The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts has announced its best-known annual show, the Delta Exhibition, will move to a triennial format beginning in 2024 to be held on the premises of the new museum. 

Founded in 1958, the Delta Exhibition is designed to highlight the work of artists in the Mississippi Delta region. The decision to hold one exhibit every third year will allow AMFA to expand offerings surrounding the show, as well as to dive deeper into the work of area artists.

"AMFA plans to make the Delta even grander in terms of roll-out and programming," says Catherine Walworth, AMFA curator of drawings. "As a result of all these things, we are better poised to elevate the best work of our region, be its biggest booster and help give it a voice at a national level."

AMFA has also announced the Delta 2022 featured artists: Renata Cassiano Alvarez of Fayetteville, Vaughn Davis Jr. of St. Louis and John Isiah Walton of New Orleans. The artists will be the subjects of "Delta Voices: Artists of the Mid-South," the museum's three-part documentary taking the place of an in-person exhibition.

Navigating both COVID-19 and the MacArthur Park renovations, the 2020 exhibit was moved to a virtual platform, and then transitioned to the "Delta Voices" limited podcast and video series in 2021. The 2022 series will be video only. 

To celebrate, AMFA is teaming up with the Arkansas Cinema Society to host a screening of "Delta Voices" at the Ron Robinson Center on Wednesday, Aug. 31. Following the screening will be a panel discussion with the artists and filmmaker Chris DellaPace. The event is free, but registration is encouraged.

"There are stories here that can only be told by people from these places," curator Theresa Bembnister says. "These stories have not always been part of the larger conversation around art, and that is to the detriment of the national dialogue."

To learn more about "Delta Voices" and the future of the Delta Exhibition, visit the AMFA website, and follow along on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the latest.

Read more: Drawing Interest With Catherine Walworth