Pulaski Heights Picassos

The Culture Vulture tries to steer clear of promoting fundraisers (because there are so many that every day could be a feature). But just as Picasso broke the rules of the art world, this entry breaks the rule. The reason? As a good friend says “It’s for the children.”

Pulaski Heights Picassos will take place tomorrow night (Saturday, March 3) at Ricks Armory from 6pm to 10pm.  It is a silent and live auction fundraiser for Pulaski Heights Elementary arts programs. The parents and teachers of Pulaski Heights Elementary School believe that the arts are an essential part of a well-rounded education and something that should be available to all students.

Picassos is the primary fundraiser used by the PTA to enhance the arts programs at PHE. Primarily Little Rock artists have donated all or a portion of their proceeds from the sale of the art for auction. More than 100 accomplished artists donated artwork and more than 400 pieces are available for sale.

The artist list includes:

Mary Stuart Arrington
Shelby Baker
Boots Barnett
Elizabeth Bates
Jessie Bates
Louis Beck
Bill Belew
Selma Blackburn
Kissy Blanchat
Mary Bowden
Arden Boyce
Janet Browne
Heather Burkett
Cathy Burns
Becca Carey
Theresa Cates
Ashley Chandler
Jeannie Clifton-Laster
Jane Colclasure
Susan Conley
Jenny Cooper
Morgan Covan
Mitchell Crisp
Cici Davidson
John Deering
Jerry Delavan
Char Demoro
George Dombek
Hamid Ebrahimifar
Gayle Ellis
Tanya Fitzgerald
Jim Flatt
Wayne Fowler
Jan Gartrell
Tracee Gentry
Dent Gitchel
Doug Gorrell
Jann Greenland
Austin Grimes
Amanda Haskins
James Hayes
Helena
Judy Henderson
Rita Henry
Lora Matthey Hicks
Ellen Hobgood
Gino Hollander
Patricia Holifield
Julie Holt
Joe Homan
John Honey
Judy Honey
Sandy Hubler
Tim Hursley
Donna Hutchinson
Lucy Inserra
Jim Johnson
Don Jordan
Annette Kagy
Carla Koen
Benjamin Krain
Nancy Kubler
John Kushmaul
Mindy Lacefield
Beth Lambert
David Land
Amy Laser
Ann Laser
Laura Laser
Kathy Lindsey
Missy Lipps
Erin Lorenzen
Ashley Lowry
Christa Masters
Jason Masters
Mark Matthews
Pat Matthews
Matt McLeod
Tonya McNair
William McNamara
Lauren Meredith
Barbara Middleton
Patricia Miller
Herb Monoson
Patty Monoson
Jean Moss
Leslie Nelson
Bob Ocken
Leah Pearson
Michael Peven
Dale Provost
Cherlyon Reid
Richard Reynolds
David Schonert
Darrell Loy Scott
Gary Scroggs
Thom Shock
Justin Slarks
Liz Smith
Teresa Smith
Bob Snider
Cindy Sorrells
Mary Ann Stafford
Stephano
Babs Steward
Celia Storey
Susan Strauss
Kathy Strausse
Hank Tilbury
Ed Wade
Jeri Warlick
Michael Warrick
Lydia Washburn
Peggy Wenger
Julie West
George Wittenburg
Scotti Wilbourne
Renee Williams
Sherry Williamson
Debra Wolfe
Emily Wood
Melanie Young

Adventures in Art of Filmmaking on Petit Jean – March 8-11

The Winthrop Rockefeller Institute will host its first film forum called “Adventures in the Art of Filmmaking.’

The forum will be held March 8-11 at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute on Petit Jean Mountain. It’s open to everyone, from film professionals, students, to enthusiasts.

The forum will bring together a long list of actors, directors, producers, screenwriters, and acting coaches including Robert Walden (Happily Divorced, “Lou Grant”), Lea Thompson (Back to the Future, “Caroline in the City”), director Howard Deutch (Pretty in Pink, Some Kind of Wonderful), director and teacher Joan Darling (Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman; M*A*S*H; Mary Tyler Moore Show); acting coach and teacher Sandra Seacat; screenwriter Bill Svanoe (Six Million Dollar Man); Oscar-winning producer, Fred Roos (The Godfather Part II, Apocalypse Now), and documentarian Craig Renaud (On the Front Lines of Film Journalism), who founded The Little Rock Film Festival.

Those interested in taking part in “Adventures in Filmmaking” have four different pricing options. A full package with lodging for $750 (single occupancy) or $650 (double occupancy); full package without lodging for $450; a university student package (a current student identification is required) with lodging for $500 or without lodging for $250; and, a la carte tickets for each Show Barn Panel Discussions for $35.

Advanced online registration is required at www.livethelegacy.org. For more information, visit the website or contact Angie York at 501-727-6257.

LEAP DAY – Preview of Ballet Arkansas’ “Beyond Category”

Since it LEAP DAY it seems appropriate to preview Ballet Arkansas‘ upcoming program Beyond Category.

On March 9, 10 and 11, Ballet Arkansas will explore various musical genres, which, when combined with various dance genres, make for an exciting and very eclectic concert program. The show transitions from classical ballet pieces performed to Tchaikovsky and Granados, to an act devoted to the great musical genres of jazz and blues, then finishes with a contemporary ballet to classic rock. With choreography by Michelle Jarvis, Bud Kerwin, Keisha Ilama-White and Arkansas native Leslie Schickel – this concert promises to be just what the title suggests – beyond category.

