Monthly Archives: October 2016

Little Rock Look Back: Miss America comes to Little Rock

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miss america axumToday, Miss America 2017 Savvy Shields comes to Little Rock as part of her official homecoming to Arkansas after winning the crown.  In honor of that, we take a look back to the first visit to Arkansas by Donna Axum, who was the first Miss Arkansas to win the title of Miss America.

A native of El Dorado and a student at the University of Arkansas, during her reign as Miss America Miss Axum (or simply Donna as the newspaper headlines referred to her) made four public visits to Little Rock.  As the first Miss Arkansas to become Miss America, the state’s Capitol City was very interested in giving her a warm welcome.

After being crowned on September 7, 1963, her first visit to Arkansas was November 1 through 3.  In addition to stops in Hot Springs and El Dorado, she appeared in Little Rock to attend events including an Arkansas Razorback football game at War Memorial Stadium.  Her entourage included the top four runners up from the Miss America pageant.

In February 1964, she made a brief appearance in Little Rock which included a press conference.

Donna Axum spent nearly two weeks in Arkansas in May 1964 attending several pageants as well as spending time with family.  During that visit she appeared in Little Rock twice.  The second time she headlined a concert with the Arkansas Symphony (not related to the current Arkansas Symphony Orchestra) and the Arkansas Choral Society. It took place at Robinson Auditorium.

Creative Class 2016: Kiril Laskarov

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cc-laskarovKiril Laskarov is currently in his 17th season as Concertmaster of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.  Earlier this year, he was also the featured soloist for the ASO playing  a 300-year-old priceless Stradivarius violin .

A native of Bulgaria, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the State Academy of Music in Sofia and Master’s degree from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.

Kiril was the winner of the 1995 Bulgarian National Competition.  He  has appeared as a soloist with the Arkansas Symphony, Las Vegas Philharmonic, Southern Illinois Symphony, Abilene (TX) Philharmonic, and Texarkana (TX) Symphony, and also presented recitals in Little Rock, Memphis, Kansas City, and Dallas.

For over a decade, he has taught orchestral music at Episcopal  Collegiate School, in addition to his busy symphonic and chamber music schedule.

Creative Class 2016: Joe Joyner

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cc16-joynerJoe Joyner began playing viola professionally with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra in 1998 while he was still in high school. After two seasons, he left the orchestra to attend the University of Houston. After graduating summa cum laude in 2004, Joe performed in the Houston area as a member of Orchestra X, the Texas Music Festival Orchestra, and the Victoria Symphony.

After returning to Little Rock in 2007, Joe rejoined the Arkansas Symphony and has been an active member of the local chamber music community, serving as President of the Chamber Music Society of Little Rock and performing regularly with the Soma Quartet and Little Rock String Quartet.

Joe is also the owner of the Little Rock Violin Shop, central Arkansas’s bowed string instrument specialists. Trained at the Violin Making School of America and the Lisle Violin Shop, Joe performs bow repairs and restorations for string players throughout the state. In addition to bow repairs, the shop offers instrument repairs and sells instruments, bows, cases, and accessories for students and professional musicians.

In addition to classical music, Joe has a keen interest in playing rock viola. While in Houston, he performed regularly with the experimental folk rock band ListenListen, with which he recorded a self titled EP and a full length album, Hymns for Rhodesia. Wanting to share his passion for playing rock music with younger string players, Joe served as assistant director of the Youth Rock Orchestra.

Little Rock Look Back: Final ARKANSAS GAZETTE

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Twenty-five years ago today, on October 18, 1991, the final edition of the Arkansas Gazette was delivered. 

The front page featured a story on the demise of a Gazette employee effort to buy the paper. 

Max Brantley’s column on the front page of the B section also addressed the then-eminent end of the paper. However, as a newspaper all of the sections spent most of their space on the news of the day. While Gazette staffers felt the end was likely near, few felt that the paper on October 18, 1991, would be the final edition.  

The back page of the last section of the Gazette featured an ad for Premiere Pontiac Nissan Audi which was throwing a “Beat Texas” party featuring Craig O’Neill.  The Arkansas Razorbacks were scheduled to play the Texas Longhorns on Saturday, October 19. 

Here are the top halves of the front pages of sections B, C, D, and E for the final Atkansas Gazette.  They tell the storie of trials, football games, corporate earnings, and cultural events. 



Creative Class 2016: Phillip Rex Huddleston

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cc16-huddlestonRenaissance Man is probably the best way to describe Phillip Rex Huddleston.  He is a writer, a musician, a composer, an artist, a teacher, an arts promoter, and so many other things.

By day, he is the Visual Art Specialist for eStem Middle School.  There, he teaches his students a variety of styles of art.  His own visual art style varies from realistic sketches, to caricatures, to comic strips and witty distillations of epic literature into a few frames.

As a guitarist and pianist he can often be found performing with his many talented friends throughout Little Rock’s live music scene in formal settings and on front porches.  As a composer, he has contributed compositions and performances to a variety of films made in Arkansas. His most recent effort was in Mark Thiedeman’s White Nights, which premiered in August.

A graduate of the University of Central Arkansas with a BA in Philosophy and an MA in English Literature, he was an Adjunct Instructor at UCA in the English Department before beginning his stint at eStem.  While at UCA, he also worked with the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre.

For several years, he and friends and roommates would host regular Garland House Shows, named for the street on which their house was located. These combined visual art exhibits with live music in celebrations of the art they created and the friends who created and appreciated it.

Creative Class 2016: Yslan Hicks

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cc16-hicksYslan Hicks has dressed hundreds of people in all sorts of clothing.  As a theatrical costume designer and educator, she has worked throughout the United States.  She is currently an Associate Professor and Interim Department Chair for the UALR Theatre and Dance Department.

Yslan has design credits that include productions at UALR, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Lincoln Center Institute in New York City, the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Portland Center Stage in Oregon, the Old Globe in San Diego and Williamstown Theatre Festival in Williamstown, Mass. As an artistic associate at Lifeline Theatre in Chicago, she has designed a number of literary adaptations including Dracula, Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre.

Her work with the Arkansas Rep spans over two decades.  Among her recent productions are The Whipping Man, Clybourne Park, and Gee’s Bend.  In addition to UALR, she has served on the faculties of the University of Tulsa and Tulane University. Yslan is a member of United Scenic Artists, Local 829.

Yslan is also an in-demand speaker.  Most recently, she has given a series of talks for the Central Arkansas Library System on the history of fashion. Among her topics have been Downton Abbey and bridal dresses.

Creative Class 2016: Ryan Harris

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cc16-harrisRyan Harris serves as the Executive Director for the Oxford American Literary Project, having been named to that new position in January of 2016.

He joined the Oxford American Literary Project in February 2013 as Program Director, and has helped establish regular programs at South on Main (the restaurant and cultural venue owned and operated by Matthew and Amy Bell ) and in the Oxford American’s annex space. Along with free outreach programming to support local and regional musicians, writers, and visual artists, Harris has brought both renowned and emerging artists to Little Rock through the ticketed Oxford American Concert Series. The experiences created through this series have helped enhance the cultural offerings in the region and established South on Main as a desirable stop for touring artists.

In addition to continuing to bring outstanding programming to Little Rock, Ryan is currently focusing on plans for the 25th anniversary of the OA in 2017.  He is also leading efforts for the OA to partner with additional cultural and educational institutions in Central Arkansas.

Prior to joining the Oxford American Literary Project, Ryan served as Director of Facilities and Event Operations at The Sheldon Concert Hall and Art Galleries, a nonprofit arts presenter in St. Louis, Missouri. He holds a BSBA from the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis.