Category Archives: Design

Learn about Little Rock’s earliest auditorium (which also was a roller rink AND rifle range) today at noon at Old State House Museum Brown Bag Lecture

Posted on by

11805726_10154024863604908_1192217255_nToday at noon, the Old State House Museum will have another Brown Bag Lecture.  This one focuses on three decades of unsuccessful efforts to build a municipal auditorium in Little Rock.  That time period was filled with big dreams, lawsuits, personality clashes, disappointments, and a Roller Rink that was also a Rifle Range.

In April 1904, Little Rock Mayor W. E. Lenon spoke of the need for a municipal auditorium in Little Rock. It would take thirty-six years for that dream to be realized. Along the way there were numerous twists, turns, detours and disappointments as the saga was played out in the newspapers, courtrooms, and offices of every major Little Rock architect at the time.

Until a permanent auditorium could be found, the City made do with vaudeville houses, high schools, and even a roller skating rink which doubled as a rifle range. Over the three decades of planning for an auditorium, some names came and went, others such as Mayor Lenon, architect Charles L. Thompson and Arkansas Gazette publisher J. N. Heiskell appeared time and time again. This Brown Bag Lunch Lecture explores the time period from 1904 to 1934 as it looks at the numerous unsuccessful attempts to construct a municipal auditorium in Little Rock.

In 2016, there will be a Brown Bag Lecture to look at construction and opening of Robinson Center Music Hall.

Scott Whiteley Carter is Special Projects Administrator for the City of Little Rock. As the unofficial historian of Little Rock City Hall, he can often be found leafing through sheaves of papers in the City Clerk’s vault or furiously scribbling notes in Little Rock research libraries. He is also the author of the LRCultureVulture.comblog. A native of Little Rock, he is a graduate of Missouri State University.

Wildwood Park gets greener, brighter due to Earth 7 AmeriCorps team

Posted on by

Wildwood Park partnered with nine talented and hard-working Earth 7 AmeriCorps team members for several months. They made such a positive impact on the landscape here. Among their many accomplishments, Earth 7 planted more than 1600 bedding plants, removed 800 pounds of weeds, distributed 60 cubic yards of mulch, planted 16 new trees, rewired the Park’s pavilion, revamped the Cabe Theatre’s lighting inventory, restored 11 benches, and worked on 2 miles of trails including the new Wild 40 and the Ruth Allen Dogwood Trail.

NCCC AmeriCorps teams are groups of young people ages 18 – 24 who provide one or more years of volunteer service to nonprofits and communities in need across the United States. Thank you for your awe-inspiring help, Amy B. Stewart (Team Leader), Jillian Kelly (Assistant Team Leader), Daniel Bracamontes, Kara Churchill, McKenzie Dunlap, Jessica Faylor, Thomas Moore, Mike Mwrigi, and Gabriel Pope.  While in Little Rock, they worked with Michael Drake, the City of Little Rock’s Chief Service Officer and Lauren Faehl, the City’s AmeriCorps coordinator.

Alongside them were Wildwood’s Grounds Manager David Pickens, Facilities Manager Kevin Thompson, and some very fine volunteers including Tom Bruce, Pulaski County Master Gardeners, Bill Toland, members of Central Arkansas Master Naturalists and Central Arkansas Trail Alliance, Jim Patterson, and John Cooke of Stageworks.

According to the Corporation for National and Community Service, these individuals are among 62.6 million volunteers who last year gave 7.7 billion hours of time across the country to make our communities better places to live. At the Park in 2014, volunteers provided upwards of 4000 hours of service to assure that Wildwood is thriving and fulfilling its mission to enrich the lives of Arkansans of all ages by creating community through nature and the arts.

The various volunteers bring to life Wildwood Park for the Arts’ green spaces, performances, and programs like Art in the Park and the Wildwood Academy of Music & the Arts. From the gardens to greeting guests, from administrative tasks to the woods, your every hour counts and is deeply appreciated!

More Recognition for Little Rock’s Creative Corridor

Posted on by

PrintA plan to transform four neglected blocks of Main Street in downtown Little Rock into an arts district has earned yet more international recognition.  The University of Arkansas Community Design Center and Marlon Blackwell Architect’s plan The Creative Corridor: A Main Street Revitalization for Little Rock has won Honorable Mention in Urban Design (Concept) of the International Awards 2015 sponsored by Architecture Podium.

The Creative Corridor retrofits a four-block segment of downtown Main Street through economic development catalyzed by the cultural arts rather than Main Street’s traditional retail base.  The goal is to structure an identity for the Creative Corridor rooted in a mixed-use work-live environment but sensitive to the historical context. The incremental approach employs three developmental phases to transform the corridor space into a downtown node. Planning and design for the Creative Corridor was funded by a 2011 Our Town grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

“This is yet another in a growing line of international, national and regional recognition for the Creative Corridor.  It is a testament to the outstanding design team at the UofA Community Design Center and Marlon Blackwell Architect. I am grateful for their efforts on this project,” said Mayor Mark Stodola.

“I am also appreciative of the outstanding local effort to take this plan and execute it,” Mayor Stodola continued.  “I look forward to seeing the excitement of the arts organizations up and down Main Street with their creative talent literally spilling out on to the sidewalks.”

The Creative Corridor features elements such as marquees, green and low impact development elements, and an art installation made from street lamps of different eras from city neighborhoods.

The Creative Corridor has also received other honors, including a 2014 Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects, 2013 American Architecture Award from The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies. It also won a Charter Award in the Neighborhood, District and Corridor category in the 2013 Charter Awards, sponsored by the Congress for the New Urbanism, and it was short-listed for the 2013 World Architecture Festival Awards in the Future Projects – Masterplanning category.

On September 14, at 3:00pm, a ribbon cutting will take place on the Creative Corridor.

