Category Archives: Lecture

Isaac Hayes is topic of Old State House Museum Brown Bag lecture today

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Some people would remember Isaac Hayes Jr. as a songwriter. He won an Academy Award for the musical score for “Shaft, and “Soul Man” (written with partner David Porter) was one of the most influential songs of the 20th century.

Some people would remember Hayes as a soul singer. His solo albums “Hot Buttered Soul” and “Black Moses” topped the R&B Charts.

Some would remember Hayes as an actor from his roles in “Truck Turner,” “Escape from New York,” “It Could Happen to You,” “Rockford Files” and others. He also voiced the part of Chef in “South Park.”

Arkansan Chris Cockrell, who worked as Hayes’ producer and road manager in the 1990s and early 2000s, remembers Hayes as a grandfatherly figure. “I really admired the man. [Hayes had] integrity and honesty in a business where that isn’t the norm.”

Cockrell is going to share some of his favorite stories about the versatile entertainer during a special Brown Bag Lunch Lecture at 12 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14.

Admission is free. Guests are welcome to bring their lunch, and the Old State House Museum provides drinks.

Harry Thomason discusses BROTHER DOG: SOUTHERN TALES & HOLLYWOOD ADVENTURES today

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Producer and native Arkansan Harry Thomason will discuss his new book Brother Dog: Southern Tales & Hollywood Adventures today (November 10) at 3pm at the Clinton Presidential Center Great Hall.  The program is a partnership of the Clinton School of Public Service, Clinton Foundation, and Central Arkansas Library System.

Film and TV-movie producer Harry Thomason has worked with Burt Reynolds, Hal Holbrook, Gregory Peck, and Billy Bob Thornton, among others. His self-effacing stories– both humorous and poignant – are told as only a true raconteur can tell them. Thomason lives in Los Angeles with his wife, creator/writer Linda Bloodworth Thomason (“Designing Women,” “Evening Shade,” “Heart’s Afire”).

A humor-laced episodic memoir, “Brother Dog” is the story of a working-class childhood in the rural South during the 1950s and 60s, striving to become a filmmaker on an ever-expanding stage, helping elect a friend to the presidency, and anecdotal encounters with Chuck Berry, Prime Minister Tony Blair and other luminaries, all rich in imagery, grit, and humor.

200 Years since Arkansas Gazette was founded is focus of 2nd Friday Art Night at Historic Arkansas Museum

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2nd Friday Art Night at Historic Arkansas Museum will celebrate 200 years since the Arkansas Gazette, the oldest paper west of the Mississippi, printed its first paper at Arkansas Post.
They will have a special mini-exhibit for the evening that will showcase items related to the newspaper and its founder, William Woodruff.
At 6 pm, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette columnist Rex Nelson will give a talk in the Ottenheimer Theater about the newspaper’s long-running history and its impact on the state, referencing his columns on the subject.
In addition, the Woodruff Print Shop on the museum’s grounds will be open with activities happening on both floors. Upstairs, there will be a demonstration of the kind of press Woodruff used in 1819—a Ramage Press—and some background on Woodruff, printing, and the press in Arkansas. Downstairs, guests will be able to try out mini-presses with the Gazette masthead.
Plus, #ArkansasMade beer by Lost Forty Brewing, music by Charlotte Taylor and artist K. Ellyse Fraizer in the Museum Store.

Florence Price focus of Mosaic Templars “Lunch and Learn” program today at 12 noon

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Take a break from your work day for a Midday Music Moment at Mosaic Templars Cultural Center!  The program begins at 12 noon today (November 7).

They are partnering with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra to bring a special lunchtime presentation and performance by pianist/composer Karen Walwyn.

Karen will talk about one of Arkansas’s most renowned classical composers, Florence Price, and play snippets of her work. Karen will also lead discussion about the barriers that Price and other African American classical musicians have faced.

This is a free event.

Author Hampton Sides discusses new book ON DESPERATE GROUND today

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Image result for hampton sides on desperate ground"Join the Little Rock Parks and Recreation Department as they welcome acclaimed journalist Hampton Sides at the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History.

Sides is best-known for his gripping non-fiction adventure stories set in war or depicting epic expeditions of discovery and exploration including the bestselling histories Ghost Soldiers, Blood and Thunder, Hellhound On His Trail, In the Kingdom of Ice, and, most recently, On Desperate Ground about the greatest battle of the Korean War.

He’ll be speaking about On Desperate Ground, which features Little Rock’s John Yancey, whose family shared his notes and letters with the author. Hampton will also be signing books.

The program begins at 12 noon.