Ouachita Stories

Ouachita Baptist University’s Verser Theater will host North Little Rock artist Lynnette Cox in an exhibit, “Lynnette Cox: Selections from the Age of Wonder and American South Screen Door Series.” The exhibit was scheduled to open with a reception at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 3, but due to bad weather will open the following week on Sept. 8. The exhibit will run through Oct. 8. The rescheduled reception date and time is to be announced.

Lynnette Cox, an Arkadelphia native and Henderson State University graduate, is a professional artist residing in North Little Rock. Donnie Copeland, assistant professor of Art and Design at Ouachita, was introduced to Cox through her Arkadelphia ties. Copeland said of Cox, “It is the experiences and people of Arkadelphia which are special to her.”

The exhibit will include one of Cox’s mixed media pieces that Ouachita owns, “Queen Victoria.” The piece is the first in the American South Screen Door Series and is an assemblage of painting, a found screen door and found signage. Pictured in the painting and framed in the screen door is Queen Victoria, a childhood friend of Cox and former resident of Arkadelphia. Cox said of Q.V. Reed, her inspiration for “Queen Victoria,” “She was a wonderful woman and like a second grandmother to me. I think of her every single time I paint one of my doors. She saw no color in your skin, only the kindness in your heart. I will never forget that.”

For more information on Cox and her work, go to her website at www.greatfineart.com.

by Brooke Showalter