The Arts Center of the Ozarks will premiere the 2019 state-tour exhibit “2019 Arkansas Women to Watch: Heavy Metal” with a reception on July 11. The exhibit follows the international biennial started in 2008 by the national museum to increase the visibility of promising women artists.
The 2018 national exhibit focused on the use of metal as an artistic medium. Long considered to be the work of men, metal-smithing is historically seen by many to be too physically grueling for women. But in modern and contemporary eras, women artists have used metal to create a broad range of objects ranging from functional furniture to minimalist jewelry to purely aesthetic abstractions and large sculptural works, according to a press release.
 “We are excited to provide this exhibit of varied, elegant and intriguing art works to venues across the state,” says Barbara Satterfield, president of Arkansas Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts. “Visitors will also get to see photographs of the artists in their studios and read their artist statements – clues to how techniques and ideas connect in the process of making art.”
Holly Laws’ mixed media installations “Three Eastern Bluebirds” and “Placeholder” were selected for exhibit at the national museum June through September 2018. A third Laws installation joins the 2019 Arkansas state tour, to be exhibited with works by selected artists Michele Cottler-Fox, Amanda Heinbockel and Robyn Horn of Little Rock. The exhibit will travel to eight community and educational institutions January through November, stopping first at Art Ventures from August 3 to 31, according to a press release.
The opening reception for “2019 Arkansas Women to Watch: Heavy Metal” is slated for 5-8 p.m. The state tour is organized by the Arkansas Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts. The public is invited to the free event to meet the featured artists and view a variety of media.