Martha Miller new director at Department of Arkansas Heritage

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Scott

MARTHA MILLER: New Heritage leader. Last week, Governor Mike Beebe announced that Martha Miller would be the new Director of the Department of Arkansas Heritage. She succeeds Cathie Matthews, who retired at the end of 2012 after serving for 15 years.

In making the announcement the governor noted, “Martha is a life-long Arkansan who has strong experience within the department and with state government. Promoting her from her position as deputy director was an easy and sensible decision in light of Cathie Matthews’ retirement.

Miller, 60, previously served as Deputy Director for the Department of Arkansas Heritage Museums. Formerly a self-employed attorney and lobbyist, she has served on the boards of Lyon College (her alma mater), the Little Rock Interfaith Hospitality Network and Audubon Arkansas.

The Department of Arkansas Heritage’s mission is to identify Arkansas’ heritage and enhance the quality of life by the discovery, preservation, and presentation of the state’s cultural, historic and natural resources. The agency oversees the Arkansas Arts Council, Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, Delta Cultural Center, Historic Arkansas Museum, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center and the Old State House Museum.

LR Look Back: Mayor John Gould Fletcher

Posted on January 6, 2013 by Scott

Future Little Rock Mayor John Gould Fletcher was born on this date in 1831. The son of Henry Lewis and Mary Lindsey Fletcher, he later served as a Captain in the Capital Guards during the Civil War. One of his fellow soldiers was Peter Hotze.

Following the war, he and Hotze began a general merchandise store in Little Rock. They were so successful that they eventually dropped the retail trade and dealt only in cotton. Peter Hotze had his office in New York while Fletcher supervised company operations in Little Rock. In 1878 Fletcher married Miss Adolphine Krause, sister-in-law of Hotze.

John Gould Fletcher was elected Mayor of Little Rock from 1875 to 1881. He was the first Mayor under Arkansas’ new constitution which returned all executive powers to the office of the Mayor (they had been split under a reconstruction constitution). Following his service as Mayor, he served one term as Pulaski County Sheriff. Mayor Fletcher also later served as president of the German National Bank in Little Rock.

Mayor and Mrs. Fletcher had five children, three of whom lived into adulthood. Their son was future Pulitzer Prize winning poet John Gould Fletcher (neither father nor son used the Sr. or Jr. designation). Their two daughters who lived to adulthood were Adolphine Fletcher Terry and Mary Fletcher Drennan.

In 1889, Mayor Fletcher purchased the Pike House in downtown Little Rock. The structure later became known as the Pike-Fletcher-Terry House. It was from this house that Adolphine Fletcher Terry organized the Women’s Emergency Committee which worked to reopen the Little Rock public schools durin the 1958-1959 school year.

In the 1960s, sisters Adolphine Fletcher Terry and Mary Fletcher Drennan deeded the house to the City of Little Rock for use by the Arkansas Arts Center. For several decades it served as home to the Arts Center’s contemporary craft collection. It now is used for special events and exhibitions.

Mayor Fletcher died in 1906 and is buried in Mt. Holly Cemetery along with various members of his family. His grandson William Terry (son of Adolphine Fletcher Terry) and three generations of his family still reside in Little Rock.

CALS Hosts 2nd Annual LEGO Competition at Thompson Library

Posted on January 5, 2013 by Scott

The Central Arkansas Library System is hosting its 2nd Annual LEGO contest today at the Roosevelt Thompson Library.

The fun begins at 9am and continues until 5pm. From 9am to 12 noon, contestants can bring their LEGO creations. These will be judged from 1pm to 3pm. From 3pm to 5pm the public will have the chance to view them. At 5pm the winners will be announced.

For more information on the rules, contact the library at 501-821-3060.

The Roosevelt Thompson Library is located at 38 Rahling Circle.

Sandwiching in History – The BPOE Building in Little Rock

Posted on January 4, 2013 by Scott

Each month the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program sponsors a “Sandwiching in History” tour which features a historic property. Today at 12 noon is the first one for 2013.

