By Tori Banks, student news writer

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. - Campbellsville University is hosting an art exhibit by Cleda Curtis-Neal, renowned portrait painter, in the Badgett Academic Learning Center at 110 University Drive, Campbellsville, Ky.

The event is free and open to the public. The building is open for viewing: Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-12 a.m.; Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-12 a.m. The exhibit will be on display until Friday, Jan. 13, 2012.

Curtis-Neal began her career in portrait painting in 1970. Since then, she has lived and traveled throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

After receiving a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Ozarks in Clarksville, Ark., Curtis-Neal studied with many portrait painters around the country including Daniel Greene and John Howard Sanden.

Curtis-Neal strives to capture the personality and spirit of her subjects in thoughtful and reflective moods. She paints with honesty and feeling, always staying true to the likeness of her subjects.

While many hours of careful work are done by the artist in her studio, the procedure requires only a few hours of the subject's time.

Her usual method is to meet with the subject in his or her own environment. There, Curtis-Neal does a color study and takes a series of photographs. With this material she returns to the quiet of her own studio and paints the finished portrait.

Curtis-Neal creates her portraits in the realistic tradition working with oils, pastels or watercolors.
Through her time spent in studies in museums, universities and workshops taught by the nation's leading artists,

Curtis-Neal has become a renowned teacher of the arts. She uses still life in her class work to teach the basic rules of painting and drawing that artists have used for hundreds of years. She has designed her workshops to encourage the young artists and tostrengthen the ability of the advanced artists.

As did the old masters, Curtis-Neal believes in learning and passing it on.
Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 3,500 students offering 63 undergraduate options, 17 master's degrees, five postgraduate areas and eight pre-professional programs. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu