Lawrence McElroy

Background

About Lawrence McElroy

After working in the medical field for over 30 years, serving as Director of Echocardiography for most of that time, I resigned in 2015 to dedicate myself to my original passion, the arts. Since then, my paintings have been accepted into numerous major exhibitions and my large-scale realistic paintings in oil on canvas have received an array of awards. I maintain a private painting studio in Historic Cane Hill amid the beautiful Arkansas Ozarks, where I also serve as the Director of Arts & Culture, and Museum Curator for Historic Cane Hill, Inc.(a 501 (c) 3 non profit organization dedicated to preserving and restoring this wonderful community. As part of that effort in 2019, I have successfully established a state-of-the-art gallery, hosting 3 major exhibitions in 2019. Rotating exhibitions featuring northwest Arkansas artists will continue year-round with at least 1 major competitive exhibition scheduled for next year. In 2020, I plan to spearhead the development of a new pottery production facility, which will host year-round classes as well as historic demonstrations of 19th century pottery production. The construction of a ground-hog type wood fired kiln, and a mule turned pug mill, typical in the 19th century, will occur late in 2020. Other arts-related efforts at Cane Hill will be initiated which will encourage and support the burgeoning arts industry in northwest Arkansas. The latest exhibition, scheduled to open December 7, will feature works selected from a statewide competition of high school students. The grand prize for the competition is a Historic Cane Hill-sponsored award of a 1-year full-tuition scholarship to the University of Arkansas School of Art. As vice-president of the Heart of America Artists Association, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization, I've been instrumental in developing a major painting competition which will travel to a variety of museum and gallery venues for two years. projects on the drawing board include a plein air competition, artist workshops, paint-outs, and additional major competitions.