Yearly Archives: 2014

Science of Dance and Movement tonight at Museum of Discovery, featuring Ballet Arkansas

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science of danceScience After Dark: The Science of Dance and Movement takes place tonight! The Museum has partnered with Ballet Arkansas and ACANSA Arts Festival to bring you some great moves, including demonstrations by Ballet Arkansas dancers.

They will also explore how nanotechnology is changing dance, learn about locomotion and much more! The regular Science After Dark refreshment friends from Damgoode Pies, Stone’s Throw Brewing and Juanita’s Cantina will all be there too!

The event takes place at the Museum of Discovery tonight from 6-8 p.m.

These monthly programs (normally the last Wednesday of the month) are for adults 21 and up.

Passholders for ACANSA are admitted for free.  Museum of Discovery members receive free admission too.  For those who are neither members nor ACANSA passholders, the cost is only $5.00.

First Full Day of ACANSA Offers Poetry, Visual Art, Theatre, Music

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acansaThe ACANSA Arts Festival gets going with its first full day of activities today.

 

LUNCH AND LEARN
12:00 pm to 1:00pm
Central Arkansas Library System
Free

Chris James, Arkansas native and member of the Foreign Tongues Poetry Troupe, will be presenting about his career as a spoken word poet.   Chris will perform his original spoken word and share information about his upcoming ventures.

Sponsored by: Anita Davis, Delta Trust and Bank, and JPMS Cox, PLLC

 

ACANSA LindquistPOET IN COPPER: ENGRAVINGS BY EVAN LINDQUIST
5:30 pm to 7:00 pm
Arkansas Arts Center
$20

Evan Lindquist was selected by Governor Mike Beebe as the first Artist Laureate of Arkansas 2013 – 2017.  He creates original prints in his private studio in Jonesboro, Arkansas.  Most of his prints are engravings developed by his own original ideas and designs.   Lindquist has had more than 60 solo exhibitions and has received more than 80 awards in about 300 competitive exhibitions.  At the reception, Mr. Lindquist will speak about his works, technique and career.

Sponsored by William and Kay Patton, Nabholz Construction

 

ACANSA Central Arkansas's Own.CollageCENTRAL ARKANSAS’S OWN
6:30 pm to 9:30 pm
Great Hall of the Clinton Presidential Center
$20

The Arkansas Chamber Singers is a 65-member vocal ensemble dedicated to performing and promoting classical and contemporary choral repertoire.  Arkansas’s newest professional opera company is Opera in the Rock, with a mission to produce main stage professional opera and showcase talented performers from the state and region.  The Muses are performers with The Muses Creative Artistry Project, blending vocal and instrumental art songs from the Baroque period to the present.  Refreshments and a cash bar will be available throughout the event.

Sponsored by James B. Conner

 

ACANSA BowersIT GOES WITHOUT SAYING
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Scottish Rite Masonic Temple
$20 to $50

Compared to the work of David Sedaris, Claudia Shear and Augustin Burroughs, IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING is a uniquely crafted autobiographical tour-de-force in which Bill Bowers shares funny, heartbreaking, and unbelievable true stories from his career as an actor and mime, and his life-long exploration of the role silence plays in all our lives.

IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING takes you on a scenic tour of Bill’s life thus far; from his childhood in the wilds of Montana, to outrageous jobs as a performer across the country, to the whirlwind of Broadway and studying with the legendary Marcel Marceau.

Sponsored by:  Legacy Termite and Pest Control, Inc.

 

symphony low resKEEPING ON THE SOUTHERN SIDE
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral
$30 to $50

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra will present a variety of small ensembles at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral. This ”Informance” includes the ASO Brass Quintet, a solo by the ASO violin and strings, a Little Rock premiere for the oboe and clarinet, as well as dueling banjos. The performance is followed by a VIP reception.

Sponsored by:  City of North Little Rock, North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce, North Little Rock Economic Development Corporation & North Little Rock Visitors Bureau

Six educators, activists honored tonight as part of 2014 Reel Civil Rights Film Festival

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lrff_film-projects_civil-rightsLittle Rock Central High School National Historic Site commemorates the 57th anniversary of the desegregation crisis in September with the Reel Civil Rights Film Festival featuring special guests, panel discussions, and a special commemoration to honor local educators and civil rights activists. All events at local venues are FREE and open to the public.

