Category Archives: Arts & Humanities Month

Sculpture Vulture: Collen Nyanhongo’s “Resting Angel”

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The Sculpture at the River Market show and sale starts this coming Friday evening and runs through next Sunday.  To mark this, the October Sculpture Vulture is highlighting sculptures from previous shows.

Today’s is Collen Nyanhongo’s Resting Angel.  Carved out of stone, this features both rough and polished surfaces of a variety of textures. On one side, it appears that an angel’s wing is emerging from a stone pillar.  The other side depicts a profile of the angel’s face in the same shape as the wing.

Collen Nyanhongo’s homeland is Zimbabwe, which means “large house of stone.” He is a member of the most significant family of artists in Zimbabwe and learned the craft of using simple hand tools to sculpt his stones from his father, Claude Nyanhongo, a first-generation artist who helped create the Zimbabwe Sculpture Movement fifty years ago. The Zimbabwe Sculpture Movement is heralded as the most prominent art form to emerge from Africa in the 20th century.

Forging his own vision from his powerful artistic roots, Collen Nyanhongo blends traditional figurative form into metaphorical abstract expression that transcends his past and establishes him as an eminent world artist whose work has been honored in Zimbabwe, France, Netherlands, Denmark, Australia, Holland, England, Switzerland, Germany, South Africa and the United States.

Collen sculpts in all sizes, from a 15 ton marble stone for a public art project in Fort Collins, Colorado to smaller pieces that demand to be held and caressed. He prefers working with hard stones like Springstone, Serpentine and Lopidolite and ships them in from Zimbabwe quarries to wherever he is living and working.

Ballet Arkansas premieres AMERICAN IMAGES

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Just a few short years ago, Ballet Arkansas pretty much existed to produce the annual production of The Nutcracker.  Now, they are in the position to present an evening of six newly commissioned dance pieces!  Congratulations to all who have made this possible.

Tonight, Ballet Arkansas kicks off the 2012-2013 season with American Images, an evening of six commissioned works each built around the American cultural landscape.  The works are:

Times Torn
A Civil War ballet by Marla Edwards, the ballet’s new Ballet Mistress, herself a former soloist with Ballet Arkansas and a veteran of the Houston Ballet School.
American Dream
Choreography by Stephanie Thibeault, Associate Professor of Dance at UALR.
Pop
Choreography by Michelle Alexander, based on the art and writings of pop culture icon Andy Warhol.
Delta…Push Up Open
Choreography by Little Rock native Leslie Schickel, which premiered in March, 2012.
Spectre
A silent-film era pas de deux choreographed by former Ballet Arkansas guest dancer Edmond Cooper
Nowhere/Now Here 
Choreography by Tong Wang, currently assistant professor at University of California – Irvine Department of Dance. Wang is a former principal dancer at Ballet West in Salt Lake City and has worked with Shanghai Ballet, Tulsa Ballet Theatre, Dayton Ballet,
and Colorado Ballet, among many others.

 

The works premiered last night and will continue today at 4:00pm and tomorrow at 2:00pm at Wildwood Park for the Arts.  Also, while at Wildwood, enjoy this weekend’s Harvest Festival.

2012 Arts & Humanities Month 2nd Friday Art Night

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October is Arts and Humanities Month.  What better time to try out 2nd Friday Art Night for the first time? Or to make a repeated visit?

Tonight from 5pm to 8pm at various downtown museums and galleries, guests can view art and enjoy live entertainment.  Admission is free.

Here are just a few of the highlights.

Christ Episcopal Church.  Watercolors by Kuhl Brown.  A resident of Hillcrest, Kuhl’s paintings are realistic landscapes and other subjects also in the realistic style. The show will run through Dec. 14.

Historic Arkansas Museum will feature live music by the Smittle Band as visitors view the current exhibits. Included at HAM are:

  • Recent Acquisitions: A Collection Vision, 2008 – 2012
  • The Civil War in Arkansas
  • Barbie: The 11 1/2 –inch American Icon
  • The Knife Gallery
  • Arkansas Contemporary: Selected Fellows from the Arkansas Arts Council
  • We Walk in Two Worlds: The Caddo, Osage and Quapaw in Arkansas

The Butler Center Galleries are located within the Arkansas Studies Institute building.  The galleries this month feature: Arkansas League of Artists and Solastalgia.  The Arkansas League of Artists is a group of artists and art enthusiasts who gather to learn from one another by exploring new techniques, working in various media, and sharing their collective knowledge.  Solastalgia will feature artwork by Susan Chambers and Louise Halsey.

The Arkansas League of Artists is an organization formed to promote fine arts in Arkansas. This group of artists and art enthusiasts gathers to learn from one another by exploring new techniques, working in new media, and sharing their collective knowledge.

Also, stop by the third floor of the Cox Creative Center for “Equinox 2011-2012: A Retrospective curated by Alex Leme and Rachel Golden.”  This exhibit, which will run through Decmber 1, features works by Carolyn Ascher, Ashley Barker, Kae Barron, Beth Beam, Rebecca Benson, Chris Cotton, Carolyn Crocker, Starr Crow, Megan Douglas, Chris Friemel, Chelsye Garrett, Heather Harmon, Cody Henslee, Lilia Hernandez, Kelly Hicks, Steve Hollis, Linda Holloway, Zechariah McGhee, Cyrene Quiamco, Becky Robinson, Jerry Rushing, Myriam Saavedra and Lauren Sukany.

