Monthly Archives: May 2019

SOMA AFTER DARK: BIG PIPH & TOMORROW MAYBE at South on Main

Posted on by

SOMA After Dark: Big Piph & Tomorrow MaybeOn Friday, May 3, South on Main is celebrating SOMA After Dark’s second neighborhood evening event with one of the best hip-hop ensembles in the state – Big Piph and Tomorrow Maybe.

Show begins at 9 pm. Purchase advance tickets for $10 or pay $15 at the door. Tickets do not guarantee a seat. To reserve a table, please call (501) 244-9660. You must purchase tickets in advance to confirm your table reservation.

“One of Arkansas’ best bands” and “great hip-hop ensemble” are phrases often used to describe the collective known as Big Piph & Tomorrow Maybe. However, although they are deserving of both titles, these descriptions have proven to be far too confining. The creativity, discipline, and showmanship that BPTM put into their jazz, soul, funk, and rock infused hip-hop experiences will soon have them recognized as one of the best bands… period.

While already enjoying a successful solo rap career, Epiphany looked to further separate himself from the pack of competitive emcees by joining forces with a stellar live band, and in 2012 he did just that. Each of the seven members approaches the apex of their field and is a “frontman” in their own right. However, when their paths finally overlapped, the collective of (l-to-r) Paul Campbell (percussion), Dre Franklin (keys), Bijoux Pighee (vocals), Epiphany “Big Piph” Morrow (MC/lead vocalist), Dee Dee Jones (vocals), “Cool Hand” Lucas Murray (guitar), and Corey Harris (bass) formed something special.

Although the band has mostly displayed its energetic, interactive performances at Arkansas’ finest venues and festivals including Juneteenth, The Rev Room, Maxine’s, George’s Majestic Lounge, South on Main, U of A, and Ron Robinson Theatre, and Riverfest, they recently went international by completing an early 2015 African tour of Morocco, Algeria, and Equatorial Guinea. Sponsored by the U.S. department of state and American Music Abroad, the band not only held concerts for enthusiastic audiences, but also engaged in cultural engaged in cultural exchange with artists, students, and creatives by conducting workshops, speaking engagements, and musical collaborations. Still, whether at home or abroad, the band’s aim is always to provide the people not just a show, but a musical experience to remember… and that’s what Big Piph & Tomorrow Maybe deliver every time.

Ballet Arkansas closes out 40th season with FORTE

Posted on by

Presented by the Stella Boyle Smith Trust, Ballet Arkansas’ “Forte” celebrates the 2018/2019 season, with the return of our wildly popular collaboration with internationally acclaimed pianist, Dr. Drew Mays. This dynamic mixed repertory program is a refreshing mix of contemporary and classical dance that is the perfect season finale for the 40th anniversary season.

“Forte” features the iconic Swan Lake Act II, with music by Tchaikovsky and choreography by Marius Petipa, a prolific contemporary work by Tulsa Ballet’s resident choreographer Ma Cong, “Calling”, Balanchine’s famous “Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux”, and a contemporary world premiere by Executive and Artistic Director, Michael Fothergill. Swan Lake Act II will be accompanied by Dr. Drew Mays, who won the Van Cliburn Foundation’s Fifth International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs playing Beethoven’s “Waldstein” Sonata and Liszt’s “Mephisto” Walz.

“We are thrilled to continue the Ballet Arkansas in Concert series, sponsored by the Stella Boyle Smith Trust, which pairs high profile works of classical and contemporary dance with musical accompaniment from world renowned musicians. This series brings works to the State of Arkansas not ever performed within the region, while also placing Ballet Arkansas on par with the repertoire of larger ballet companies on the national scale,” says Catherine Fothergill, Associate Artistic Director.

A brilliant finish to the 2018/19 40th Anniversary Season, Forte! offers the audience a new and rich experience, providing powerful artistic collaborations that will elevate the arts in our community. “Forte” premieres at UA Pulaski Tech CHARTS Theater on the weekend of May 3-5, 2019.

Public performances four main stage performances, Friday, May 3rd at 7:00 pm, Saturday, May 4th at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm, and Sunday, May 5th at 2:00 pm. Tickets are $15-35, and are available online at balletarkansas.org/tickets, http://charts.uaptc.edu/ballet-arkansas, or in person or over the phone at the UA-Pulaski Tech CHARTS Theater Box office (501) 812-2710. Discounted tickets are available at the box office or by calling (501)812-2387. Discounted ticket prices: Students ($20), senior citizen ($25), and children 12 and under ($15).

