Author Archives: Scott

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About Scott

A cultural thinker with a life long interest in the arts and humanities: theatre, music, architecture, photography, history, urban planning, etc.

LR Wind Symphony concert tonight: Dancing Flutes

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lrwindsymphonyThe Little Rock Wind Symphony kicks off the 2013-2014 season tonight.  The program is entitled “Dancing Flutes” and features flautists Diane McVinney and Barry McVinney.

The selections with will feature the Little Rock Wind Symphony are:

  • Bernstein / Beeler: Overture to Candide
  • Frank Ticheli: Rest
  • Gary Schocker: Three Dances for Two Flutes
  • Delibes /Brubaker: “Flower Duet” from Lakme
  • Strauss / Reger: Solemn Entry
  • Franz Krommer: Octet-Partita op. 57, mvt. 1
  • Boris Kozhevnikov: Symphony No. 3 “Slavyanskaya”

Founded in 1994, the Little Rock Wind Symphony has been under the baton of Dr. Karen Fannin since 2006.  The Little Rock Wind Symphony is composed of over 40 full-time members and guest artists.

The concert tonight will be at 7:30pm at Second Presbyterian Church.

Rock Town Slam! Tonight

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rocktown micThe monthly Rock Town Slam takes place tonight at the Arkansas Arts Center.

Get your poetry on at the Rock Town Slam! Slam artists will perform during this friendly competition. You can too!
Sign up at the door to perform or come and hear the most exciting poets around. Poets are judged on the delivery of written poetry.
The event takes place in the Arts Center Lecture Hall from 7pm to 9pm.
The cost is free for Arts Center members and $5 for non-members.  Participating poets pay $10.
Can’t make it this month?  This takes place the second Wednesday of the month twelve times a year.

Tales of the Crypt Tonight

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A Parkview student portraying former LR Mayor Woodson.

A Parkview student portraying former LR Mayor Woodson.

The ghosts of Little Rock past will arise tonight at Mt. Holly Cemetery for the 19th Annual Tales from the Crypt.

Held the second Tuesday of October, Tales of the Crypt is an annual Mount Holly event.  Under the direction of Fred Boosey & Tamara Zinck, drama students from Parkview Arts & Science Magnet High School are each given a person buried in the cemetery to research. They then prepare short monologues or dialogues, complete with period costumes, to be performed in front of the researched person’s grave.

Among the highlights this year John and Lucinda Kumpe, Paramount actor Eleanor Counts, Richard Flannigan (who served as Mt. Holly Sexton), Myra Blackbun, Albert and Mollie Stocking and former Little Rock Mayor James A. Woodson.

Award-winning local costumer Debi Manire will once again provide the wonderful historical characters’ costumes.  Audiences are led through the cemetery from grave to grave by guides with candles. Although it takes place around the same time as the American holiday Halloween, the event is meant to be historic rather than spooky.  Many local teachers award extra credit to students who attend.

The Nineteenth Annual “Tales of the Crypt” will be sponsored by Mount Holly Cemetery Association and Parview Arts-Science Magnet High School.

The event will be held  at Mount Holly Cemetery, 1200 South Broadway, Little Rock, Arkansas on Tuesday, October 8, 2013, from 5:30 pm until 8:30 pm.  Admission is free to the public, however donations to Mount Holly Cemetery are appreciated and aid in the maintenance of the cemetery.

Cantus in Concert tonight

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Vocal group Cantus will perform in the sanctuary of Christ Episcopal Church on Tuesday, October 8, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20, student rate $10. Tickets may be purchased in advance through the Christ Church office, 501-375-2342. Tickets will also be available the night of the performance.

Press_PhotoAcclaimed as “the premier men’s vocal ensemble in the United States” (Fanfare), Cantus is committed to inspiring audiences with music performed at the highest level. The nine members of Cantus, which rehearses and performs without a conductor or music director, are renowned for adventurous programming spanning many periods and genres, including work commissioned specifically for the group.

Recent programs have combined a 15th century French carol, a 16th century secular English tune, choruses and art songs by 19th century composers, and contemporary works. The Washington Post hailed the ensemble’s sound as having both “exalting finesse” and “expressive power,” and referred to their music-making as “spontaneous grace.” Cantus shares its impeccable singing, engaging stage personality, and heartfelt interpretations with audiences across the country as they tour and at home in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

The vocalists of Cantus were Artists in Residence for Classical Minnesota Public Radio and American Public Media’s Performance Today in 2010-11. They have also been featured on A Prairie Home Companion.

The concert is part of the ongoing Arts at Christ Church series.

Little Rock Look Back: Mayor Warren E. Lenon

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Mayor LenonOn October 8, 1867 in Panora, Iowa, future Little Rock Mayor Warren E. Lenon was born.  He was one of eleven children of John D. and Margaret M. Long Lenon.

