Category Archives: History

80 years ago today – Basketball came to Robinson Auditorium

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Coach Earl Quigley in the 1940s

While Joseph Taylor Robinson Memorial Auditorium is known today as a performance and meeting venue, in its early days it was also the home to sports. Eighty years ago tonight the first basketball game was played at Robinson.

With the renovation dropping the orchestra level down many feet, one of the basketball goals would have been approximately where the cast of Wicked is currently performing.

One of the first regular activities which took place in the lower level exhibition hall was a series of boxing and wrestling matches.  Building on the success of this, basketball came to the convention hall in January 1940.

A series of games featuring Little Rock High School and North Little Rock High School were announced by Tiger Coach Earl Quigley to take place from January 11 through February 16, the official opening day for the facility.

At that time, neither high school had a gymnasium; therefore both schools played their basketball games on their school auditorium stages with fans seated in the audience. The convention hall offered a regulation size floor (made of pecan block parquet) with seating for over 1,300 people along the sidelines and in the balcony.  The first men’s basketball game in Robinson Auditorium took place between the Little Rock High School Tigers and the North Little Rock High School Wildcats on January 11, 1940.

The Tigers lost the game before a crowd estimated to be 1,300.  Earlier in the evening there had been an exhibition between two women’s basketball teams.  The cost for admission to the games was 35 cents for the reserved seating and 25 cents for general admission.

Pulaski Heights City Council meets for final time on January 10, 1916

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104 years ago today, the Pulaski Heights City Council held its final meeting.  Following the January 4 annexation election, Mayor L. H. Bradley convened the Pulaski Height City Council for the final time on January 10, 1916.

Five of the eight aldermen were present for the final meeting.  E. T. Reaves, R. G. Trickett, W.A. Turner, J. B. Webster, and H.C. Locklar.  Absent were J. S. Murphy, J.H. Hicks, and W. H. Keeton.

The City Recorder was A. M. Edwards, while O. E. White was Treasurer and Jonathan P. Streepey was City Attorney.

At the meeting, bills were paid and allowances were made for the transfer of assets and responsibilities to the City of Little Rock.  The minutes do not reflect if there were any valedictory addresses by any of the elected officials, which were often the practice in that era.

Once Mayor Bradley and the Council had worked their way through the agenda, Alderman Reaves made the motion to adjourn the council sine die which was seconded by Alderman Webster. The motion passed unanimously.  With that, the Pulaski Heights City Council, which had first met in 1904, finished its business.

#2FAN at Christ Church – Opening of Baxter Knowlton exhibit “Arkansas Figures”

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Image may contain: 1 personThe first 2nd Friday Art Night of 2020 also features an event at Christ Church downtown at 509 Scott Street.

Baxter Knowlton has painted hundreds of commissioned portraits for people all across the country. Come see his latest show: Arkansas Figures. The paintings in this show are portraits of only a few of the Arkansans he admires.

Bonus: there will be eats, drinks, and Isaac Alexander will be spinning tunes.

The exhibit will continue through March 31.  The artwork is available for purchase.

#2FAN at Old State House Museum – Brae Leni in concert tonight

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Image may contain: 3 people, people smiling, people on stage, night and indoor

Join the Old State House Museum for another round of excitement at the monthly 2nd Friday Art Night!  2020 kicks off with a concert.

Inspired by Motown, Arkansas native Brae Leni will share his soul sound at the Old State House Museum for the first #2ndFridayLR of the year. For an extra special twist, Brae Leni and The Blackout is adding a horn section for the evening!

2nd Friday Art Night is downtown Little Rock’s monthly after-hours art and culture event. Attendance is free, and a trolley will take you between different participating venues for free. The museum also serves free snacks and beverages.

2FAN at HAM – Vice and Virtue tonight at Historic Arkansas Museum

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Join Historic Arkansas Museum in 2020 for another great year of 2FAN!

For the first 2FAN of the year, they’ll hold the opening reception for Vice and Virtue, an exhibit by Melissa Wilkinson. Providing the musical entertainment for the evening is Little Rock’s The Cons of Formant.

Beverages and appetizers will be served in the Stella Boyle Smith Atrium including Arkansas-made beer from Stone’s Throw Brewing.

2nd Friday Art Night is sponsored by the Historic Arkansas Museum Foundation, with special thanks to 107 Liquor. The exhibit and reception are free and open to the public.

Vice and Virtue
Second Floor Gallery
January 10 – April 5, 2020

Melissa Wilkinson uses the traditional processes of painting to meditate on issues of gender, identity construction, and beauty by embracing the tactile in an increasingly technological and dehumanizing time. Her works embrace dichotomies, such as obscuring and revealing, attraction and repulsion, good and evil, the past and the present, and masculine and feminine. Vice and Virtue consists of appropriated images sourced from disco, private Tumblr accounts, and late 70’s/early 80’s “tomboys” who informed Wilkinson’s identity and sense of self as a queer person. Wilkinson’s meticulously crafted watercolor and ink wash paintings straddle the line between abstraction and representation and invite the viewer to consider how gender is perceived and displayed.

Melissa Wilkinson received her BFA in painting from Western Illinois University in 2002 and her MFA in painting from Southern Illinois University in 2006. She serves as Associate Professor of Art-Painting at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. She lives in the Memphis, TN area.

Sandwich in History at Barton Coliseum today at 12 noon

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Image may contain: sky 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 most storied structures, T. H. Barton Coliseum beginning at noon on Friday, January 10, 2020.

Barton Coliseum is a 7000+ seat arena at the Arkansas State Fairgrounds which housed many concerts and sporting events over the years and continues to serve as a venue for the State Fair’s rodeo and various motor shows.

Learn more about this 1952 structure during our approximately one hour walking tour of Barton Coliseum. Tickets are NOT required for this event. This event is FREE and OPEN to the public.

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.

Thea Foundation Insider Kick-Off Happy Hour

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thea-logo-rgb.pngStart off the new year with art-filled plans! Join the Thea Foundation  on Thursday, January 9, for a special Insider Kick-Off Happy Hour beginning at 5:30 p.m.

Find out how you can stay involved with Thea Foundation and receive great perks. When you become a Thea Insider, your annual gift gives you access to four of their Art Department exhibition openings with a special, advance meet and greet with each artist as well as 25% off their annual fundraisers, including Into the Blue and Blue Plate Special. In addition to these event benefits, you’ll receive a quarterly update on our recently-funded Art Closet projects, giving you an inside look at their impactful programming and how your contribution helps inspire young minds to think creatively across the state of Arkansas. No matter when you sign up, your Insider status continues for a full year upon joining.

Drinks and hors d’oeuvres sponsored by ROXOR Artisan Gin and Bonefish Grill will be available during this special mix and mingle about their new club opportunity.

To sign up for Thea Insiders directly, visit theafoundation.org/support and click ‘Join Today!’ under the the Thea Insider details.