Monthly Archives: October 2011

Arts & Humanities Month: Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site Visitor Center

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The eyes of the world may have been on Little Rock in September 1957, but understanding what happened then and since is no easy task. The National Park Service opened the expanded Visitor Center in 2007 in conjunction with the commemoration events of the 50th anniversary.  The original site of the Visitor Center, the refurbished Mobil Gas Station remains a component of the Park Service. It now serves as an education center.

The exhibits inside the Visitor Center explore the events of September 1957. They also explore the roots of segregated education in Arkansas. Other exhibits look at the larger Civil Rights struggle as well as the school and Little Rock since 1957. In addition, a Commemorative Garden sits across the street from the Visitor Center and Central High School. There are Park Service Ranger-led tours of the Central High School offered at 9am and 1:15pm on Monday through Friday. Since the school remains an operating high school, tour times may be altered due to school events.  The Visitor Center is open from 9am to 4:30pm daily.

Arts & Humanities Month: Wildwood Park’s Harvest! Festival

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Wildwood Park for the Arts continues its annual Harvest! Festival today.

It features hayrides to Pumpkin Hill, family crafts, model trains and live music.  There will also be a culinary competition, activities such as sack races and pumpkin push races, and the Arkansas Pickin’ & Fiddlin’ Championship.

The event started yesterday and continues today from12 noon through 6pm.  It is one of Wildwood’s seasonal festivals which take place on the 104 acre campus throughout the year.

Wildwood Park for the Arts seek s to challenge the intellect, engage the imagination and celebrate the human spirit through encounter with nature and a full spectrum of the cultural arts: visual, performing, literary, horticultural, culinary and more.

Gardens on the site include the Richard C. Butler Arboretum, the Gertrude Remmel Butler Gazebo and Gardens (a project of the Chenal Valley Garden Club), the Ruth Allen Dogwood Trail, the Boop Water Garden, the Carl Hunter Wildflower Glenn, the Bruce Theatre Gardens, the Doris Carre Gay Asian Garden (a project of the Pulaski County Master Gardeners),the Campbell Davies Reflection Garden and an 8-acre swan lake. Paved walking trails provide access to all areas of the park.

Arts & Humanities Month: Arkansas Arts Center showcases Barnet, metal works

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The Arkansas Arts Center’s newest exhibits have recently opened.

Barnet

Will Barnet at the Arkansas Arts Center: A Centennial Exhibition celebrates Barnet’s 100th birthday. The exhibit highlights the museum’s vast array of works by this important 20th and 21st century artist.  The exhibit runs through January 15 in the Townsend Wolfe Gallery.

Tori Study #006 - Hoss Haley

Cast, Cut, Forged and Crushed: Selections in Metal from the John and Robyn Horn Collection showcases works cast in metal by over two dozen artists from the John and Robyn Horn collection.  It runs through January 15 in the Jeannette Edris Rockefeller Gallery.

Continuing at the Arts Center is the Museum School Faculty Exhibition: Past and Present which runs through November 13 in the Sam Strauss, Sr. and Stella Boyle Smith Galleries.

Other events at the Arkansas Arts Center this month include:

Sunday, October 16, 2011 – 6pm: Conversation with David Clemons – Lecture Hall

Thursday, October 20, 2011 – 6:30pm: Jessica Nicoll lecture “Will Barnet: A Life’s Work in Context” – Lecture Hall

Wednesday, October 26, 2011 – 7pm: The Arts in Motion Film Series: Ballets Russes

Arts & Humanities Month: Little Rock Film Festival’s Argenta Film Series – MARATHON BOY

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The Little Rock Film Festival has launched the Argenta Film Series in conjunction with the Argenta Arts Foundation and the Mitchell Williams Law Firm.  Tonight’s entry is Marathon Boy, which will be shown at the Argenta Community Theatre.

A TRIBECA Film Festival official section from HBO Documentary Films, Marathon Boy tells the story of a four-year old boy from the slums of India who is trained to become India’s greatest runner.  Along the way, the story becomes rife with greed and disillusionment. 

Director Gemma Atwal from London will be present for the screening and participate in a question and answer session following the screening. A reception will begin at 6:30 pm and the film will begin at 7:00 pm.

The film will air on HBO later this year. For more information on the movie, visit the official website: http://www.marathonboymovie.com/.

