Category Archives: Lecture

LR Cultural Touchstone: Ann Nicholson

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ann_nicholsonAnn Nicholson has been in Little Rock since the 1970s. She maintains the distinctive accent of her native Great Britain, which she puts to use as the “voice of UALR Public Radio” and the host of the weekly interview show “Art Scene.”

For more than 25 years, Ann Nicholson has shared the news and promoted cultural events in Central Arkansas via the KLRE/KUAR airwaves.  Host of “The Arts Scene,” an in-depth interview program that features local and international artists in all genres and a weekly arts calendar, Nicholson has loyal listeners who have enjoyed her interviews, her soothing and inviting British accent and her tireless enthusiasm for the arts. Those at KLRE/KUAR often refer to her as “the heart of Little Rock public radio.”

Being featured on Arts Scene has been a boon to many emerging organizations and institutions.  But more than that, her insightful and engaging interview style allows listeners to learn more about the artists and the artistic process.  The program feels less like an interview and more like a chance to eavesdrop on an entertaining conversation.

In addition to hosting the weekly interview program, she has been an active supporter of Little Rock’s arts community since her arrival.  She has been on the Board of Ballet Arkansas and UALR Friends of the Arts. She is often in the opening night audience at the Arkansas Rep.  She also rarely misses a performance of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.  Ann was a longtime member of the Little Rock Arts and Humanities Promotion Commission. She is a supporter of the Little Rock Musical Coterie and the National Federation of Music Clubs. When that organization’s national meeting was in Little Rock in 2002, she was involved in the planning of the meeting.

 

WAIT UNTIL DARK at Arkansas Rep is focus of Clinton School lunchtime program today

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THEREP_WAITUNTILDARK (no credits)-page-001The 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.

The latest in these takes place today, Thursday, October 23 at 12 noon at Sturgis Hall in Clinton Presidential Park.  It focuses on the Rep’s upcoming production of Wait Until Dark.

Written by Frederick Knott, Wait Until Dark was originally a play which inspired the 1967 Hollywood film of the same name.  The play and film garnered Tony, Golden Globe, and Academy Award nominations. In the story, a sinister con man and two ex-convicts are about to meet their match. They have traced the location of a mysterious doll to the Greenwich Village apartment of Sam Hendrix and his wife, Susy. With murder afoot, a deadly game of cat and mouse ensues, as Susy discovers the only way to play fair is to play by her rules. A panel of those involved in the production will talk about what it’s like to bring this thrilling production to life.

Join members of the production team as they discuss this chilling play selected for the Halloween season.

Wait Until Dark opens officially on Friday evening and runs through Sunday, November 9.

THE GREAT NEW ORLEANS KIDNAPPING CASE focus of Clinton School lecture this evening

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nola kidnapTonight at the Clinton School, a discussion by Michael Ross of his new book, The Great New Orleans Kidnapping Case.

An associate professor of History at the University of Maryland. Ross offers the first full account of one of the events that electrified the South at one of the most critical moments in the history of American race relations. The book covers the kidnapping, where two African American women kidnapped seventeen-month-old Mollie Digby in front of her New Orleans home. From the moment it happens through the highly publicized investigation and sensationalized trial that followed, Ross paints a vivid picture of the Reconstruction-era South and the complexities and possibilities that faced the newly integrated society.

Ross’s book also serves as a reminder that a fascination with sensationalized trials is hardly an invention of the last twenty-five years.

The program begins at 6pm at Sturgis Hall.  Following the comments, Ross will sign his book.

LR Cultural Touchstone: Marguerite Pearce Metcalf

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MP MetcalfMarguerite Pearce Metcalf was the dean of speech and drama education in the state of Arkansas.  She taught speech and debate, first at Central, then Hall and later at Parkview from which she retired.  As a teacher and mentor, she influenced most of today’s speech, drama and debate teachers working in Arkansas today.  Though most of her colleagues and former student-teachers have now retired, the students they taught have taken Mrs. Metcalf’s influence to the third, fourth and fifth generations.

