Monthly Archives: July 2015

Now’s the time to nominate museums and libraries for National Medal for Museum and Library Service

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National MedalLittle Rock is blessed to have a dynamic library system and over a dozen exciting museums.  Let’s face it, the words “dynamic” and “exciting” are not always synonymous with libraries and museums.

Each year, the Institute of Museum and Library Services presents select museums and libraries with the nation’s highest honor, the National Medal for Museum and Library Service.  IMLS is now accepting nominations for the 2016 award which recognizes libraries and museums that make significant and exceptional contributions in service to their communities. Nomination forms are due October 1, 2015.

All types of nonprofit libraries and library organizations, including academic, school, and special libraries, archives, library associations, and library consortia, are eligible to receive this honor. Public or private nonprofit museums of any discipline (including general, art, history, science and technology, children’s, and natural history and anthropology), as well as historic houses and sites, arboretums, nature centers, aquariums, zoos, botanical gardens, and planetariums are eligible.

Winners are honored at a ceremony in Washington, DC, host a two-day visit from StoryCorps to record community member stories, and receive positive media attention. Approximately thirty finalists are selected as part of the process and are featured by IMLS during a six-week social media and press campaign.

Winning the medal elevates an institution’s profile and can positively impact fundraising, programming, and outreach activities.

Anyone may nominate a museum or library for this honor, and institutions may self-nominate. For more information, reach out to one of the following contacts.

Program Contact for Museums:
Mark Feitl, Museum Program Specialist
202-653-4635, mfeitl@imls.gov

Program Contact for Libraries:
Katie Murray, Staff Assistant
202-653-4644, kmurray@imls.gov

About the Institute of Museum and Library Services
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 35,000 museums. Their mission is to inspire libraries and museums to advance innovation, lifelong learning, and cultural and civic engagement. To learn more, visit www.imls.gov and follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

Flowers and Dirt headline tonight’s Local Live at South on Main

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llsom f and dTonight at 7:30, this week’s installment of the Local Live concert series features Flowers and Dirt!

Presented by the Oxford American magazine, Local Live showcases the best of local and regional music talent and is always free and open to the public. Call ahead to South on Main to make your reservations and ensure a table: (501) 244-9660. Local Live is made possible by the generous sponsorship of Ben and Jane Hunt Meade.

The rural ingredients of Amy Garland’s songs create less of the musical gumbo typical of the southern half of her native Louisiana than a slow-cooked stew. Raised in rural Webster Parish, she blends folk, R&B, bluegrass, pop, and country into what one would expect from an artist raised on a cattle farm in the woods of north Louisiana.

Mark Currey is a Little Rock singer-songwriter whose roots run through North Texas and Southeast Arkansas. Inspired by roots rock, classic country, folk and americana music as well as southern gothic literature, Mark is a storyteller searching for a honest expression of his own southern voice. Currey has shared the stage with artists such as Billy Joe Shaver, Todd Snider, Wanda Jackson, Amanda Shires, David Olney, and Lilly Hiatt.

Trey Johnson mixes a blend of blues, folk, and country music into a cornbread salad that is all his own.

Fun with THE GOONIES awaits at tonight’s Movies in the Park

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MITP070115 GooniesThere is no mystery to the treasure that awaits tonight’s attendees to Movies in the Park.  The 1980s teen-adventure flick The Goonies starts tonight at sundown at the First Security Amphitheatre in Riverfront Park. Tonight’s sponsor is L. Cotton Thomas accounting firm.

Little Rock’s own Movies in the Park, brought to you by the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau and the City of Little Rock, continues its 11th annual season tonight, Wednesday, July 22 at the First Security Amphitheatre.  Movies are shown every Wednesday during the season and begin at sundown.

The Goonies is one of those quintessential 1980s movies. So many in the cast went on to bigger projects after it. In order to save their home from foreclosure, a group of misfits set out to find a buried treasure in a subterranean cavern. Here they cross the path of Mama Fratelli and her outlaw brood. The kids befriend Fratelli’s hideously deformed (but soft-hearted) son, who comes to their rescue.

