Monthly Archives: September 2015

Happy 50th Birthday to the National Endowment for the Arts & National Endowment for the Humanities

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NEANEH50On September 29, 1965, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed into law the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 at a White House Rose Garden ceremony, attended by scholars, artists, educators, political leaders, and other luminaries.

The law created the National Endowment for the Humanities as an independent federal agency, the first grand public investment in American culture. It identified the need for a national cultural agency that would preserve America’s rich history and cultural heritage, and encourage and support scholarship and innovation in history, archeology, philosophy, literature, and other humanities disciplines.

On this occasion, President Johnson said: “Art is a nation’s most precious heritage. For it is in our works of art that we reveal ourselves, and to others, the inner vision which guides us as a nation. And where there is no vision, the people perish.”

This new law was the fruit of two presidents, several senators and representatives, and four previous pieces of legislation. Separate bills had been introduced, in previous years, into the House by Representative Frank Thompson (D-NJ), and into the Senate by Senators Hubert Humphrey (D-MN) and Jacob Javits (R-NY). Senator Claiborne Pell (D-RI) had overseen hearings on some of this preliminary legislation, beginning in October 1963, before the death of President John F. Kennedy.

Over the years, the NEA and NEH have awarded millions of dollars to Little Rock based institutions, organizations and individuals through direct appropriations.  They have also impacted Little Rock cultural life through funding of the Mid-America Arts Alliance, Arkansas Arts Council, Department of Arkansas Heritage, Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism, and U.S. Conference of Mayors among others. These groups have either re-granted the dollars to Little Rock entities or undertaken projects which have directly impacted and improved life in Little Rock.

 

5th Main Street Food Truck Festival this Saturday – October 3

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MSFTFestival-2015-posterThe 5th annual Main Street Food Truck Festival will be held on Saturday, October 3 with a record 45+ food trucks along with craft vendors and buskers.  Road Runner Stores is the 2015 presenting sponsor.

“Last year we saw over 10,000 people come to Main Street in Little Rock to eat at the food trucks,” said Gabe Holmstrom, executive director of the Downtown Little Rock Partnership (DLRP).  “This year we have even more trucks for people to choose from and are excited to show off all of the energy in the heart of downtown.”

The 2015 downtown Little Rock festival will span five city blocks offering street eats from over 45 food trucks and food carts, artists at work, craft selections, buskers located on each block, Heifer International  children’s activities and five well stocked beer gardens selling the coldest beer in town!  The Arkansas Repertory Theatre will again have its morning costume sale.

Attendees can enjoy the festival activities from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Main Street will be blocked off from 3rd to 8th streets. Entrance to the festival is free. Raffle tickets will be sold throughout the day for great items including a locally produced PK Grill.

Since the festival began the historic Mann on Main Building, has reopened in the 300 block, now home to state offices, Samantha’s Tap Room & Wood Grill, Bruno’s Italian Restaurant, and residents. Raimondo Winery and Soul Fish Café are scheduled to open soon. The heart of Main Street has been named the Creative Corridor and will soon be also home to the Arkansas Symphony, Ballet Arkansas, visual art studios, the Little Rock Technology Park and others. A theater education class space for the Arkansas Repertory Theatre has opened across from the main theater on Main Street.

“It’s amazing to me to see the people who love the city and who have gotten involved in plans for Main Street revitalization,” said Mayor Mark Stodola. “We all know that investment in Main Street is an investment in our future as a city. With over $100 million in investment in our new Main Street Creative Corridor, this year’s attendees will see a transformed Main Street!”

For more Main Street Food Truck Festival information:

Little Rock Look Back: First Pulaski Heights Council Meeting

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Pul Heights CC minutesOn September 28, 1905, the first meeting of the Pulaski Heights City Council took place.  The newly elected Mayor was J. H. Joslyn, the Recorder was F. D. Leaming, and new Alderman present were E. E. Moss, Maxwell Coffin and C. C. Thompson.  Pulaski Heights had been incorporated on August 1, 1905.  At that time its population was estimated at between 300 and 400.

The first ordinance, which was offered by E. E. Moss, was to set a tax rate and give the City the ability to levy taxes.  Next was a motion to establish a committee to establish rules and procedures for the council. The final business before the Council was to allow the Recorder to order stationary, a seal and a record book (that record book is now in the vault at Little Rock City Hall).

The next meeting would be October 28.  At that meeting, two other Aldermen are mentioned in the minutes (Fauble and Paul) but were absent from that meeting as well.  Mr. C. M. Fauble was present at the third meeting.  Mr. R. O. Paul did not appear until the fifth meeting (December 13, 1905).