This month’s tour is of the B.P.O.E. building at 401 S. Scott Street. Now known at the headquarters of the Junior League of Little Rock, it was originally built as a lodge for the Benevolent Protective Order of the Elks. The building was designed in the Second Renaissance Revival Style in 1908 by Theo Sanders and was constructed in two phases around 1910. In 1927 the building was purchased by the Women’s City Club. In May 2001 it was purchased by the Junior League of Little Rock.

The Sandwiching in History tours are free and open to the public. All tours begin at noon and last no more than one hour. An AHPP historian delivers a brief lecture about the property before leading guests on a tour. Attendees are encouraged to bring their lunches with them.

The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program (an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage) identifies, evaluates, registers, and preserves the state’s historic and cultural resources and seeks to instill a preservation ethic in future generations of Arkansans. The agency also houses the Main Street Arkansas program, which works with local communities to revitalize downtown commercial areas.

Last Chance for 3 Exhibits at Arkansas Arts Center

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Scott

Three current exhibits close this Sunday at the Arkansas Arts Center.

Chuck Close, Self Portrait, 2000
sceenprint on paper
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, © 2000 Chuck Close

Multiplicity
Jeannette Edris Rockefeller Gallery

The concept of making multiple images from the same matrix has been integral to printmaking since the earliest prints were pulled from woodblocks and metal plates in the 15th century.

Pulled from the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s permanent collection,Multiplicity demonstrates how today’s most celebrated print makers utilize and exploit the “multiple” nature of printmaking to create complex and innovative works.

Organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum with support from the William R. Kenan, Jr. Endowment Fund. The C.F. Foundation in Atlanta supports the museum’s traveling exhibition program, Treasures to Go.

Dorothy and Herbert Vogel at The Clocktower with a drawing by Philip Pearlstein behind them, 1975.
Photography Credit: Nathaniel Tileston. Courtesy Dorothy and Herbert Vogel, New York, and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

50 for Arkansas: The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection
Townsend Wolfe Gallery

50 for Arkansas features works from the collection of Dorothy and Herbert Vogel. In 2008, the Vogels, avid art collectors, launched the gift program The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States. After decades of amassing one of the great contemporary art collections, on his salary as a postal worker while living on her salary as a reference librarian, the Vogels gave 50 works from their collection to an art institution in each of the 50 states. The Arkansas Arts Center was selected for Arkansas.

50 for Arkansas is a joint initiative of the Trustees of the Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection and the National Gallery of Art, with generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Institute for Museum and Library Services.

Sheriff Rubber Ducky by William Price (2010)
Cherry, steel, brass

38th Toys Designed by Artists
Winthrop Rockefeller Gallery

The Toys Designed By Artistsexhibition engages museum visitors, delighting young and old alike. In 1973, the Arkansas Arts Center initiated an exhibition of toys designed by artists. Inspired by Alexander Calder’s circus figures of the late 1920s and early 1930s, this exhibition was launched to stimulate the imagination of both children and adults and to engage them with toys of whimsy, delight and good craftsmanship.

The tradition continues this season with the 38th Toys Designed by Artists. This international juried exhibition challenges artists to take the concept of “toy” and make a personal expression – a piece of art. The wildly inventive toys selected often hearken back to the days before plastic and mass production, when all toys were handmade and, whether simple or elaborate, engaged the imagination of both maker and user.

LR Look Back: Mayor David Fulton

Posted on January 2, 2013 by Scott

On this date in 1771 in Ireland, future Little Rock Mayor David Fulton was born. He served as the fourth and final mayor of the Town of Little Rock in 1835. His term was cut short by the transition of Little Rock from town to city status. Once that happened in November 1835, a new election had to be held.

Mayor Fulton was also proprieter of the Tan Yard, a tanning operation in Little Rock. He later served as a judge and was appointed as Surveyor General of Public Lands in Arkansas by President Martin Van Buren in 1838.

Mayor Fulton married Elizabeth Savin in 1794 in Maryland. Among their children was William Savin Fulton who served as Territorial Governor of Arkansas in 1835 and 1836 and was one of Arkansas’ first US Senators upon statehood in 1836. Mayor Fulton was serving as Mayor at the same time his son was Governor.

Mayor Fulton died on August 7, 1843 and is buried at Mt. Holly Cemetery as are his wife and several other members of his family.