The South Dallas Cultural Center presents the opening exhibition of “Water + Light” by Arthur Fields

Dallas - The South Dallas Cultural Center (SDCC) will present "Water + Light", an exhibition of photo-based artwork by Arthur Fields. Fields explores the visualization of depression, thought, and memory, and investigates the black body in this exhibition. An opening reception will be held from 6 to 8 p.m., Thursday, September 3, 2026 at the SDCC (3400 S. Fitzhugh Ave., Dallas, TX 75210). The event is free and open to the public. The exhibition will also feature a workshop from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., Saturday, September 19, 2026 (click here for registration), and an Artist Talk at 6 p.m., Thursday, September 24, 2026 (click here for registration).

"Water + Light" brings together two bodies of work that, at first glance, seem to hold opposite moods. "Treading Water" is a piece heavy with effort; "Exposed to Joy" is buoyant and unguarded. Both series share a single working method: process as metaphor, where the physical act of making the image mirrors the emotional state it depicts. As described by Fields it is, "[an exhibition that] pairs two bodies of work - 'Treading Water' and 'Exposed to Joy' - exploring endurance and joy as simultaneous, not sequential, truths."

In "Treading Water", Fields photographs through frosted acrylic, rendering figures in blue-toned, softened forms that visualize the quiet, sustained weight of depression - "not just the music, but the state of being 'blue'," as Fields describes it. Outstretched hands recur throughout the series, quiet gestures of reaching for connection, while traces of green breaking through the blue mark the stubborn parts of us that refuse to disappear. "Exposed to Joy" takes the inverse approach. Each portrait is printed as a cyanotype, one of photography's oldest processes, in which an image appears only after the paper is exposed directly to ultraviolet light. Every photograph in the series began as a self-portrait submitted by the subject, capturing a real, unposed moment of joy in their own life rather than one staged by the artist.

About the Artist

Arthur Fields is a Dallas-based photo-based artist and multi-disciplinary artist working in digital and alternative photographic media. Fields grew up in Killeen, Texas, and holds an MFA from Texas Woman's University and a BFA in Digital Imaging and Photography from Washington University in St. Louis. He spent seven years as Associate Professor of Art at Vincennes University (Indiana), directing the Shircliff Gallery of Art, and is currently Associate Professor of Art at Dallas College. Fields' work has been exhibited nationally, including at Box13 ArtSpace (Houston), PhotoPlace Gallery (Middlebury, VT), and the California Institute of Integral Studies (San Francisco). This winter, he will present work internationally in Seoul, South Korea.

About South Dallas Cultural Center

The South Dallas Cultural Center (SDCC), a division of the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture, and celebrates the vibrant tapestry of identity woven by the journeys, resilience, and triumphs of individuals of African descent around the globe. The SDCC offers exhibitions, educational workshops, artist residencies, and community programming exploring the African Diaspora experience and Black cultural heritage. sdcc.dallasculture.org/

Note to media: There will be availability for interviews and opportunity for B-roll. Please RSVP at the link here: https://forms.office.com/g/BtznYkAnvT

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