Barn Exhibit to be featured at Justus Fine Art Gallery

Justus Fine Art Gallery will feature a thematic exhibit on barns and agrarian architecture September 5-30, 2025. Barns have been a common subject matter for artists of all skill levels and often reflect a nostalgia for a “simpler time” that was tied to the land and family. The theme is revisited with a fresh approach that includes work by artists: Dustyn Bork, Beverly Buys, Donnie Copeland, Jeri Hillis, Robyn Horn, Dolores Justus, John Lasater, Charles Peer, Laura Raborn, Michael Francis Reagan, Steven Schneider, Sandra Sell, Gary Simmons, and others. The opening reception for the exhibit will be held from 5-9 p.m. on Friday, September 5 as part of the monthly Hot Springs Gallery Walk.

Included in the September Exhibit is Robyn Horn’s sculpture “Ancient Millstone”, which is inspired by the forms used in early farming to grind grain. The millstone concept has been a recurring theme in Horn’s contemporary wood sculptures that balance geometric form with organic elements. Her work has been collected and exhibited by museums and galleries throughout the nation and abroad. Public collections include: The National Museum of American Art, Renwick Gallery,Washington,D.C.; Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY; Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; White House Collection of American Crafts, Clinton Library, Little Rock, AR; Arkansas Museum of Fine Art, Little Rock, AR; Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA; Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ; Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN; Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL; The Center for Art in Wood, Philadelphia, PA; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT; Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA; North Carolina State University, Gregg Museum of Art & Design, Raleigh, NC; Mint Museum of Craft & Design, Charlotte, NC; Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, MI; Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts, Gatlinburg,TN; and many others.

Dustyn Bork’s painting of a barn at night entitled “Night Dwelling” is part of a recent series of representational oil paintings by the artist. He also has strong bodies of abstract work in painting, printmaking, and sculpture. Bork earned his MFA in printmaking from Indiana University Bloomington, IN and his BFA in printmaking from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI. He is currently an Associate Professor of Art at Lyon College, in Batesville, AR. His work has been exhibited in numerous exhibitions regionally, nationally, and  internationally. Recent solo exhibits include: Hendrix College, Conway, AR; Material Art Space in Memphis, TN: the Thea Foundation, Little Rock, AR; the Art Museum of the University of Memphis, Memphis, TN; and Coe College in Cedar Rapids, IA. Bork has also participated in artist residencies at the Franz Masereel Centre in Kasterlee, Belgium and the MIRA artist residency in Martignano, Italy. He has served on the board of directors for Number, Inc., an independent journal of the visual arts of the South, along with the Batesville Area Arts Council in Batesville, AR.

“I explore cultural notions of design, architecture, and pattern through abstraction. My work focuses on the formal contrasts of renewal and destruction in the constructed environment. I juxtapose the intentional design of architecture and the incidental structure of visual forms in various stages of decay and renewal. Substantiality is a key consideration in my work. I want to entice my viewer into a dialogue to consider issues of permanence, transience, and form,” Bork said.

Donnie Copeland works primarily with painted paper to produce non-objective, collaged canvases that emphasize pattern, texture, color and mark. His painting “STR 159” is inspired by the coloration of a weathered barn located on Hwy 7 at Caddo River Ranch Rd. in Arkadelphia. Copeland’s works are a synthesis of the visuality of landscapes, such as the planted fields and prairie that run along the Mississippi and Arkansas rivers, as well as that of peoples and cultures local and distant, rural and urban. Donnie Copeland earned a BA in Studio arts from Ouachita Baptist University and then continued his education at the University of Dallas where he obtained a MFA in painting. Copeland currently serves as Associate Professor of Visual Arts and Chair of the Department of Visual Arts at Ouachita Baptist University where he teaches painting, drawing, and art history. His work has been featured in a range of notable exhibits including: the 53rd Delta Exhibition at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Art, Little Rock, AR (2011); Silent Surfaces: Mapping Spatial & Personal Discoveries: Donnie Copeland, Ryan Lewis, Matthew McLaughlin, Greenville Center for Creative Arts, Greenville, SC (2024); Continuum at the Focus Gallery, Windgate Center of Art + Design, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, AR (2022); Boundary Hunters, an exhibit featuring seven contemporary painters, Fosdick-Nelson Gallery, Alfred University, Alfred, NY (2012); and others.

Owned by artist Dolores Justus, Justus Fine Art Gallery offers a wide range of original art including sculpture, paintings, ceramics, photography, and more by recognized artists. Opening receptions are held in conjunction with the Hot Springs Gallery Walk held from 5-9 p.m. the first Friday of every month in downtown Hot Springs. Hours are 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., Wednesday – Saturday and by appointment. Justus Fine Art Gallery is located at 827 A Central Avenue in Hot Springs, AR. For more information, call 501-321-2335 or visit online at justusfineart.com.

Featured image:  “Red Barn” by Steven Schneider (c), 12”h x 36”w – acrylic on wood panel