Category Archives: Food

Science After Dark: Wine & Chocolate – tonight at the Museum of Discovery

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How does the Museum of Discovery’s monthly Science After Dark top itself?  What do people love more than STAR WARS? The answer is, of course, Wine and Chocolate!

Tonight from 6pm until 9pm, Science After Dark focuses on Wine and Chocolate.

Explore fermentation, the science of making chocolate and discover the process of pairing the two!
You must be at least 21 years of age to attend.
Admission is $5
Bring cash for beer from Stone’s Throw Brewing and beer, cocktails and pizza from Damgoode Pies River Market.

This weekend – Lanterns festival at Wildwood Park

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Lanterns_07-1500x630Wildwood’s annual deep-winter festival celebrates the first full moon of the lunar new year. Held over three magical evenings – February 19 – 21, 2016 – guests are transported to far away lands and times as they stroll through the beautifully lit pathways of Wildwood’s gardens.

Cultural vistas feature live entertainment, food, drink, games and more throughout the Park’s Butler Arboretum and inside the Lucy Lockett Cabe Festival Theatre. This year’s featured locations are Australia, Brazil, China, Greece, Hawaii and the UK.

Shuttles run from the Kroger on Chenal Parkway beginning at 6 pm nightly until 30 minutes past the Festival’s closing. Limited parking is also available at Wildwood.

Tickets are $8 for adults online and $10 at the gate. For children ages 6-12 tickets are $4 online and $5 at the gate, and children 5 and under attend FREE!

Final 2 Days of Coca Cola exhibit at Clinton Center

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Coca-Cola-Bottle-History-v2-hiThe Clinton Presidential Center celebrates the art and history of the Coca-Cola Bottle’s 100-year anniversary during its upcoming temporary exhibit, Coca-Cola: An American Original. The exhibit closes on Monday, February 15.
The exhibit is divided into two sections and occupies both the Garden View room, located on the first floor, and the Temporary Gallery, located on the third floor.
Illustrations of an American Original will be located in the Garden View Room and will have as its focus the now-iconic images and advertising campaigns that have helped define the Coca-Cola brand. Illustrations will include three original paintings by Norman Rockwell, an American artist who created a total of six paintings that were ultimately used in finished Coca-Cola ads. The three others, known as the “Missing Rockwells,” have yet to be located. Additionally, Illustrations feature several images of Santa Claus, including the first Coca-Cola Santa painted by Fred Mizen that appeared in The Saturday Evening Post in December of 1930, as well as nine original Haddon Sundblom illustrations.
An American Original at 100 is housed in the Temporary Gallery, bringing together historic bottle “firsts.” It features a 13-bottle chronology, including an original glass bottle produced in 1902, a replica of the prototype contour bottle created by the Root Glass Company in 1915, and a prototype of the aluminum bottle that debuted in 2008.
Also, the exhibit showcases pop art by Andy Warhol—including videos, photographs, prints, and other original works—and folk art by Howard Finster, who incorporated the Coca-Cola bottle into dozens of his pieces over his prolific career. Another portion of this exhibit is dedicated to American presidents and their connection to the global brand. An American Original at 100 was recently on display at the High Museum of Art Atlanta.

 

In addition to Illustrations of an American Original and An American Original at 100, the Center is also displaying a full-size antique Coca-Cola delivery truck produced in 1949 by the White Motor Company and a spectacular hanging installation comprised of more than 750 3D-printed, ribbon-shaped interpretations of the bottle’s classic shape.
Coca-Cola: An American Original is the Center’s 42nd temporary exhibit. It will close on February 15, 2016.  Admission to temporary exhibits is included in the price of Library admission.

Your Heart will be filled with ART at tonight’s 2nd Friday Art Night

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2FAN logo Font sm2It is 2nd Friday Art Night again. From 5pm to 8pm (times may vary at individual locations), a variety of museums and galleries downtown are open with free events to enjoy art, music and exhibits.

Highlights include:

Mosaic Templars Cultural Center – Opening reception for “I WALKED ON WATER TO MY HOMELAND” FEATURING WORKS BY DELITA MARTIN (6pm to 8pm)

“I Walked on Water to My Homeland” is a series of mixed media works that explore the power of the narrative impulse. These works capture oral traditions that are firmly based in factual events and bring them to life using layers of various printmaking, drawing, sewing, collage and printing techniques.

The opening will feature an artist talk, refreshments and live entertainment by Acoustix with Rod P. featuring Bijoux.

Matt McLeod Fine Art – (5pm to 8pm)

A chance to see the art at the gallery and perhaps pick up a Valentine’s gift.

Historic Arkansas Museum – Opening reception for ARKANSAS CONTEMPORARIES: THEN, NOW, NEXT (5pm to 8pm)

Check out the new exhibit and enjoy a free evening of art, history, Museum Store shopping and live music by Shannon Wurst!
Enjoy a craft cocktail by Pink House Alchemy(They will also have Pink Lemonade)
Enter to win a box of chocolates from Cocoa Rouge-The winner will be announced at 6:30 pm (must be present to win)

“Arkansas Contemporaries: Then, Now, Next” – The museum’s Trinity Gallery for Arkansas Artists and Second Floor Gallery for Emerging Artists focus on exhibitions by contemporary Arkansas artists. This exhibit features exemplary selections from the museum’s permanent collection and reflects upon the work of the talented Arkansans who have been represented in these galleries over the past ten years and a glimpse to future exhibitions.  Featured artworks in this exhibit represent important points in the careers of contemporary Arkansas artists like Bryan Massey, Warren Criswell, Katherine Strause, John Harlan Norris, Katherine Rutter, Grace Mikell Ramsey and others.  Exhibit continues through May 8, 2016.

