Monthly Archives: February 2016

The Honorable Timothy C. Evans delivers 2016 Arkansas Black Hall of Fame Laureate Lecture tonight at Mosaic Templars Cultural Center

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ABHOF TCE 2012The Arkansas Black Hall of Fame and the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center tonight present the The Honorable Timothy C. Evans as the Distinguished Laureate Lecture tonight (February 25) at 6pm.  Doors open at 5:30.

Native Arkansan, The Honorable Timothy C. Evans, is the Chief Judge of one of the largest circuit court systems in the world. He is the first African American to be elected to this position where he oversees 400 judges and more than 2,700 non-judicial employees. He is the recipient of the prestigious William H. Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence, presented annually by the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Judge Evans is returning to Arkansas to share his experiences as Chief Judge and his insight on:

  • Social and racial Justice in America
  • Alternative sentencing for juveniles and nonviolent offenders
  • Criminal justice system reform
  • Interpretations of the laws governing Grand Jury decisions

The discussion of these and other topics from the perspective of an award winning judge, tasked with leading one of the largest judicial systems in the world, will provide additional insight as Little Rock and Arkansas address similar challenges.   Chicago has garnered national media attention with increased incidences of crime, violence and police shooting incidents in minority communities. This discussion is sure to evoke community conversations that will allow Arkansas to seek solutions for social and racial justice issues in our state, cities and communities.

To RSVP, click here.

 

Darth Vader and Trombones tonight with the Little Rock Wind Symphony

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lrws darthA long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… there were trombones! Join the Little Rock Wind Symphony for the concert of the intergalactic kind!

Israel Getzov conducts the evening which features solisits Justin Cook, trombone.

The program includes:

Alfred Reed: Hounds of Spring
Richard Wagner: “Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral” from Lohengrin
Jacques Press: Wedding Dance
Meredith Wilson: 76 Trombones
Richard Peaslee: Arrows of Time
     Justin Cook, trombone
John Williams: Stars Wars Trilogy
7:30 p.m. Thursday, February 25th at Second Presbyterian Church, 600 Pleasant Valley Drive, Little Rock.

Tonight at South on Main – Charles Woods takes the stage

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som charleswoods.jpg.190x140_q60_cropTonight at South on Main, their next February Sessions, curated by Amy Garland.  The featured musician is Charles Woods who takes the stage at 8:30pm

We have a musical legend in our midst and many folks don’t even know it! Born in Little Rock in 1946 and raised in a musical household with a gospel and blues background, Charles Woods began playing the harmonica at the age of eight and started playing the electric guitar at the age of 12. Charles honed his musical talents in the gospel chorus on Sunday mornings. While in the choir, Charles Woods also developed his heartfelt and soulful voice reminiscent of such legends as Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, and Johnny Taylor. Charles’ impressive musical talents came to the forefront while playing electric guitar with such notable acts as the Staple Singers, Rufus Thomas, Little Johnny Taylor, Fenton Robinson, Larry Totsie Davis, and playing bass with Freddie King. Although Charles Woods has traveled the world and performed with a number of world-class entertainers, he has remained true to his roots, his heritage, and his hometown of Little Rock where he still entertains to this day and is known to his fans and his musical peers as the “Best Kept Secret in Arkansas.” Charles Woods is a musician’s musician.

Charles just released a brand new record, “Something In The Dark.” This record highlights some of the finest musicians in Arkansas; Tonya Leeks, Jess Hoggard. Eric Ware, Ivan Yarbough, Cecil Parker, and Tim Anthony, among others.

Black History Month Spotlight – TESTAMENT sculpture on State Capitol grounds

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Testament 006The new Arkansas Civil Rights History Audio Tour was launched in November 2015. Produced by the City of Little Rock and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock allows the many places and stories of the City’s Civil Rights history to come to life an interactive tour.  This month, during Black History Month, the Culture Vulture looks at some of the stops on this tour which focus on African American history.

In 1957, nine African-American students enrolled at Little Rock’s Central High School, beginning the process of desegregating Little Rock’s public schools and marking a seminal event in America’s civil rights movement. This sculptural grouping was dedicated in August 2005 to honor the courage of those students, known collectively as the Little Rock Nine. Quotations from each of the Nine are featured around the bronze figures, which are the work of artists John and Cathy Deering.

