SAAC is pleased to host the exhibit “From Almeda To Zilphia: Arkansas Women Who Transformed American Popular Song” featuring the captivating work of Little Rock artist Katherine Strause. The exhibit showcases oil paintings of 30 remarkable Arkansas women who have had a significant impact on the world of music. The collection of portraits, which are also featured in a new book published by Et Alia Press, will be on exhibit from September 10 to October 16 in the Lobby Gallery.
Join us for the artist reception on Thursday, September 12, from 5:30 to 7:00 pm to celebrate artist Katherine Strause and the opening of her new exhibit. This event offers a unique opportunity to meet Katherine Strause and delve into her vibrant portrayals of these extraordinary women. In addition to the original paintings, Strause will have 10″ X 8″ signed archival Giclee prints available for sale at the reception.
Katherine Strause’s portraits are the product of extensive research that delves into the lives and artistic expressions of women with Arkansas roots who have shaped the landscape of American music. The exhibition features figures from diverse genres including gospel (Rosetta Tharpe), opera (Marjorie Lawrence), blues (Sippie Wallace), folk ballads (Almeda Riddle), dance-pop (Beth Ditto), classical (Florence Price), and country (K.T. Oslin).
Inspired by the quote, “The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion,” by Albert Camus, Strause demonstrates, through her art, the courage and strength of these women who confidently assert their place in the music industry. “I look for liberty in the attitude of the subject,” she states, “I want to show them shaking off constraints. These women are in charge, and through their music, they are taking control in subversive and playful ways.”
Katherine Strause, a prominent artist and educator, has a rich background in the arts. She currently serves as the Artist in Residence at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and is a 2023-2024 Catalyze Fellow with the Mid-America Art Alliance. Additionally, she is on the Juried Artist Registry of the Arkansas Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Over her career, she has held various teaching positions and has been instrumental in promoting art across the region.
The portraits in this exhibit are featured in a new book titled “From Almeda To Zilphia: Arkansas Women Who Transformed American Popular Song”, authored by Arkansan Stephen Koch and published by Et Alia Press. The book documents the impactful stories of the women portrayed in Strause’s art.
A special celebration of the book “An A-Z Evening” will be held on Thursday, October 3, at 7 PM, featuring stories and songs from the book, as well as a book signing and refreshments. Seating for this event will be limited, and tickets are priced at $15 for the general public, $10 for members, and free for students. BOX OFFICE LINK
Join us in honoring the legacy and contributions of Arkansas women in music through Katherine Strause’s powerful exhibit of resilience, creativity, and inspiration.
Katherine Strause is a painter living in Little Rock, Arkansas. She is currently the Artist in Residence at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. She is also a 2023-2024 Catalyze Fellow with the Mid-America Art Alliance. From 2007 until 2022 she served as Professor of Painting and Chair of the Art Department at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, and a Master of Fine Arts from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville.
Katherine was born in Independence, Missouri, and was raised in Conway, Arkansas, by mid- west transplants from eastern Iowa. As a Catholic school student for twelve years, she naturally began questioning authority and other established Southern social norms. Her first studio experience was at the Arkansas Arts Center at the age of eight. In her teens, Katherine created a studio of her own in her family’s attic, a small, hot space where she set up an easel and painted.
In college, Katherine studied paintng under Al Allen and Susan Chambers; both were influental in teaching her solid design, color theory, and the spirit of being an artst. As a Master’s student, she worked with printmaker Robert Malone for the first eighteen months but she missed the immediacy and tactle nature of pain.
Katherine has taught painting, drawing, design, humanities at several universities and community colleges in the mid-west and mid-south. In 2004, she was awarded the inaugural Wingate Foundation Artist in Residence in Painting at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock. She served as Chair of the Art Department Professor of Painting at Henderson State University for sixteen years. In 2019, she received a nomination for the Joan Mitchell Painters and Sculptors Grant.
Katherine’s paintings have been featured in over seventy juried and curated exhibitions, both at home and abroad. Her work is owned by public, corporate, and private collections, including the University of Arkansas for Medical Science, the University of Mississippi Oxford, the Historic Arkansas Museum, The University Museum at Southern Illinois University, and the University of Arkansas, Little Rock.
www.katherinestrause.com
More about Katherine Strause
Website
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
The Springs Magazine