Monthly Archives: April 2013

April 4 Architeaser

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IMG_4699This two-toned and two-surfaced brick work is an early example of using different surfaces to showcase a building in a fairly simple and inexpensive manner.  This is from the Fulk building at 3rd and Main Streets. The building was built after the February 1900 fire which destroyed parts of South Main Street.

The building is on land that once belonged to Dr. Matthew Cunningham. The first Little Rock Council meeting took place at Dr. Cunningham’s house when it was on this property.

This building is one of several being envisioned for new life as part of the Creative Corridor plan along Main Street.

Chamber Music Society of LR hosts Sebastian Bäverstam

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sebastian-baverstamThe Chamber Music Society of Little Rock (CMSLR) presents internationally acclaimed young cellist Sebastian Bäverstam in recital at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church on Thursday, April 4 at 7:30 pm.

Accompanied by pianist Yannick Rafalimanana, Bäverstam will present a recital featuring the works of Janacek, Shubert, Debussy and Barber.  Tickets are $25 online or at the door.  Praised by The Strad for his “…powerfully expressive style,” cellist Sebastian Bäverstam is a winner of the 2009

Concert Artists Guild International Competition. His recent performance at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall was noted in The Strad for its “consummate instrumental mastery,” This remarkable recital led to Mr. Bäverstam’s subsequent selection by Musical America as its “New Artist of the Month” for June 2011.

Highlights of 2012-13 include his season-opening recital for the Rising Stars series at the Ravinia Festival, where he also spent the summer of 2012 as a member of Ravinia’s renowned Steans Institute. His cross-country recital tours encompass eighteen concerts in thirteen different states.

Sebastian Bäverstam, age twenty-three, has appeared multiple times on the nationally syndicated radio show From the Top, and has also been heard on international radio broadcasts of Voice of America. On television, he was featured on the PBS TV version of From the Top and participated in a PBS documentary filmed at Carnegie Hall, as well as a film by the Masterclass Media Foundation of Great Britain and a nationally televised commercial for Bose speakers.

Celebrating its 59th Season, The Chamber Music Society of Little Rock (CMSLR) is one of Central Arkansas’ premiere performing arts organizations. Through its annual concert series and educational events, the Society offers unique chamber music experiences to listeners ranging from connoisseurs to chamber music newcomers of all ages.  Each year CMSLR presents four concerts by award-winning solo and ensemble performers.   For more information, visit CMSLR on the web at www.chambermusiclr.com

April 3 Architeaser

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ArkGazToday’s Architeaser is a corner of the 1908 Arkansas Gazette building.  Now part of the eSTEM campus, from 1908 through 1991, it was home to the Pulitzer prize winning Arkansas Gazette.

The building was designed by Little Rock architect George R. Mann.  In 1976 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

 

Legacies & Lunch looks at Language

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cals“Down in the Holler: A Lesson in Ozarks Folk Speech” is the topic for April’s Legacies & Lunch program.

The words heap, poke, and middlin’ have suprising origins. Learn about the history of the Ozark dialect with Susan Young during the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies’ Legacies and Lunch program on Wednesday, April 3, at noon in the Main Library’s Darragh Center, 100 Rock Street.

Young’s presentation will look at how Ozark dialect was influenced by 16th century England as well as Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. Words used by Chaucer  and Shakespeare are still alive today in the Ozarks. Young serves as Outreach Coordinaor at the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History in Springdale. She is a fifth-generation Ozarker.

The Butler Center’s Legacies & Lunch program is free and open to the public and supported in part by the Arkansas Humanities Council. Attendees are invited to bring a sack lunch; drinks and dessert will be provided.

The Butler Center for Arkansas Studies is a department of the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS). It was founded in 1997 to promote the study and appreciation of Arkansas history and culture. The Butler Center’s research collections, art galleries, and offices are located in the Arkansas Studies Institute building at 401 President Clinton Ave. on the campus of the CALS Main Library.

For more information, call 918-3029.

Architeaser: April 2

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IMG_4670This is the side view of the second floor balcony of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette building at Capitol and Scott Streets.  It is interesting to note that this is one of the few non-governmental buildings to fly a US flag.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette building was built in 1904 to house the first YMCA program in Arkansas.  The YMCA–Democrat Building was built in 1904. The building was designed by Little Rock architect, Charles L. Thompson, in a Renaissance Revival style. Following the relocation of the YMCA to Broadway in 1928, the building was acquired in 1930 by K. August Engel to house the Arkansas Democrat.  In 1991, the name of the building was changed to reflect the new name of the newspaper.

Running on a Tin Roof

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talesfromsouthThe first week of each month, Tales from the South features one person sharing their life story. They call it Tin Roof Project.  April features elite runner Leah Thorvilson.

In 2012, Thorvilson qualified to run in the US Olympic Team Marathon Trials where she finished with a time of 2:42:09.

On March 4, 2012, Thorvilson won the Little Rock Marathon for the fourth year in a row with a personal best time of 2:37:26. On April 28, 2012 Thorvilson won the Frisco Railroad Run 50 Mile Race in Willard, Missouri with a time of 6:00:31. This is the fourth fastest 50 miler by a female ever.

Music is by the Salty Dogs and blues guitarist Mark Simpson

Tales From the South” is a radio show created and produced by Paula Martin Morell, who is also the show’s host. The show is taped live on Tuesday. The night is a cross between a house concert and a reading/show, with incredible food and great company. Tickets must be purchased before the show, as shows are usually standing-room only.

“Tales from the South” is a showcase of writers reading their own true stories. While the show itself is unrehearsed, the literary memoirs have been worked on for weeks leading up to the readings. Stories range from funny to touching, from everyday occurrences to life-altering tragedies.

The program takes place at Starving Artist Café.  Dinner is served from 5pm to 6:30pm, the show starts at 7pm.  Admission is $5, not including dinner.

You MUST purchase your ticket before the show

Previous episodes of “Tales from the South” air on KUAR Public Radio on Thursdays at 7pm.

Architeaser: April 1

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IMG_4668The Architeaser feature returns.  It starts with a recent Culture Vulture discovery along Main Street.  On the eastern side of the 500 block of Main, there is a building with six of these classical figures looking out. They are on the second floor level, partially obscured from the street level by an architectural awning.

The building was built in 1925 and sits at what was once 505 and 507 South Main.  Technically that is still the address, but in 1986 this building became part of a block long redevelopment.  The facade of this building and another from the 1920s were retained. But the interiors were gutted and combined with the new buildings which were built on the rest of the block.

Today much of the building is occupied by state offices.  The building is in the midst Mayor Mark Stodola’s Creative Corridor initiative.  Though the building itself is not in the plans, the plans for landscaping the block would enhance the building and perhaps draw more attention to these wonderful treasures.