Bradbury Art Museum to Open Two New Exhibitions on June 27

JONESBORO – The Bradbury Art Museum (BAM) at Arkansas State University is announcing the exhibitions “Threads, Folds & Rabbit Holes: Kristy Deetz” and “Exploring the BAM Collection: A Tribute to Evan Lindquist and Cheryl Wall Trimarchi.”

The opening reception for both exhibitions is scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday, June 27. Admission and the exhibitions are free.

“Threads, Folds & Rabbit Holes: Kristy Deetz” is a traveling exhibition featuring paintings from Deetz's “Holidays Unfolding” and “Through the Veil” series.

“Exploring the BAM Collection” brings together prints made by the late professor emeritus of art, Evan Lindquist, for the Bradbury Art Museum, along with prints that entered the BAM collection through a gift from Cheryl Wall Trimarchi.

Threads, Folds & Rabbit Holes: Kristy Deetz

“Threads, Folds & Rabbit Holes: Kristy Deetz” presents two series of works by Kristy Deetz, professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay. Her “Holidays Unfolding” series investigates the historical use of decorative drapery and the artistic genre of still life. The paintings explore the conflicting feelings that accompany loss or nostalgia and, as a result, become meditations on the brevity of life. Deetz says, “I explore new possibilities within the complex interface of painting, textiles, and digital technology, while creating a product that retains the richness of slow handwork.”

Each painting in Deetz's “Through the Veil” series begins with a drawing of a closely observed piece of fabric with wrinkles and folds. These works draw on the artistic frameworks of artists from the past to the present. The artist says, “The fabric in these paintings functions as a scrim or threshold that places the viewer within multiple, often conflicting, layers of space and meaning.” Deetz's paintings playfully decode imagery from popular, outsider, and high culture to create new spaces of meaning. A shape-shifting rabbit recurs throughout the artworks, moving between images and spaces.

Together with writer/scholar Edward Risden (writing under the pen name Edward Louis), Deetz has published the books “The Singular Adventures of Rabbit and Kitty Boy” and “Holidays Unfolding: The Continuing Adventures of Rabbit and Kitty Boy.” Risden creates stories in response to Deetz's paintings. The two enjoy presenting their books together.

Exploring the BAM Collection: A Tribute to Evan Lindquist and Cheryl Wall Trimarchi

The “Exploring the BAM Collection” exhibition is dedicated to the memory of the late Evan Lindquist and Cheryl Wall Trimarchi. Lindquist was a central figure in the history of art at Arkansas State University, where he taught from 1963 until his retirement in 2003.

In 1996, Lindquist inaugurated the Delta National Small Prints Exhibition, which has been held annually ever since. Curt and Chucki Bradbury of Little Rock have honored Lindquist each year by donating prints from the DNSPE exhibitions, some of which are included in this exhibition. The late Cheryl Wall Trimarchi was an artist who lived in Jonesboro and contributed funds to add many outstanding prints from the Delta National Small Prints Exhibition to the BAM collection.

Lindquist's engravings are prime examples of the medium he championed at a time when it was rarely practiced. In 1969, he began a sophisticated series of engravings exploring abstract concepts such as “Identity,” “Tension,” and “Consciousness” through graceful images of twisted or braided cords. Lindquist continued printing his works until his death in 2023. His gifts to the BAM collection demonstrate that Lindquist was also a knowledgeable and sensitive print collector who maintained close relationships with his fellow art professors.

The Bradbury Art Museum is located in the Fowler Center, 201 Olympic Drive. Hours are noon to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Visitors may also schedule tours of the exhibitions by contacting curator Madeline McMahan at mmcmahan@astate.edu or (870) 972-3434. Detailed information about these exhibitions is available online at BradburyArtMuseum.org.