Category Archives: Museum

Artober – Art I Can’t Live Without

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October is Arts and Humanities Month nationally and in Little Rock. Americans for the Arts has identified a different arts topic to be posted for each day in the month.  Starting off is Art I Can’t Live Without.

For me, it is Diego Rivera’s DOS MUJERES, or PORTRAIT OF TWO WOMEN.

Painted in 1914, it is part of the permanent collection of the Arkansas Arts Center.  This oil on canvas, which stands six and a half feet tall and five and a half feet wide, is a portrait of Angelina Beloff and Maria Dolores Bastian.

Influenced by cubists such as Picasso, Rivera adopted fracturing of form, use of multiple perspective points, and flattening of the picture plane.  Yet his take on this style of painting is distinctive.  He uses brighter colors and a larger scale than many early cubist pictures. Rivera also features highly textured surfaces executed in a variety of techniques.

The painting was a gift to the Arkansas Arts Center by Abby Rockefeller Mauzé, sister of Arkansas Governor Winthrop Rockefeller.

Volunteers sought for 2019 Boo at the Zoo

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Volunteers are needed to assist with Arkansas’s largest Halloween festival – Boo at the Zoo!

Boo kicks-off Oct. 18 with our Adult Night (must be at least 21 years old to volunteer for this night) and picks up Oct. 20 for a special night for McLarty Auto Group and then continues with their VIP/Members Night on Oct. 24 and the general event Oct. 25 – Nov. 1.

The event is 6 – 9 p.m. each night and there are a variety of volunteer opportunities available.

Volunteers must be at least 16 years of age or older for regular Boo nights.

Click here to learn more or to register! If you have questions or want more information please contact Kaylah Jackson at 661-7212 or kjackson@littlerock.gov.

Science After Dark: Wizards, Muggles and Science at the Museum of Discovery

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The Museum of Discovery is turning into Hogwarts tonight (Sept 26) for Science After Dark: Wizards, Muggles & Science!  The event lasts from 6pm to 9pm.

Not only are guests going to spend the evening casting a spell of science, they can support an amazing non-profit and one of the regular Science After Dark partners, Raptor Rehab Of Central Arkansas!

If you purchase your tickets in advance at https://sales.museumofdiscovery.org/generaladmission.aspx, you will see at checkout there is an option to donate to a “community partner”, your donation in any amount will go to rescuing and rehabilitating injured birds such as owls and hawks. If you purchase tickets at the door, you will have the option to donate as well.

Thank you for helping us support Raptor Rehab Of Central Arkansas!

You must be at least 21 to enter. Tickets are $5 or free for members and can be purchased online or at the door.

New exhibit, Hateful Things, opens at Mosaic Templars Cultural Center tonight

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“Someone will say ‘if you just stop traveling the country talking about race, racism will go away.’ That doesn’t even make stupid sense. The reality is that we won’t be who we need to be until we are mature enough to have the most difficult conversations about race.”

The man who said these words, David Pilgrim, professor and founder of the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris State University, will speak at the Sept. 19 opening of the “Hateful Things” exhibit at Mosaic Templars Cultural Center.

The objects and images in “Hateful Things” trace the history of the stereotyping of African Americans from the late 19th century to the present. The Jim Crow Museum created the “Hateful Things” traveling exhibit as a teaching tool to promote tolerance and social justice beyond the museum’s reach.

“We chose to host this exhibit because we want to help people understand how these types of depictions create a culture of fear and hatred that has led to tragedies like the Elaine Massacre,” MTCC Director Christina Shutt said.

“David Pilgrim’s message concerning open, honest, even painful discussions about race is especially relevant here in Arkansas as we remember the 100th anniversary of the Elaine Massacre,” added Stacy Hurst, secretary of the Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism.

Photographer Ansley West Rivers is distinguished lecturer for Arkansas Arts Center tonight

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Image result for ansley west riversThe Arkansas Arts Center presents Ansley West Rivers tonight as part of its Distinguished Lecture Series.

It will take place at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater in the Library Square campus.  There will be a reception (with cash bar) at 5:30pm followed by the lecture at 6:00pm.

