AETN’s “LOUPE” arts initiative, which includes an aggregating arts website that features profiles on artists, an arts calendar and links to galleries and resources for artists, will air its second series of artist profiles, films on Arkansas folk artist LeeNora Parlor, graphite artist Jerry Phillips and historic restoration artist Becky Witsell — tonight at 6:30 p.m. Photographer Rita Henry and painter Maria Villegas will feature in short segues between the films.

Loupe provides these profiles of the artists:

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LeeNora Parlor is a self taught folk artist from Arkansas. Her paintings are inspired by her ancestors and reflect glimpses into their lives to depict “who I really am.” Memories of her childhood spent on the outskirts of Camden drew her back as an adult to once again live in the country. Her decision to return to the South has enhanced her ability to produce the quality of work she desired and art that is healing. 

Jerry Phillips is an Arkansas-based contemporary artist whose work can be found in the Museum of Modern Art and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. In this film, he describes his unique method of graphite drawing and discusses how this abstract work comes from a variety of inspirations, including found objects, photographs and his own scribbles. Using a variety of technologies in the process, from the newest image-editing software to old, barely-working photocopiers, he extracts the essence of existing images and his own drawings and discovers something new and profound.

Little Rock artist Becky Witsell has become an expert in historic restoration over the past 

30 years, and her work can be seen all around Arkansas, including the State Capitol, Lakeport Plantation in Lake Village and the Old State House Museum. In this piece, Witsell explains the process of restoring the horses on the historic carousel at the Little Rock Zoo to their original colors and design.

Witsell’s feature focuses on her work on restoring the Over the Jumps Carousel for the Little Rock Zoo. 

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The films will be repeated at 6:30 p.m. April 24 and April 30 and at 3:30 p.m. April 27.

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