This exhibit is FREE to the public and will be on display during library hours Monday--Friday 9 am-6 pm, starting Friday, July 18, 2025, through Friday, August 08, 2025.
Todd Camplin and Johnna Rena’ Guillory present
Speakeasy (Language is Culture and Culture is Language)
Camplin's Artist Statement
This series is titled Endangered and Extinct Languages. I researched these languages. I then used each alphabet to make designs around the border of an abstract object. The object is a modern shape with a Latin-based alphabet pushing out the old alphabet in a symbolic demonstration of the dominant language pushing out the use of regional languages. I titled the works Odes to relate to the idea of poetry that laments the loss of something.
Guillory's Artist Statement
Johnna Rena’ Guillory is a fine arts documentary photographer. She prefers black & white photography using only available/natural light to capture her subjects. She has studied photography with Keith Carter and Henry Horenstein. Her work has shown throughout Louisiana, Texas, and New Mexico. Guillory is the type of photographer that immerses herself in the culture to record lives in their most natural setting. For this particular project, Guillory chose to spend long hours in a bar in southern Louisiana. Not just any bar, but a culturally significant space where the last embers of a style of Cajun music and Cajun culture are still celebrated “Fred’s” located in Mamou, Louisiana. The photos are much more than just a sequence of images that tell a story, and each image is a microcosm. The big story is really comprised of little moments that draw you in and you forget yourself.
Camplin's Bio
My name is Todd Camplin. I was born in South Bend, Indiana, and was raised in Kentucky. I am the son of a coal miner and a homemaker. They encourage me to go to college. I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Western Kentucky University. I spent some time in Philadelphia and then moved to Dallas to get my Master's in Humanities at the University of Texas at Dallas. I created a strong portfolio and applied to the University of North Texas, where I received a Master of Fine Arts degree. I developed my practice of word art during my second master's. I started my series of Odes painting/drawing hybris in 2022. I researched endangered and extinct languages, then I created abstract artworks that used the languages' inspiration for each piece.
Guillory's Bio
Johnna Rena’ Guillory, a native of South Louisiana, is an accomplished photographer with a deep-rooted passion for the art. She earned her Bachelor's degree from Lamar University, where she had the opportunity to study under the renowned Keith Carter. She later went on to obtain her Master’s in Photography from the Savannah College of Art & Design.
Throughout her career, Johnna has enriched her expertise by attending prestigious programs like the Maine Media Workshops and the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops. Since 2015, she has also been leading her own photographic workshops, inspiring others through her craft.
Her work has been exhibited across Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, and Virginia, earning recognition in both regional and national circles. She has been featured in publications such as Modern Dallas and Country Roads Magazine and has participated in Photo Nola: Authors Row, where she presented her book, Fred’s.
In addition to being an artist she also teaches Visual Arts at Marshall High School. Her classes include: Art 2, Art 3, Photography, AP: Studio Art 2-D and Drawing. In 2021 she received the National Scholastic Art Educator Award because her student won the National Silver Award in Photography.
HTTPS://JOHNNARENAGUILLORY.WIXSITE.COM/WEBSITE
Instagram: @johnnarenaguillory
This is the secondary branch of the William F. Laman Public Library located in the heart of the Argenta Arts District of North Little Rock.
