Category Archives: Government

Holiday Open House and Sweet Potato Pie contest at Mosaic Templars Cultural Center

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Celebrate the season with Mosaic Templars Cultural Center at the Holiday Open House!

The main attraction at Holiday Open House is the Say It Ain’t Say’s Sweet Potato Pie Contest. Both amateurs and professionals can compete to see whose pie is worthy to be in the same category as Robert “Say” McIntosh, a popular Little Rock restauranteur known for his generosity and his tasty sweet potato pie.

Those who can’t bake … eat! Guests get to sample the entries and vote for their favorites to win the People’s Choice Award.

There’s even more to enjoy at Holiday Open House, like musical performances and a family craft room!

Holiday Open House is free, but visitors are encouraged to bring a toy to donate to local children through Say’s Stop the Violence, a local nonprofit organization.

Hours are from 2pm to 5pm.

For more information, please call (501) 683-3593 or visit mosaictemplarscenter.com.

(A free trolley can take you to the Historic Arkansas Museum, the Old State House Museum and the Arkansas Governors Mansion.)

FROZEN SCIENCE at the Museum of Discovery today!

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Don’t “Let It Go” when it comes to the opportunity for Frozen Science at the Museum of Discovery.

The fun (and learning – but don’t tell the kids they will actually learn things) is today (December 7) from 10am to 3pm.

Suit up for a wintry science adventure full of icy experiments, liquid nitrogen demos and chilly hands-on activities!

Tickets are included in regular museum admission or free for members. Purchase tickets at the door or online.

Studio Gang was announced as Arkansas Arts Center architect on Dec. 6, 2016

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On December 6, 2016, the Arkansas Arts Center (AAC) announced the selection of Studio Gang as design architect for its upcoming building project.

The five firms selected as finalists were Allied Works (Portland, Ore./New York), Shigeru Ban (New York/Paris/Tokyo, Japan), Studio Gang (Chicago/New York), Thomas Phifer (New York) and Snohetta (Oslo, Norway/New York/San Francisco).

Studio Gang was deemed the best fit for the project due to the firm’s elegant and smart approach to architecture, their understanding of the issues posed by the AAC’s current facility, their vision for the center as a cultural beacon for Central Arkansas and their commitment to sustainability and strength as urban planners.

Founded by MacArthur Fellow Jeanne Gang, Studio Gang is an award-winning architecture and urbanism practice based out of Chicago and New York. A recipient of the 2013 National Design Award, Jeanne Gang was also named the 2016 Archiitect of the Year by the Architectural Review and the firm was awarded the 2016 Architizer A+ award for Firm of the Year.

Studio Gang is recognized internationally for a design process that foregrounds the relationships between individuals, communities and environments. The firm has extensive knowledge in museum, theatre and artist studio spaces, with projects ranging from the Writers Theatre in Glencoe, Ill. to the Aqua Tower in Chicago to the expansion of the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

Since their selection, Studio Gang has brought on a variety of other members of the consultant team including:

In February 2018, Studio Gang released their first designs for the project.  On October 1, 2019, ground was broken and construction officially commenced.

Blues legend Bobby Rush in concert at the Ron Robinson Theater tonight, presented by CALS Arkansas Sounds

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CALS Arkansas Sounds presents an intimate solo show with blues legend BOBBY RUSH!

Bobby Rush is a Grammy Award winner, a Blues Hall of Fame member, a 12-time Blues Music Award winner and B.B. King Entertainer of the Year.

Bobby Rush was actually born as Emmett Ellis, Jr. outside Homer, La. His daddy was a preacher and knew enough about a harmonica to pass along a few riffs to his progeny, who twanged a diddley bow before picking up a guitar around age 11. The senior Ellis relocated his family to Pine Bluff, Arkansas in 1948. When young Bobby went professional as a blues musician, he changed his moniker to not disrespect his devout dad. And Bobby Rush was born.

