ABOUT THE FILM | buried-treasures

Buried Treasures was produced by Richard Tiffany and Gary Weidner for Documentary Production class in the Walter J. Lemke Department of Journalism at the University of Arkansas. Richard and Gary are non traditional student returning to the university to explore long form documentary story telling.

GARY WEIDNER studied painting and life drawing with Robert Ross as an undergraduate at the University of Arkansas in the late 1970s. After graduation he stumbled upon an advertising career which has lasted more than 30 years. In 1994 he earned a Master’s Degree in illustration from Syracuse University.

RICHARD TIFFANY took up documentary film making so he could tell the stories of some of the 35 countries that have become democracies through nonviolent revolutions since WWII. Most of these stories only had a few seconds of news coverage at the time of the transition and are generally unknown. He began learning about film making at Fayetteville Public Access Television where a piece he produced, Soldiers Heart. He is studying Documentary Production at the U of A to expand and refine his skills.

Buried Treasures is a 30 minute documentary that reflects the life and work of Robert Ross, an art professor at the University of Arkansas for 40 years. The story covers the salvaging and sale of a tile mural to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, which has kept the work in storage and out of view for a decade. The film also documents efforts to hold a public showing of Ross' work, the first in several years. He would rather spend his time painting than preparing for a show. At the show we meet artists and friends who have supported Ross over his 50 year career. Through them and countless others, Ross has made a major contribution to the Northwest Arkansas art scene.

ROBERT ROSS studied art at Yale University and the University of Arizona, and is Emeritus Professor of Art at the University of Arkansas. In his half-century teaching career he has influenced countless Arkansas artists while finding time to produce a prolific output of work, much of which remains stored in his small Fayetteville studio.

Richard Tiffany Gary Weidner