The artwork by Susan Chambers and Louise Halsey interprets the idea of solastalgia, a term coined by Australian philosopher Glenn Albrecht meaning “the pain experienced when there is recognition that the place where one resides and that one loves is under immediate assault.”

Little Rock Wind Symphony: CARMEN and Clarinet

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The Little Rock Wind Symphony kicks off the 2012-2013 season tonight with an evening entitled “Carmen and Clarinet.” Under the baton of musical director Dr. Karen Fannin, the LRWS will be joined by guest soloist Kelly Johnson, clarinet.

The program for tonight includes Shostakovich’s Festive Overture, Rodrigo’s Adagio para Orquesta de Instrumentos de Viento, McAllister’s Black Dog Rhapsody for Clarinet and Bizet’s Carmen Symphony.

The program begins at 7:30pm tonight at Second Presbyterian Church.

Dr. Fannin has been music director of LRWS since 2006. She is also Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of Music at Hendrix College, where she conducts the wind ensemble and teaches conducting, low brass, and courses in twentieth-century music and fundamentals of music.

The Little Rock Wind Symphony gave its first performance in February 1994.   It now performs concerts each fall, winter, and spring in addition to its vastly popular Christmas Concert in December. All concerts are held at Second Presbyterian Church. Another annual seasonal highlight is the “Stars and Stripes Celebration” in honor of Flag Day, held  outdoors in June in MacArthur Park.

QQA Annual Meeting and Awards

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QQA logo 2 colorThe Quapaw Quarter Association will hold its annual meeting tonight and present the Greater Little Rock Preservation Awards.

At 5pm, a reception will begin with the program starting at 5:30pm.  The program will take place at The Joint in the Argenta district.

The featured speaker will be Kim Trent of Knox Heritage in Knoxville TN.  She brings a diverse background to her current role, including experience in journalism, community organizing, community development banking, public relations and non-profit management. She has worked in preservation professionally and as a community volunteer and advocate at the local, state and national level for more than 16 years and is a proponent of preservation-based community and economic development.

Following the annual meeting, which is open to the public, there will be a members only reception at 7pm.  Memberships to the Quapaw Quarter Association will be available for purchase.

Rhea Roberts is the executive director of the Quapaw Quarter Association.

The Quapaw Quarter Association’s mission is to promote the preservation of Little Rock’s architectural heritage through advocacy, marketing and education. The QQA promotes the preservation and enhancement of the historic buildings and neighborhoods of Little Rock.  It is a Local Partner of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

 

Claude Bolling’s Suite for Violin and Jazz Piano Trio at The Afterthought

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Tonight, October 8th, 2012 there will be a special one-time performance of Claude Bolling’s Suite for Violin and Jazz Piano Trio at The Afterthought, the jazz club on Kavanaugh Blvd. in the Hillcrest section of Little Rock.

With music starting at 8pm, saxophonist Brandon Dorris will perform a trio set with bassist Joe Vick and drummer Brian Brown. The Bolling,which is about an hour of music, will feature violinist Geoffrey Robson,pianist Louis Menendez, bassist Joe Vick, and drummer Brian Brown.

The evening will conclude with more music from Brandon Dorris and the trio.

Sophisticated jazz piano stylings blend seamlessly with lyrical and virtuosic violin playing in the music of Claude Bolling. $5 cover only.

Geoffrey Robson, violinist, is the Associate Conductor of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and violinist in Trio Arkansas with pianist Louis Menendez. Louis Menendez, of Hot Springs, AR, is a fine concert pianist, opera coach, and conductor, and is a faculty member at
Ouachita Baptist University. Joe Vick is a member of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and a Little Rock jazz mainstay. He also teaches music at College Station Elementary and Fuller Middle School in Little Rock.

Brian Brown, also a local jazz mainstay, has performed on just about every stage in town, and appears four nights a week at the Capital Hotel with the Ted Ludwig Jazz Trio. Brandon Dorris is one of the more versatile musicians in town. Recent appearances include the Hot Springs Jazz Festival, the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Arkansas Repertory Theater, and Dugan’s Pub.

Sculpture Vulture: Jane DeDecker’s “Daphne”

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The annual Sculpture at the River Market Show and Sale takes place this month (October 19-21). In recognition of this, the October Sculpture Vulture will focus on more of the pieces in the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden which were acquired from previous shows.

Today’s feature is Jane DeDecker’s Daphne which was installed in 2011.  Cast in bronze, it depicts a headless torso with arms upstretched.  At the terminus of the arms are tree branches.

Jane DeDecker has been making a major contribution to the world sculpture scene since 1986. Creating over 250 limited edition, original sculptures, 60 of those being life-size and four one of a kind monuments, with 50 sold out editions. She has been published in magazines reaching global circulations, from Art and Antiques to European Home and Gardens. She has been sought out for her artistic integrity by organizations ranging from the National Parks Service to the President of the United States.