Category Archives: Design

Mid-Century Modern architecture in Little Rock is on tour today

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qqa mcmOn Sunday, October 12, the QQA will host the first-ever tour of mid-century modern architecture in Little Rock. The tour will begin at 1:00 p.m. at the Tower Building, 323 Center Street. Tickets are $15 for QQAmembers, $20 for nonmembers.

Guests will be viewing 10 prime examples of this often overlooked architectural style in the downtown area by trolley, with interior tours of 3 locations. .

Tickets may be purchased by calling (501)375-0076 or clicking here. Space is limited, reserve seats now.

The tour is sponsored by Delta Capital Partnership.

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.

LR Cultural Touchstone: Anita Davis

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anita davisAnita Davis has founded a museum, a sculpture garden and nurtured an eclectic retail community which has transformed Main Street south of I-630 into a thriving SOMA with its own unique identity.

Starting in 2004, she began to acquire property along Main Street in the teen blocks.  After attending a conference and learning about “placemaking” she started to envision ways to transform South Main through various artforms.

On the site of a burned out fast food restaurant, she devised the plans for the Bernice Garden. This sculpture garden and community gathering spot has become a hotspot for festivals (including the annual Cornbread Festival – another of her projects – this year it will be November 3), community events and a farmer’s market.

More recently, she opened the ESSE Purse Museum.  ESSE grew out of a traveling exhibit selected from Davis’ extensive collection. From 2006 to 2011, “The Purse & the Person: A Century of Women’s Purses” (curated by Curatrix Group and managed by Smith Kramer Fine Art Services) traveled the country. The collection was exhibited in Concord, Mass.: Little Rock, Ark.; Edmund, Okla.; Columbia, S.C.; Pasadena, Calif.; Rockford, Ill.; Logan, Kan.; Fullerton, Calif.; Baton Rouge, La.; Dallas; Sacramento; and Seattle.

Now Davis has brought her handbags back to Little Rock for good and given them a home worthy of the part they have played in women’s lives and history. ESSE is housed in a historic building in SoMa, an up-and-coming, hip neighborhood in downtown Little Rock.  The Huffington Post declared it one of the hot museums for 2014.

Power of Glamour topic at Clinton School talk

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Postrel“The Power of Glamour: Longing and the Art of Visual Persuasion”

Virginia Postrel is an author, columnist, and speaker whose work spans a broad range of topics, from social science to fashion, concentrating on the intersection of culture and commerce. Her most recent work, “The Power of Glamour: Longing and the Art of Visual Persuasion,” lays out the case for glamour as a life-shaping force, whether for good or for ill. Postrel takes an exhaustive look not only at the history of glamour, but at how it works, developing a theory that explains just about anything – from “how Jackie Kennedy is like the Chrysler Building or a sports car is like a Moleskine notebook, to why some audiences might find glamour in nuns, wind turbines or ‘Star Trek.’”

She will speak at the Clinton School at noon today. A book signing will follow.

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

Greater Little Rock Preservation Awards presented tonight at Quapaw Quarter annual meeting

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QQAThe Quapaw Quarter Association will present the Greater Little Rock Preservation Awards at its 2014 Annual Membership Meeting on Tuesday, October 7 at the Ron Robinson Theater.  This year’s award recipients include the Argenta Branch of the William F. Laman Public Library System, Stone’s Throw Brewing Company, the Clinton Foundation, Donna Thomas and Wright Avenue Neighborhood Association, and J. Chandler and Co.  Rachelle Walsh will receive the Peg Smith Award to recognize her exemplary volunteer work. Carolyn Newbern will be presented with the Jimmy Strawn Award, the QQA’s most prestigious award, presented to someone whose efforts on behalf of the preservation of Greater Little Rock’s architectural heritage are an inspiration to the entire community.  Matt DeCample will serve as emcee of the awards ceremony.

The QQA is also kicking off efforts to raise awareness about mid-century modern architecture in Little Rock, beginning with a special lecture from Dr. Ethel Goodstein-Murphree of the Fay Jones School of Architecture.  Goodstein-Murphree’s lecture, “Rock ‘n’ Roll, Poodle Skirts, and a White I-Beam: The Preservationist’s Guide to Loving the 1950s and its Architecture” will be presented at the meeting.

The meeting will begin at 6:00 p.m. following a 5:30 reception at the Ron Robinson Theater at 100 River Market Avenue in Little Rock.  The QQA’s annual membership meeting is free and open to the public.  Nonmembers may join at the door.