Honoring Liberators of a Collective Conscious Community

Tonight at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center (501 West 9th Street), Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site will honor local educators and social activists including: Dr. Dexter Booth, Dr. Beverly Divers-White, Othello Faison, Ed Hawkins (in memoriam), Nancy Rousseau, and Sammie Nell Irving Tollette.

The keynote will be delivered by Dr. Terrence Roberts, member of the Little Rock Nine; the ceremony will be moderated by Dr. Michael Twyman, director of the UALR Institute on Race and Ethnicity.

Presenting Sponsor –Little Rock Film Festival

Premier Sponsor –Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site

Supporting Sponsors: arfilm|Arkansas Production Alliance, Central High Museum Inc., City of Little Rock, Conyers Institute of Public Policy, Jefferson National Parks Association, Little Rock Central High School, Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau, Little Rock School District, Marriott Little Rock, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, Moses Tucker Real Estate, Riverdale 10 Movies, National Park Service, Sue Smith Vacations/Vacation Valet, North Point Toyota, University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, Philander Smith College, Whole Hog Cafe –North Little Rock, Arkansas Education Television Network, and Arkansas Motion Picture Institute

ACANSA Festival opens tonight with reception at the Governor’s Mansion

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acansaSeptember 23, 2014 (5:00 pm to 7:00 pm)

The ACANSA Arts Festival officially opens during a cocktail reception at the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion. First Lady of Arkansas, Ginger Beebe, will host and welcome guests to enjoy cocktails and heavy appetizers.

Presenting artist, Matt McLeod, will finish a painting to be auctioned during the event. Music will be provided by The Muse Project, with additional surprise entertainment.

The ACANSA Arts Festival aims to inspire public appreciation for the arts and enrich the economic and cultural vitality of Central Arkansas.  The festival promotes positive collaboration between regional arts organizations, local businesses, government, and civic groups.  It is committed to increasing audience participation in the arts and generating opportunities for local commerce.  ACANSA seeks to broaden public access to the arts, provide educational opportunities, and encourage and cultivate emerging artistic talent and local artists and art groups.

Day 5 of 2014 Reel Civil Rights Film Festival features THE NEW BLACK

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lrff newblackLittle Rock Central High School National Historic Site commemorates the 57th anniversary of the desegregation crisis in September with the Reel Civil Rights Film Festival featuring special guests, panel discussions, and a special commemoration to honor local educators and civil rights activists. All events at local venues are FREE and open to the public

Tuesday, September 23, 6:00 p.m. – Riverdale 10 Movies (2600 Cantrell Rd)
The New Black

(Director: Yoruba Richen) –From church pews to the streets to kitchen tables, The New Black follows the African-American community as it grapples with the gay rights issue in light of the recent same-sex marriage movement. The film follows the struggle over marriage equality in the state of Maryland, where the battle for the hearts and minds of black voters —almost a third of the electorate —is fought from the pulpit. Through the stories of activists, families, and clergy on both sides of the debate, the film charts the evolution of this divisive issue within the black community.

In February 2012, after much discussion, the Maryland legislature passed a law allowing same-sex marriage. Immediately, opponents of the law geared up to put the issue before the voters through a ballot referendum —a strategy that had defeated same-sex marriage in other states. On one side, supporters of same-sex marriage included a number of black ministers who were challenging homophobia in the black church. Opposing them were other ministers who believed that gay marriage violated religious principles and who disagreed with placing the issue in the context of civil rights.

Against this backdrop, the film traces the historical importance of the church to the black community, and explores the personal stories of African-Americans who, although raised in the church, felt unwelcome when they identified themselves as gay.

The film will be followed by a moderated discussion with members of the local LGBT community.

