Category Archives: Lecture

Muslims of the World is focus of Clinton School Discussion this evening

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Muslims of the World: Portraits and Stories of Hope, Survival, Loss, and Love by [Shah, Sajjad, Mahoui, Iman, Mogahed, Yasmin]

Tonight (2/25) at 6pm at Sturgis Hall, the Clinton School presents a program on the new book “Muslims of the World.”

“Muslims of the World” tells the diverse stories of Muslims living in the U.S. and around the world. Illustrated throughout with moving photographs, each chapter focuses on different aspects of the Islamic faith and the many varying cultures it encompasses, offering tales of love, family, and faith while empowering Muslim women, refugees, and people of color.

Whether it is telling a story about a young Syrian refugee who dreams of being a pilot or about a young girl’s decision to not remove her hijab, which in turn saved her family’s life, Muslims of the World aims to unite people of all cultures and faiths by sharing the hopes, trials, and tribulations of Muslims from every walk of life.

A book signing will follow the program.

Making History: African-American Mayors in Arkansas is topic of noon conversation today at the Clinton Presidential Center

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Clockwise from left: Smith-Creer, Washington, McGill, Scott

Today at noon, the Clinton Presidential Center will host a program featuring four African-American mayors from across Arkansas.

The panel will be moderated by former Little Rock Mayor Lottie Shackelford, who was Little Rock’s first female mayor and second African-American mayor.

The program will feature the newly elected Mayor Veronica Smith-Creer of El Dorado, Mayor George McGill of Fort Smith, Mayor Frank Scott, Jr. of Little Rock, and Mayor Shirley Washington of Pine Bluff, who was first elected in 2016.

Hear from Tonya Allen, the Clinton School Center on Community Philanthropy Scholar in Residence today at noon

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Image result for tonya allen skillmanTonya Allen, a serial “idea-preneur,”serves as the Skillman Foundation’s president and chief executive officer. She will discuss her work today (2/22) at noon. She is the 2019 Clinton School Center on Community Philanthropy Scholar in Residence.

Allen’s has been in a week-long residency at the Clinton School of Public Service are since February 18.

Her two-decade-long career has centered on pursuing, executing and investing in ideas that improve her hometown of Detroit and reduce the plight of people, especially children, who live in under-resourced communities. In her current role, Allen aligns the complexities of education reform, urban revitalization, and public policy to improve the well-being of Detroit’s and the nation’s children.

Allen has been instrumental in many successful philanthropic, government and community initiatives, including serving the boys and men of color field as chair for Campaign for Black Male Achievement and co-chair for My Brother’s Keeper Detroit and Executives’ Alliance for Boys and Men of Color.

All Clinton School Speaker Series events are free and open to the public. Reserve your seats by emailing publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu or by calling (501) 683-5239.

Contemporary Craft: A Conversation tonight (2/21) at the Clinton Presidential Center

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Image may contain: textJoin the Clinton Center on Thursday, February 21 at 6 p.m., for a discussion with three nationally-acclaimed, Arkansas-based artists for Contemporary Craft: A Conversation, moderated by Brian Lang. The panel will discuss contemporary craft art in Arkansas, the evolution of their work, how craft art is different than traditional fine art, and the role they think craft art plays in reflecting culture.

Brian J. Lang (moderator)
Brian Lang is the chief curator and Windgate Foundation curator of contemporary craft at the Arkansas Arts Center.

Linda Nguyen Lopez (Panelist)
Linda Nguyen Lopez is first-generation American ceramic artist of Vietnamese and Mexican descent. Her abstract works explore the poetic potential of the everyday by imagining and articulating a vast emotional range embedded in the mundane objects that surround us. She is currently an Instructor and Interim Head of Ceramics at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.

James Matthews (Panelist)
James Matthews is a documentary artist with a bias toward the human-made landscape, manual processes, and the physical object. His Eviction Quilts series features works made from clothes and bedding left curbside after an eviction. Matthews lives in Little Rock.

Leon Niehues (Panelist)
From Huntsville, Leon Niehues has been making baskets, sculptural baskets, and bentwood sculpture for 36 years. While using traditional materials and techniques, he adds innovative ideas, methods of construction, and new and unique materials to his pieces. Niehues, and his wife Sharon, were included in The White House Collection of American Crafts.

This program is FREE and open to the public, but reservations are required.

