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The Johnson Center for the Arts is known widely for its outstanding art exhibitions and recently hosted a reception for the artists whose work is now on exhibit- cousins and painters Jim Campbell and Harold Adcock, and ceramic artists, Lynette Hesser and Steve Loucks.

Brenda Campbell, JCA director, said both exhibits have been very well received and those who attended the artists’ reception enjoyed meeting the artists and learning more about the processes of and the passion for their work.

Jim Campbell is a native of Troy and Adcock, who has deep roots in the Southeast, now makes his home in Madison, Mississippi. The first cousins share a love of and appreciation for the arts.

As a young boy, Campbell was always drawing. In school, his drawings of airplanes with added sound effects drew the teacher’s attention. As a young man, Campbell attended the highly-acclaimed Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. Following his degree in illustration, Campbell had the opportunity to be among a group of six selected for a post graduate program taught by top illustrators in the New York city market.

“Jim is an outstanding portrait artist and is well-known for his work,” Brenda Campbell said. “What many may not know is that he was also well-known in the commercial art world. His work appeared on Time Magazine covers and story illustrations for many of the big magazines including Ladies Home Journal, and he did many illustrations for The Readers Digest “

And Jim Campbell’s first cousin, Harold Adcock, a self-taught artist, also made his way in the art world.

His first “exhibition,” so to speak was a T-shirt design for a church fundraiser titled “Cajun Fest.”

Adcock and his wife, Carmella, are in their 14th year of crafting iterations of a stylized crawfish, “Mud Buddy.”

Adcock is the sole illustrator for a series of original religious children’s books. His portfolio includes diverse subjects ranging from landscapes and still-life depictions to graphic artwork and portraits.

Brenda Campbell said Adcock’s lack of formal artistic training makes his work unexpected and wholly unique.

“Jim and Harold are outstanding artists, each in his own way,” Campbell said. “It was interesting to see their family come together in appreciation for their artistic talents and in a sense of family reunion. It was a very special time for them and for all who came.”

Campbell expressed appreciation to the artists for sharing their talents at the Johnson Center and to those who literally took the cousins’ artwork off their walls so it could be included in the exhibits.

“When you take a family portrait off your wall, or a favorite painting, you leave an empty space,” Campbell said. “So, we greatly appreciate those who shared the artwork of these two very talented cousins for this one show.”

Campbell said those who visit the exhibits will likely recognize people and places and, as they do, they become a part of the artists’ “family” reunion.

Selected art work by Jim Campbell and Harold Adcock, as well as by ceramic artists, Lynnette Hesser and Steve Loucks, is for sale at the Johnson Center for the Arts, in the online catalogue at arts@jcatroy.org and by calling the JCA at 334-670-2287.