As part of SoMa After Dark, ESSE Purse Museum is celebrating 70’s Night!

Posted on by

Friday, May 3rd, is another SoMa After Dark! Come on down and spend the evening enjoying specials at all the different businesses in SoMa.

It’s 70’s night at ESSE! Bust out your bell bottoms! Perch on some platform heels! Dress to impress, you cool cats. Dance to disco all night (errr… until 8pm)! Special Museum Entry fee of $7 with other 70’s specials and refreshments.

It is the last week to see ESSE’s temporary exhibit, Remembrances. Come by ESSE before May 6th and see some of the wonderful donations we have received over the years.

ESSE is open Tuesday through Saturday 11am- 3pm, and Sundays 11am-4pm. Bring your family and/or friends and learn about women’s history through the lens of the handbag!

Sandwich in History at the Matthews-Storey House today (5/3) at noon

Posted on by

The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program each month sponsors a Sandwiching in History tour which familiarize people who live and work in central Arkansas with the historic structures and sites around us.

The tours take place on Fridays at noon, last less than an hour, and participants are encouraged to bring their lunches so that they can eat while listening to a brief lecture about the property and its history before proceeding on a short tour.

Today (May 3) at 12 noon, this month’s tour is at the Matthews-Storey House, located at 8115 Ascension Road.

This house was constructed c. 1925 and is an amazingly intact example of a Craftsman Style airplane bungalow in central Arkansas built by the Justin Matthews Company in the Westwood development of Little Rock. The airplane bungalow is a rare form of residence designed in the Craftsman Style and named due to the similarity of its form (small upper story and cross gables) to the cockpit and wings of 1920s aircraft.

The Matthews-Storey House was a rental property for several years, before being purchased by the Storey family in 1934. The house eventually was owned by a succession of families, including a Christian Science practitioner, an insurance salesman and a Baptist pastor. The house continues to be a single family residence and includes many original features and fixtures.

The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

Sculpture at the River Market Show and Sale this weekend!

Posted on by

Little Rock residents and visitors alike will have the opportunity to see and purchase works by leading sculptors when the Sculpture at the River Market Invitational Show and Sale takes place at the River Market pavilions on May 4 & 5

Over 700 sculptures will be on display in the River Market pavilions and in the adjacent area of Riverfront Park on these two days. The works featured will include all types of media, style, subject matter, and size.

The 2019 sculptors include: Lorri Acott, Serena Bates, Terry Bean, Jeff Best, Kelly Borsheim, Craig Campbell, Kathleen Caricof, Leslie Daly, Darrell Davis, Jane DeDecker, Michael Dunton, Theresa Dyer, Clay Enoch, Denny Haskew, Felipe Jimenz, James Keller, Edwad LaBonne, Jackie Mild Lau, and Bryan Massey.

Other participating sculptors are: Darren Miller, Ken Newman, Joe Norman, Nnamdi Okonkwo, Ed Pennebaker, John Powell, Timothy Roundy, Emelene Russell, Wayne Salge, Ryan T. Schmidt, Adam Schultz, Gene Sparling, Charles Strain, Bilhenry Walker, Michael Warrick, Basil Barrington Watson, CT Whitehouse, Russell Whiting, and David Zahn.

Sculpture at the River Market will be open in the River Market pavilions from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Saturday, May 4, and from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Sunday, May 5.

On Saturday, Alex Palmer from the Museum of Discovery will offer activities for children at 12 noon and 2pm adjacent to the River Market pavilions.

On Sunday, two food trucks will be on site with food available for sculpture guests to purchase.  Nach’yo Nachos and Rock-Brick Oven Pizza will both be present from 11am until 2pm.

On Friday, May 5, at 6:30 p.m., a Preview Party will kick off the weekend.  With food provided by Copper Grill, beverages provided by Southern Glazer’s and Stella Artois, it will be a festive atmosphere offering guests the first chance to purchase sculptures as well as visit with the sculptors.

Also that night, guests to the Preview Party will be able to vote for their favorite sculpture in the 2019 Public Monument Competition.  The winner, which will be announced on Sunday, May 5, at 3:00 p.m., will be placed adjacent to City Hall at the corner of Markham Street and Broadway Street in 2020.  The seven semifinalists are: Theresa Dyer, Clay Enoch, Joe Norman, Nnamdi Okonkwo, Ryan T. Schmidt, Charles Strain and Basil Barrington Watson.

