An exhibit entitled “Johnnie Mae Maberry: The Artist and Art Teacher” is on display at Arkansas Tech University’s Norman Hall Art Gallery through Friday, Feb. 21.

Norman Hall Art Gallery, located at 203 West Q Street on the ATU campus in Russellville, is open weekdays from 8-5 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.

The exhibit is comprised of two collections: “Teaching Joshua Johnson” and “Beautiful Black and Brown Butterflies.”

“Teaching Joshua Johnson” is a series of oil painting portraits on canvas Maberry created from 2009-24. Maberry stated that the series puts a “modern twist” on Johnson’s style. He was an early 19th century artist and is the first recorded portrait painter of African descent in America.

“Beautiful Black and Brown Butterflies” is a series of mixed media artwork on canvas that Maberry created in 2023 and 2024. In her artist’s statement, Maberry wrote that “butterflies come in many beautiful colors, and black and brown butterflies are equally beautiful.”

Maberry is retired from a more than three-decade career on the art faculty at Tougaloo College (Miss.). She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Tougaloo, master’s degrees in art education and fine arts from Mississippi College and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts.

Learn more about Maberry’s art at www.facebook.com/jmmaberry.

Learn more about the ATU Department of Art at www.atu.edu/art.