Old State House Museum – Felice Farrell, cello (5pm to 8pm)

Join the Old State House as Arkansas Symphony Orchestra cellist Felice Farrell performs solo works for cello by the well-known 18th century German composer Johann Sebastian Bach and 20th century Spanish cellist and composer Gaspar Cassado. The Old State House Museum is one of several downtown locations that hosts this evening of entertainment and exhibits. While here, shop the Museum Store. Visitors can ride the trolley to visit other Second Friday venues, including the Historic Arkansas Museum.

Butler Center for Arkansas Studies – Opening reception for PAINTING 360: A LOOK AT CONTEMPORARY PANORAMIC PAINTING (5pm to 8pm)

On view through Saturday, April 30, artists whose work is featured in Painting 360° include Marcia Clark, Nicholas Evans-Cato, Christopher Evans, Amer Kobaslija, Jackie Lima, Matthew Lopas, Carrie O’Coyle, Dick Termes, and Melissa Cowper Smith.
Featured artist: Julie Holt, an artist who handbuilds clay objects and vessels.
Featured musician: The Rolling Blackouts

Coca-Cola Collectors’ Convention today at Clinton Center

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Coca-Cola-Bottle-History-v2-hiDo you have unique Coca-Cola products or memorabilia you would like appraised?

Join Ted Ryan, Director of Heritage Communications for The Coca-Cola Company, at the Clinton Center on Saturday, January 30, for a Coca-Cola Collectors’ Convention. Learn more about your Coca-Cola treasures and connect with other Coca-Cola aficionados.

The Clinton Center will also have FREE family activities in conjunction with their current temporary exhibit, Coca-Cola: An American Original, including “Recreate an Original,” an opportunity to become part of Norman Rockwell’s original paintings, Out Fishin’ and Barefoot Boy.

Collectors’ Convention
10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Coca-Cola Family Activity
10:00 a.m. – 2 p.m.

This event is free and open to the public, but regular admission fees apply to tour the Library.

2nd Friday Art Night at Historic Arkansas Museum

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PhillipRexHuddlestonThe second Friday of 2016 means it is time for the first 2nd Friday Art Night of the year.

Historic Arkansas Museum hosts a free evening of art, history and live music by Phillip Rex Huddleston!  It runs from 5pm to 8pm.

The evening offers a chance to explore two small exhibitions in the museum’s First Floor Hall, including: Maps of Arkansas (1822 – 1856) and Niloak Art Pottery Figurines (produced in Benton, Arkansas, 1909 – 1946).

Maps of Arkansas – This collection of historic maps of Arkansas, a gift of Parker Westbrook, illustrates the evolution of Arkansas from the Territorial Era through early statehood including the division and addition of many counties and a doubling of Arkansas’s population between 1840 and 1850. The maps are engravings on paper and skillfully hand-colored.

Parker Westbrook (1926 – 2015) is widely acknowledged as the “father” of historic preservation in Arkansas. He received many accolades in the field of preservation, was a museum commissioner for more than 30 years and served as chair for a time. Parker’s contributions to Historic Arkansas Museum include securing log structures for the museum farmstead, teaching us how to lay split-rail fencing, donating an array of historic objects to the museum’s collection and contributing many bottles of his famous muscadine wine to the live auction of our biennial fundraiser.

Niloak Art Pottery Figurines – Niloak is a line of American art pottery produced in Benton, Arkansas, from 1909 until 1946. Although best known for their distinctive mission swirl pottery, Niloak also began producing a castware line called Hywood Art Pottery in the 1930s. The capricious figurines in this display represent the expansive variety of cast pieces produced by the company. The name Niloak is Kaolin spelled backward. Kaolin is a type of fine-grade clay found in Benton, AR. This collection was generously donated to the museum’s permanent collection by former Arkansas congressman Vic Snyder.

Several other downtown museums and galleries participate in 2nd Friday Art Night.

Historic Arkansas Museum is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

Bonus Highlight of 2015 – Creative Corridor

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Sep opening ccA grand opening to highlight the new features and completed sections of the Creative Corridor’s Low Impact Development (LID) streetscape took place on September 14 as the revitalization of Little Rock’s Main Street continues to take shape, block by block.  Earlier in the year, Matt McLeod’s mural Beneath the Surface was dedicated at the corner of Sixth and Main Streets.  Together with Lorri Acott’s sculpture Peace and mural banners by Stephano and Virmarie DePoyster, public art is taking shape along the Creative Corridor.

The most recently completed improvements in the 500 block of Main Street were opened to the public for strolling along the tree-lined boardwalk on the west side.  All of the pedestrian and environmentally friendly streetscapes in the 100, 200, 300 and 500 blocks of Main Street contain LID features such as bioswales, porous pavers, rain gardens, and other biodiverse vegetation.

The grand opening also celebrated the elements of creative place-making that have occurred. Recent public art installations and the clustering of artistic and creative organizations on Main Street are transforming the Creative Corridor into a downtown hub that supports a great level of pedestrian activity, sociability, recreation and aesthetics.

An arts open house and reception followed the tour, with the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Ballet Arkansas, Matt McLeod Fine Art, and Cranford Co. opening the doors to their new, connected spaces. Later that week, ACANSA kicked off with a street party showcasing the ASO.

The Creative Corridor is a mixed-use development project aimed at restoring the vitality of Main Street by creating an arts district and retrofitting a four-block segment of the street between President Clinton Avenue and 7th streets. The City of Little Rock estimates that more than $100 million in private and public investment has occurred to date to help make this vision a reality.