Monthly Archives: February 2015

Annual Love Show tonight for Tales from the South at Best Impressions

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truetalesoflovevol129Since Valentine’s Day is later in the month, tonight’s episode of Tales from the South is the annual Love Episode.

Tonight, Tales originates at Best Impressions at the Arkansas Arts Center. The storytellers for this edition include Kay Fisher and Jessica Horton.

Music is by Amy Garland 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.

Dinner is served from 5pm to 6:30pm, the show starts at 7pm.  Admission is $15.  Dinner can be purchased separately.

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 February 12.

Play at Arkansas Rep focus of Mosaic Templar Lunchtime Discussion

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mosaictemplarsThe Mosaic Templars Cultural Center’s (MTCC) quarterly lunchtime series offers a variety of topics to educate, inspire, and entertain.

“It’s in the Bag” runs today from 11:30 to 12:30 at the MTCC.

Today’s installment will feature the cast of the Arkansas Repertory Theatre’s current play, The Whipping Man. Set at the end of The Civil War in 1865, The Whipping Man is an extraordinary tale of loyalty, deceit and deliverance. The award-winning play opened off-Broadway in 2011 to critical acclaim, winning the 2011 John Gassner New Play Award from the NY Outer Critics Circle and becoming one of the most produced plays in the country.

THEREP_THE WHIPPINGMAN (no credits)-page-001Don’t miss your chance to meet the cast and tour MTCC’s new exhibit, “Freedom! Oh, Freedom!” Arkansas’s People of African Descent and the Civil War: 1861-1866.

Guests are invited to bring their lunch, the museum will provide the drinks.

The Mosaic Templars Cultural Center is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

Little Rock Look Back: George Wimberly, LR 59th & 61st Mayor

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https://www.meaningfulfunerals.net/fh_live/10300/10306/images/obituaries/1388392.jpgOn February 3, 1920, future Little Rock Mayor George Wimberly was born in Star City. He served his country first in the Civilian Conservation Corps and later aboard a U.S. Naval Department hospital ship in the Pacific during World War II.

Wimberly was first elected to the Little Rock City Board in November 1968.  He was re-elected in November 1972 and served until December 1976.  In January 1971, he was selected to serve as Little Rock Mayor through December 1972.  In a rare move, he was again selected to serve as Mayor from January 1975 through December 1976.  During the era of the City Board selecting one of their own members to serve as Mayor, George Wimberly was the only one selected to two non-sequential terms.

In 1978, he was elected to the State House of Representatives and served until December 1988.  While in the House he led the effort for smoking to be banned in the House chambers (a move that predated many public smoking bans of the 1990s and onward).

For over fifty years he was an employee and later owner of Buice Drugstore located on Markham in the Stifft Station neighborhood. In 1986 he received the Arkansas Pharmacist of the Year Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009.

Mayor Wimberly died on February 5, 2012, two days after his 92nd birthday.  He was survived by his wife, two sons, a grandson and several other relatives.

Black History Month Spotlight – Barbara Higgins Bond

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bhm bhbArtist and illustrator Barbara Higgins Bond is today’s feature.  At the age of 12, she began painting and drawing as a hobby. Today, her work for the U.S. Postal Service and corporate clients has earned her a national reputation as an illustrator and commercial artist.

Born and raised in Little Rock, Bond decided her career after taking an elective art course at Phillips University in Enid, Okla. She transferred to Memphis College of Arts, earning a bachelor of/inc arts degree in advertising design.

Book covers, posters, record album covers, television commercials, magazine covers and collector’s plates are just some of the bearers of Bond’s extraordinary talent. Her most memorable projects throughout her 40-year career include designs of Queen Nefertiti of Egypt and Mansa Mussa, a 14th-century king of Mali, for Anheuser- Busch’s Great King and Queens of Africa series; commemorative stamps of W E. B. DuBois and inventor Jan Matzeliger for the Postal Service’s Black Heritage series; and Cognac Hennessy’s 1997 Calendar celebrating The History of Jazz & African-American Culture.

Bond’s work has been exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; the DuSable Museum of African-American History in Chicago; The Children’s Museum in Indianapolis, Ind.; and at the Memphis College of Arts. Among her awards are the CEBA Award of Merit for work featured in Black Enterprise magazine; the Medal of Honor by the Arkansas Sesquicentennial Committee; and the Multicultural Publishers Exchange Book Award of Excellence for her illustration of Toyomi Igus’ When I Was Little.