May 2 appearance by Lonnie G Bunch III in Little Rock has been cancelled

Posted on by

Image result for lonnie bunchDue to travel complications, the May 2 appearance by Lonnie G. Bunch III in Little Rock has been cancelled.

The program was to have been the 29th Frank and Kula Kumpuris Distinguished Lecture presented by the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton School of Public Service.

61st Annual Delta Exhibition opens on May 3

Posted on by

The Arkansas Arts Center’s 61st Annual Delta Exhibition presents a vision of contemporary art in the American South. Founded in 1958, the exhibition provides a unique snapshot of the Delta region.

The Delta Exhibition reflects the region’s strong traditions of craftsmanship and observation, combined with an innovative use of materials and an experimental approach to subject matter. Guest juror Kevin Cole will select the artworks to be exhibited and assign the $2500 Grand Award and two $750 Delta Awards. Additionally, a $250 Contemporaries Award will be selected by the Contemporaries, an auxiliary membership group of the Arkansas Arts Center.

The exhibition is open to all artists who live in or were born in one of the following states: Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. Art must be original, completed in the last two years, and not previously exhibited at the Arkansas Arts Center.

This year’s juror was Kevin Cole.  He is a contemporary artist best known for sculptural works, paintings, and intentional use of color. An Arkansas native, Cole’s artwork has been featured in more than 475 national and international exhibitions, including the 42nd Annual Delta Exhibition (1999) at the Arkansas Arts Center. His work can be found in notable private and public collections around the country. Among his public commissions are a fifteen-story mural commissioned by the Coca-Cola Company for the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta and a twenty-foot high by fifty-five feet long sculpture commission at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Atlanta. Cole was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame in 2018.

The artists selected to participate in the Delta this year are:

John Ahlen of Little Rock, Ark.
Joshua Asante of Little Rock, Ark.
Carrie Ballinger Porter of Little Rock, Ark.
Loren Bartnicke of Auburn, N.Y.
Kenneth Baskin of Lake Charles, La.
Zachary Blair of Little Rock, Ark.
Kim Brecklein of Harrison, Ark.
Cynthia Buob of Columbus, Miss.
Debra Callahan of Jonesboro, Ark.
Olevia “Libby” Caston of Russellville, Ark.
Julie Darling of Memphis, Tenn.
Karen DeJarnette of Little Rock, Ark.
Virmarie DePoyster of North Little Rock, Ark.
Dylan Eakin of Seattle, Wash.
Ivy-Jade Edwards of Memphis, Tenn.
Scinthya Edwards of Helena, Ark.
DebiLynn Fendley of Arkadelphia, Ark.
Bryan Frazier of Little Rock, Ark.
Janet Goodyear of Eureka Springs, Ark.
John Green of Little Rock, Ark.
Alice Guffey Miller of Monticello, Ark.
Heather Christine Guenard of Cabot, Ark.
Pam-ela Harrelson of Dallas, Texas
Carol Hart of Fayetteville, Ark.
Amber Imrie of Sunnyvale, Calif.
Sherry Leedy of Kansas City, Mo.
Mark Lewis of Tulsa, Okla.
Jason McCann of Maumelle, Ark.
Keith Melton of North Little Rock, Ark.
Daniella Napolitano of Little Rock, Ark.
Dale Newkirk of Hammond, La.
Kevin O’Brien of Ocean Springs, Miss.
Mark Payne of Pine Bluff, Ark.
Rashawn Penister of Pine Bluff, Ark.
Yelena Petroukhina of Little Rock, Ark.
Jason Rankin of Little Rock, Ark.
Zachary Roach of Memphis, Tenn.
Jay Sage of Oklahoma City, Okla.
Ray Scott of Little Rock, Ark.
Sandra Sell of Little Rock, Ark.
Hunter Stamps of Lexington, Ky.
Laura Terry of West Fork, Ark.
Holly Tilley of Little Rock, Ark.
Mabry Turner of Little Rock, Ark.
Katelyn Vaughan of Monroe, La.
Michael Warrick of Little Rock, Ark.
Laura Welshans of Little Rock, Ark.
Nancy Wilson of Little Rock, Ark.
Emily Wood of Little Rock, Ark.