Ouachita dedicates updated department of visual arts

ARKADELPHIA -- Rosemary Gossett Adams visited her alma mater of Ouachita Baptist University on Dec. 11 to dedicate the Rosemary Gossett Adams Department of Visual Arts.

"What was mine, I give to you. I only ask that you use it and enjoy it," she told Ouachita students and faculty.

During her years on campus, Adams, of Louisville, Ky., said she went from being "little miss nobody in particular" to discovering she was special.

"Do you know why? Because everybody at Ouachita is special," said Adams, a 1963 graduate with a major in art.

"In 1963, I left here with several goals. One of my big goals was to make this world a better place, to leave a little something behind so that people would know that I had been here and that I had walked this way. Today, by Jove, I think I've got it."

Her gift funded the renovation and expansion project for the benefit of Ouachita's visual arts program.

Primary renovation details include a new front facade and entrance to Moses-Provine Hall which houses the visual arts program; creating gallery spaces to display artists' works; upgrading classroom, studio and office space; and adding an elevator to the facility.

Affirming that Ouachita "is a place about people, about our students, about those who teach them," President Rex Horne said, "Today, in large part, is about Rosemary Adams.

"She's devoted to Ouachita, she's excited about Ouachita. She has invested a part of herself into this place that will be a lasting legacy to Rosemary and to the students and the faculty who come to this particular place."

The new gallery space already has featured two art exhibits, one by John Deering, chief editorial cartoonist and illustrator at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and the other featuring works donated by Loyde Hudson, a physician from Fayetteville.

Among the paintings and sculptures donated by Hudson are works by renowned 19th century American artist Thomas Moran and German-American artist Albert Bierstadt.

Call Scott Holsclaw at 870-245-5561 for more information.

Entertainment on 12/19/2014

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