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.

Beethoven, Blue Jeans, Brats and Beer

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Which of the words in the title doesn’t go with the other?  Trick question.  All go together this weekend at the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.

Under the direction of Music Director Philip Mann, the ASO brings back Beethoven and Blue Jeans this weekend. It is a mix of musical styles all united by a flair for entertainment.  The program includes Beethoven’s Lenore Overture No. 3, Op. 72b, Roumain’s Voodoo Violin Concerto No. 1, Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story and Beethoven’s Egmont: Overture.

Daniel Bernard Roumain aka DBR and his electric violin are the featured guest artist for this concert.

Prior to the concert, ticket-holders are encouraged to partake of FREE brats, $2 Diamond Bear Beer, and music by The Episcopal Collegiate School Steel Drum Band on Markham in front of Robinson before the concert!

Art and Dance HAM It Up at 2nd Friday Art Night

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Dance and Art intersect at Historic Arkansas Museum during the monthly 2nd Friday Art Night. 

At Historic Arkansas Museum, there will be a reception for Tesseract Dancing: Brett Anderson and Emily Galusha, a new exhibit opening in the Trinity Gallery for Arkansas Artists. Outside the north entrance, at 6 pm, the pARTy for Peg sculpture will be lit; and a blacksmith will demonstrate his trade in the new Shop on the Log House grounds. Throughout the evening, in various locations, Arkansas Festival Ballet will preview upcoming performances.

Started in 2005, this downtown art gallery walk in the River Market District vicinity showcases a variety of museums and galleries.  In addition to viewing art, there are refreshments and usually live music at the various stops along the way.  There is also a free art shuttle to take visitors from location to location. The event runs from 5pm to 8pm.

Among the various participating sites are Arkansas Studies Institute, Christ Episcopal Church, Hearne Fine Art, Mediums Art Lounge, Copper Grill, Dizzy’s Gypsy Bistro, Lulav and Third Street merchants of the River Market District.

Clinton School presents “A Tragedy of Democracy: Japanese Confinement in North America” at Butler Center

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In a collaboration between the Clinton School of Public Service and the Butler Center of Arkansas Studies, author Greg Robinson will discuss his book A Tragedy of Democracy: Japanese Confinement in North America on Thursday, November 10.

The book looks at the transnational history of the wartime confinement of people of Japanese ancestry. Winner of the 2009 History Book Prize for Asian American Studies, the book offers newly uncovered material that extends existing accounts of the camp experience of Japanese Americans during World War II and breaks new ground by examining those events alongside the treatment of ethnic Japanese in Canada, Mexico, and Latin America. An associate professor of history at the Université du Québec à Montréal, Robinson is also author of By Order of the President: FDR and the Internment of Japanese Americans.

The Butler Center for Arkansas Studies will host a pre-reception at 5:00 p.m. in Concordia Hall at the Arkansas Studies Institute, where The Art of Living, an exhibit featuring art from the World War II Japanese American internment camp in Rohwer, Ark., is currently on display.

Thursday, November 10, 2011
5:00 p.m.-Pre-reception at Concordia Hall in the Arkansas Studies Institute (across the street from the CALS Main Library)
6:00-7:00 p.m.-Lecture at the Darragh Center at the Main Branch of the Central Arkansas Library System

*Reserve your seats by emailing publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu, or calling 501-683-5239.

Chamber Music Society of Little Rock presents Brasil Guitar Duo

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Since 1953, the Chamber Music Society of Little Rock has been bringing musicians to Little Rock for performances.  The next concert is tomorrow evening (Thursday, November 10), featuring Brasil Guitar Duo.

João Luiz and Douglas Lora met in São Paulo as teenage guitar students and have been performing together as the Brasil Guitar Duo for more than ten years, perfecting a sublime synchronicity and effortless performance style. Equally at home on a Classical or a World Music series, the Duo’s innovative programming features a seamless blend of traditional and Brazilian works, resulting in a full global touring schedule and numerous critically acclaimed recordings.