Higgins Bond’s clients include the Bradford Exchange, McGraw-Hill, Franklin Mint, NBC, Hennessy Cognac, Anheuser-Busch, Frito-Lay and Columbia House.  She has illustrated more than 37 books for children and adults and is an adjunct professor of illustration at the Nossi College of Art in Nashville, where she lives.

In 1997, she was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame.  For more on Barbara Higgins Bond and other inductees into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame, visit the permanent exhibit at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center. That museum is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

Maned Wolf Pups born at Little Rock Zoo

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Maned Wolf PupsThe Little Rock Zoo is proud to announce that two maned wolf pups were born Dec. 21 and are growing strong according to Zoo staff.

The pups’ parents are maned wolves Gabby and Diego, two wolves living at the Zoo since 2013.  Maned wolves are known for their tall long legs and reddish-brown coats, but newborn maned wolves have a dark coat that will turn reddish-brown when full-grown. Gabby is now taking her pups out into the yard of her exhibit at the Zoo allowing visitors to catch an occasional glimpse. The pups are expected to fully be out on exhibit in the next two to three months.

The breeding of the maned wolves comes at the recommendation of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Species Survival Plan (SSP). Maned wolves are threatened in their natural habitats in Central and Southeastern Brazil, Paraguay, Eastern Bolivia, and Northern Argentina due to deforestation. Maned wolves are even killed for body parts, due to the belief that they carry “magical properties.” This beautiful animal is at a risk of extinction, but with the help of zoo breeding programs like the SSP, maned wolves can still roam.

In 2007, the Little Rock Zoo was given praise for its maned wolf breeding program. Dr. Nucharin Songsasen, a reproductive advisor to the Maned Wolf SSP of North America, visited the Zoo to collect research from the Zoo’s breeding program, which is considered one of the most successful ones in the country.

Shadows for Groundhog Day

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Today is Groundhog Day.  In honor of prognostication based on shadows, some photos showcasing shadows.

0202Peace

Lorri Acott’s “Peace” sculpture at 2nd and Main

 

0202Barre

Windows and barres casting shadows in a Ballet Arkansas studio

The footbridge between Riverfront Park and the Old State House Museum.

The footbridge between Riverfront Park and the Old State House Museum.

A bird looking at its shadow in the River Market parking deck.

A bird looking at its shadow in the River Market parking deck.

The Broadway Bridge balustrade.

The Broadway Bridge balustrade.

 

Black History Month Spotlight – Annie Abrams

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bhm annieThis year during Black History Month, the Culture Vulture will look at 28 cultural leaders who have Little Rock connections and have been inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame.  Though presented in alphabetical order, up first is a personal friend of the Culture Vulture – Annie Abrams, or as she is affectionately known, Miss Annie.

Annie Mable McDaniel Abrams is a retired educator by trade and civic activist by avocation.  She is included in this list because she is also a historian.  As a writer and preservationist, she has worked to document history and ensure historical properties and neighborhoods will long remain in Little Rock.

Born in Arkadelphia, she moved to Little Rock at age 13 to attend Dunbar Junior High School and High School.  She studied education at Dunbar Junior College and later taught in Marianna. In 1956, she returned to Little Rock to work for the Arkansas Teachers Association.  After her return to the capital city, she married Orville Abrams.  In addition to raising her four children, Miss Annie has helped raise countless others through her advice, support, love, and sometimes strong admonitions.  She also found time to return to school and receive a degree from Philander Smith College.

Among her many accomplishments are leading efforts to rename High Street for Martin Luther King, 14th Street for Daisy L. Gatson Bates and 20th Street for Charles Bussey.  Through her community activities, she had worked closely with both Bates and Bussey.  She was a friend to the Little Rock Nine (who were only a few years younger than she) and to their families. Perhaps, because she has been a personal friend of many Arkansas and national politicians over the past 60 years, it should come as no surprise that she and her husband were also acquainted with Governor Faubus.

Whether a leading political figure or a small child, Miss Annie isn’t afraid to give advice or to share her love.  Once an educator, always an educator, she loves to learn and teach. It is rare for her to miss a speech at the Clinton School or a Political Animals Club meeting.

In recognition of all her efforts she has been recognized with an honorary doctorate from Philander Smith College, the Brooks Hays Award, and an award award from the national Martin Luther King Jr. Commission.  In 2010, she was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame.

For more on Annie Abrams and other inductees into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame, visit the permanent exhibit at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center. That museum is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.