Presenting Sponsor –Little Rock Film Festival

Premier Sponsor –Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site

Supporting Sponsors: arfilm|Arkansas Production Alliance, Central High Museum Inc., City of Little Rock, Conyers Institute of Public Policy, Jefferson National Parks Association, Little Rock Central High School, Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau, Little Rock School District, Marriott Little Rock, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, Moses Tucker Real Estate, Riverdale 10 Movies, National Park Service, Sue Smith Vacations/Vacation Valet, North Point Toyota, University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, Philander Smith College, Whole Hog Cafe –North Little Rock, Arkansas Education Television Network, and Arkansas Motion Picture Institute

Final weeks of “Piranesi and the Perspectives of Rome” at UALR Galleries

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Piranesi_First-Edit_AO1The prints of Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778) have contributed much to defining what Europeans and Americans think of the as “ancient Roman glory.” An exhibit of several of his prints is currently on display at the UALR Art Galleries through October 5.

In approximately, architect Edwin Cromwell (1909-2001) was going through the papers of  his late father-in-law, architect Charles Thompson (1868-1959). Included in this was a loosely bound volume of 30 prints by Piranesi. In 1999, Cromwell approached the UALR Department of Art to suggest that research might be done on this set of prints. In fact, it provided the basis for the MA thesis project of Olga Elwood. In 2010, the three daughters of Edwin Cromwell donated the prints to the Department of Art.

Thompson and Cromwell were both leading architects of Little Rock in each of their eras.  Among Thompson’s many designs are both the 1908 Little Rock City Hall and the 1913 Central Fire Station which is now the City Hall West Wing.

The exhibit, was designed to accompany a special topics art history course taught at UALR this semester by Dr. Jane Brown and Dr. Floyd Martin.

There are two upcoming lectures this week in conjunction with the exhibit:
September 25, 10:50 a.m., room 161 in the Fine Arts Building
Dr. Carol C. Mattusch, Professor Emerita, George Mason University – Pompeiian Dreams: Myths and Realities about the Ancient Romans, a lecture to the students enrolled in the course “Piranesi and Perspectives of Rome.

September 25, 6:00 p.m., the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall in the Fine Arts Building

Dr. Richard S. Mason, Lecturer, University of Maryland, Baltimore County – Reliving the Ancient World: Rediscovering Herculanium and Pompey

THE CHEROKEE WORD FOR WATER highlights 4th day of 2014 Reel Civil Rights Film Festival

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lrff cherokeeLittle Rock Central High School National Historic Site commemorates the 57th anniversary of the desegregation crisis in September with the Reel Civil Rights Film Festival featuring special guests, panel discussions, and a special commemoration to honor local educators and civil rights activists. All events at local venues are FREE and open to the public

Monday, September 22, 6:00 p.m. – Riverdale 10 Movies (2600 Cantrell Rd)
The Cherokee Word for Water

(Director: Charlie Soap) –The Cherokee Word For Water is a feature-length motion picture inspired by the true story of the struggle for, opposition to, and ultimate success of a rural Cherokee community to bring running water to their families by using the traditional concept of “gadugi “–working together to solve a problem. Based on the true story of the Bell Waterline Project, the movie is about a community coming together to improve its life condition. Led by Wilma Mankiller, who went on to become the first woman chief of the Cherokee Nation, and full blood Cherokee organizer Charlie Soap, they join forces and build nearly twenty miles of waterline using a community of volunteers. In the process, they inspire the community to trust each other, and reawaken universal indigenous values of reciprocity and interconnectedness. The successful completion of the waterline sparked a movement of similar self-help projects across the Cherokee nation and in Indian country that continues to this day.

The film will be followed by a moderated discussion with Park Ranger Jodi Morris, Director/Producer Charlie Soap and Kristina Kiehl, Co-Writer and Producer.

Presenting Sponsor –Little Rock Film Festival

Premier Sponsor –Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site

Supporting Sponsors: arfilm|Arkansas Production Alliance, Central High Museum Inc., City of Little Rock, Conyers Institute of Public Policy, Jefferson National Parks Association, Little Rock Central High School, Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau, Little Rock School District, Marriott Little Rock, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, Moses Tucker Real Estate, Riverdale 10 Movies, National Park Service, Sue Smith Vacations/Vacation Valet, North Point Toyota, University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, Philander Smith College, Whole Hog Cafe –North Little Rock, Arkansas Education Television Network, and Arkansas Motion Picture Institute