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Contact(s):Emily May
501-396-0335

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE :
Monday, April 13, 2009

The Arkansas Arts Center Announces Results for the 36th Annual Toys Designed by Artists Exhibition

(LITTLE ROCK, AR) – The Arkansas Arts Center announces the results for the 36th Annual Toys Designed by Artists exhibition, sponsored by Maggie and Dick Dearnley. The exhibition is on view in the Sam Strauss, Sr. Gallery through May 10, 2009.

An international competition for the artists, this exciting exhibition showcases a variety of original and innovative designs to celebrate the playful side of artists and viewers alike. All entries must be original, completed within the last two years and must not have been previously exhibited at the Arkansas Arts Center.

Selections for the 36th Annual Toys Designed by Artists exhibition were chosen by juror Suzanne Ramljak, a writer, art historian and curator. Ramljak selected Hannah Kim’s Surprise!, Mary Hallam Pearse’s One Pearl Many Pleasures and Ye Seul Seo’s Frog Ring for Purchase Awards. Yoko Nuguchi’s NC Happy Cow was awarded Honorable Mention. All toys were judged based on their creativity, originality and excellence of design.

The following is a list of accepted entries in this year’s exhibition:

Studies in Movement, Rotation
Lauren Abrams, Springfield, Mo.

Repel Rocker Ring
Whirling Pin Wheel Brooch
Rebecca Annand, Mt. Pleasant, S.C.

Bort
Caty Bartholomew, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Paddlewheel Fiddle
Jim Bartz, Birds Landing, Calif.

Untitled
Amy Cassidy, Lubbock, Texas

Alice Sbot
Susan Renee Cohen, Long Beach, Calif.

Eye. I. Aye
Anna Collins, Austin, Texas

Kiwi Gets His Wings
Jillian Cooper, Salton, Texas

Lowrider Banana (4 Wheels)
Naomi Stein Cooper, Vallejo, Calif.

Exercise Pays Off
Gregor DeBruhl, Phoenix, Ariz.

Cat Fish’n with Zeb
Gary Fuller, Charleston, Ill.

Never Get Bored (Circle Ring)
Never Got Bored (Square Ring)
Motoko Furuhashi, Urbana, Ill.

Flea Circus
Dorie Guthrie, Bloomington, Ill.

Playground on my Hand
Joo Hee Han, Seoul, South Korea

Piston #1
Samuel Hitchcock, Springfield, Mo.

Desktop Basketball
Erin Marie Holstein, Athens, Ga.

Yes or No
Indecision
Aimee M. Howard, Lawrence, Kan.

Torture
Woo Rim Jang, Seoul, South Korea

Dreaming Alice
Yeram Jeon, Chung Ju, South Korea

Surprise!
Hannah Kim, Seoul, South Korea

Where is Rabbit?
Fainting Glasses
Hak Min Lee, Seoul, South Korea

Wearable Merry-Go-Round
Multi-Vehicle Train Bracelet
Kristen Lora, Santa Fe, N.M.

Reaper
Dan McGregor, Abilene, Texas

Toy Highchair for a Ruler
Rob Millard-Mendez, Evansville, Ind.

NC Happy Cow
Yoko Noguchi, Winston-Salem, N.C.

That Little Something
One Pearl Many Pleasures
Mary Hallam Pearse, Athens, Ga.

Hairy Baseball- The Early Years
M.T. Peters, Edmonds, Wash.

Stereoscopic Series: Alice in Wonderland
Heather Inez Rathbun, Waverly, Nova Scotia, Canada

Fun Sway
Roxann Reisdorf and Dani Roach, Minnetonka, Minn.

Noah’s Ark Frog Habitat
Anthony Bruce Roark, Des Moines, Iowa

Death Out the Box
Hunter Roth, Baton Rouge, La.

Labor in the Box
Carrie Skinner, Lubbock, Texas

Frog Ring
Ye Seul Seo, Seoul, South Korea

Maracas
Miriam Timmons, Vegennes, Ill.

Children Having Children
Ellen Wadsworth, Lubbock, Texas

WWJD-World Wrestling for Justification of Deities
John Watts, Nashville, Tenn.

Through the Gears
Nicki Werner, Des Moines, Iowa

Swing Man
Hye Sun Yeom, Seoul, South Korea

The Arkansas Arts Center is Arkansas' leading cultural institution. Now on view: 36th Annual Toys Designed by Artists through May 10, 2009, Warren MacKenzie: Legacy of an American Potter through May 17, 2009, and Young Arkansas Artists 48th Annual Exhibition through May 24, 2009. For more information, visit www.arkarts.com.

GENERAL INFORMATION
Contact: 501-372-4000
Location: Arkansas Arts Center—9th & Commerce, Little Rock, AR 72202
Free Admission.
Gallery Hours: 10 AM to 5 PM Tuesday through Saturday
11 AM to 5 PM Sunday
Closed Monday & Major Holidays
Exhibition sponsored by: Maggie and Dick Dearnley

Arkansas Arts Center programs are supported in part by: the City of Little Rock; Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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