Category Archives: Government

Pop Up in the Rock today from 11am to 5pm along West 9th from Broadway

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Create Little Rock, the young professionals organization of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce, and studioMAIN, a collective of design professionals, developers, and contractors, are excited to share developments in the 2015 PopUp in the Rock planning.

This year, PopUp West Ninth will take place Saturday, October 24 from 11am until 5pm. It will span from the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center (MTCC) at Ninth and Broadway to the Dreamland Ballroom at Ninth and State and across the State Street overpass to the campus of Philander Smith. The project will feature a meandering street with the intention of slowing traffic creating a more pedestrian friendly environment, a children’s corner, street musicians and performers, Dreamland Ballroom tours and a PopUp Goodfellas barber shop.

Local food trucks, vendors and entertainment have also been secured including Solfood Catering and Brown Sugar Bake Shop, local food trucks Loblolly, The Beast, Southern Gourmasian, Banana Leaf, Blackhound BBQ, Katmandu Momo as well as the Lost Forty beer garden.  There will be PopUp shopping featuring Mimi Mwafrika designs and Tribal Collections. Great local musicians such as Lucious Spiller and the Arkansas Baptist Choir among several others will perform throughout the day.

PopUp in the Rock began generating community feedback for PopUp West Ninth at the 2014 Juneteenth Celebration of Freedom hosted by Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, Arkansas’s museum of African American history and culture.  Once known as “The Line,” Ninth Street was a bustling east-west thoroughfare with a trolley line. It was a bustling community with a thriving urban fabric of mixed-use development that was largely black-owned.

Booker T. Washington spoke at Ninth and Broadway in 1913. Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and others performed at the Dreamland Ballroom and other jazz clubs along Ninth. Daisy and L.C. Bates operated their Arkansas State Press there, and, from the present location of MTCC, the Mosaic Templars operated a politically and financially influential headquarters. The campus of Philander Smith once spanned north to West Ninth before Interstate 630 divided the district. One goal of PopUp West Ninth is to encourage pedestrian and bicycle traffic between Philander Smith and West Ninth Street via the South State Street overpass, thereby bridging the gap that originally tore apart the neighborhood. Utilizing community feedback and knowledge of the deep historical roots of West Ninth, PopUp in the Rock hopes to demonstrate the district’s potential for an equally vibrant future.

 

BOO at the Zoo Glows in 2015

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Attendees coming to the Little Rock Zoo’s annual Halloween festival will get to see the park in a whole new light this year with the addition of glowing decorations in theme of Halloween. Boo at the Zoo continues Oct. 23 – Oct. 31, with a special Dia de los Muertos event Oct. 30.

The Zoo will come alive at night with thousands of new holiday lights decorated throughout the park, including trees wrapped with Halloween-colored lights, pathways decorated with exciting visual displays, and spooky new attractions for the Haunted Train and Haunted House.

Boo at the Zoo will also feature all the fun that Arkansas families have come to expect, with trick-or-treat stations full of toys and candy to choose from, carnival rides and games, bounce house inflatables, Frankenstein’s Dance Party and the Thriller Dance performance, a nightly costume contest, live music every night, free s’mores with every ticket, free milk from Hiland Dairy, the Haunted Carousel ride, Haunted Train ride, a hay maze, face painting, glitter tattoos, kid’s area games, Haunted Bingo, and food trucks with food available for purchase each night.

Admission to Boo at the Zoo is $20 per person for wristband admission and includes all rides, attractions and six tickets for trick-or-treat stations and s’mores. Wristband admission does not include food or retail purchases or Haunted Bingo. General Admission is $10 and includes six tickets that may be used for trick-or-treat stations, s’mores, or for rides and attractions. Rides and attractions take between two and 10 tickets. Individual tickets for rides, attractions, treat stations and s’mores are also sold inside the Zoo for $.50 each and guests purchasing General Admission tickets also have the option to upgrade to a wristband if they chose. Admission passes can be purchased online starting now at www.LittleRockZoo.com/boo or at the Zoo’s front gate entrance.

