Monthly Archives: July 2014

Susan Paulsen’s photos of Wilmot Ark are featured at Arkansas Arts Center through September 28

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Susan Paulsen, Wilmot, 2011, photograph, courtesy of the artist

Susan Paulsen, Wilmot, 2011, photograph, courtesy of the artist

Wilmot is a little town in Ashley County, in southeast Arkansas. . . .A few years ago, Susan Paulsen set out to tell a kind of story, to chronicle a place in Arkansas through evocative photographs taken there over the course of many visits, in all seasons of the year. . . . Together, they form a picture of a place. For the artist, that place has a personal importance—part of her family comes from there, and for generations it has been a kind of homing place for them. Through her photographs of this particular place, she wants, as she has said, to make a sort of poem about all such places; to find commonalities among these individuals and people in other places. Her goal, from the outset, has been to evoke all the Wilmots, wherever they might be. But still there is this town, these people. . .”  –

From the essay by George T. M. Shackelford, Susan Paulsen: Wilmot.

The evocative visual poetry of Susan Paulsen: Wilmot comes to the Arkansas Arts Center in the form of more than 70 photographic prints and groupings of photographs that she took in Wilmot, Arkansas between 1995 and 2012. Most spectacularly, one large wall is covered by a grid of 90 photographs. Susan Paulsen: Wilmot was organized by Maison européenne de la photographie, Paris. The images are coming home to Arkansas for their American debut. They will be on view in the Townsend Wolfe Gallery from June 27, 2014 until September 28, 2014.

Sponsored by:

Brenda Mize
June and Edmond Freeman

MacArthur Military Museum to host Air National Guard Band of the Southwest tonight

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macmusThe MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History will host the Air National Guard Band of the Southwest, also known as the 531st Air Force Band, for an outdoor concert on Wednesday, July 2.  The band is part of the Texas Air National Guard and is attached to the 136th Airlift Wing, a C-130 unit based in Fort Worth, Texas.  The free concert will occur behind the museum, located at 503 E. 9th St., and will start at 7:00 p.m.  In case of inclement weather, it will be moved to the Children’s Theater at the Arkansas Arts Center, also in MacArthur Park.

The concert will feature the band’s most popular ensemble, its 40-member concert band, which performs a variety of Americana selections including Sousa marches, Broadway show tunes, big band jazz, and patriotic favorites.  The band performs for military ceremonies, music festivals, state fairs, military balls, and community events across the country, promoting Air National Guard units from Arizona to Arkansas.  In recent years the Air National Guard Band of the Southwest has given overseas concerts in Barbados, Bolivia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Nicaragua, Trinidad, Vanuatu and stateside concerts in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wisconsin.

The MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History relates the military heritage of Arkansas and its citizens to a diverse and widespread audience. Located in the historic Arsenal Building in MacArthur Park – one of Central Arkansas’s oldest surviving structures and the birthplace of one of the country’s foremost military heroes – the museum collects, preserves, and interprets the state’s rich military past from its territorial period to the present.   For more information call 501-376-4602 or visit the museum website at www.ArkMilitaryHeritage.com. The museum is a program of Little Rock Parks and Recreation.

Fight the Summer Heat – Enjoy FROZEN at Movies in the Park tonight

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MitP10 FrozenThe 2013 film Frozen is tonight’s film at Movies in the Park.

Directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, it is inspired by the Hans Christian Andersen story “The Snow Queen.”  This Oscar winning movie stars Kirsten Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, Santino Fontana, Alan Tudyk, Ciaran Hinds and Edie McClurg.  Frozen was named Best Animated Feature at the Oscars. It also won the Best Song Oscar for “Let It Go” by Bobby Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez.

Now in its 10th season, Movies in the Park is a free outdoor film series at the First Security Amphitheater in Riverfront Park.  The move starts at dark (around 8:30).

Movies in the Park has grown to a season of eight films per year, on average, reaching audiences of up to 4,000 people. It’s a staple event in Central Arkansas. Communities from across the state, and the country, have reached out for guidance as they have tried to implement similar programs in the own communities.

Since 2008, the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau has been managing Movies in the Park.

Commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act tonight from 6pm to 8pm at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center

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To commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the Arkansas Psychological Association and Mosaic Templars Cultural Center will hold an event to discuss the importance of psychologically healthy workplaces and honor two local civil rights advocates, political and social justice activist Mary Brown “Brownie” Williams Ledbetter, and psychologist and member of the Little Rock Nine, Dr. Terrence Roberts, from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 2, at Mosaic Templars.

BrownieLedbetterThe free and public event is designed to raise the awareness of the effect of discrimination in the workplace on the groups named in the 1964 Civil Rights Act which was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 2, 1964. A reception will follow.

Ledbetter is being honored posthumously for her work through the Arkansas Public Policy Panel. She served as volunteer executive director until her retirement in 1999.

Terrence RobertsRoberts is best known as being one of the nine students to desegregate Little Rock’s Central High School, but as an adult, he became a psychologist and through his private practice he has counseled organizations on equitable practices in both industry and business including serving as a desegregation consultant to the Little Rock School District.

The UALR Institute on Race and Ethnicity, Office of Governor Mike Beebe, City of Little Rock, Central High School National Historic Site, and Social Justice Initiative at Philander Smith College are all sponsors of the event.For more information, contact Dr. Patricia L. Griffen, president of the ArPA at 501.223.8883.

Photographer Adam Smith featured on Tales from the South’s Tin Roof Project for July

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talesfromthesouthThe first Tuesday of each month, Tales from the South features one person sharing their life story. They call it Tin Roof Project.  The July featuree is artist Adam Smith.  The program will be Tuesday, July 1.

Music is by Brad and Amy Williams and blues guitarist Mark Simpson.  It will take place at the Argenta branch of the Laman Library.

Adam graduated from the University of Mississippi 1999 with a degree in business and a love of photography. Time spent in Mississippi provided Smith with unique opportunities to document the landscape and music of the state, especially the blues and the indelible culture which surrounds it. In this fertile environment, Smith photographed several blues legends, and his photographs captured the interest of world acclaimed photographer Annie Leibovitz, who needed assistance on a shoot in the Mississippi Delta, Smith was personally requested for his knowledge of the region and his relationships with the blues artists. Adam was again asked to assist for Leibovitz in 2010, which featured Gabourey Sidibe for a promotional “Precious” spread in Vanity Fair Magazine.

“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.

Dinner is served from 5pm to 6:30pm, the show starts at 7pm.  Admission is $10 for just the show and $25 for show and 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.  This program will air on July 17.