Bobby started playing with Delta blues guitarists Boyd Gilmore and Elmore James in Arkansas during the early ’50s before migrating to Chicago. There he assembled a band with an equally young Freddie King on guitar and Arkansan Luther Allison came into the combo later. Rush gigged around the West Side and in the southern suburbs of the Windy City, but it took until 1964 for him to debut on record with the tough downbeat blues “Someday” for the Jerry-O label.

And now, jumping forward to 2019, after decades of tearing up the chitlin’ circuit on a nightly basis with his sweaty, no-holds-barred funk-fests, Bobby has thoroughly broken through to the mainstream. He won a long-overdue 2017 Grammy for his spectacular album Porcupine Meat and consistently tours the globe as a headliner. What’s more, Bobby’s brand-new album Sitting on Top of the Blues on his own Deep Rush imprint promises to further spread the news that this revered legend, well past his 85+ years of age even if his stratospheric energy level belies the calendar, is bigger, badder and bolder than ever.

Don’t miss this chance to see BOBBY RUSH perform a special SOLO SHOW on Friday, December 6 at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater in downtown Little Rock! That’s right, you’ll see and hear Bobby Rush singing, playing guitar and harmonica, and telling stories-all by himself!

Tickets are $30 for general admission seating. The doors open at 7:00 pm and the concert starts at 8:00 pm.

Sandwich in History at the Arsenal Tower Building in MacArthur Park today

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Image may contain: sky, cloud, house and outdoorYou are invited to join the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program’s next “Sandwiching in History” tour, which will visit one of Little Rock’s oldest standing structures, the Arsenal Tower Building, now home to the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History on 9th Street in MacArthur Park in Little Rock beginning at noon on Friday, December 6, 2019.

This structure was built as part of a federal military installation. The U.S. Arsenal is the only building that remains of the more than 30 that made up the original installation. After 1892, the arsenal grounds became City Park and later MacArthur Park in 1942.

The two-story brick building displays a slight Gothic influence in a centered octagonal entry tower. Symmetrical east and west wings display two-story full porches. For several decades, the building was endangered, but the City of Little Rock undertook a renovation project in the 1930s. The U.S. Arsenal currently houses the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History.

Sandwiching in History tours are worth one hour of AIA continuing education credit. If you would like to receive email notifications of upcoming tours instead of postcards or need additional information, please contact Callie Williams, Education and Outreach Coordinator for AHPP, at 501-324-9880 or Callie.Williams@arkansas.gov.

Prohibition Repealed on December 5, 1933

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On December 5, 1933, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Utah provided the necessary support to officially repeal “the great experiment.”

Because this was such a foregone conclusion, the Arkansas Gazette and Arkansas Democrat carried only small, single column stories on their front pages.  Perhaps because this was Arkansas, it did not appear that any Little Rock businesses immediately set about to capitalize on this.  At least there were not any large scale advertisements in the days following that would indicate any specials or activities planned for the December 15 official end.

In fact, the only mention in the newspapers on December 15 was that President Roosevelt was trying to decide what the alcohol taxing structure should be.

One amusing story that ran in the Arkansas Democrat on December 6 was that Mrs. Roosevelt was keeping the wine glasses in storage at the White House for the time being.  She was awaiting action by Congress once it convened in January 1934 as to how it would deal with properly ending Prohibition in the District of Columbia.  Over 3,000 wine glasses had been in storage since Prohibition had been enacted.

Science after Dark: Jingle Booze. Tonight at the Museum of Discovery

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Fa La La La La La La La Cocktails! Join the Museum of Discovery for the final Science after Dark of 2019.

This evening it is a holiday-themed Science After Dark! Be sure to wear your ugly sweaters!

Sponsors Fassler Hall Little Rock will sell food, Stone’s Throw Brewing will sell beer and Rock Town Distillery will sell cocktails.

You must be at least 21 to enter. Tickets are $5 or free for members and can be purchased online or at the door.