Angela Davis speaks at Philander Smith College’s JusticeCon today in conjunction with Clinton School

Posted on October 8, 2019 by Scott

Image result for angela davis

Today, October 8, at 9am at Robinson Center, Angela Davis will speak as part of Philander Smith College’s JusticeCon. The appearance is presented in partnership with the Clinton School of Public Service.

Activist, author, professor, and 2019 inductee into the Women’s Hall of Fame, Angela Davis was born in Birmingham, Ala., in 1944. Active at an early age in the Black Panthers and the Communist Party, Davis also formed an interracial study group and volunteered for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee while still in high school.

Davis became an assistant professor at UCSD, her connections with the Panthers and the Communist Party led to her removal. Davis worked to free the Soledad Prison Brothers and befriended an inmate, George Jackson. In August of 1970, Jackson and several other inmates attempted to escape from the Marin County Courthouse, and a judge and three others were killed. Davis was quickly put on the FBI’s most wanted list, despite the fact that she was not at the crime scene, and was apprehended in New York.

After spending eighteen months in jail during her trial, Davis was acquitted in 1972. While in prison, Davis wrote her first book, “If They Come in the Morning: Voices of Resistance,” entirely by hand. She was later hired by San Francisco State University, where she stayed for another twelve years.

Davis toured across the United States and the world lecturing on prison reform, and served on the advisory board of the Prison Activist Resource Center. Davis also co-founded the Committees of Correspondence, an organization that seeks to unite all socialist groups in the United States

This event is part of JusticeCon 2019 and requires a registration to attend. JusticeCon 2019 is organized by the Social Justice Institute at Philander Smith College, which brings together students, activists, thought-leaders, knowledge-seekers and renowned speakers to share ideas and inspire one another in the pursuit of social justice.

Film and discussion for PERIOD. END OF SENTENCE. tonight in the CALS Ron Robinson Theater

Posted on October 7, 2019 by Scott

Period. End of Sentence. (2018, NR)

Join CALS and Arkansas Women’s Outreach as they kickoff a very special program with a FREE screening and discussion of Period. End of Sentence.

The film is being shown at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater tonight (October 7) at 7pm.

Arkansas Women’s Outreach has attracted community support and external grants with its mission to supply basic hygiene items such as pads, tampons, or wipes. That fundraising strength and access to supplies can work in perfect tandem with the close proximity of many CALS library branches to their neighborhoods, and the relationships that CALS staff develop with their branch visitors. “The library will allow us to expand our reach because a lot of people need our product, and we can’t get to them all,” Pam De Gravelles, president of Arkansas Women’s Outreach, said. “The library will have 14 different access points in the community starting with the pilot program at the CALS Main Library. It’s a perfect blend of our resources and volunteers and the library’s reach and staff.”

Period. End of Sentence. is a 2018 documentary short film directed by Rayka Zehtabchi and winner of the 2019 Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject).

In a rural village outside Delhi, India, women lead a quiet revolution. They fight against the deeply rooted stigma of menstruation. For generations, these women didn’t have access to pads, which lead to health problems and girls missing school or dropping out entirely. But when a sanitary pad machine is installed in the village, the women learn to manufacture and market their own pads, empowering the women of their community. They name their brand “FLY,” because they want women “to soar.”

Their flight is, in part, enabled by the work of high school girls half a world away, in California, who raised the initial money for the machine and began a non-profit called “The Pad Project.”

Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Film starts at 7:00 p.m. Beer, wine, and concessions will be available!

Artober – Food. Arkansas Food Hall of Fame

Posted on October 5, 2019 by Scott

October is Arts and Humanities Month nationally and in Little Rock. Americans for the Arts has identified a different arts topic to be posted for each day in the month. Next up is Food.

The Arkansas Food Hall of Fame declared Catfish as the 2019 Arkansas Food of the Year. Founded in 2017, the Arkansas Food Hall of fame celebrates food and the people who cook and serve it.

Nominations for the 2020 Arkansas Food Hall of Fame are now open!

This food heritage program, now in its fourth year, celebrates our state’s unique foods, legendary restaurants, remarkable chefs, influential food entrepreneurs, and culturally significant festivals and events. Please follow this link ➡️ https://bit.ly/2wpCFft to make nominations in the following categories:

• Arkansas Food Hall of Fame – This award recognizes those long-
standing restaurants that have become legendary attractions in
Arkansas.

• Proprietor of the Year – This award honors a chef, cook and/or
restaurant owner in Arkansas who has made significant achievements in the food industry.

• Food-Themed Event – This award honors a community food-themed event or festival that makes our state a great place to live and visit.