The site for the statues was selected to face the end of the building which contains the Arkansas Governor’s Office.  It was from those windows that then-Governor Orval Faubus would have looked as he was making decisions to deny the Little Rock Nine entry into Little Rock Central. It is out those windows now that any governor since 2005 looks to see the statues.

The app, funded by a generous grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council, was a collaboration among UALR’s Institute on Race and Ethnicity, the City of Little Rock, the Mayor’s Tourism Commission, and KUAR, UALR’s public radio station, with assistance from the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau.

AN ILIAD takes stage at Arkansas Rep in Black Box

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Rep IliadAudience favorite Joe Graves returns to The Rep for Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare’s production, An Iliad. This one-man production adapts Homer’s Trojan War epic into a compelling monologue that captures both the heroism and horror of warfare, and answers the question: “What has really changed since the Trojan War?”

Performances are February 24 through March 5. Showtimes are 7pm Wednesdays through Sundays with 2pm matinees on Sundays.

This production makes the western world’s oldest extant work of literature not only intelligible, but immediate, relevant and eerily fascinating—as if a storyteller were telling the oldest story in the book and making you believe it is being told for the very first time. Gods and goddesses, weak-tendoned heroes and the face that launched a thousand ships…it’s all just another (incredibly engrossing) yarn in O’Hare* and Peterson’s one-man adaptation, developed at the Sundance Theatre Institute.

Willamette Week calls Graves’ performance one “that can honestly be described as spellbinding.”

Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, An Iliad will include Arkansas Stories of War, a series of six talkbacks featuring local service members and their families who will share their personal stories of war.

Little Rock Look Back: Mayor Byron Morse

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IMG_5431On February 23, 1917, future Little Rock Mayor Byron R. Morse was born.

A founder of the real estate firm of Rector-Phillips- Morse, he was long active in civic affairs of Little Rock.

Mayor Morse was first elected to the City Board of Directors in November 1960. In 1963, he was chosen as Little Rock Mayor. After serving two years as Mayor, he chose to not seek re-election to the City Board.

In 1980, he was appointed to the City Board to fill out an unexpired term. He was later asked to fill another unexpired term but declined.

In 1983, he was elected national president of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors. Mayor Morse also served as president of the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce, the Little Rock United Way, the Little Rock Red Cross, and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Little Rock Boy’s Club. He was a member of the Fifty for the Future.

On July 25, 2001, Mayor Morse died.

 

THE WITTENBERG HERITAGE focus of Architecture & Design Network discussion this evening at 6pm at Arkansas Arts Center

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wittenberg-heritageIn 1919, young architects George Wittenberg and Lawson Delony co-founded the firm that would become, under the visionary leadership of George’s son Gordon, one of the largest, longest-lasting and most influential architectural firms in the state. During his thirty-year tenure (1952-1982) as head of Wittenberg Delony & Davidson Architects, the company had a significant role in the design of many city landmarks, winning more than thirty awards for its work. The Arkansas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects awarded its most prestigious prize, the Gold Medal, to Gordon Wittenberg in recognition of his many contributions to the profession. In view of his outstanding contributions to the field, he was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, an honor accorded a select few.

This evening (February 23) the Architecture and Design Network will feature Gordon Wittenberg in a program entitled THE WITTENBERG HERITAGE.  It begins at 6pm at the Arkansas Arts Center with a reception at 5:30pm preceding it.

Wittenberg will be joined by his colleagues in reflection on the firm’s nearly one hundred year history, a heritage that shaped spaces and places throughout the state and beyond. THE WITTENBERG HERITAGE a group presentation, chaired by Gordon Ducksworth, AIA, Senior Associate/Project Architect, Wittenberg, Delony & Davidson Inc. Architects, Little Rock, AR. Like other Architecture and Design Network (ADN) lectures, THE WITTENBERG HERITAGE is free and open to the public. The Architecture and Design Network (ADN), a non-profit organization, is supported in part by the Arkansas Arts Center, the Central Arkansas Section of the Arkansas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the University of Arkansas Fay Jones School of Architecture and friends in the community.