Category Archives: Architecture

Award winning architect speaking Tuesday, October 15

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Kevin_McClurkanTuesday, October 15 at 6pm at the Arkansas Arts Center, award-winning architect and Arkansas native Kevin McClurkan, AIA, will make a presentation entitled THREADS: Ennead Architects’ Recent Works.  This is part of the monthly Architecture and Design Network lecture series.

A founding partner and management principal of  Ennead  Architects, New York-based architect Kevin McClurkan, has Arkansas roots and  continuing connections. An alumnus  of Pine Bluff High School, McClurkan earned his Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, where, in 1983, he received the Edward Durell Stone Award for Excellence in Design.

McClurkan has  continued to earn awards – a prestigious national American Institute of Architects Honor Awards among them. His  commitment  to design excellence, supported by  technical innovation,  is the hallmark of his work.  Little Rock’s William J.  Clinton Presidential Center; the Newseum/Freedom Forum Foundation World Headquarters, Washington D.C.; New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts  and  the Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law are among the firm’s recent award-winning projects.

Ennead is the name of the firm formerly known as Polshek Partnership Architects. The firm’s  2010 renaming emphasizes  its identity as a group of architects rather than that of a single design leader.  The new name,  which means a group of nine,  reflects the democratic and collaborative culture of the partnership.

Currently working with Little Rock’s  Polk Stanley Wilcox on the redesign of the city’s  Robinson Auditorium, McClurkan  is a member of the  the University of Arkansas Fay Jones School of Architecture’s Professional Advisory Board.  Of interest to the whole community,  his April talk is  free and open to the public.

For additional information, contact ardenetwork@icloud.com.

Sen. David Pryor speaks, Mayor Stodola an honoree at Quapaw Quarter annual meeting tonight

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QQAThe Quapaw Quarter Association will host its annual membership meeting on Wednesday, October 2 in the Ottenheimer Theater at Historic Arkansas Museum.  The evening will begin with a 5:30 p.m. reception in the atrium, the membership meeting will begin at 6:00 p.m.  Nonmembers of the organization are invited to join at the door.

Board members standing for re-election this year are:
Chuck Cliett
John Herzog
Gabe Holmstrom
Cheri Nichols
Shana Woodard

Following a short business meeting, the Greater Little Rock Preservation Awards will be presented to projects in SoMa, the Governor’s Mansion Historic District, MacArthur Park Historic District and Main Street Commercial Historic District.  Anthony Black will receive the Peg Smith Award for his many years of exemplary volunteer work on QQA projects and programs.  Mayor Mark Stodola will receive the Jimmy Strawn Award.  Since 1980, the QQA has presented its most prestigious award to “someone whose efforts on behalf of the preservation of Greater Little Rock’s architectural heritage are an inspiration to the entire community.”

Senator David Pryor will join the QQA as guest speaker to close out the evening.

The Quapaw Quarter Association’s mission is to promote the preservation of Little Rock’s architectural heritage through advocacy, marketing and education.

Incorporated in 1968, the QQA grew out of an effort to identify and protect significant historic structures in Little Rock during the urban renewal projects of the early 1960s. Throughout its existence, the QQA has been a driving force behind historic preservation in Greater Little Rock.

Rhea Roberts serves as the executive director.

Little Rock Look Back: Angelo Marre

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angelomarreOn September 11, 1842, future Little Rock Alderman Angelo Marre was born in Borzonaca, Italy.  He immigrated to Tennessee with his parents in 1854.

During the Civil War, he served in the Confederate Army. From 1865 to 1868, Angelo Marre worked for the Memphis Police Department but was forced to resign after he was accused of killing a man during an argument.  After his acquittal, he returned to the saloon business.  In 1872 Marre was convicted of stealing money and sentenced to three years in prison.

Tennessee Governor John Brown granted Marre a full pardon two years into his sentence, and he regained his citizenship in 1879.

After getting out of prison, he claimed an inheritance and joined his brothers in Little Rock.  He worked as a bartender at the Metropolitan Hotel.  He later opened a saloon and billiard parlor.

By the mid-1880s, Marre owned two saloons, a liquor import business, an office building in downtown LR, 3,000 sharesof stock in mining companies operating in Garland and Montgomery counties, and he was the first president of Edison Electric Company of LR.

In 1883, he was elected as an alderman on the Little Rock City Council.  He lost is bid for reelection in 1885. In 1888, he was an unsuccessful candidate for Pulaski County Sheriff.

villamarreAngelo Marre died February 18, 1889, as a result of his infection.  He is buried at Calvary Cemetery in LR. His custom designed, marble monument was ordered from Florence, Italy, and cost $5,000.

Marre is probably best known today as the builder of the structure now known as the Villa Marre.  Built in 1881, it is designed in the Italianate and Second Empire styles.  It was built in 1881 and 1882 on Block 21, Lots 5 & 6 of the Original City of Little Rock.  The cost was $5,000.