The Argenta Film Series is a new year-round film series, emphasizing in-depth discussions on the craft of filmmaking, and will showcase indoor and outdoor screenings of local, national and international films.

The Little Rock Film Festival is one of the premiere film advocacy organizations in the American South, promoting the film industry in the state of Arkansas and bringing filmmakers from around the world each June to its flagship event in Little Rock. Current LRFF year round programs include, the 48 hour film project, the Reel Civil Rights Film Festival, and the Argenta Film Series.

Later this month, the Little Rock Film Festival will show Drag Me to Hell on October 28.

Arts & Humanities Month: UALR Theatre & Dance presents ONCE UPON A MATTRESS

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The UALR Theatre and Dance season kicks off with the whimsical musical fairy tale Once Upon a Mattress.  This marks UALR’s first musical in several years and comes after the theatre and dance program have been revitalized.  The production of this Mary Rodgers, Marshall Barer, Dean Fuller, Jay Thompson musical opens tonight at 8pm.  Other show times are Friday, October 7 at 7pm; Saturday, October 8 at 2:30pm and 8pm; and Sunday, October 9 at 2:30pm. Tickets can be obtained by calling the UALR Box Office at 569-3456.

Rhythm McCarthy is serving as director and choreographer.  Designers are William Marshall, Yslan Hicks, Jim Spencer and Karen Harris.  Michael Heavner is serving as musical director.

The 2011/2012 season has the tagline: Where Your Imagination Is Our Reality.  Other productions are:

  • Senior Dance Projects, November 17-20
  • Jeff Baron’s Visiting Mr. Green and Jane Martin’s Criminal Hearts presented in repertory, February 22-26
  • Spring Dance Concert, April 19-22

Arts & Humanities Month: Heifer Village

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One of Little Rock’s new cultural experiences is the Heifer Village on the campus of Heifer International.  Located adjacent to Clinton Presidential Park, the Heifer Village features exhibits, a conference center and a café. 

The exhibits in the Heifer Village are hands-on as they provide innovative ways for visitors of all ages to learn about the world’s challenges and how Heifer is working on solutions. Exhibits focus on health care, education, sustainable agriculture, infrastructure, fair markets and the myths of poverty. In addition, the Heifer Village features the “Dreaming Cows” mural, an exhibit on the story of Heifer International and the Making the Difference lab.

The Cafe @ Heifer serves an array of soups, salads, sandwiches and pizzas for lunch.  It is open Monday thru Friday from 10am to 3pm.  The café is sponsored by Centennial Bank.

Arts & Humanities Month: UALR History Department’s Evenings with History

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This year marks the 21st year for the History Institutes’ Evenings with History.  This nationally recognized series has featured a variety of subject.  This year, the first three evenings comprise a mini-series focused on African-Americans in Arkansas.  The other evenings will take listeners around the world in geography and chronology. The sessions take place at the Ottenheimer Auditorium of Historic Arkansas Museum. Refreshments are served at 7 with the program beginning at 7:30 pm. The cost is $50 for admission to all six programs.

Tonight’s program features Carl Moneyhon speaking on “Freedom: Black Arkansans and the End of Slavery”

On November 1, Story Matkin-Rawn of the UCA History Department will present a program entitled “From Land Ownership to Legal Defense: The World War I Watershed in Black Arkansan Organizing”

John Kirk presents December’s program on the 6th: “A Movement is more than a Moment: Arkansas and the African American Civil Rights struggle since 1940”

The Evenings in History return on February 7 with Jeff Kyong-McClain’s “The Heavenly History of the Han, or How a Liberal Baptist from Green Forest, Arkansas Taught Racial and Ethnic Nationalism to the Chinese”

On March 6, Charles Romney will address “A Brief History of Human Rights”

The 2011-2012 sessions will conclude on April 3 with Edward Anson’s “Counter-Insurgency: The Lessons of Alexander the Great”

The corporate sponsors for the 2011-2012 season are Delta Trust, Union Pacific Railroad, the Little Rock School District—Teaching American History Program; the law firms of  Friday, Eldredge & Clark and Wright, Lindsey & Jennings. Support and gifts in kind have been provided by the UALR Ottenheimer Library; Historic Arkansas Museum, a museum of the Department of Arkansas Heritage; UALR Public Radio–KLRE-KUAR; and Grapevine Spirits.