Boo at the Zoo is sponsored by the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau, Blue and You Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation, Acxiom, Ambetter of Arkansas, Coca-Cola, Cumulus Broadcasting with B98.5, Alice 107.7 and KOKY 102.1, Arkansas Federal Credit Union, Aristotle, Discount Trophy, New Age Distributing, The Wonder Place, TruService Credit Union, Kroger, Target, Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Premium Refreshment Services. 

Dia de los Muertos Oct. 30

In honor of the traditional Hispanic holiday, Dia de los Muertos, the Little Rock Zoo has partnered with Hola! Arkansas to host a special Boo at the Zoo on Oct. 30. The rich culture of Dia de los Muertos will be showcased by members of Hola! Arkansas, who will set up a special altar in honor of deceased relatives – a tradition of many Hispanic families celebrating this holiday that normally falls on Nov. 1. This special night of Boo at the Zoo will also feature Hispanic dancers and performers. All regular Boo at the Zoo activities and events will also be available, and the event is open to the public.

About Boo at the Zoo

Boo at the Zoo is Arkansas’s largest Halloween festival featuring trick-or-treating in a safe environment along with dozens of Halloween themed activities for the entire family. Now is its 24th year, Boo at the Zoo has become a staple for central Arkansas families. Boo at the Zoo is a nighttime event where the Little Rock Zoo reopens after normal operating hours to host ghosts and ghouls and everything that goes “bump” in the night in all corners of the Zoo. Costumes are not required to attend Boo at the Zoo but are encouraged. The event is known for popular attractions such as the Haunted Train where the Zoo’s miniature train is turned into a haunted nighttime attraction as well as the Haunted Carousel that is free to the public. To learn more visit www.LittleRockZoo.com/boo

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow unfolds at the Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre

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aacctSleepyHollow_posterWashington Irving’s classic tale comes to life as the Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre continues its 2015/2016 Main Stage season with The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, October 23-November 8.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is an American Halloween classic. Gremlins, ghosts and galloping headless horsemen will haunt audiences Fridays at 7 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m., October 23 through November 8. It is recommended for third grade and up.

Ichabod Crane is the newly-hired schoolmaster of Sleepy Hollow, a superstitious little community in New York’s Hudson Valley, 1790. He persistently professes his disbelief in all things supernatural—until the night of Katrina Van Tassel’s Halloween Frolic, that is. Riding home that evening, Ichabod comes face to face—so to speak—with Sleepy Hollow’s most feared and famous ghost.

The cast includes:

  • Paige Carpenter of Lonsdale, as Hilde Winetraub;
  • Geoffrey Eggelston of Sioux Falls, S.D., as Ichabold Crane;
  • Mark Hansen of Little Rock as the Pastor and Van Ripper;
  • Lauren Linton of Memphis, as Katrina Van Tassel;
  • Aleigha Morton of Little Rock, as Widow Winetraub;
  • Nick Spencer of Nashville, Tenn, as Brom Van Brunt;
  • Rhett Booher of Little Rock as Cornwall;
  •  and Sarah Tennille of Little Rock, and Max Green of North Little Rock.

Adapted by Frederick Gaines from the story by Washington Irving, it is directed by John Isner. Bradley Anderson is the artistic director. Costumes are designed by Erin Larkin, technical direction by Drew Posey, lighting design by Mike Stacks, properties design by Miranda Young and Sarah Gasser is the stage manager.

 

Show times: Fridays at 7 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m.

Ticket prices: $12.50 General admission, $10 for Arkansas Arts Center members, $10 per person for groups of 10 or more (Children 2 years of age and under are free, however the child must remain in an adult’s lap at all times.)

Best enjoyed by third grade and up.

Creative Class of 2015: Jessica Sabin

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Jessica sabinThough she doesn’t appear on stage much anymore as an actor or dancer, Jessica Deloach Sabin is still very much a participant in cultural life.

As the newly appointed executive director of Arts Advocates Arkansas, she is working to be an arts advocate for every county in Arkansas. Among her focuses are the implementation of new state standards for arts education, developing a legislative arts caucus among  elected officials, and creating partnerships statewide and nationwide to ensure the arts and creative economy continue to grow and flourish in Arkansas.

She is also an active supporter of Historic Arkansas Museum and is busy working on their upcoming Candlelight Gala, which also celebrates HAM’s 75th anniversary.