Mrs. Metcalf was nationally known for leading Little Rock and the nation in speech education and theatre.  She served as the national president of the speech organization during the 1967-68 school year.  The organization was scheduled to have their meeting in Memphis, TN but it was called off because of the assassination of Martin Luther King.  She also held many leadership roles in statewide and regional speech and education organizations.

Many of Little Rock’s political and business leaders were taught the proper ways to write and deliver speeches by Mrs. Metcalf. To start listing them all would be an exercise in futility.  It is, however, not uncommon to still hear her former students speak of her with a hushed, reverential tone.

She was also an expert in Parliamentary Procedure. As such, it is fitting that the Arkansas Student Congress award for outstanding use of Parliamentary Procedure (which includes not only knowledge about it, but also the grace and skill to be polite) is named in her honor.

An Arkansas Made Tales from the South tonight at Historic Arkansas Museum

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talesfromsouthWith a theme of “Arkansas Made,” where better to find Tales from the South than the home of the “Arkansas Made” exhibits – Historic Arkansas Museum?

The featured storytellers are Haley Villines, Alan Hale, and Denise Parkinson.  Live music is provided by Amy & Brad Williams and bluesman Mark Simpson.

“Tales From the South” is a radio show created and produced by Paula Martin Morell, who is also the show’s host. The show is taped live on Tuesday. The night is a cross between a house concert and a reading/show, with incredible food and great company. Tickets must be purchased before the show, as shows are usually standing-room only.

“Tales from the South” is a showcase of writers reading their own true stories. While the show itself is unrehearsed, the literary memoirs have been worked on for weeks leading up to the readings. Stories range from funny to touching, from everyday occurrences to life-altering tragedies.

Doors open for dinner, socializing at 5 pm; Live music at 6 pm; Dinner available for purchase from Southern Salt Food Truck.  Show starts at 7 pm Tickets $10

You MUST purchase your ticket before the show.

Previous episodes of “Tales from the South” air on KUAR Public Radio on Thursdays at 7pm.  This program will air on November 13.

“Really Cool Digs” is topic of tonight’s Architecture and Design Network lecture

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ADN Cool DigsIn his talk, Carl Matthews will examine the ways in which the media – television, film, advertising among them – use architecture and design to develop and project a particular image or mood. Examples abound and Matthew will share a generous sampling of them with his audience.

As head of the Fay Jones School of Architecture’s Interior Design Department, Matthews currently oversees the education of a hundred and ten students. Of that number, a majority, following graduation, will likely pursue careers in commercial design. As an educator, Matthews strives to create a link between academia and practice. Prior to his coming to the School, Matthews taught at the Universities of Texas and Kansas. He earned his Master’s degree from Pratt Institute.

The lecture starts at 6pm at the Arkansas Arts Center.  A reception will start at 5:30.

ADN lectures are free and open to the public. Supporters of ADN include the Arkansas Arts Center, the University of Arkansas Fay Jones School of Architecture and the Central Arkansas section of the Arkansas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. For further information contactardenetwork@mac.com.

THE SOUTHERNER’S HANDBOOK, Rebecca Darwin’s look at modern-day life in the South will be discussed at noon today at the Clinton School

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south guideToday at noon at the Clinton School, learn about The Southerner’s Handbook.

Formerly the first female publisher of The New Yorker, Rebecca Darwin is the president and CEO of the media company that owns Garden & Gun. Launched in 2007, the magazine was named the #2 hottest launch of over 700 magazines in 2007, has recently won a National Magazine Award in General Excellence and was named to Advertising Age’s 2011 Magazine A-list.

Darwin is also the former publisher of Mirabella, former marketing director of Fortune, and has served as the president and CEO of the National Association of Female Executives. “The Southerner’s Handbook: A Guide to Living the Good Life” is a collection of instructional and narrative essays that offers a tutorial to modern-day life in the South.

This is presented at the Clinton School in conjunction with P. Allen Smith.