This program is held in conjunction with the Clinton Center’s current temporary exhibition, The White House Collection of American Crafts: 25th Anniversary Exhibit. The collection was originally assembled in 1993, at the request of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. The White House Collection of American Crafts was created to coincide with the year designated “The Year of American Craft: A Celebration of the Creative Works of the Hand” by a Joint Resolution of Congress and a Presidential Proclamation by President George H. W. Bush. The collection includes 73 works created by 78 of America’s foremost craft artisans.

Late Night at Arkansas Arts Center features Art of Motion and Music: Movement and Frida

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Art of Motion and Music: Movement and Frida

Artifact Dance Project Artistic Director Ashley Bowman will discuss her quest to portray Frida Kahlo through movement. The program will begin at 6pm tonight (February 21) at the Arkansas Arts Center Lecture Hall.  A wine reception at 5:30 precedes it.  As part of the Late Night at the Arkansas Arts Center, all galleries, the museum shop, and Watercolor restaurant are open until 9:00 p.m.

Frida Kahlo suffered great physical and emotional pain throughout her life that manifested through her art. Because of her many surgeries, she was often committed to long periods of bed rest and healing time. Portraying Frida through movement is a challenging task because the artist was bound by her body and made that clear throughout her journal and self-portraits. Bowman will discuss how dance became the perfect artform to communicate the inner-workings of an artist who could barely move at times.

Following the lecture, guests are invited to view the galleries, shop in the Museum Shop or enjoy dinner at Watercolor in the Park.

Today at Clinton School – the Arkansas Rep production of CHICAGO

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Image may contain: indoorThe Arkansas Repertory Theatre works in partnership with the Clinton School of Public Service to participate in the UACS’s Distinguished Speaker Series, hosting educational panel discussions on various Rep productions.  Now that the Rep is back in production (!), this partnership is back in full force.

The latest in these takes place today, Thursday, February 21 at 12 noon at Sturgis Hall in Clinton Presidential Park.  It focuses on the Rep’s upcoming production of the Kander and Ebb musical Chicago.

Originally a play in the 1920s, it was adapted as a musical in 1974 and 1975 by John Kander, Fred Ebb, and Bob Fosse.  Opportunity knocks when a crime of passion earns Roxie Hart the kind of notoriety that slick-talking attorney Billy Flynn can exploit for her dreams of fame and his hunger for fortune. Roxie’s story captures the imaginations of newspaper readers and reporters who fall hook, line and sinker for Billy’s clever manipulation. Roxie quickly overshadows previous murderess, media darling, and fellow Cook County inmate – vaudevillian Velma Kelly.

Set in the Jazz Age, Kander and Ebb’s legendary, Tony Award-winning musical takes a tantalizing look at how the times may change, but the allure of fame remains a fundamental motivation for those willing to sacrifice their scruples for the spotlight.

The original Broadway production was nominated for 11 Tony Awards and ran for 936 performances. The 1996 Broadway revival is still running (9,251 performances as of this past Sunday) and won 6 Tony Awards.  The 2002 movie won 6 Oscars including Best Picture.

Join the Clinton School for a panel discussion about this production with Ron Hutchins, who is directing the production, and members of the cast and creative team.

The play opens officially on Friday evening and runs through Sunday, March 24.

Rock the Oscars 2019: John Lithgow

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On February 18, 2008, two time Oscar nominee John Lithgow appeared in Little Rock before a packed house at the Statehouse Convention Center.  Sponsored by the Clinton School for Public Service speaker series, he spoke about the importance of the arts.  He also read from his children’s stories to the kids in attendance who he brought up to the front.

Actor, author and singer John Lithgow has appeared in more than 30 films, been nominated for two Oscars and had roles in numerous television shows. Perhaps his most celebrated work came as the loopy character of the alien High Commander, Dick Solomon, on the hit NBC comedy series “3rd Rock from the Sun.”

As an author, Lithgow has written seven New York Times best-selling children’s picture books, including “The Remarkable Farkle McBride,” “Marsupial Sue,” “Micawber,” and “I’m a Manatee.” A graduate of Harvard University, Lithgow helped to establish “Arts First,” a weeklong festival on campus dedicated to the arts, and the “Arts Medal,” given annually to a Harvard graduate for outstanding achievement in the arts.

As a New York Times best-selling author of children’s, Lithgow says he writes in order to educate children “without them knowing it” and labels himself “the perfect man for the job.” Lithgow calls for successful people who achieve their ambitious goals to ask, “What else can I do here?” and “How can I use my success to make things happen?”

His 2008 appearance can be viewed here.