A collection of art by University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) alumnus LeRon McAdoo entitled, “Awake to Create Mixtape,” will be on display until Friday, December 14, 2018. Presented by the Department of Art and Design, the free, public exhibit is located in the Leedell Moorehead-Graham Fine Arts Gallery of the Hathaway-Howard Fine Arts building on UAPB’s campus.
“This exhibit is a collection of work done over a 30-year span and is less about a retrospective that tells a story and more about randomly selected pieces that reflect the chaos of life,” said McAdoo. “As artists navigate through their careers, they recognize the patchwork of products that enter and leave their studio. My portraits, comic book illustrations, murals, graphic designs, personal pieces, and commissions all play a role in the work I do.”
McAdoo is a visual artist, musician, writer, and performer. In addition to being a lifelong community activist and educator since 1994, he is a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. and the co-founder of Backyard Enterprises. McAdoo has participated in numerous programs and events that deal with the issue of race relations and urban needs, some of which include the Healing Racism Institute, Too Cool for School, and the Kuumba Summer Art Academy.
As a Hip Hop advocate and supporter, McAdoo uses the culture of Hip Hop as a vehicle to educate both young and old in the fields of music, writing, and art. This can be seen through his annual independently released albums, his many articles for various publications (The Writeous, Fusion, Little Rock Free Press, Arkansas Times, The Dirty Magazine, and The InkMag.com) and self-published projects.
A founding member of the nationally-ranked spoken word troupe Foreign Tongues, his portraits, t-shirt designs, murals, comic books and commissioned artwork show his dedication to aesthetics. McAdoo has also been worked as a radio DJ, co-host for the Art & Literature In Motion TV Show, created and hosted The Mind Blazn’ TV Show, engineered for the radio documentary On The Line: Stories From Ninth Street, produced radio programs (such as The Writeous Hour, Hope From The Hill, and The Skinny), facilitated educational workshops, and volunteered with several organizations such as The Women’s Project.
For more information about the exhibit, contact the Department of Art and Design at 870.575.8236.
