Libraries Open New Assortment of Images Documenting Fayetteville Historical past | Arkansas Information

The University of Arkansas Libraries Special Collections Division has opened the Andrew Kilgore Portfolio (MC 2736) to researchers, making accessible a newly processed assortment of pictures documenting Fayetteville throughout one of many metropolis’s most transformative a long time.

The portfolio options 80 black-and-white pictures chosen from 1000’s of negatives taken by acclaimed photographer Andrew Kilgore after he arrived in Fayetteville in 1971. Curated by Kilgore in collaboration along with his former studio supervisor, Joshua LeMasters, and photographer Henry O. Head, the gathering captures the individuals, locations and on a regular basis moments that outlined Fayetteville earlier than a long time of speedy development remodeled Northwest Arkansas.

For greater than 50 years, Kilgore captured Arkansas historical past via portraiture and documentary images. He is the creator of Arkansas People, the topic of the documentary A Lens to the Soul: The Photography of Andrew Kilgore and the recipient of the 2023 Arkansas Governor’s Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement.

“Special Collections is honored to help continue the legacy of the brilliant and beloved photographer, Andrew Kilgore,” mentioned Joshua Youngblood, affiliate dean for Special Collections. “Renowned for his portraits, these images document a dynamic period in Fayetteville history, as a center of the 1970s counterculture movement and just before it began its rapid growth as an economic and educational hub.”

LeMasters mentioned assembling the portfolio turned rather more than an archival undertaking.

“I feel honored to have had the chance to complete this project with Andrew,” he mentioned. “What began as preserving a body of photographs gradually became a conversation with Andrew across generations.” Over time, he mentioned, the pictures turned “a mirror as much as a window,” revealing each Fayetteville’s historical past and the enduring potential of pictures to attach individuals throughout time.

In his artist’s assertion, Kilgore describes the portfolio as a glimpse into his beginnings as a photographer, reflecting each his creating creative imaginative and prescient and the individuals and locations that formed his life in Seventies Fayetteville.

Katrina Windon, processing archivist for the gathering, mentioned the portfolio provides one thing significant to longtime residents and newcomers alike.

“The portfolio blends images that are both highly evocative of their time and place and timeless,” Windon mentioned. “Whether you experienced Fayetteville in the 1970s or only more recently, there will be something both new and familiar to experience.” She famous that Kilgore and LeMasters fastidiously distilled 1000’s of pictures into the ultimate collection of 80 pictures.

The Andrew Kilgore Portfolio joins the Fayetteville Townfolk Portfolio (MC 1401), an earlier assortment of Kilgore’s work preserved by the University of Arkansas Libraries Special Collections Division, increasing entry to considered one of Arkansas’ most influential photographers and offering new alternatives to discover the historical past of Fayetteville via his lens.