The movie was directed by Richard Donner from a story by Steven Spielberg and screenplay by Christopher Columbus.  Sean Astin, Josh Brolin and Martha Plimpton (all offspring of Hollywood royalty) starred in the movie.  They were joined by Jeff Cohen, Corey Feldman, Kerri Green, Jonathan Ke Quan, John Matuszak and Robert Davi.  Joe Pantoliano and Anne Ramsey also turn in memorable performances.

Families, picnics and pets are invited to the park to enjoy movies under the stars, no glass containers please. A parent or adult guardian must accompany all children and youth under the age of 18 and an ID is required. The amphitheater will open an hour before film showings and movies will start at sundown each week. For more information please visit http://moviesintheparklr.net.

Get INSPIRED BY NATURE while indoors at Arkansas Arts Center

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AAC NatureThe Arkansas Arts Center offers a way to appreciate nature while still remaining in climate controlled settings.  The exhibit INSPIRED BY NATURE by David Paul Cook, Victoria Harvey and Catherine Rodgers, is on view through October 18 in the Museum School Gallery.

“We are pleased to host works by our very own Museum School instructors who work tirelessly to teach students of all ages and skill levels to become artists,” said Arkansas Arts Center executive director Todd Herman. “These faculty members created wonderful works of art by working in the open air – influenced by nature and the environment around them.”

David Paul Cook has been the Museum School’s Watercolor Landscape and Plein Air (outdoor) Instructor since the fall of 2002. He also works with beginning students on watercolor techniques and brush handling and helps more advanced students with landscape composition and design. David is an avid outdoor painter of Central Arkansas scenes, rendered in a realistic style. His colorful and unique sketchbook-journals have been recently featured in articles in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and the Maumelle Magazine.

Victoria Harvey is a landscape painter in the medium of oils on canvas. A juried member of Oil Painters of America and Landscape Artists International, her work is represented in many notable collections around the country and is shown in Artworks Gallery on Nantucket. She teaches Beginning Painting and Landscape Painting and is the coordinator for Plein Air Painters of Arkansas and resides in Little Rock and in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Catherine Rodgers attended summer workshops at the Arkansas Arts Center as a child. Her works are held in hundreds of private collections in Arkansas and across the United States. Recent exhibits include the55th Annual Delta Exhibition, the Inaugural Exhibit of the Mississippi River Museum and The Erudites Exhibit at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

57th Annual Delta Exhibition Winners Announced by Arkansas Arts Center

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arkartsThe Arkansas Arts Center, the state’s premiere center for visual and performing arts, announces awards for the 57th Annual Delta Exhibition, on view through September 20, 2015 in the Jeannette Edris Rockefeller and Townsend Wolfe Galleries.

“Each year, this exhbition  provides unique insight into the incredible work from artists in Arkansas and throughout the Delta region,” said Todd Herman, executive director of the Arkansas Arts Center. “We’re excited to share this exhibition with the community and encourage everyone to take time to visit the Arts Center.”

Artists awarded in the 57th Annual Delta Exhibition include:

Grand Award

Mark Lewis of Tulsa, Oklahoma, for his work titled, Under the Oak (Woodward Park)

Delta Awards

Lisa Krannichfeld of Little Rock, for her work titled, Shirt (in gold), dressed series

Neal Harrington of Russellville, for his work titled, Feather Signal

Honorable Mentions

Michael Preble of Hot Springs, for his work titled, Unintended Consequences

Robyn Horn of Little Rock, for her work titled, Sideways

Aaron Calvert of Arkadelphia, for his work titled, Giving Figure

John Salvest of Jonesboro, for his work titled, Cage A

Laura Terry of West Fork, for her work titled, Ozarks Landscape, Late Summer

David Underwood of Jefferson City, Tennessee, for his work titled, Abandonded Schoolhouse

 

Contemporaries Delta Award

Mark Lewis of Tulsa, for his work titled, Under the Oak (Woodward Park)

Contemporaries Honorable Mention

Neal Harrington of Russellville, for his work titled, Feather Signal

 

“Originality is difficult to come by, and I believe it is the result of the intelligence and sensitivity of the artist. I also believe good art can inspire, surprise, move and sometimes even shock people in a way that they might see the world in a different light,” said guest juror George Dombek. “There are a number of wonderful works of art in this exhibition, and I believe if observers will give serious and careful attention to them, there is opportunity for ample rewards.”

