Category Archives: Government

Terror Tuesdays return to CALS Ron Robinson Theater. Up first – NOSFERATU

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Nosferatu (1922, NR)

$2 Terror Tuesdays are back! The first one is tonight (June 4).

Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, or simply Nosferatu, is a 1922 German Expressionist horror film, directed by F. W. Murnau and starring Max Schreck as the vampire Count Orlok.

The film, shot in 1921 and released in 1922, was an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897), as The Stoker Estate held the books copyright and refused permission. Various names and other details were changed from the novel including “vampire” to “Nosferatu” and “Count Dracula” to “Count Orlok.” Stoker’s heirs sued over the adaptation, and a court ruling ordered that all copies of the film be destroyed. However, a few prints of Nosferatu survived, and the film came to be regarded as an influential masterpiece of cinema.

The showing starts at 7pm.  Cost is $2. (Which begs the question: should this be called Terror TWOsday?)

51 years of continuous community art classes at the Arkansas Arts Center

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AAC classes in the 1960s

Though it was not yet officially called the Museum School, the Arkansas Arts Center’s first day of community art classes started on June 3, 1968.

To call it the first day of community art classes is a bit of a misnomer.  Even before the institution opened in May 1963, there were community art classes.  But once the degree-granting program launched in autumn 1964, the consistent, regular offering of those classes went away.

With the January 1968 announcement that the degree-granting program would end by May 31, 1968, plans were underway to bring back community arts classes.  Monday, June 3, 1968, started that program. Since that day, the Arkansas Arts Center has consistently offered arts classes to the community.

The session which began on June 3, 1968, was six weeks in length.  There were fourteen faculty members teaching 48 different classes for both adults and children.  The registration ranged from $10 to $22, depending on the course.   Among the course topics were painting, drawing, print-making, sculpture, crafts, design, children’s and teenage theatre, and art appreciation.  The faculty came from local artists.

Plans were already underway to offer twelve week sessions in the autumn of 1968 and spring of 1969 in a variety of art and dramatic disciplines.

As the Arkansas Arts Center prepares to vacate the space in MacArthur Park for the re-imagining of the building, Museum School classes will not go away.  They are continuing (along with the AAC summer academies) in MacArthur Park through August. Then they will move to the Arkansas Arts Center at Riverdale for the next several quarters.

Final Horace Mann High School Graduation – June 2, 1971

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Ms. Wordlow and Mr. Wilkins

On Wednesday, June 2, 1971, the final graduation took place for Horace Mann High School. Opened in the spring of 1956, it had served as Little Rock’s all African American high school for fifteen years. (Since the high schools reopened in August 1959, Central and Hall High had both been gradually increasing the number of African American students each year but students zoned for Mann continued to have the opportunity to attend that school.)

Two-hundred and forty students made up the final class. The graduation took place at Barton Coliseum on June 2.  Three days earlier, the Baccalaureate service took place at the school. The top graduate of the class was Samuel Ray Wilkins, with Eloise Wordlow ranked number two.

1971 marked the first graduating class at Little Rock’s newest high school, Parkview. The presence of that school helped hasten the end of Mann.  This was supposed to be the penultimate year for Mann, under the Little Rock School District’s plan. But in the summer of 1971, a federal court order mandated that Mann no longer serve as a one race high school effective the start of the 1971-1972 school year.

Because of the court order hastening the end of Mann as a high school, there was no opportunity to reflect on Mann’s legacy or note the final graduation.

So the group which thought they would be the final Mann class was instead split up to attend Central, Hall, and Parkview.  Mann was made into a junior high effective that new school year. The students who were supposed to be Mann’s last class have called themselves the 1972 Horace Mann Transitional Class and still have reunions.

Mann had followed Paul Laurence Dunbar High School as Little Rock’s African American high school. That facility had opened in 1929 with a junior high and junior college also in the same building.  Following the opening of Mann, Dunbar became solely a junior high.  The junior college component was dropped in 1955 with no publicly stated reason.

Prior to Dunbar, there had been Gibbs School which served as a primary and secondary school for Little Rock’s African American students beginning in the early 1900s. Eventually the elementary students were located in another building, which was the precursor to today’s Gibbs Elementary School.

Before Gibbs School, Capitol Hill and Union schools both existed at roughly the same time. Both included elementary, junior high, and high school students. After Gibbs School opened, they continued to serve as schools. Capitol Hill lasted as an elementary school into the 1940s.