Interestingly the Recorder had a vote in the Council meetings (which was not a practice in the City of Little Rock at the time).

The Council did not have a permanent meeting place until the third meeting.  At that point in time, they used space in the offices of Dr. Hockersmith.  They later met in a building which is now part of the Pulaski Heights Baptist Church campus.

Pulaski Heights was a separate City until January 1916.  On January 4, 1916, Little Rock voters approved the annexation of Pulaski Heights by a ten-to-one margin, and the suburb became the city’s ninth ward. This established a couple of precedents for the City of Little Rock which are in effect to this day.  The first is that Little Rock would not be a central city surrounded by a variety of small incorporated towns (in the manner that St. Louis and other cities are).  It was this thought process which has led the City to continue to annex properties.

In addition, this move to annex Pulaski Heights was the first time that the City grew toward the west.  Previous growth had been to the south.  By emphasizing western expansion, this has allowed Little Rock to continue to grow.

My Favorite Banned Books

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BBW15_518x800This is Banned Books Week.  Here are some of my favorite banned books.  Heck, they are some of my favorite books period.

  • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
  • The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain
  • All the King’s Men, by Robert Penn Warren
  • The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
  • A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway
  • The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
  • The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
  • Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
  • Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
  • A Separate Peace, John Knowles
  • A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams
  • To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

Go to the Central Arkansas Library System or a bookstore and get a copy of one of these this week.  Or if you already own them all, read one this week.

Sculpture Vulture for Banned Books Week – Dee Brown

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20120519-114242.jpgThis week is Banned Books Week.  One of the books which has often appeared on Banned Books list is Arkansan Dee Brown’s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.  In honor of that, today’s Sculpture Vulture revisits Kevin Kresse’s sculpture of the author which is located at the CALS branch which bears his name.

Visitors to the Dee Brown Library are greeted by Kevin Kresse’s 2004 sculpture of the celebrated author. The bronze likeness depicts Brown with a bepenciled hand raised to his chin as if in the midst of a wondrous thought while writing. The titles of some of his books surround the pedestal including his most famous book: 1971’s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.

Brown was a graduate of Little Rock High and Arkansas State Teachers College (now Little Rock Central and University of Central Arkansas, respectively). After a career as a librarian and bivocational but prolific author, he returned to Little Rock in 1973 and focused full time on his writing. He died in 2002.

Recital featuring restored 1927 Steinway at Central High this afternoon

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Photo courtesy of LRCH Tiger Foundation

The LRCH Tiger Foundation and Little Rock Central High School are hosting a recital this afternoon at 2pm to celebrate the successful completion of the renovation of the 1927 Steinway & Sons grand piano.

It will take place in the Roosevelt Thompson Auditorium at the school. The concert is free and open to the public and all are welcome.

The recital will showcase the variety of music that has been played on the Model A III Steinway over the past 88 years.  The piano was purchased for the school when it opened in September 1927.  Over the years, it had fallen into disrepair and been improperly maintained.  Due to the efforts of the Tiger Foundation (led by project chair Julie Keller), LRCHS Principal Nancy Rousseau and choral director Scott Whitfield, money was raised to restore the piano.

The $38,000 restoration project was undertaken by Mike Anderson of Anderson’s Piano Clinic who assembled a team of experts from Arkansas and Texas.

The Tiger Foundation is led by a 21-member board of dedicated volunteers, many of whom are Central alumni, who are passionate about the continued growth and success of Little Rock Central High School.

ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW tonight at the Ron Robinson Theater

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RRT Rocky HorrorDo the Time Warp tonight at the Ron Robinson Theater when The Rocky Horror Picture Show is screened.

Doors open at 7pm, movie starts at 8pm.

A mixture of fantastical rock opera and horror movie spoof. A couple of ordinary kids – Brad and (Dammit) Janet (I love you) – have car trouble one dark and rainy night and knock on the door of a looming gothic mansion. They are stunned to learn that they have stumbled into an ongoing convention of kinky characters, hosted by Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a mad scientist who is a sweet transvestite from Transylvania.

The movie stars Tony nominee Tim Curry, Tony winner Barry Bostwick and Oscar winner Susan Sarandon along with appearances by Meat Loaf, and Richard O’Brien (who wrote the stage show and co-wrote the movie).

Originally a flop, it became one of the first cult-classic movies which ended up running for years in various cities.  Now is the chance to again see it on the big screen.

Admission is $7. Concessions are available for purchase.