Robin McDonald is the Leeds Arts Council’s featured artist in October.  The public is invited to the opening reception on October 2, 2016, 1:30-3:30 pm, to view his delightful photographs of Leeds.  Admission is free.

English by birth, Robin emigrated to America at the age of 12, and has lived in Alabama since 1966.  He received a BA cum laude in art history at Emory University and an MA in art history at Columbia University.  He returned to Birmingham, and worked as an artist at advertising agencies and photographic studios and as the art director of Horizon Magazine.  In 1984, Robin started an independent graphic design and photography studio, now in its 32nd year.  In 1991, Robin became the designer and principal photographer for Alabama Heritage Magazine.  His other principal client is Clairmont Press in Atlanta.  He has also designed many books for the University of Alabama Press, including both editions of The Crimson Tide by Winston Groom, Alabama Architecture by Alice Meriwether Bowsher, and Headwaters by Beth Maynor Young and John C. Hall.  Robin received gold and bronze awards from the New York Art Directors Club. In 1980, he won Best in Show at the Greater Birmingham Arts Alliance Juried Photography Exhibition. Robin is the author of two books, Heart of a Small Town: Photographs of Alabama Towns (2003) and Visions of the Black Belt: A Cultural Survey of the Heart of Alabama (2015), co-authored by Valerie Pope Burnes and published by the University of Alabama Press.

Mr. McDonald’s work will be on exhibit through November 3, 2016. The Arts Center is located at 8140 Parkway Drive, in downtown Leeds. The gallery is open Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. and during events. In case of inclement weather, call the center at 205-699-1892 to confirm opening hours.