South Arkansas Arts Center will host a reception for two artists and present art that will be displayed in its galleries during the month of March.
Mississippi artist Mary Hardy’s exhibit will hang in the Price and Merkle Gallery and El Dorado photographer Paul Waschka’s photos will be displayed in the Lobby Gallery.
Hardy is a mixed media artist living and working on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. Her show, “Varying Images; Same Path,” deals with aspects of depth explored through random and entwined myths and memories.
Her education includes a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in art education from the University of South Alabama and workshops taken throughout the U.S. and Mexico. During her 27 years of teaching art, Mary Hardy maintained a dual career as an artist a full-time art teacher.
Hardy has received numerous awards grants, fellowships and residencies. Her work was also used in the movie “Mississippi Murder” to represent the artwork of the heroine.
Waschka’s exhibit “On the Boards,” a collection of photographs from past productions in the Callaway Theater, is his second solo show at SAAC.
He became interested in photography during his high school years while working on the yearbook and has continued to explore the hobby throughout his life. He was asked by SAAC to take photographs of the plays and he now has over 700 photographs from nine productions, which he had to go through to compile items for this show.
“This show highlights how my technique and expertise has changed through the years,” said Waschka.
He has also spent many volunteer hours serving in the past as president of the SAAC Board of Directors and as chairman of the Visual Arts Committee.
Waschka’s photograph entitled “Light Rain” won Best in Show at the 2011 SAAC Membership Show and he currently has the third place photograph entitled “Lonely Highway” in “The Viewfinder” Photography Contest hanging in the Price and Merkle Galleries.
The works will hang from March 2-28, with a reception from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Saturday at SACC, located at 110 E. 5th St.
For more information about the upcoming artists and their show, please call the SAAC office at 870-862-5474 or visit the website at www. saac-arts.org.