LR Cultural Touchstone: Phyllis D. Brandon

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phyllisbrandon_t180Phyllis D. Brandon has played a unique role in shaping and supporting Little Rock’s cultural life.  As the first and longtime editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette‘s High Profile section, she promoted cultural institutions, supporters and practitioners.

Since it started in 1986, being featured in High Profile has been akin to the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.  It exposes cultural institutions and events to new and wider audiences.  There is no way to put a monetary measure on the support Brandon gave to Little Rock’s cultural life during her time leading High Profile from 1986 to 2009.  From 2009 to 2011, she served as editor of Arkansas Life magazine, again supporting and promoting cultural life.

With her unassuming manner, she coaxed stories out of interview subjects and captured photos which highlighted events.  A journalist since her junior high school days in Little Rock, Brandon has also been a witness to history.  As a recent graduate of the University of Arkansas, Brandon returned to her alma mater, Little Rock Central High, to cover the events in early September 1957 for the Arkansas Democrat.  Eleven years later, she was in Chicago for the contentious and violent 1968 Democratic National Convention as a delegate.

From 1957 until 1986, she alternated between careers in journalism and the business world, as well as being a stay-at-home mother.  Upon becoming founding editor of High Profile, she came into her own combining her nose for news and her life-long connections within the Little Rock community.  As a writer and photographer, she created art in her own right. A look through High Profile provides a rich historical snapshot of the changes in Little Rock and Arkansas in the latter part of the 20th Century and start of the 21st Century.

Since retiring in 2011, Brandon has kept a relatively low profile. She can be seen from time to time spending time with friends and family and enjoying attending events. Only this time she generally does not have her trusty camera or notepad.

LR Cultural Touchstone: Deborah Baldwin

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9 Deborah BaldwinAs a historian, arts patron, and administrator, Deborah Baldwin has had a hand in shaping Little Rock’s cultural scene for nearly thirty years.   As Chair of the UALR History Department from 1986 to 1992, she lead the department as it created the History Institute which sponsors the “Evenings with History” lecture series.  At the time it was started, it was one of the few lecture series in Little Rock (if not the only one).

A member of the UALR faculty since 1980, Baldwin is a specialist in modern Mexican history with a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. She has published a book on the Mexican Revolution of 1910 and a variety of articles, primarily on Mexican social history topic.

As a History Department faculty member, she has lead the Public History seminar. This program has documented the history of several Little Rock cultural institutions over the years including the Arkansas Arts Center, Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and Museum of Discovery.  The Public History program has trained many of the museum professionals working in Little Rock today.  The Central High Museum, a private forerunner of the National Park Service Central High National Historic Site Visitor Center, was lead in a large part by persons associated with the UALR Public History Program.

Starting in the mid-1990s, Baldwin led the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.  In that capacity, she oversaw the visual and performing arts programming at UALR.  Under her leadership, the Departments of Art, Music, and Theatre & Dance were all revitalized.  As a part of this, she ensured that cutting-edge technology was being integrated to arts curriculum.  She also led efforts to upgrade the performance facilities.  During her tenure as Dean, the College also played leading roles in the commemoration of the 40th and 50th anniversaries of the integration of Central High School, the centennial of the Mexican Revolution, and the “Life Interrupted” exhibit which highlighted the Japanese-American internment experience in Arkansas.  She also oversaw the creation of Finale!, an event each spring which celebrates the arts in Little Rock and honors arts patrons.

With the creation of the Arkansas Studies Institute (a collaboration between UALR and Central Arkansas Library System), Baldwin took on additional duties as UALR’s supervisor on the project.

In 2014, UALR underwent a campus-wide administrative and academic reorganization.  In conjunction with that, Baldwin became Associate Provost for UALR Collections and Archives.  In that capacity she oversees the campus library system, Center for Arkansas History and Culture and the Sequoyah National Research Center.  She continues to teach in the Department of History.

She is a past member of the board of the Arkansas Humanities Council and the MacArthur Military History Museum Commission.

 

Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts to visit Little Rock

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NEA LRDr. Jane Chu, a former resident of Arkadelphia, is the new chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.  On Tuesday, October 7, she will be in Little Rock.

At 1:30, she will be part of a presentation at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre.  Steve Luoni of the University of Arkansas Community Design Center, will lead a discussion of the Creative Corridor.  Dr. Chu will also make remarks.  Mayor Mark Stodola will be the host of the event.  The public is invited to attend.

During her visit in Little Rock, Dr. Chu will also take part in a variety of meetings and tours.