Photographer Ansley West Rivers’ practice focuses on the intersection of landscape and humanity. Through photography, West Rivers bears witness to the state of water now, as time is pertinent to understanding the effects of change. Her Seven Rivers series includes images both beautiful and haunting in an attempt to challenge the viewer’s perspectives on the landscapes that sustain us.

West Rivers’ work is featured in many public and private collections including the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, The Judge Collection, LaGrange Art Museum, and The Mayo Collection. Additionally, West Rivers’s work has been shown at the Wattis Institute of Contemporary Art (San Francisco, CA), Sous Les Etoiles Gallery (New York, NY), Burrard Arts Foundation (Vancouver BC), EUQINOM Projects (San Francisco, CA), The Brower Center (Berkley, CA), Kala Art Institute (Berkley, CA), Carmel Visual Arts (Carmel, CA), Hathaway Gallery (Atlanta, GA), United Photo Industries (DUMBO, Brooklyn, NY), The Print Center (Philadelphia, PA), The Wiregrass Museum (Dothan, AL), and Laney Contemporary (Savannah, GA).

West Rivers will be available to sign copies of her book, Seven Rivers Monograph, before and after the lecture.

CALS Ron Robinson Theater (100 River Market Avenue)

$10 or free admission + free Library Square parking for members

Tinkerfest today at the Museum of Discovery

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Tinkering, a popular activity that is a key component of the nationwide “Maker Movement,” takes place every day in the Museum of Discovery’s Tinkering Studio.

Once a year at Tinkerfest, tinkering takes over the entire museum and neighboring streets for a day-long event with more than 40 hands-on, interactive activities. Each activity engages children and adults, teaches visitors how everyday objects such as cars and computers work, and provides opportunities to explore the engineering and science behind building objects.

Check out the planned list of Tinkerfest activities:
(Activities subject to change; * Denotes an activity excellent for toddlers)

  • Meet 501st Legion (Star Wars Characters)
  • String Petting Zoo with Arkansas Symphony Orchestra
  • Circuit Blocks with Southwest Power Pool
  • Robotics with Museum of Discovery’s Girls in STEM Robotics Team
  • Tech Take-Apart with Best Buy
  • *Sensory Station with The Discovery Network
  • Chain Reactions with Garver
  • Soap Sculptures with Mid America Science Museum
  • Phenakistoscopes with Science Museum Oklahoma
  • *Tinkering with Food with Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center
  • Rope Making with Kenneth Matoka
  • Robot Demos with Harding Robotics Team
  • Airplane Design and Testing with Dassault Falcon Jet
  • *Wind Tunnels
  • Balloon Maze
  • Plastic Panel Polygons
  • Custom Stamp Making
  • LEGO Shape Matching
  • LEGO Linkages
  • LEGO Rovers
  • Stop Motion Animation with Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources
  • Artificial Intelligence with Central High Computer Science Club
  • *Sand Pendulums
  • Tapestry Table Weaving and Vine Making
  • Chromatography Flowers
  • Water Rockets
  • *Wind Twirlers
  • *Simple Machines Busy Board
  • Acrylic Sculptures with Mr. Plastic
  • Tinkering with Wax with Galley Support Innovations
  • Drones with Central AR FPV Experience
  • Vacuum Play with Welspun
  • Making with Arkansas Innovation Hub
  • *Wrenches, Nuts and Bolts Exploration with Baldwin & Shell
  • Giant Linker Logs
  • *Sanding and Rasping
  • Car Take Apart
  • Solar Powered Scribble Bots
  • Solar Panels with Entegrity
  • *Percussion Playground
  • Flappy Arm Inflatable Machine
  • Engraving Dog Tags and Wood Slices
  • Pyrography (Wood Burning Art)
  • Marble Art Nail Polish
  • *Sensory Sand with Arkansas Autism Foundation
  • *Pegboard Pixel Art
  • *Mega Murals of Materials
  • *Water Play with Cascading Water
  • *Water Play with Troughs
  • *Water Play with Water Tower and PVC Pipes
  • *Water Play with Water Walls

Tinkerfest is included in regular museum admission ($10 for adults and $8 for children) or free for members.