Ouachita Stories

Ouachita Baptist University’s Art and Design Department will host Veda and Meda Rives in a guest exhibit titled “Confluence, Divergence, Concurrence” in the Hammons Gallery of OBU’s Mabee Fine Arts Center March 27-April 13. An opening reception will be held at 7 p.m. March 29 in the gallery.

The exhibit will be an installation of handmade paper arranged throughout the gallery space. “Confluence, Divergence, Concurrence” is a continuation of a series of installations the artists have produced throughout the U.S. and as far away as South Korea and Japan. According to the artists, the series began with the thought, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful to create a book that is large enough to walk into?”

The artists will arrange the work in the gallery on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 27 and 28. The community is invited to observe and visit with the artists while they work. The Riveses will make a presentation about the installation and the scope of their artistic endeavors as part of the reception at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 29.

Twin sisters who established Mirror Image Press as their studio, Veda and Meda Rives pursue interests in printmaking, handmade paper and book environs, a term the Rives sisters coined for their large-scale paper installations. Veda Rives serves as associate director of Normal Editions Workshop in the School of Art at Illinois State University. Meda Rives is a member of the art faculty at Eureka College and Heartland Community College.

“Those who visit the installation and walk through it will experience something out of the ordinary,” said Donnie Copeland, OBU assistant professor of Art and Design.  “I think the work will find a lasting place in their memory.

“Veda and Meda have been widely recognized for their work,” Copeland said. “It is an opportunity for us to appreciate a kind of art making that we all have less access to, papermaking, and to see it on display in a way that is not typical, as an environment constructed of handmade paper. Veda and Meda have exhibited around the world and their artworks are in gallery and museum collections around the world, as well.  We are privileged to have them on campus.”

OBU’s Art and Design department has hosted numerous exhibits over the years covering a wide range of artistic media including ceramic, drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, graphic design, video installation and a variety of sculpture. Copeland said that this opportunity adds papermaking to that list and is offered to the Arkadelphia community to enjoy and to extend the educational experience of students across campus.

“I love it when other artists come to visit,” said sophomore Adam Oakes. “They offer new and interesting takes on style and subject matter. I always try to take mental notes when an older artist gives advice.”

The exhibit is free and open to the public. Gallery hours are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Exhibits are also available on evenings when other School of Fine Arts events take place in Mabee Fine Arts Center. For more information, contact Donnie Copeland at [email protected] or (870) 245-5559.

By Kaycee Giammarco