• Gone But Not Forgotten – Remembers the collective culinary legacy of a once-and-always influential Arkansas restaurant that has since ceased operations.

• People’s Choice – Identifies the public’s favorite. This award is truly in the hands of Arkansans. The restaurant or food truck that receives the highest number of votes wins.

They will announce the winners at a ceremony on Monday, February 24 at CALS Ron Robinson Theater.

Happy Birthday to Elizabeth Eckford

Posted on October 4, 2019 by Scott

After 60 years, the most dramatic images of the 1957 crisis at Little Rock Central High School remain those of 15-year-old Elizabeth Eckford, being taunted as she walked through a hate-filled mob, on her way to school. Today, Ms. Eckford recalls how difficult it was for her parents, Oscar and Birdie, to allow her to continue the struggle to integrate the Little Rock schools.

Last month, a replica of the bench on which she sat on that first day in 1957 was unveiled. Instead of sitting on a bench surrounded by taunters, this time she sat on a bench surrounded by cheers and applause. The bench was the latest project of the Central High Memory Project which has also produced an audio tour which takes listeners down the street as Ms. Eckford experienced it in 1957.

Born on October 4, 1941, she grew up in Little Rock. Because all of the city’s high schools closed her senior year, Ms. Eckford moved to St Louis, where she obtained her GED. She attended Knox College in Illinois, and received her BA in History from Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. While in college, Ms. Eckford became one of the first African Americans to work in a local St. Louis bank, in a non-janitorial position, and later she worked as a substitute teacher, in Little Rock public schools.

Ms. Eckford, a veteran of the U.S. Army, has also worked as a substitute teacher in Little Rock public schools, test administrator, unemployment interviewer, waitress, welfare worker, and military reporter. Along with her fellow Little Rock Nine members, she is a recipient of the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal and the prestigious Congressional Gold Medal. Together with one of her former tormenters, Ms. Eckford also received a Humanitarian award, presented by the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ), following their meeting 34 years after an apology. The award recognizes forgiveness and atonement. They talked to students for two years, and, together, attended a 12-week racial healing course.

Ms. Eckford has started to walk through the painful past in sharing some of her story. She has said that true reconciliation can occur if we honestly look back on our shared history. She believes that the lessons learned from Little Rock Central High School must continue to be shared with new generations, reminding audiences that “the dead can be buried, but not the past.” Ms. Eckford continues her interest in education by sharing her story with school groups, and challenges students to be active participants in confronting justice, rather than being passive observers.

Artober – Street Art

Posted on October 3, 2019 by Scott

October is Arts and Humanities Month nationally and in Little Rock. Americans for the Arts has identified a different arts topic to be posted for each day in the month. Today’s focus is Street Art.

While Jason Jones’s mural is not technically street art (in that it was authorized to be painted on the side of the building), it still presents art in an unexpected location.

Picture of Playtime, a mural by Jason Jones, on the Union Plaza Building near Capitol and Main

The Downtown Little Rock Partnership commissioned this mural as part of their ongoing effort to add art to downtown. After the dedication of this mural during the summer of 2019, the DLRP has issued calls for artists for several other locations in downtown Little Rock.

Playtime, Jones’s mural, depicts many features of downtown Little Rock in the playful setting of a child’s red wagon. This 5,000 square foot mural attracted proposals from over 70 artists for the $30,000 commission.

Artober – Photography

Posted on October 2, 2019 by Scott

October is Arts and Humanities Month nationally and in Little Rock. Americans for the Arts has identified a different arts topic to be posted for each day in the month. Today’s focus is photography.

While Little Rock has many photographers of whom I very fond, I have chosen to highlight an image taken by Ernest Withers in September 1957. A copy of this photo is in the collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture as well as the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

The photo is The “Little Rock Nine’s” first day of school. Little Rock, Arkansas.

It depicts several members of the Little Rock Nine getting out of the car on September 25, 1957, their first day of school. On one hand, it is typical of teenagers then, and now. They are carrying assignments and their books. One of them has dropped something and is bent over to pick it up. It appears to be from left to right, Carlotta Walls, Melba Pattillo, Elizabeth Eckford, and Minnijean Brown.

But on the other hand, the photo is anything but typical. They are being escorted by soldiers. Crowds of people are amassed on the front steps watching it all unfold. The rest of the street by the car is bare.

History was about to be made.

Arkansas Arts Center broke ground on October 1 for expansion and renovation

Posted on October 2, 2019 by Scott

The Arkansas Arts Center (AAC) held a mid-morning Groundbreaking Ceremony on Tuesday, October 1, to commemorate the beginning of construction of its stunning, reimagined Arts Center.

