The South Arkansas Arts Center is set to welcome Dr. Moises Menendez and his inspiring charcoal and graphite works, "Famous People," to its El Dorado lobby gallery. The exhibit, contained in a two-part series to be shown back-to-back in subsequent months at SAAC, is a collection of portraits of luminaries and notable persons throughout history that have inspired and challenged the artist during his life. Menedez is a Magnolia resident and surgeon at Magnolia Regional Medical Center. He was the subject of a Banner-News feature profile in May 2019.
Series one of the two-part El Dorado show will hang in the Lobby Gallery at SAAC through Feb. 1. There will also be an artist's reception on Feb. 1 from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
The second series of display will begin Feb. 4 and hang until Feb. 28, with another artist's reception on February 21. Each exhibit includes approximately 22 pieces, all of which are original portrait drawings by the doctor.
Menendez hails from Lima, Peru, where he began dabbling in art at an early age. After much success in artistic endeavors as a child, the passion was eventually set aside when he began attending medical school in America. His interest in painting and drawing resurfaced many years later, and he has enjoyed learning new techniques and painting his family and grandchildren's portraits.
As his motivation for this project, Menendez referenced a quote from the like-minded famous sports figure, Babe Ruth, who said, "I've heard people say that the trouble with the world is that we haven't enough great leaders. I think we haven't enough great followers. I have stood side by side with great thinkers -- surgeons, engineers, economists; people who deserve a great following - and have heard the crowd cheer me instead."
Menendez' goal is to complete at least 50 portraits of notable people and to show the new generation how much benefit they have obtained from the work and dedication of these people such as Pasteur, Curie, Bell, the Wright brothers, Salk, Morton, Edison, Faraday, Pavlov, Florey, and others.
"Most of my career I have been intrigued and amazed about history, especially with people who were discoverers or inventors," said Menendez. "History is important because it allows us to understand our past, which in turn allows us to understand our present. In 2012, I decided to start a series of portraits of people who have contributed to society through their work. This exhibition of famous people is part of history, and those people should be honored and imitated. They were as human as the rest of us with similar desires, goals, defects, qualities, values and so on. Most of them fought for their beliefs and did not give up despite the negative circumstances."
The exhibit is free and open to the public for viewing Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. For more information about this exhibition or the artist's receptions, please contact the SAAC office at 862-5474 or visit www.saac-arts.org. SAAC is located at 110 East Fifth Street, El Dorado, Arkansas.