Press Room:
The History of African-American Art Lecture at the Arkansas Arts Center

For more information contact:
Lyndsay Hansen
501-396-0308
lhansen@arkarts.com

September 30, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The History of African-American Art Lecture at the Arkansas Arts Center

(LITTLE ROCK, AR) -

The Arkansas Arts Center presents the History of African American Art with Samella Lewis as a part of its lecture series on Saturday, October 15, 2005, starting with a reception at 2 p.m. and continuing with a lecture at 2:30 p.m.

Beginning her career as a student under the tutelage of internationally acclaimed sculptor and printmaker Elizabeth Catlett, Lewis soon became an accomplished artist. A scholar of African-American art for more than 50 years and a renowned art historian, Lewis was formerly the coordinator of education at the Los Angeles Count Museum of Art. She served as the chief curator at the Museum of African American Art in Los Angeles and is currently a Professor Emerita of Art History at Scripps College.

As an extension of her African-American art studies, Lewis wrote a book entitled African American Art and Artists, which is the standard text for study of the history of African American art. Not only has Lewis studied African American art, she has also studied Asian art, which aids her ability to compare different works within a cultural context.

Providing interesting commentary, Lewis travels through the eras of African-American art, beginning with the skilled craftsmen of Colonial America, continuing through the Harlem Renaissance and ending with the present. The lecture is free.