Monthly Archives: October 2016

Creative Class 2016: Jane Morgan Balgavy

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cc16-balgavyFrom attorneys to local news anchors to MTV actors to Fortune 500 executives, Jane Morgan Balgavy, has molded many lives in her career teaching theatre, debate, and forensics.  As an actor, she has graced many stages in Little Rock and Central Arkansas.  Among her most recent performances are Grace in Bus Stop, Carrie in The Trip to Bountiful, M’Lynn in Steel Magnolias and Jane in A…My Name Is Alice.  She also appeared in the 2014 Listen to Your Mother.  As a director, she has helmed many productions at area high schools and for non-profits.  She is currently rehearsing the cast for her upcoming Little Shop of Horrors.

But it is in role as a teacher she has probably made her most lasting impression.  Whether the students ultimately end up on stage as a career is not her goal. Her primary aim is to use the arts to instill confidence, self-worth, a zest for life, a zeal for learning, and respect for others.  Currently she is the Department Chair of the Arts District at the new Jacksonville High School.  When not on stage, she is usually taking her students to see shows at various Central Arkansas theatres.  She has won numerous awards as an educator, but she would probably say her biggest title is to be: Rocky & Neva’s daughter, John’s wife, Hayden’s mom, and lover of animals.

100 Years of the Pulitzer celebrated tonight by Arkansas Humanities Council lecture with Ray Moseley

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Tonight, ahc-pulitzer-100-moseleyTuesday, October 4 at 7PM, at Ron Robinson Theater,  the Arkansas Humanities Council will present the 3rd in a series of lectures honoring the Pulitzer Prize in Arkansas. This lecture will honor the Arkansas Gazette which won two Pulitzer Prizes in 1958 for Meritorious Service and Editorial Writing.

Ray Mosely, who was the lead reporter for the Gazette’s coverage of the Central High integration crisis in 1957, will give the lecture.  This event is free and open to the public.

Moseley was  later was a United Press International foreign correspondent, bureau chief and then editor for Europe, Africa and the Middle East. For many years after that he was chief European correspondent of the Chicago Tribune based in London. In a 59-year career, he covered such stories as the 1967 Six-Day War, the first Indo-Pakistan war, the Greek-Turkish war in Cyprus, the Rhodesian civil war, the Iranian revolution, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the death of Princess Diana.

He was a Pulitzer finalist in 1981 for a series of articles about Africa and in 2003 was awarded an honorary MBE (Member of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II for services to journalism, the first American correspondent in two decades to receive that honor. He is also the author of three books including a journalistic memoir, In Foreign Fields, and of two forthcoming books, one on the war correspondents of World War II and the other on the black American soldiers of that war. Moseley will share reminiscences about coverage of the 57 crisis, his personal experiences afterward, the end of the Gazette and the future of newspapers.

Following Moseley’s remarks Ernie Dumas will moderate a panel discussion featuring former Gazette reporters.

Creative Class 2016: Erin Anson-Ellis

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cc16-anson-ellisToday’s member of the Creative Class is Erin Anson-Ellis, General Manager of Ballet Arkansas.  A native of Little Rock, she earned her B.A. in Theatre Arts from UALR and graduated with honors in May of 2012. In the fall of 2012, she stage managed the educational tour of Lily and the Appleseed which was presented by Wildwood Park for the Arts; and in December of 2012, she served as the production stage manager for Ballet Arkansas’ production of The Nutcracker.

Erin became Ballet Arkansas’ production, company, and stage manager in the spring of 2013, and has managed all of Ballet Arkansas’ productions since that time. In addition to her work at Ballet Arkansas, Erin’s credits include stage managing the the 2015 “Back to School” and 2016 “Happy Feet” Shuffles and Ballet II Dance Recitals, 2015 ACANSA performances by PUSH Physical Theatre and Urban Bush Woman, and the Bill Bowers’ 2014 ACANSA performances of “It Goes Without Saying.”

While at UALR, Erin directed the 2012 UALR production of Criminal Hearts, several student fringe productions between 2008 and 2013, and served as the lighting designer for the Artists in Resonance summer dance concert for three years. Her acting credits include the roles of Viola in Twelfth Night, The Jester in Once Upon a Mattress, Yvonne in The Ladies Man, Kate in Kate Crackernuts, Roberta in Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, and in 2008 she traveled to Canterbury, England to perform various roles from the works of Christopher Marlowe for the International Marlowe Conference at the University of Kent.

