Kenda North Photography Retrospective at AMA

The Arlington Museum of Art will host a retrospective of well-known local photographic powerhouse, Kenda North. The exhibit, Seeing is a Nervous Habit, will examine the body of work produced by North. Kenda North is a professor and head of photography at UT Arlington. She was the Chair of the Art and Art History Department at UTA from 1991 to 1999. She received her MFA from the Visual Studies Workshop (University of Buffalo) in January 1976. She has taught at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago (1976-77), the University of California at Riverside (1978-89) and has been at UTA since 1989. Her work is in the public collection of over fifty museum and gallery collections including the Smithsonian, the Federal Reserve, LA County Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.

Executive Director, Chris Hightower, said, “North selected sixteen undergraduate alumni from the photography program at UTA to exhibit in conjunction with her retrospective. These artists were mentored by Professor North and went on to complete their MFA degrees and to develop their own art careers.”

“Kenda North is a devoted photographer and teacher and she has willingly shared her passion and understanding of photography within the art communities locally and nationally,” said Kenneth Craighead, owner of Craighead-Green Gallery in Dallas. “Her photography is unique. She avoids the expected, preferring to open the door to new ideas bringing her beauty and complex messages to be shared with her students, her peers and with many collectors.” North has been affiliated with Craighead Green Gallery for over 15 years.

The exhibit will be open from August 19 – October 8, 2017 and will include numerous pieces by Kenda North as well as those from her past students. Those artists are: Delaney Allen, Jesse Morgan Barnett, Calen Barnum, Matt Bean, Jeff Bradley, Franklin Countryman, John Crouch, Annie Donovan, Ross Faircloth, Michael Gonzales, Michael Hoefle, Manuel Pecina, O. Gustavo Plascencia, Joy Simpson, Ashley Whitt and Betsy Williamson. Admission tickets will be available online or may be purchased at the door. A reception will be held Friday, Sept. 8 from 7-9pm, RSVP required.