UA Little Rock School of Public Affairs Director Unveils Photography Exhibition

Dr. Derek Slagle, the director of the School of Public Affairs at UA Little Rock, will have his photography on display in an exhibition titled, "Derek Slagle: Science of Conservation" at UA Little Rock's Windgate Center of Art + Design.

The exhibition will be open from Sept. 5 through Sept. 27 in the Focus Gallery in the Windgate Center of Art + Design on UA Little Rock's campus, and a reception will be held in the Windgate Center at 5 p.m., on Thursday, Sept. 5. Both the reception and the exhibition are free and open to the public.

Slagle joined UA Little Rock in 2017 as a faculty member within the public administration program in the School of Public Affairs. In 2023, he was selected as the director of the School of Public Affairs, which is housed in the College of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences, and Education. He also served as the director of the UA Little Rock Survey Research Center from 2019 to 2024.

[Link]A volunteer picks newly developed late-season blackberries. Photo by Derek Slagle.

Along with having an extensive background in academia and research, Slagle is also an artist. He is both a documentarian and a fine-art film photographer.

"I have been given the unique opportunity to approach visual arts as a professional artist, but also through the lens of a practicing academic scholar," Slagle said. "I have used my academic training as a social scientist to visually communicate an understanding of social situations which differ from other photographers' representations of comparable themes."

Slagle's work as a conservation photographer specifically started in 2017 when he documented ecotourism and ranch preservation in the Flint Hills of Kansas.

In 2023, he was named an inaugural member of Catalyze, a program by Mid-America Arts Alliance where he received $10,000 in grant funding to pursue this work.

[Link]Data is collected at a bird banding station on the land of the Ranchlands. Photo by Derek Slagle.

In partnership with nearly a dozen nonprofits, governmental entities, and institutional partners, "Science of Conversation" showcases conservation and sustainability efforts through photography.

The Windgate Center of Art + Design galleries are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays, and 2-5 p.m. on Sundays. All UA Little Rock galleries are closed on university holidays.

For additional information on the galleries at UA Little Rock, contact Gallery Director Brian Young at [email protected].

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