Pulitzer Finalists: Some Arkansas Connections

At least two of the finalists for Pulitzer Prizes this year have Arkansas connections.

Phillip Reese of The Sacramento Bee was a finalist in the Investigative Reporting category. He is a former writer for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Eric Schlosser, author of Command and Control was a finalist in the History category.  He spoke at the Clinton School this past year. His book explores mishaps and near-misses in the US handling of nuclear weapons using, as its framwork, the Titan II missile explosion from September 1980 near Damascus AR.   His Clinton school remarks can be seen here.

Art of Wine at Arkansas Arts Center tonight

AAC art of winePrincess Corsini is a member of one of the oldest families in Italy, which produced both a Pope (Clement XII, who commissioned the Trevi Fountain) and a Saint (Sant’ Andrea). She is renowned for her Renaissance gardens and vineyard. Princess Corsini will lecture on the preservation of the small, family-run Tuscan wine estate.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014
5:30 p.m. Salute! begins / 6:00 p.m. lecture
Lecture followed by Italian wine reception with Tuscan-inspired hors d’oeuvres.
Members $50 / Non-Members $60

Sponsored by: Kaki Hockersmith and Max Mehlburger, Terri and David Snowden, and Moon Distributors Inc.

To purchase tickets, click here.

Back to the Future: The Rise of NeoTraditionalism in Urban Planning at the Clinton School today

clinton-school-logoIn “Back to the Future: The Rise of NeoTraditionalism in Urban Planning,” Karl Besel explores new urbanism and urban revitalization within the context of public policy trends, such as regional governance and the role of non-profits. The book primarily assesses the commonalities between suburban new urbanist development and inner city redevelopment projects, connecting the roots of historical preservation communities to New Urbanism.

Karl Besel is an Associate Professor at Indiana University Kokomo. His administrative experience outside of academia includes serving for five years as the CEO of a court-related agency that provided a variety of health and human service programs within Johnson County, Indiana. He also worked as the director of a health clinic at the University of Louisville for two years.  Before becoming an administrator, he served as a clinical social worker for hospitals and outpatient facilities within the Louisville area.

His research on nonprofit management within the health and human services field has been published within a number of internationally recognized, peer reviewed journals. In addition to these publications on healthcare related agencies nationally, he has also conducted research on NGOs within the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Jamaica, and India related to economic development, real estate development, as well as nonprofit sustainability. His latest book project is entitled Back to the Future: The Rise of NeoTraditionalism in Urban Planning.

Charlotte Schexnayder Brings Salt to Legacies & Lunch

legaciesschexnayderCharlotte Tillar Schexnayder has been called a “salty old editor,” and she is indeed worth her salt. She will be interviewed about her life and work in the Arkansas Delta by David Stricklin, manager of the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, at Legacies & Lunch on Wednesday, April 2, at noon in the Main Library’s Darragh Center, 100 Rock Street.

Schexnayder has been an influential voice in the life and politics of the Delta, a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives, and a pioneer among women in the professions of politics and journalism. She and her husband, Melvin, owned the Dumas Clarion newspaper for many years. Schexnayder has served as president of every professional journalism organization she has joined, including the National Federation of Press Women and the National Newspaper Association, and she was the first female president of the Dumas Chamber of Commerce.

Copies of her memoir, Salty Old Editor, published by Butler Center Books in 2012, will be available for sale at the program or may be purchased from River Market Books & Gifts, 120 River Market Avenue, or online at http://www.uapress.com. Schexnayder will sign books after her program.

Legacies & Lunch is free, open to the public, and supported in part by the Arkansas Humanities Council. Programs are held from noon-1 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month. Attendees are invited to bring a sack lunch; drinks and dessert are provided. For more information, contact 918-3033.

Learn about Ark Rep LES MIZ costumes tonight

cosette marius smallreplesmizThis is the final week for LES MISERABLES on stage at the Arkansas Rep. Tickets are still available for performances through Sunday, April 6 at 7pm.

While there is not a performance tonight, there is still a chance for a LES MIZ experience at the Rep.

Join Rafael Castanera, Production Manager and Costume Designer, as he discusses his creative vision for Les Miserables.
See the remarkable costumes and wigs from the production and learn how Mr. Castanera developed each character.

5:30 to 7:00 pm
5:30 registration and cash bar
6:00 discussion begins

RSVP required
No charge for members, $10 for Non Members | RSVP to cbays@therep.org or call 501.378.0445 ext 211

Performances for the final week of Les Miserables are 7pm on Wednesday and Thursday, 8pm on Friday and Saturday, and 2pm & 7pm on Sunday.