Guest juror George Dombek is an internationally acclaimed watercolorist and previous annual Delta Exhibition exhibitor and award winner. Through a blind jury process, Dombek selected 72 works by 68 artists to be featured out of 882 entires from 380 artists. Of the 68 artists selected, 48 are from Arkansas; in all, eight states are represented in the exhibition.

As one of the most anticipated Arkansas Arts Center exhibitions of the year, the 57th Annual Delta Exhibition provides a unique snapshot of the Delta region by showcasing innovative and provocative two-and three-dimensional works in all media. The exhibition represents the dynamic vision of the artists of the Mississippi Delta region, including Arkansas and surrounding states, and offers visitors a glimpse into the contemporary art scene.

The exhibition is sponsored by Mrs. Lisenne Rockefeller, Bourbon & Boots, The Brown Foundation, Inc. of Houston, Dianne and Bobby Tucker, Janet and Sam Alley and the Capital Hotel. The Grand Award is supported by The John William Linn Endowment Fund. The exhibition is supported by the Andre Simon Memorial Trust in memory of everyone who has died of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).

Tales from the South takes a hiatus from weekly shows, but many exciting projects ahead

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talesfromthesouthUsually, this spot on a Tuesday would highlight that evening’s Tales from the South episode.  However, Tales is going on hiatus for a while as founder Paula Martin Morell and other regroup and rethink how to continue sharing stories with the world.

They have decided they will no longer rely on ticket sales; they are seeking a financially viable, stable situation that will help the show last. To accomplish this, Tales will now exclusively do shows for a flat fee of $1500 per show, which covers the operational cost of the show (distribution, marketing, equipment, supplies, taxes/legal/business expenses, live music (band and guitarist), production engineer, front door/management, executive producer, etc). There are already at least five of these shows booked through the end of the year; in the meantime, KUAR will be playing encore broadcasts from our years of great shows.

This new format offers a great opportunity for a restaurant or other company to use this as a marketing expense to get the pre-show, live-show, and broadcast publicity and marketing to both our radio and podcast audiences, along with having a restaurant full of patrons eating and drinking. And, if it’s a nonprofit that pays the flat fee, they can get a grant from the Arkansas Arts Council’s Arts on Tour Program to cover 40% of our cost.

For more information on how a restaurant, company, or nonprofit can take advantage of this exciting marketing opportunity, contact Paula at talesfromthesouth@gmail.com.

The next show is set for August 16 at 12:30pm at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church. It will be free and feature Skip Rutherford and Mack McLarty. No food will be served, and reservations are required and can be made here: www.tfts081615.eventbrite.com.

Young Artists Showcase tonight at 7 at Arkansas Rep

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Rep smti showcaseArkansas Repertory Theatre’s Summer Musical Theatre Intensive training program will present its first Young Artists Showcase this summer with proceeds benefitting The Young Artist’s Scholarship Fund.  The Senior Showcase (ages 16 – 23) will take the stage on Monday, July 20.

The showcases will feature a variety of dance, vocal and performance pieces starring members of the SMTI casts. Admission is $5 at the door and reservations are not required. Performances will take place at The Rep, 601 Main St., Little Rock, with the Lobby and concessions open by 6:15 p.m.

“You’ll hear and see some of the most amazing young talent from all over Arkansas,” said Nicole Capri, The Rep’s Resident Director and Director of Education. “I’ve witnessed these young artists in auditions over the last 10 years and I’m excited for audience members to experience what we look for when seeking new talent. I can’t wait to see what our inaugural showcase will bring to the stage this summer.”

Summer Musical Theatre Intensive (SMTI) is The Rep’s annual training program for aspiring young artists in Arkansas.  Under the direction of Capri, SMTI is an intensive, audition-based theatre training program designed exclusively for motivated young artists who are serious about the arts and musical theatre.

The SMTI staff is comprised of professional directors, choreographers, musicians and designers. Daily rehearsals are structured similarly to a professional summer stock experience and include instruction in musical theatre techniques, multi-media, costume and stage make-up, dance and vocal coaching.

Each session – broken into Select (ages 10 – 12), Junior (ages 13-15) and Senior (ages 16-23) – involves intensive daily rehearsals culminating in a public workshop performance of a selected musical or musical revue.