Celebrate the Arts Council’s Arkansas Living Treasures tonight at Historic Arkansas Museum

Posted on by

2fan ham 0715Tonight’s 2nd Friday Art Night at Historic Arkansas Museum is a special event! In collaboration with the Arkansas Arts Council, a sister agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, it celebrates the work of those who have been designated Arkansas Living Treasures.

“Art. Function. Craft. The Life and Work of Arkansas Living Treasures” – See the works of Arkansas’s finest and most fascinating artists and artisans practicing, preserving and progressing traditional craft. Hear about their personal artistic journeys in a series of documentary shorts. This exhibition, and corresponding film series, is a collaboration of Historic Arkansas Museum and the Arkansas Arts Council, which gives the Arkansas Living Treasure Award to those who excel in the practice of a traditional craft.

Since 2002, the Arkansas Arts Council has recognized Arkansas Living Treasures, Arkansas artisans who excel in the practice of a traditional craft and who have passed the tradition on to the next generation. For the past four decades, Historic Arkansas Museum’s Arkansas Made has systematically documented, collected and preserved the work of Arkansas artisans who lived and worked in the state from the early 19th century to present day. In 2013, the Arkansas Arts Council and Historic Arkansas Museum collaborated to produce a series of short films that celebrate the lives and work of each Arkansas Living Treasure.

In addition, the evening will feature award-winning Arkansas fiddler,Clancey Ferguson. Historic Arkansas Museum’s Year of Arkansas Beer continues with Saddlebock Brewery of Springdale.

The festivities run from 5pm to 8pm.

Robinson Renovation Tops Out

Posted on by

LRCV 1The Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau (LRCVB), members of the Little Rock Advertising and Promotion Commission (LRA&P), local officials, and members of the design and construction teams hosted a topping out ceremony July 1, 2015 at 10:00 AM for the Robinson Center’s new conference facility, signifying a one–‐year milestone in the 28–‐month, $70 million renovation and expansion project.

Following a press conference and ceremonial beam signing held on the western side of the Robinson Center, local media and special guests were given tours of the magnificent ballroom platform and conference center located on Robinson’s north side. This new addition not only provides some of the most dramatic enhancements of the project, but will also provide groups with spectacular views of the Arkansas River and the city’s illuminated bridges.

Along with additional meeting and pre–‐function space situated above its ballroom, the new conference center will also provide a new connection to the DoubleTree Hotel, with an adjoining lobby and additional pre–‐function space.

LRCV 5For more information on the Robinson Center Second Act renovation and expansion project, visit http://www.RobinsonCenterSecondAct.com and follow us on https://www.facebook.com/pages/Robinson–‐ Center/276515585880 and https://twitter.com/RobinsonCenter .

Robinson Construction Facts to Date:

  • Nearly 10,000 tons of material have been recycled, representing 91% of the waste material diverted 1,216 tons of steel has been erected
  • 2,300 cubic yards of concrete has been placed
  • 470 individuals have gone through CDI/Hunt Safety Orientation
  • 73% of the project subcontractors are local
  • 130,000 man hours have been spent.

LRCV 6LRCV 4LRCV 7

Sculpture Vulture: Ted Schaal’s OPEN WINDOW

Posted on by

schaal open windowThe newest sculptural installation in Riverfront Park is Ted Schaal’s Open Window.  The piece won the 2013 Sculpture in the River Market public art monument commission.

Ted Schaal graduated from Colorado State University, class of 1992, with a BFA concentrating on fiber arts and sculpture. He has been working as an artist and craftsman in Loveland since 1993. Ted chooses to produce his work in bronze and stainless steel so that his pieces will withstand the harshest of natural elements and should last for many generations.

Between 1993 and 2005 Ted’s work focused on functional designs in the form of boxes, treasuries and reliquaries. You will find mountain scenes, native flowers and Art Deco inspired designs embellishing the intricately carved exterior. Some special pieces have hand-woven tapestries adorning the interior walls. “I sculpt functional forms that are designed to enhance the everyday experiences of the user by creating a special and sometimes sacred interaction with the personalized contents of each piece.”

In 2004, he began using his corrugated texture to create strong geometric vessel forms. They are non-functional purely decorative objects for the home. The final compositions are reminiscent of artifacts from antiquity, designed to raise questions about their origins as well as their implied functions.

Recently, Ted has been exploring strong geometric forms in combination with a primitive corrugated texture, smooth and polished surfaces. The goal is an interesting juxtaposition of materials and surface textures. Moving away from the utilitarian boxes and non-functional vessels of his past, Ted’s new work is purely sculptural emphasizing strong horizontal balance, tension, and negative space. Larger forms frame and direct the viewer toward a focal point or focal space. “Functional objects have size limitations whereas sculpture does not.”

 

Master Mix-Off celebrates historic cocktails to promote historic structures

Posted on by

Master-Mix1-300x278Preserve Arkansas, the Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas, is hosting the First Annual Master Mix-Off tonight.  This will features some of Central Arkansas’s best bartenders engaging in a bartending competition.  It promises to be a rip-roaring good time celebrating prohibition-era mixology!!!

Eight of Central Arkansas’s best bartenders will mix for the masses with a prohibition-era drink, hoping to win the “People’s Choice” Award. Then our “best in the business” judges will judge a second round of mixing, where bartenders will serve an updated, modern version of their favorite prohibition-era drink.

Joann “Jojo” Sims of Cache Restaurant, the reigning Arkansas Times Best Server in Little Rock, will be the emcee.

Participating Bartenders are:

The “Best in the Business” Judges are:

DATE: Thursday, June 25, 2015
TIME: 5:30-7:30 pm
LOCATION: Albert Pike Memorial Temple, 712 Scott Street, Little Rock