While at UALR, she was a W.K. Kellogg Foundation NextGen Scholar and a Friday Sturgis Scholar, and earned a triple major in Political Science, Theater Arts and Liberal Studies from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, where she served as vice president of the student body.  She was also a member of the UALR Martin Luther King, Jr. Academy and as a Chancellor’s Leadership Corps Scholar and Ambassador. She also earned her certification in Philanthropy and Voluntary Service from Georgetown University in 2006. As a current member of Class X at the Clinton School of Public Service, she spent her summer in Italy working on a service project.

A graduate of El Dorado High School, she now makes her home in Little Rock with her husband, State Representative Warwick Sabin.

And then there were Two – Finalists for next CALS Director announced

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calsThe Transition/Selection Committee of the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) has recommended the CALS Board of Trustees consider two candidates, Nate Coulter and Haley Lagasse, both of Little Rock, as the final candidates for the position of director.

The next director will succeed longtime director Dr. Bobby Roberts.

There will be a reception in mid-November open to anyone interested in meeting the finalists. An announcement of the new director will be made following the Board of Trustees meeting on Thursday, December 10, at noon at Hillcrest Hall, 1501 Kavanaugh Blvd.

Nominate an Arkansas Living Treasure for Arts Council recognition

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AACDAH Living TreasWhat do a potter, a wood sculptor, a basket maker, an egg artist, a stained glass artist, a fiddle maker, a log cabin maker, a handmade wooden plane maker, a chair maker, a quilt maker, and a bladesmith have in common?

They are all past recipients of our Arkansas Living Treasure award.

The Arkansas Arts Council is currently searching for a new artist to take his or her reign as the 2016 Arkansas Living Treasure. They are seeking an Arkansas artist who excels in the creation of a traditional craft and who actively preserves and advances his or her craft through community outreach and educating others.

Nominations are due Friday, November 6. ‪#‎AuthenticArkansas‬‪#‎SupportCraftArt‬ ‪#‎ArkansasArts‬
http://www.arkansasarts.org/…/Arkansas-Living-Treasure…/home

Now in its 14th year, the Arkansas Living Treasure program annually recognizes an Arkansas artist who excels in the creation of a traditional craft and who actively preserves and advances his or her craft through community outreach and educating others.

An independent panel of practicing craft artists and professionals in the fields of craft and folk art selects the recipient based on the following criteria: quality of work, community outreach and total contribution to the field of traditional crafts. The awardee is honored at a ceremony in May during Arkansas Heritage Month.

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 recipient. Click HERE to view the documentaries featured in the Arkansas Living Treasure Film Project.

Little Rock Look Back: LR Mayor Donald Mehlburger

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Mayor D L MehlburgerOn October 19, 1937, future Little Rock Mayor Donald Lee Mehlburger was born in Little Rock.  His parents were Max A. Mehlburger and Mary Lou Covey Mehlburger who also had another son Max C. Mehlburger.

Mehlburger’s first run for the City Board of Directors was in November 1968 when there was an open seat.  At the time he was 30, the youngest one could be and be elected to the City Board.  He lost that race, but eight years later ran again.  This time Mehlburger won the race.  At his first meeting on the City Board, Mehlburger was selected as Mayor of Little Rock by his colleagues.

Prior to running for the City Board the second time, Mehlburger had been appointed to the Planning Commission.  Planning and growth were two important emphases for Mayor Mehlburger, in addition to public safety.  He stressed the importance of quality growth in the edges of the city and a push for a revitalized downtown.  Mayor Mehlburger was also an advocate for public mass transit.

Due to business interests taking up too much of his time, he resigned from the City Board a few months before his term was up.  But he remained engaged in civic affairs.  Historic preservation was important to Mehlburger.  In addition to owning historic properties, he was a founding board member of the Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas.  He had graduated from the University of Arkansas and was a member of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral.  He had also been active with the Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees) and Rotary Club 99.

Mehlburger died on May 25, 1992 and was buried at Mount Holly Cemetery.  His grave marker features an engraved sextant which pays tribute to his career as an engineer.  It also notes that he was Mayor of Little Rock.  Mayor Mehlburger was survived by his wife Susan and his three children – Donald Lee Jr., Harry and Katherine.