspective of Arkansas students.
Each year, art educators and instructors throughout Arkansas submit their students’ work, and a panel of art professionals select works to be included in the exhibition. Showcasing artwork from kindergarten through high school in a wide range of mediums and techniques, the 65 selected works – or five works from each grade level – will be on display in a virtual exhibition here on the AMFA website this summer.
About the Awards
Works will be selected for the exhibition by a panel of professional artists, collectors, and art educators. From those selections, Grand Juror Brian Young will assign the following awards:
- 1 "Best in Class" for each grade – schools receive $350 to support their art programs and students receive a $45 gift certificate for art supplies
- 2 "Honorable Mentions" for each grade – schools receive $200 to support their art programs and students receive a $25 gift certificate for art supplies
- 1 Mid-Southern Watercolorists' "Best in Show Watercolor Award" overall – school receives $250 to support their art program
One "Teacher’s Choice" award per grade level will also be selected by the Arkansas Art Educators Association.
As rising Juniors and Seniors, the Tenth and Eleventh grade Best-in-Class winners will also be awarded the opportunity to attend artWAYS, a week-long residential summer intensive visual arts program in June 2023 through UA Little Rock's Department of Art and Design.
All awards will be announced during an in-person ceremony at the Museum on May 20, 2023. More details will be provided closer to the event.
About the Juror
Brian Young / Director, Baum Gallery at the University of Central Arkansas
Since August of 2016, Brian Young has served as the director for the Baum Gallery at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, AR. He is also a lecturer in the Art and Design department (UCA). From 1997 - 2016, Young has served as a curator of drawings and exhibitions for the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts (formerly the Arkansas Arts Center), Little Rock, AR; Cranbrook Art Museum (CAM), Bloomfield Hills, MI; the Academy Art Museum, Easton, MD; the University of Maryland Global College (UMGC), Adelphi, MD; and Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD.
From 2012 - 2016, Young taught art history at UMGC where he was Associate Adjunct Professor. Prior to that, Young served on the faculty of Ohio Dominican University, Columbus, and Salisbury University, Maryland. In 2016, he completed a certificate in art appraisal studies from New York University. In the field of art history, Young’s specialties include drawings and contemporary art. He has written monographs on Arnold Bittleman (2004), James Hilleary (2012), Helen Zughaib (2015), and Akemi Maegawa (2016). Young has also curated two major fiber exhibitions: Hot House: Expanding the Field of Fiber, 1970-2007 (CAM, 2007) and Threads Through Time (UCA, 2020).
Sponsors
The 62nd Young Arkansas Artists Exhibition awards are supported in part by Arkansas Children’s Hospital and Mid-Southern Watercolorists.
Redeemable coupons awarded to the 62nd Young Arkansas Artists Exhibition honorable mention and best in class winners are provided by BLICK Art Materials.