It was originally a red brick structure and has been modified and expanded several times as well as painted white.  It did not bear the name Villa Marre until the 1960s when historic preservation advocate Jimmy Strawn gave it that name.

After serving as the headquarters for the Quapaw Quarter Association for several years, it was returned to a private residence.  It is now available for special events and rentals.

The Villa Marre is probably best known locally and nationally for serving as the facade for the Sugarbaker design firm on the CBS sitcom “Designing Women.”  Though the interior of the house does not match the interior on TV, the building was featured in the opening credits as well as in exterior shots each week.

 

Oxford American’s SoLost celebration honoring Dave Anderson

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solost_logoCome have dinner and join in the SoLost celebration, honoring the Oxford American’s award-winning filmmaker Dave Anderson’s original video series.

SoLost is an off-kilter video journey through the side roads, backrooms, cellars, and psyche of the modern South. Anderson’s artful film shorts are released monthly on OxfordAmerican.org. The series won the 2011 National Magazine Award for Video and was a finalist for the 2013 award. In April, SoLost received a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts to fund the project during 2013–14.

Special guests for the evening include SoLost editor Jonathan Childs and several subjects from the series: David Moore (also known as DayDay MoeMoe), a visionary musician-artist who creates instruments from recycled oddities; Timothy Hursley, the photographer who captured a silo in Hale County, Alabama, almost a million times; and Jimmy Rhodes, a magician, mortician, and former mayor. Anderson will also unveil the debut installment of SoLit, a new series for the Oxford American.

The event will take place at South on Main (1304 Main Street) at 7:30pm.

To learn more about Dave Anderson, please visit www.dbanderson.com

or check out his award-winning SoLost series at www.oxfordamerican.org/articles/sections/solost/

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Labor Day Museum Monday: Arkansas Arts Center

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arkartsThe Arkansas Arts Center is happy to announce that its doors will be open on Labor Day from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Enjoy a tasty lunch at Best Impressions restaurant, open from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. and take a tour through Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London. Be sure to check out all the other exhibitions currently on display like Bauhaus twenty-21: An Ongoing Legacy – Photographs by Gordon Watkinson on its final day before it closes. Don’t forget to bring home a one-of-a-kind memento from the Museum Shop!

Remember that military receives free admission into Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London through the Blue Star Museums program!

Follow your art by taking advantage of the many benefits that a membership to the Arkansas Arts Center brings like free admission to lectures and Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London! Visit the Arkansas Arts Center website to become a member today and start enjoying discounts and exclusive access to parties and receptions.

Ark Arts Center exhibit on Bauhaus School of Architecture closes this week

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bauhausToday is the final Sunday of the exhibit Bauhaus twenty-21: An Ongoing Legacy – Photographs by Gordon Watkinson. The exhibit, organized by Foto+Synthesis Incorporated, has been at the Arkansas Arts Center since May.  (It was set to close today but has been extended through Monday.)

This exhibition conveys the architectural history, design and enduring philosophies of the Bauhaus, a German expression meaning “house for building” and the name of an important German School principle of architecture and design. The exhibition offers a unique perspective on Bauhaus design philosophy as it relates to architecture and its relevance in today’s society.

The Bauhaus school was founded by Walter Gropius in 1919 and introduced principles that shaped the foundation of modern architecture. Conceived as a project encompassing architecture, design and photography, Bauhaus twenty-21 not only conveys the architectural history, but also illustrates the enduring philosophies of the Bauhaus. The exhibition is comprised of 77 photographs, plans and elevations and furniture that capture the essence of Bauhaus design and its influence on modern architecture and design.

Sponsored by: Janet and Sam Alley; Cromwell Architects Engineers; The Arkansas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects; Brent Stevenson Associates

Envision Little Rock finalists part of 2nd Friday Art Night tonight

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envisinolrIn celebration of the 100 year anniversary of John Nolen’s 1913 “City in a Park” master plan for Little Rock, the Envision Little Rock design competition sought creative ideas for the establishment of an iconic gateway to the city at the intersection of Capitol Ave and I-30. In 1913, Nolen saw Capitol Avenue as the ceremonial boulevard that would transect the gridded streets of downtown Little Rock, establishing a visual and physical connection between the Capitol building and the proposed Choctaw Depot to the east. The competition challenged the public and professional design community to generate innovative concepts for the eastern terminus of Capitol Avenue in Little Rock.

Tonight, studioMAIN will open their exhibition of the competition finalists. The public is invited to come celebrate, discuss, and vote for your favorites. There are 3 public vote awards, in addition to the two main prizes that will be awarded by the Envision Little Rock jury later this month. Polls close August 31st at midnight.

Come see the wonderful group of entries by local designers and students. This is going to be a wonderful evening of big ideas and discussion of our city’s future. Don’t miss out!

studioMAIN is located at 1423 South Main Street.  The reception tonight is from 5pm to 9pm.  It is one of the participating sites in 2nd Friday Art Night.