Join Rafael Castanera, Production Manager and Costume Designer, as he discusses his creative vision for Les Miserables.

See the remarkable costumes and wigs from the production and learn how Mr. Castanera develops each character. 

– See more at: http://www.therep.org/attend/events/default.aspx?eventid=71#sthash.bglUKxXp.dpuf

Join Rafael Castanera, Production Manager and Costume Designer, as he discusses his creative vision for Les Miserables.

See the remarkable costumes and wigs from the production and learn how Mr. Castanera develops each character. 

– See more at: http://www.therep.org/attend/events/default.aspx?eventid=71#sthash.bglUKxXp.dpuf

Join Rafael Castanera, Production Manager and Costume Designer, as he discusses his creative vision for Les Miserables.

See the remarkable costumes and wigs from the production and learn how Mr. Castanera develops each character. 

– See more at: http://www.therep.org/attend/events/default.aspx?eventid=71#sthash.bglUKxXp.dpuf

Chris Olsen at QQA Preservation Conversation tonight

ChrisHOlsenThe Quapaw Quarter Association’s award-winning Preservation Conversation series continues tonight.

The program takes place this evening at Curran Hall, 615 East Capitol Avenue. From 5:30 to 6:00 a reception will take place. The program will run from 6:00 to 7:00.

This evening’s speaker will be Chris H. Olsen, a nationally known home and garden guru, designer, author, TV personality and public speaker. Chris will be speaking on landscaping for historic homes.   Learn more about Chris at http://www.chrisholsen.com/.

Landscape Designer Chris H. Olsen attended Oxford University in England, studying landscape architecture, landscape principals, and philosophy and also graduated from the University of San Diego with a degree in business. Chris has over 25 years of landscape architecture and interior design experience. In partnership with his father, Chris obtained a landscape maintenance company called Doramus and established the Horticare Landscape Company. After only ten years, the company grew into five divisions: chemical, maintenance, landscape, nursery, and irrigation. In 2003, Chris opened his second home and garden store called Botanica Gardens on Rebsamen Park Road. In September of 2005, Chris chose to pursue other endeavors in his life and sold Horticare.  His new book called “Five Seasons with Chris Olsen” was released in December of 2011.

QQA

The Quapaw Quarter Association’s mission is to promote the preservation of Little Rock’s architectural heritage through advocacy, marketing and education. Incorporated in 1968, the QQA grew out of an effort to identify and protect significant historic structures in Little Rock during the urban renewal projects of the early 1960s. Throughout its existence, the QQA has been a driving force behind historic preservation in Greater Little Rock.

Architecture critic Mark Lamster featured tonight at Architecture & Design Network

Smark-lamster-presented-dallas-archit-66IZING UP ARCHITECTURE: A Critic’s View

Mark Lamster
Architecture Critic | Dallas Morning News 
Assistant Professor and Dillon Center Fellow | School of Architecture University of Texas Arlington

DATE: Tuesday, March 18, 2014
TIME: 6:00 pm, preceded by a reception at 5:30
PLACE: Arkansas Arts Center lecture hall

Architecture critics are a rare breed in this part of the country. Mark Lamster, a recent arrival at the Dallas Morning News, offers a perspective on the built environment that enables others to see and talk about their surroundings in new and different ways. Lamster, who also teaches a graduate seminar on criticism and critical writing at the University, has, according to the newspaper’s editor, Bob Mong, a “range of interests that rivals those of any architecture critic in the country.” His background in art as well as architecture informs his writing. A contributing editor to Architectural Review and Design Observer, his work has appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal and many other national publications. Lamster is currently at work on a definitive new biography of the late architect Philip Johnson who, among his many accomplishments, established the architecture department at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. The book is to be published by Little Brown.

For more than a decade, Lamster served as editor of the Princeton Architecture Press. He is the author of several books including Master of Shadows (2009) a political biography of the painter Peter Paul Rubens. Baseball fans may be familiar with his first book, Spalding’s World Tour, the story of a group of all-star baseball players who circled the globe in the 19th Century. That work was a New York Times Editor’s selection. Lamster, a native of New York City, has a B.A. from Johns Hopkins University and an M.A. from Tufts.

Supporters of the Architecture and Design Network lecture series include the Arkansas Arts Center, the Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Institute of Architecture and the University of Arkansas Fay Jones School of Architecture. All Network lectures are free and open to the public. For further information, contact ardenetwork@icloud.com.