Local artist and retired art educator Helene Lambert will serve as judge for an upcoming exhibit and competition “Under Quarantine: Art During Unprecedented Circumstances”.
With an open-invitation and no entry fees, the event provides our community an outlet to share their results of creative expression while under quarantine. Entry deadline to submit artwork is June 29 and the artwork will be on display July 1-28.
“We have been anticipating this exhibition since the beginning of the quarantine process, and it’s exciting and intriguing to see the work that has been created by South Arkansas’ creative community during this strange period in our history,” said SAAC executive director Laura Allen. “Helene has served on our Visual Arts committee for several years, and we are thrilled to bring her expertise to the judging of this exhibit.”
Any artist age 18 and up is eligible to participate. Art is accepted in any medium, and two-dimensional and three-dimensional work will both be accepted. Artists may enter one or two pieces of artwork created while working at home during the quarantine, started on or after March 14, and completed by the delivery date. SAAC requests artwork to be preregistered through the “Under Quarantine” exhibit entry portal, then deliver the work to SAAC by June 29.
Lambert recently retired after teaching art for 34 years in Union County, including “31 wonderful years” at Barton Junior High School in El Dorado. Upon retirement, she received the El Dorado Education Foundation Middle/Junior High School Teacher of the Year Award. Lambert attended school in Hampton and received her BSE at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff where she studied art under the notable Henri Linton and Terrance Corbin.
Lambert’s studio in Hampton is where she experiments with what she calls “free range art.” She said, “I am on a mission to find myself and paint what I feel. I love what I do-whatever it is-because all of my works are sketches in pursuit of happiness.” Lambert currently works with Arts Integration Services and is Arts In Education (AIE) teaching artist.
Gallery manager Kelly Campbell said about the exhibition idea, “A friend of mine called me on the first Saturday that we went into ‘quarantine’ with the idea for this exhibit, and the idea of a competition came at the very end of our conversation. She was so excited about the possibility of artists who could share the art they were creating during these strange times, and I just jumped right in there with her.”
Prizes are: Best of Show $200; First Place $150; Second Place $100; Third Place $50. Honorable mentions may be awarded with no cash prize.