New MSU Exhibit Features Figure-Focused Portraits by Starkville Artist

STARKVILLE, Miss. (Press Release) — Works of a Starkville painter are on display through Feb. 27 at Mississippi State’s Cullis Wade Depot Art Gallery.

Free to all, the second-floor exhibition at the university’s Welcome Center titled “Empathetic Resonance” features portraits focused on the human figure.

Martin A. Arnold said his creations explore humans’ natural curiosity when confronted with figural representations, which he describes as a “fascination that we all harbor for our fellow humans.”

An opening reception in his honor takes place at 5-6 p.m. Feb. 19 in the same location. Complimentary refreshments will be provided.

Originally from Michigan and now teaching at East Mississippi Community College’s Golden Triangle campus, Arnold is an art education graduate of Mississippi University for Women who also holds a master’s degree in fine arts/painting from the University of Mississippi.

Following a 37-year career designing automation machinery for the automotive industry, Arnold said he decided to pursue a lifelong dream of becoming a figurative painter.

His works have received numerous national awards and recognitions, including selections for Manifest Gallery’s 2011 “First International Painting Annual,” “Creative Quarterly: The Journal of Art and Design” Issue No. 22 and the New York City-based First Street Gallery’s 2011 MFA Exhibit, as well as the International Art Search Competition in Fort Meyers, Florida, Fort Wayne (Indiana) Museum of Art’s Contemporary Realism Biennial and the Huntsville, Alabama, Red Clay Survey 2012 Exhibition of Contemporary Southern Art.

The MSU exhibition and related programs are made possible by the College of Architecture, Art and Design’s art department, which is home to the Magnolia State’s largest undergraduate studio art program.

The Wade Gallery is among several art department venues that regularly features traveling exhibits, student shows, and group and solo exhibitions by professional artists. Gallery hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday.

Additional information on the “Empathetic Resonance” exhibit is available from Lori Neuenfeldt, coordinator for gallery and outreach programs, at 662-325-2973 or LNeuenfeldt@caad.msstate.edu.

Complete details on MSU’s College of Architecture, Art and Design may be found at www.caad.msstate.edu.

Read more about Mississippi’s flagship research university online at www.msstate.edu.