Press Room:
Smithsonian Traveling Exhibition "Diana Walker: Photojournalist" on View at Arkansas Arts Center

For more information contact:
Emily Fraize, 501-396-0308
efraize@arkarts.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Smithsonian Traveling Exhibition "Diana Walker: Photojournalist" on View at Arkansas Arts Center

As a pioneering woman in the male dominated realm of political photojournalism, photographer Diana Walker spent the last 25 years providing an intimate view into the public and private lives of America's presidents and first families as well as capturing some of the most significant people and moments in the past quarter century.

The exhibition features 83 black-and-white and color photographs as well as nine magazine covers and layouts spanning Walker's distinguished, award-winning career. It is divided into 11 sections: "Access to History," "Public and Private Moments," "Campaigns and Conventions," "First Ladies," "The White House," "Travel with Presidents," "Clinton's Last Week," "Presidents in Private," "Diana Walker/Favorite Photographs," "Tracking Business and Politics" and "Portraits." Viewers will easily recognize Walker's historically significant images such as President Ronald and Nancy Reagan waving from the window of the Bethesda Naval Hospital to signal the president's well-being following his shooting in 1985; President Jimmy Carter with Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin during the Camp David Accords in 1979 and portraits of key figures such as activist Jesse Jackson and heavyweight champion Mohammed Ali. Selected photographs are accompanied by Walker's own descriptions of the circumstances surrounding the events she photographed and her impressions of her subjects.

First as a freelance photographer and then as a member of Time magazine's staff, Walker covered the White House from the Ford administration in 1976 to the last day of Bill Clinton's second term in 2001. At times Walker was granted special access to the George H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations, allowing her to capture some of the most candid and intimate images of the presidents and their family members. They were taken in the oval office, in the first family's private quarters, on the campaign trail and during trips in the country and overseas.

"Diana Walker: Photojournalist" was produced by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and organized for travel by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Services (SITES).

For more information call 501-372-4000 or visit www.arkarts.com.

GENERAL INFORMATION
Contact: 501-372-4000
501-372-0308
Location: Arkansas Arts Center - 9th and Commerce, Little Rock, AR 72202
Gallery Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday
11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday
Closed Monday and Major Holidays

Sponsors: ALLTEL; Virginia and Dr. Ted Bailey Family Foundation: In memory of Virginia Bailey; Bank of America; CDI Contractors, LLC; Entergy Arkansas, Inc.; Stephens Inc.