(LITTLE ROCK, AR) –In conjunction with the exhibition “Will Barnet at the Arkansas Arts Center: A Centennial Exhibition,” the Arkansas Arts Center will present the lecture “Will Barnet: A Life's Work in Context” by Jessica Nicoll Thursday, October 20, 2011.

A reception will be held at 6 p.m. followed by the lecture at 6:30 p.m.Jessica Nicoll, director and chief curator of Smith College Museum of Art in Southampton, Mass., will discuss the career of Will Barnet.  A specialist in American art, Nicoll has written and lectured on a wide variety of topics ranging from early American portraits and landscape painting to the work of artists including Will Barnet, Winslow Homer, Robert Henri and Marguerite and William Zorach.

Prior to coming to Smith College Museum in 2005, Nicoll served for 13 years as the William and Helen Thon Chief Curator and Curator of American Art at the Portland Museum of Art, Maine.  Nicoll received a bachelor’s degree in art history and American studies from Smith College and received a master’s degree in early American culture and museum studies from the University of Delaware.

On view October 7, 2011 – January 15, 2012, the exhibition “Will Barnet at the Arkansas Arts Center: A Centennial Exhibition” features 85 works by the New York artist.  A centenarian, Will Barnett has experienced and absorbed all the major art movements in American Modern art. He was an influential artist in negotiating a transition from figural art to abstraction in the '40s and '50s. He was also a teacher at the Art Students League in New York, who influenced a number of America's most original modern artists such as Jasper Johns.

Tickets for the lecture are $5 for the public and free for Arkansas Arts Center Members.  Reservations are required.  To make reservations, call 501-372-4000 or visit www.arkarts.com.

Winthrop Paul Rockefeller in the City of Morrillton, Arkansas.