LR Look Back: JFK in LR (and Greers Ferry)

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JFK LROn October 3, 1963, President John F. Kennedy delivered remarks at the Arkansas State Fairgrounds.  Only a few weeks later, he would be felled by an assassins bullet in Texas.

In the speech, the President praised Arkansas’ congressional delegation including Senators John McClellan and J. William Fulbright and Congressmen Took Gathings, Bill Trimble, Wilbur Mills and Oren Harris.  Each of these men held senior leadership positions in key committees.  The main focus of the speech was to discuss President Kennedy’s vision for a new economy in the South.

The President was actually in the state to speak at the dedication of the Greers Ferry Dam. He agreed to make that appearance as a part of a negotiation with Congressman Mills as they were deadlocked over changes to the tax code.  He had previously visited Little Rock in 1957 when he came to the state to address the Arkansas Bar Association meeting in Hot Springs.

President Kennedy continued the string of 20th Century Presidents to visit Little Rock.  Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman had all visited while in office.  Woodrow Wilson, Herbert Hoover and Dwight Eisenhower all visited prior to attaining the presidency.

Canvas unveiled as new Arkansas Arts Center restaurant

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aac-canvas-dinner-01Canvas, at the Arkansas Arts Center, officially launched Thursday, September 29 with a special dinner seating during Art After Hours. Formerly Best Impressions, Canvas features an updated space, along with several new menu items, including shrimp and grits, a grilled salmon salad and pimento cheese. New dishes incorporate a selection of locally-sourced ingredients; a Boursin cheeseburger with Grass Roots CoOp ground beef, a blackened chicken salad with Crystal Lake Farms chicken, shrimp and grits with Kent Walker cheddar.

Canvas owner Brian Kearns has been in the restaurant business for 15 years. Originally from St. Louis, Mo., Kearns moved to Little Rock in 2008 to open Ya Ya’s Euro Bistro in Chenal. Throughout his career, he has made a mark on several local restaurants, including Arthur’s Prime Steakhouse, Oceans at Arthur’s, Kemuri and the Country Club of Little Rock. Along with Canvas, he is also the owner of Simply the Best Catering.

“We want Canvas to be a fun, relaxed environment where you can enjoy food prepared with the best ingredients we can procure,” Kearns said.

Canvas Restaurant Hours
Tuesday – Friday, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., Saturday & Sunday, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

For reservations or more information, please call 501-907-5946.

Creative Class 2016: Dave Anderson

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cc16-andersonDave Anderson is an award-winning cross media storyteller best known for his work behind the lens. His photography and films have been exhibited, published, screened and lauded across the planet.  Anderson’s work has been profiled on numerous media outlets ranging from Good Morning America to The New York Times to The New Yorker, where Vince Aletti called Anderson’s photography “as clear-eyed and unsentimental as it is soulful and sympathetic.” NPR praised his films, saying they are, “in short…awesome.”

In addition to being a photographer and filmmaker, he currently serves as Winrock International’s Director of Communications and Public Affairs.  Previously Anderson worked as an adviser in the Bill Clinton White House and later oversaw MTV’s road-tripping multimedia election extravaganza, the Choose or Lose Bus, which traveled to 47 states and helped register over 250,000 young people to vote. He has spearheaded content and strategic media efforts for the White House, the U.S. Department of State, Viacom, New York University and Heifer International, among others. Anderson has shot and directed over 50 short films. His photographs can be found in the collections of museums and galleries in the United States and abroad, and have been exhibited across Europe, Asia and the U.S. His editorial photography has been featured in the pages of Esquire, Smithsonian and Time among other publications. His long-running video series SoLost (for the Oxford American) won a National Magazine Award, and he has been recognized by the National Association of Black Journalists.

Creative Class 2016: Thomas Alexander

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cc16-alexanderOctober is National Arts & Humanities Month. So the Culture Vulture returns to daily postings by featuring each day a member of the 2016 Creative Class.  First up is the youngest member, Thomas Alexander.

While still a student at Hendrix College, Thomas is currently serving as Interim Director of Music and Organist at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church.  This past summer he was an Organ Scholar at Christ Church in downtown Little Rock.  An accomplished organist (who creates outstanding improvisational pieces on the organ) and choral director, he is the founder and director of the Compline service at Hendrix.  In addition to being a full-time student at Hendrix, where he is a junior, he serves on the Executive Council of Province VII of the Episcopal Church (which encompasses Arkansas and part or all of six other states).