The Duo will include “Sete Aneis” (Seven Rings) by Egberto Gismonti (arranged by João Luiz) and Fandango (canon) by Mario Castelnuvo-Tedesco on their Little Rock program.

The performance will be in the Parish Hall at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 1000 North Mississippi Avenue in Little Rock. Concerts begin at 7:30 PM.  Tickets are $25 at the door, $10 for students.

Little Rock History: 180 years of Little Rock

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Last week (November 2) marked the 1835 incorporation of Little Rock as a City.  However, today marks the 180th anniversary of Little Rock first being incorporated as a town by the Arkansas Territorial Legislature.

The first Mayor of the Town of Little Rock was Dr. Matthew Cunningham; he was elected January 2, 1832.  The first City Council meeting took place at his house.  In 1931, a plaque was installed at that site to mark the historic event. (Though it implies that the first city council meeting took place in 1831 not 1832.)

Bennett’s Military Supply is now located on the spot at what is now 3rd Street and Main Street.

Mayor Cunningham, MD

Prior to serving as the first Mayor, Dr. Cunningham had already made quite a few other “firsts” in Little Rock.  He was the first physician to take up residence in the settlement known as Little Rock arriving in February 1820.  His wife, soon joined and became the first female resident of Little Rock.  She had children from her first marriage, but after arriving in Little Rock, she and Dr. Cunningham had their first child together — Chester Cunningham, who became the first baby born in Little Rock.

Dr. Cunningham, Mrs. Cunningham and Chester Cunningham are buried next to each other in Mount Holly Cemetery.  Interestingly, Dr. Cunningham was involved in a 30 year land ownership dispute with Chester Ashley and Roswell Beebe who also donated the property on which Mount Holly sits.

Graves of Matthew Cunningham, Eliza Cunningham and Chester Cunningham

Precipice Theatre’s FOOL FOR LOVE

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Little Rock’s newest theatre company, Precipice Theatre, presents its inaugural production — Sam Shepard’s Fool for Love.

There are six performances over four days later this week.  The schedule is:

Thursday, November 10th at 8 p.m.
Friday, November 11th at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Saturday, November 12th at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Sunday, November 13th at 2:00 p.m.

On opening night, November 10th at 7p.m. there will be a complimentary California wine tasting sponsored by Lulav Restaurant in the lobby of the Public Theatre.

Tickets: $13 Adults, $10 Students and Seniors (cash or check at the door)

$3 of each ticket purchase will be donated to the THEA Foundation, supporting the importance of the arts in the development of our youth.

Reservations:Please send an email to LRprecipicetheatre@gmail.com with your party’s name, number of seats required, and a contact phone number. Any reservations that are still unclaimed 15 minutes prior to the start of the performance will be released to the general public.

Cast:
Old Man – Jerry Rice
Eddie – Ricco Ardemagni
May- Heather D. Smith
Martin – Terry Harrison

Directors:
Paul Seminara
Aaron Berg

Producers:
Ricco Ardemagni
Evan Tanner
Heather D. Smith

Sculpture Sunday: Large Standing Figure: Knife Edge

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Little Rock’s most famous piece of public art is Henry Moore’s 1961 creation Large Standing Figure: Knife Edge, which is known locally as “The Henry Moore Sculpture.”  The original model was created in 1961; this sculpture was cast in 1976 and purchased in June 1978 by the Little Rock Metrocentre Improvement District. The purchase price was $185,000 — a princely sum at the time but now a bargain for a Henry Moore sculpture.

A committee consisting of Townsend Wolfe (then the director and chief curator of the Arkansas Arts Center), James Dyke and Dr. Virginia Rembert actually traveled to England to meet with Moore about the sculpture.

It was originally placed at the intersection of Capitol and Main as the centerpiece of the pedestrian mall. When the final segment was reopened to vehicular traffic, it was put at its current location of the southeast corner of Capitol and Louisiana.