Get the scoop on what's happening and what's next in today’s arts world! The Arkansas Arts Council will moderate a free, Zoom panel event at 11 a.m. Jan. 7 to discuss what the arts trends were in 2025 and where they are going in 2026.
Capitalize on knowing what institutions are pivoting to; unlock how your artwork fits into contemporary trends and themes; and position your art for timely conversations. This event could help strengthen your exhibition proposals, artist statements and bios, and grant narratives. Seize the opportunity to expand your practice, deepen your creative exploration, and shift your viewpoint.
Our panel features experts from Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, and South Arkansas Arts Center. Space is limited, and registration is required. Click Here
Topics include:
- Trends in the arts world in Arkansas
- How the current national/state climate impacts what artists make (if it does)
- How the arts impact Arkansas as a whole
- What resonates and showcases what's happening statewide
Panelists are:
Laura Allen, a Jonesboro native, has been the executive director for the South Arkansas Arts Center since 2017. Allen oversaw the multimillion-dollar fundraising campaign that united the community to improve the center and elevate the arts in El Dorado. The Center reopened in 2024 and has since become a community hub for artists in South Arkansas. Allen led the center to create local exhibitions, including the Arkansas Arts Council’s Small Works on Paper and artist Virmarie DePoyster’s Beyond Labels, as well as exhibits by regional artists like The South’s Most Elusive Artist: Walter Inglis Anderson and Our World by Texas artist Douglas Darracott. The Center often collaborates, including with the Murphy Arts District that partnered with Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art for AstroZone in 2020. Previously, Allen was a magazine founder and publisher as well as editor and writer. Under Allen's leadership, the Center has become a mecca for Southern Arkansas arts and community building while increasing the attraction to the arts district in El Dorado.
Alejo Benedetti is Curator of Contemporary Art at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the Momentary. In his role he oversees the Contemporary Art Galleries and the outdoor sculpture program at Crystal Bridges and the visual arts program at the Momentary. He currently leads the team reimagining the museum’s contemporary galleries that will debut with the opening of the museum’s 100,000 square foot expansion. Recently he was the venue curator for KAWS: FAMILY at Crystal Bridges, The Machine Behing the Art: Inside JR’s Printing Press at the Momentary and was the organizing curator for Klip Collective’s Time Loop on view in Crystal Bridge’s North Forest. Benedetti is originally from Texas and earned his master’s degree in art history from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth and his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Missouri, Columbia.
Chris Revelle is an interdisciplinary artist focused on civically engaged work and a professor of contemporary art practices and theories. Through the examination of history, language and visual culture, Revelle’s work confronts the failures and abuses of social, political and economic systems. The goal of his practice is to challenge public memory and engagement while inspiring discourse and empathy. Revelle has exhibited in the United States, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, Europe, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, and India, and has created artwork for United Nations organizations. His solo exhibition Swing Low was named Best Virtual Exhibit for 2020 by Phoenix New Times. In 2018, Revelle was the recipient of the Idea Capital Grant and a finalist for the 2017 Hong Kong Human Rights Art Prize. As an educator, Revelle is passionate about his students’ success, emphasizing research, dialogue and persistence while balancing technical and conceptual development. He is the Director of Community Engagement at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, and formerly the Chair of Fine Arts at Savannah College of Art and Design - Hong Kong. Revelle earned his Master of Fine Arts from the School of Art at CalArts (California Institute of the Arts) in Valencia, California.