Upon completion in 2022, the current facility will be entirely transformed through an exciting design by renowned architect Jeanne Gang and her practice, Studio Gang. The project also includes a landscape design that will connect the AAC with the surrounding MacArthur Park, by award-winning designer Kate Orff and SCAPE. Both Jeanne Gang and Kate Orff are MacArthur Fellows who have received prestigious “Genius Grants” from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

“As we gather to commemorate the beginning of construction, today marks a major step forward toward ensuring that the Arkansas Arts Center is an important and flourishing cultural resource now and in the future,” said Campaign Co-Chair Warren Stephens. “This is a truly historic day in the life of our city, state, and region.”

“Today, we commit to ensuring that the Arkansas Arts Center will be a cultural beacon for the region, showcasing art that educates, inspires, provokes, and beautifies our lives. All people, from young to young at heart, will gather here as a community to celebrate, learn, and cross boundaries,” said Arkansas Arts Center Executive Director, Dr. Victoria Ramirez. “The project embraces the Arkansas Arts Center’s rich history and looks forward to a future that exceeds our expectations. I am honored to be working with all of you to make this vision a reality.”

Architects Jeanne Gang and Kate Orff spoke at the Groundbreaking Ceremony, relaying key points about the project’s design and impact.

“The design for the reimagined Arkansas Arts Center features new and renovated spaces for gathering and community events to create dynamic connections among the state-of-the-art galleries and exhibitions, renovated Museum School, and upgraded Children’s Theatre,” said Jeanne Gang, Architect and Founding Principal of Studio Gang. “One of our main goals for the project is to allow the architecture to invite interaction, discovery, creativity, and learning.”

“The site design will provide a seamless transition between the Arkansas Arts Center and MacArthur Park,” said Kate Orff, Founder of SCAPE. “With native plantings, a tree canopy, walking paths, and a great lawn for events, the landscape design will provide useable and accessible space for visitors, and create a true ‘Arts Center in the Park’.”

The project is made possible through Reimagining the Arkansas Arts Center: Campaign for Our Cultural Future, a $128 million fundraising campaign, which will fund the new Arts Center for the 21^st Century, and provide support for transition, opening, and endowment. At the Groundbreaking Ceremony, Campaign Co-Chairs Harriet and Warren Stephens announced that the Campaign has now raised more than $122.7 million of its $128 million goal to-date.

The campaign includes a commitment of $31,245,000 from the City of Little Rock, which is being generated through a hotel-tax revenue bond. Lead donors include Windgate Foundation, Harriet and Warren Stephens, the State of Arkansas, and Winthrop Rockefeller Charitable Trust. The Campaign now has twenty-two “21^st Century Founders” – donors who are contributing gifts of $1 million to $35 million. Thirty-two families and foundations are now leadership donors to the campaign, having given between $100,000 and $1 million. There are many others who have donated gifts, as well.

“We remain incredibly grateful to all of the donors to-date, the City of Little Rock, and the State of Arkansas for saying ‘yes’ to Art, and to the Arkansas Arts Center,” said Campaign Co-Chair Harriet Stephens. “The project is grand in scope and impact and will need the participation of many to reach an ambitious goal. As we anticipate the Grand Opening in 2022, we look forward to involving many more people in the campaign.”

AAC Board of Trustees President, Merritt Dyke, and Little Rock Mayor, Frank Scott, Jr. also spoke to commemorate the occasion. Harriet and Warren Stephens, Dr. Victoria Ramirez, Jeanne Gang, Kate Orff, Merritt Dyke, and Mayor Frank Scott, Jr. were then joined by AAC Foundation Board Chair, Robert W. Tucker for the ceremonial groundbreaking. The celebration included performances by the Parkview Arts and Science Magnet Jazz Ensemble, the Episcopal Collegiate School Choir, and the Episcopal Collegiate Percussion Band for the capacity crowd.

During construction, the Arkansas Arts Center has moved from its current facility in MacArthur Park into a temporary location at the Riverdale Shopping Center at 2510 Cantrell Road in Little Rock. Classes, education programs, and performances will continue at the temporary location from Fall 2019 through the new Arts Center’s planned Grand Opening in 2022.

Little Rock Culture Vulture

Cultural events, places and people in the Little Rock area

Category Archives: Civic Engagement

Angela Davis speaks at Philander Smith College’s JusticeCon today in conjunction with Clinton School

Film and discussion for PERIOD. END OF SENTENCE. tonight in the CALS Ron Robinson Theater

Artober – Food. Arkansas Food Hall of Fame

Happy Birthday to Elizabeth Eckford

Artober – Street Art

Artober – Photography

Arkansas Arts Center broke ground on October 1 for expansion and renovation

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