Performances are

  • March 9, 2012 – 8:00pm – Opening night and reception
  • March 10, 2012 – 8:00pm
  • March 11, 2012 – 2:00pm

Performances will be at Wildwood Park for the Arts, 20919 Denny Road.

To order tickets, click here.

 

ASO Ode to Beethoven

On the heels of this past weekend’s Arkansas Symphony Orchestra of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, the ASO River Rhapsodies chamber music series presents Ode to Beethoven.  It will take place this evening at 7pm at the Clinton Presidential Center.  Tickets are $22.

The program will feature Lutoslawski’s String Quartet and Grandjany’s Rhapsodie.  Michael Torke, the ASO Composer of the Year, will be represented with Chalk.  The evening will conclude with Beethoven’s String Quartet in F-minor Op. 95 “Serioso.”

Torke will also be highlighted at the ASO on April 14 and 15 with Desert and Sea. Funding from the National Endowment for the Arts is, in part, responsible for the ASO to host Torke this year.

Chamber Music Recital at UALR

Tonight at UALR, Felice Magendanz-Farrell, Naoki Hakutani and David Renfro will present a chamber music recital.  The program begins at 7:30 in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall on the UALR campus.

Cellist Felice Magendanz-Farrell was born in Utica, N.Y., and educated at Indiana University under artists, Janos Starker, Josef Gingold and Gyorgy Sebok. Chamber music and teaching have been her enduring pursuits throughout her life from Indiana University to Minnesota University, Eastman School of Music, University of Central Arkansas, to concerts in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Europe and Eastern Europe.

Japanese American pianist Naoki Hakutani, a native of Kent, Ohio, has performed as a soloist and collaborator across the U.S. as well as Mexico, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Hakutani is currently serving as assistant professor of piano at The University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He received degrees from Northwestern University and Indiana University in Bloomington prior to receiving the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

A native of Kingsport, Tenn., hornist David Renfro received his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in horn performance from the Indiana University Jacob’s School of Music. Currently, David resides in Little Rock, where he is in his seventh season with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, currently serving as principal horn. In 2010 he also became the symphony’s Orchestra Personnel and Operations Manager. Prior to that appointment, David taught horn and music at Ouachita Baptist University and Henderson State University. In addition to his duties with the orchestra, David maintains an active teaching studio and performs regularly as a chamber musician and soloist.

Sculpture Vulture: TESTAMENT

Today’s highlighted sculpture sits on the grounds of the Arkansas State Capitol.  Testament honors the Little Rock Nine who integrated Little Rock Central High School in 1957.

The statues face the Arkansas State Capitol including the Governor’s Office. The irony is that, in 1957, then-Governor Orval Faubus led the efforts to keep Minnijean Brown, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Thelma Mothershed, Melba Patillo, Gloria Ray, Terrence Roberts, Jefferson Thomas, and Carlotta Walls from entering the school.

Dedicated in August 2005, Testament was created by John Deering working with Kathy Deering and Steve Scallion.  The project was over seven years in the making from the original concept to the  unveiling.

The bronze sculptures are life-size and depict the students moving forward.  They are dressed in school clothes and carry their books.  Around the perimeter of the sculpture is a series of quotes, one from each of the nine.

(It is appropriate to discuss this sculpture today, since the Oscars are presented tonight (2/26/12). The 1964 Oscar for Best Documentary — Short Subject was awarded for the film Nine from Little Rock.)

 

Arkansas Symphony Orchestra – Beethoven, Schoenberg, Takei

Actor and activist George Takei joins the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra this weekend in concerts at Robinson Center Music Hall to narrate Schoenberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw at a concert featuring a message of hope and unity with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony also known as Ode to Joy.

The ASO MasterWorks concerts are tonight at 8pm and tomorrow at 3pm.

Takei’s appearance is sponsored by the Stella Boyle Smith Trust and he will take the stage as narrator during Schoenberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw. The narration that accompanies this piece depicts the story of a concentration camp survivor from the Warsaw ghetto during World War II. Takei, a Japanese American who as a child was interned at an internment camp in Rohwer, Arkansas during World War II, is a supporter of human right issues and community activist.  Takei is chairman emeritus and a trustee of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles and was appointed to the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission by former President Clinton.
Just after Schoenberg’s moving piece, Maestro Philip Mann and the ASO musicians will be joined by over 400 voices from the state of Arkansas for Beethoven’s prayer for hope and peace,Symphony No. 9, Ode to Joy. “This is perhaps the most recognizable work in the history of classical music, and for good reason,” said Mann. “Its message of triumph and victory through a shared brotherhood between peoples is an enduring, timeless, and transcendent declaration. Seen as a watershed movement in music history, the work has gained such significance and is now synonymous with important moments in world history—like its performance marking the re-unification of Germany and the fall of the Berlin Wall.”

Featuring:

George Takei, narrator
Schoenberg Chorus
River City Men’s Chorus
Beethoven Chorus
Arkansas State University
Harding University
Hendrix College
Lyon College
Ouachita Baptist University
Philander Smith College
Southern Arkansas University at Magnolia
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
University of Arkansas at Monticello
Members of River City Men’s Chorus
Philip Mann, conductor
Arkansas Symphony Orchestra