Lenon came to LIttle Rock in 1888 after finishing his schooling in Iowa.  He helped set up an abstract company shortly after his arrival.  In 1902 he organized the Peoples Savings Bank.  Among his other business interests were the City Realty Company, the Factory Land Company, the Mountain Park Land Company, and the Pulaski Heights Land Company.

From 1895 to 1903, he was a Little Rock alderman, and in 1903, he was elected Mayor of the city. A progressive Mayor, he championed the construction of a new City Hall which opened in 1908.  At the first meeting of the City Council in that building, Mayor Lenon tendered his resignation.  His duties in his various business interests were taking up too much of his time.

Mayor Lenon had been a champion for the establishment of a municipal auditorium. He had wanted to include one in the new City Hall complex. But a court deemed it not permissible under Arkansas finance laws at the time.  He also worked to help establish the first Carnegie Library in Little Rock which opened in 1912.

In 1889, he married Clara M. Mercer.  The couple had three children, two of whom survived him.  A son W. E. Lenon Jr., and a daughter Vivian Mercer Lenon Brewer.  She was married to Joseph Brewer, a nephew of Joseph Taylor Robinson, after whom the City’s eventual municipal auditorium would be named.

Mayor Lenon died June 25, 1946 and is buried at Roselawn Cemetery.  Lenon Drive just off University Avenue is named after Mayor Lenon.

ArtLinks 2013 continues today

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The Arkansas Arts Council’s ArtLinks 2013 continues today in Central Arkansas.

Storytelling is all the buzz these days. People in businesses, nonprofits, sales, marketing, education
and advocacy are recognizing the value of story in their work.
ArtLinks 2013: What’s Your Story? focuses on the importance of finding and communicating your story to influence policy and increase support. The annualstatewide conference for artists, arts administrators,educators and community leaders is hosted by the Arkansas Arts Council.
Stephanie Garibaldi, Education Director at SpeakeasyDC, Washington’s leader in live story performances and training, will demonstrate the power of a good story told well and explain how storytelling can be used by artists and organizations to strengthen connections, raise funds, improve communications, generate audience engagement and build community.

Argenta Community Theater, 405 Main Street, North Little Rock, AR 72114

Conference Registration
8:00 – 9:00 a.m.

The Why, What and How of Storytelling
9:00 a.m. – Noon
SpeakeasyDC’s Instructor Kevin Boggs leads a three-hour program that includes demonstrations, discussion and small group activities to explore ways to build and sustain the use of storytelling within an organization. Participants will identify and develop stories that reflect the impact and value of their arts programs as tools they can use for fundraising and advocacy.

Box Lunch and Walking Tour
Noon – 2:00 p.m., Argenta Arts District

What’s Their Story?
2:00 – 3:30 p.m.
Community leaders from around Arkansas share stories of innovative arts programs. Speakers include Sonia Davis Gutierrez with Fayetteville Forward Creative Economy Action Group; Austin Barrow with El Dorado Festivals and Events, Inc.; Jon Chadwell with the Newport Economic Development Commission; and Henry Golatt with the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and the planned Arts Factory Project on Main Street.

Arkansas Arts Council celebrates 2013 Fellowship Recipients today

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Arkansas_Arts_Council_logo_2Nine Arkansas artists will be celebrated today when the Arkansas Arts Council honors the recipients of its Individual Artist Fellowship awards. The artists will be recognized at a reception from 5:30-7:30 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 6, at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock.

The Arkansas Arts Council awarded nine artist fellowships in the amount of $4,000 each. Fellowships are awarded annually to artists in Arkansas in recognition of their individual artistic abilities. These fellowships enable artists to set aside time for creating their art and improving their skills. Three artistic disciplines are selected each year as categories for the awards.

The three categories for this year are Literary Arts: Playwriting; Performing Arts: Directing of Narrative and Documentary Films; and Visual Arts: Creating Contemporary and Traditional Crafts.

The fellowship recipients were selected by a jury of out-of-state professional artists, writers, performers and art administrators.

Literary Arts: Playwriting

Kelley Smith Pruitt, Little Rock – In a Year’s Time

Clinnesha D. Sibley, Fayetteville – Tell Martha Not to Moan

Werner Trieschmann, Little Rock – Disfarmer

 

Performing Arts: Directing of Narrative and Documentary Films

Joshua H. Miller, Little Rock – Pillow

Mark Thiedeman, Little Rock – Last Summer

Nathan Willis, Little Rock – “The Van”

 

Visual Arts: Creating Contemporary and Traditional Crafts

Ed Pennebaker, Osage – blown glass, stone and metal work

Timothy LaTourette, Fayetteville – wood, lighting and printmaking

Adam Posnak, West Fork – functional ceramic with stark black, white and red imagery

 

The Arkansas Arts Council is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.