Robinson Auditorium cornice installed on June 1, 1939

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Eighty years ago today, on June 1, 1939, the cornice was installed on Robinson Auditorium.

This granite slab noted the name of the building as the Joseph Taylor Robinson Memorial Auditorium.  (It is interesting to note that it used the more modern “u” instead of the classical “v” which was often used in buildings during prior decades – as evidenced by the Pvlaski Covnty Covrt Hovse across the street.)

This was a milestone marking the completion of the front facade of the structure.  Much work would continue on the interior of the structure.  This step in the construction was considered major enough that the Arkansas Gazette mentioned it in a news article.

June 1, 1939, was also the first day on the job for the auditorium’s first director – William T. Clemons.  A former Little Rock resident who came from Rochester NY.  The Auditorium Commission which hired him would not disclose the sources of his salary, but assured Mayor J. V. Satterfield the money did not come from City coffers.

On this date in 2015 and 2016, the cornice was again surrounded by construction materials and braces. But the restoration of Robinson Center finished in November 2016. Once again, the cornice stands proudly atop the six columns with no impediments around it.

Due to support of Entergy Arkansas, Museum of Discovery’s Tesla coil shows are now free

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Image result for "museum of discovery" "tesla coil"
Little Rock’s Museum of Discovery announced today that its guests can now enjoy the science center’s Guinness World Record musical bi-polar Tesla coil shows for free thanks to financial support from Entergy Arkansas.
The museum’s Tesla coil – named after its inventor, Nikola Tesla, the developer of the alternating current system of electricity used today – emits up to 200,000 volts of electricity visible to the eye. By changing the frequency of the release of plasma, or lightning, the coil can also play music. In 2017, Entergy became the presenting sponsor of the Tesla coil theater and is continuing its support by providing museum guests free admission to Tesla shows.
“We at Entergy hope that the Tesla show will inspire Museum of Discovery guests to learn more about science, technology, engineering and math,” said Laura Landreaux, president and CEO of Entergy Arkansas. “It’s important to us to help inspire the scientists and inventors of tomorrow to power life here in Arkansas and beyond.”
The Museum of Discovery’s coil is one of two world record musical bi-polar Tesla coils; the other is housed at the Hands On! Regional Museum in Johnson City, TN.
“Our Tesla coil is one of the iconic exhibits at the Museum of Discovery, and we are so happy to now be able to offer our very engaging Tesla show to guests at no cost,” says Kelley Bass, museum CEO. “Entergy long has been a generous supporter and great partner for our museum, and it’s gratifying that Entergy’s commitment now will pay off directly for our museum guests.”
Free Tesla shows will be offered several times a day at Museum of Discovery. For more information, visit http://www.museumofdiscovery.org or call 501-396-7050.
About Museum of Discovery
Founded in 1927, Museum of Discovery is the state’s oldest museum. Its mission is to ignite and fuel a passion for science, technology, engineering, arts and math through dynamic, interactive experiences. To learn more, visit museumofdiscovery.org.

End your May DAZED AND CONFUSED at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater

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Dazed and Confused PosterAlright, alright, alright!

Kick off the summer with the first screening in the CALS Ron Robinson Theater Rock & Reel film series: Dazed & Confused!

The screening starts at 7pm.  Admission is $5.

Richard Linklater’s coming-of-age film follows the mayhem of group of rowdy teenagers in Austin, Texas, celebrating the last day of high school in 1976.

The graduating class heads for a popular pool hall and joins an impromptu keg party, however star football player Randall “Pink” Floyd (Jason London) has promised to focus on the championship game and abstain from partying. Meanwhile, the incoming freshmen try to avoid being hazed by the seniors, most notably the sadistic bully Fred O’Bannion (Ben Affleck).

Others in the cast are Matthew McConaughey, Milla Jovovich, Rory Cochrane, Adam Goldberg, Anthony Rapp, Marissa Ribisi, Cole Hauser, Wiley Wiggins, Parker Posey, Nicky Katt, and Renee Zellweger.

Joey Lauren Adams also stars in the movie. When the Culture Vulture first saw the movie he said in a too loud voice in the Missouri movie theatre where the late night screening was taking place, “Oh my God! I went to high school with her!”