The Arkansas Capital Corporation Group (ACCG) is dedicated to helping small businesses and entrepreneurs throughout Arkansas succeed. Arkansas artists are certainly entrepreneurs. In 2013, ACCG began showcasing the work of Arkansas artists in our offices and began hosting open houses open to the public to help support the artists, as well as provide our community of staff, clients and visitors with a chance to be inspired by the art and be able to network at our offices as part of downtown Little Rock’s 2nd Friday Art Night. We are continuing that successful public-artist venture with the March 13th Friday Art Night with works by Neal Harrington, Tammy Harrington, and David Mudrinich in a show titled “Inside the Valley”. Robert Bean is the show curator. Whether you are interested in learning more about the many lending products or just need a little visual inspiration, please stop by our offices Friday, March 13 from 5-8 p.m. Light hors d’oeuvres and drinks will be served. The artists will all be at the event to discuss their work, and all work is for sale with proceeds directly benefiting the artist. Our offices are located at 200 River Market, Avenue, Suite 400, Little Rock, AR 72201. Two nearby parking decks, as well as street parking are available. We are at Trolley Stop 10. Additional details about the trolley are available here.

About the Artists 

Neal Harrington

Artist Statement

“This body of work is outside of my usual artistic themes. These works explore my personal life and the objects that I have collected over the years. It was enjoyable to take a break from my typical body of work that investigates the human condition and to focus on composition, texture, and color relationships. The technique for most of these works is oil pastel on acrylic paint.”

Artist Bio

Neal Harrington was born in Rapid City, South Dakota in 1973. He graduated from the University of South Dakota with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree (emphasis in painting) in 1998. Mr. Harrington married to Tammy (Yu) and followed his wife to graduate school in Wichita, Kansas. He graduated in 2001 with a Master of Fine Arts degree (emphasis in printmaking) from Wichita State University. Currently Neal, Tammy, and their two children (Jake and Olive) live in Russellville, Arkansas. Neal is an Associate Professor of Art and Gallery Director at Arkansas Tech University. Neal is represented by Cantrell Gallery in Little Rock.

Tammy Harrington

Artist Statement

“In my art, I explore the impact cross-cultural influences (Chinese and American) have had upon my development and growth. Each culture is equally influential, yet they are both so different from each other. I use symbolic color, pattern, and iconography to represent the two cultures. My work uses this combination of figure, color, pattern and the mix of real and flattened space. My Chinese heritage comes through with the dominant use of the folk technique of the papercut. The papercut is a traditional folk technique that utilizes iconography, superstition, and the decorative in its expression. I enjoy the technique’s stylized look; the paper cut is crisp and flat, yet complex. I wanted to find a way to represent my experience as a Chinese-American, my identity. In my exploration of Chinese imagery, I found inspiration in using traditional Chinese symbols in the stylized look of Chinese papercuts. This blended my heritage with my love of the printmaking technique. As I hit milestones in my life (moving away from home, marriage, children, etc.), I found comfort in these images and visually incorporated the symbols with aspects of my life.”

Artist Bio

Tammy Harrington was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and currently resides in Russellville, AR. She received a BFA in Printmaking from the University of South Dakota and a MFA in Printmaking from Wichita State University. She is currently a Professor of Art at the University of the Ozarks where she is in her 13th year of teaching. She has exhibited artwork throughout the region and nationally and is represented by Gallery 26 in Little Rock, AR.

David Mudrinich

Artist Statement

“I have always been intrigued with a sense of place; those various characteristics that make any particular location unique. This can include the natural geographic features of the landscape as well as the visual impact that human activity has left on the land. Everything within the environment is subject to change whether it is the movement of the wind, the transition from day to night, the cycle change of the seasons or the human alterations of the land. I mostly do drawings and smaller studies on site and then work a larger piece in the studio. I rely on these studies, my memory and will occasionally include a photograph to help as a reference. But the full experience of actually being within the color and sound of a particular place is what I find important and motivating. Sometimes I focus on the small intimate characteristics of a place such as a bee yard or a garden. Other times I will choose a panoramic composition that allows for a wider interplay of elements over a larger landscape. In both formats patterns, rhythms and interrelationships become revealed. Though these images document a particular time and place, they also narrate the endless cycle of time and space that we are all subject to within our larger universe.”

Artist Bio

David Mudrinich lives in Pope County Arkansas and is a drawing and painting professor in the Department of Art at Arkansas Tech University. He studied at Penn State University and the University of Georgia and works in a variety of drawing and painting media. His work is exhibited widely and has received awards on both the regional and national level. Exhibitions include shows at the Arkansas Arts Center, Butler Institute of American Art, Springfield Art Museum, Clinton Presidential Center, Wichita Center for the Arts, Schenectady Museum, St. John’s University and Georgia Southern University. Public collections of his work include the William J. Clinton Foundation; Hendrix College; Arts and Science Center of Southeast Arkansas; State of Georgia Art Collection; Athens-Clarke County Courthouse, GA; North Georgia College & State University; Parkersburg Art Center, WV and St. Frances Cabrini Hospital in Alexandria , LA.

About the Curator

Robert Bean

Robert Bean grew up in central Arkansas admiring the pulpy pages of comic books, learning to draw from the inspiration he found in those yellowing narratives. Taking that early inspiration, Bean honed his skills as an artist in the wonderfully grungy studios of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. It was there that he found a way to combine his love of the story with his love of painting and drawing. Having spent the past 15 years telling his brand of visual stories, Bean has built a career of exhibitions that range from regional to national in scope. He still resides in Little Rock with his wife Maria, keeping his pencil to the drawing board and telling his brand of visual narratives.     2nd Friday Art Night is a time once-a-month when galleries, museums and businesses in downtown Little Rock are open from 5-8 p.m. for an after-hours gallery walk.