Category Archives: Museum

Labor Day Museum Monday: Arkansas Arts Center

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arkartsThe Arkansas Arts Center is happy to announce that its doors will be open on Labor Day from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Enjoy a tasty lunch at Best Impressions restaurant, open from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. and take a tour through Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London. Be sure to check out all the other exhibitions currently on display like Bauhaus twenty-21: An Ongoing Legacy – Photographs by Gordon Watkinson on its final day before it closes. Don’t forget to bring home a one-of-a-kind memento from the Museum Shop!

Remember that military receives free admission into Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London through the Blue Star Museums program!

Follow your art by taking advantage of the many benefits that a membership to the Arkansas Arts Center brings like free admission to lectures and Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London! Visit the Arkansas Arts Center website to become a member today and start enjoying discounts and exclusive access to parties and receptions.

Labor Day Museum Monday: Historic Arkansas Museum

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hamlogoSeveral Little Rock museums are offering a break from the heat on this Labor Day.

Historic Arkansas Museum is kicking off its new touring experiences today from 10am to 4pm.

Someone’s always home.

There’s a brand new way of doing things at Historic Arkansas Museum. Come see what it’s all about on Labor Day, September 2, 10 am – 4 pm.
Self-guided tours at your own pace include more hands-on activities, more pioneer demonstrations and more fun.
Bring a picnic to enjoy on the grounds. HAM will be making lemonade in the kitchen of the historic Brownlee House and we’d love to share!
There’s a brand new way of doing things at Historic Arkansas Museum. Visit the Museum from Wednesdays through Sundays and create your own experience when you visit the historic houses and grounds. Everything is at your pace as you guide yourself through the past. And there’s more going on! More costumes, more cooking, more pioneer demos, more hands-on activities.

Over the past few years, HAM has added a few new things—big things—like a working kitchen, a blacksmith shop and a two-story print shop. They are putting those big things to great use. Some days there are costumed staff working in the kitchen, perhaps pickling or maybe cooking with a Dutch oven. Other days there may have the blacksmith forging nails and chain links in the shop. Or maybe there is someone in the print shop helping visitors seal letters with wax. Or all of those things on one day, along with a rotating cast of 19th century characters who will greet you like it’s 1849 (or ’27, or ’19). Each day will offer different hands-on and interactive experiences, with no two days being exactly the same.

The staff-guided tours are still offered on Mondays and Tuesdays, but even they have changed—they are now offered every half-hour, instead of on the hour (except during the noon lunch hour). We also offer cellphone audio tours, and 360 degree visual tours on your computer or smartphone, every day.

 Historic Arkansas Museum is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

Ark Arts Center exhibit on Bauhaus School of Architecture closes this week

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bauhausToday is the final Sunday of the exhibit Bauhaus twenty-21: An Ongoing Legacy – Photographs by Gordon Watkinson. The exhibit, organized by Foto+Synthesis Incorporated, has been at the Arkansas Arts Center since May.  (It was set to close today but has been extended through Monday.)

This exhibition conveys the architectural history, design and enduring philosophies of the Bauhaus, a German expression meaning “house for building” and the name of an important German School principle of architecture and design. The exhibition offers a unique perspective on Bauhaus design philosophy as it relates to architecture and its relevance in today’s society.

The Bauhaus school was founded by Walter Gropius in 1919 and introduced principles that shaped the foundation of modern architecture. Conceived as a project encompassing architecture, design and photography, Bauhaus twenty-21 not only conveys the architectural history, but also illustrates the enduring philosophies of the Bauhaus. The exhibition is comprised of 77 photographs, plans and elevations and furniture that capture the essence of Bauhaus design and its influence on modern architecture and design.

Sponsored by: Janet and Sam Alley; Cromwell Architects Engineers; The Arkansas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects; Brent Stevenson Associates

Ark Arts Center Family Festival Today

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arkartsIn celebration of Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London, join us for an English Garden Party Family Festival. Families can participate in activities and games and experience what it would have been like for Rembrandt, Van Dyck and Gainsborough.

The program takes place from 11:30 AM – 2:30 PM.

The event is free for Arkansas Arts Center members.  Non members are $5 per person, $20 per family.

Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London exhibition is organized by the American Federation of Arts and English Heritage. It is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities with additional funding from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation. In-kind support is provided by Barbara and Richard S. Lane.

This special exhibition showcases 48 masterpieces from the collection known as the Iveagh Bequest. These magnificent paintings reside at Kenwood House, a neoclassical villa in London. The tour of Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London will provide a unique opportunity to view superb paintings outside the United Kingdom. Most of these paintings have never traveled to the United States before, and many of them have rarely been seen outside Kenwood. The highly acclaimed works represent the greatest artists of their periods, including Rembrandt van Rijn, Thomas Gainsborough, Anthony van Dyck, Frans Hals, Joshua Reynolds, J.M.W. Turner and more.

Extended Hours, Lecture, Nighttime Dining all at Arkansas Arts Center tonight

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Rembrandt van Rijn Portrait of the Artist, ca. 1665 Oil on canvas Kenwood House, English Heritage, Iveagh Bequest (88028836) Photo courtesy American Federation of Arts

Rembrandt van Rijn
Portrait of the Artist, ca. 1665
Oil on canvas
Kenwood House, English Heritage, Iveagh Bequest (88028836)
Photo courtesy American Federation of Arts

Tonight at the Arkansas Arts Center, there is a lecture in conjunction with the Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London exhibit.

The Arkansas Arts Center is presenting “Collecting Rembrandt: Perils and Pleasures One Hundred Years Ago,” a lecture by Catherine B. Scallen. Professor Scallen is Chair of the Department of Art History and Art at Case Western Reserve University.

The program begins at 5:30 p.m. with a reception followed by a 6 p.m. lecture at the Arkansas Arts Center.  The admission is $10 for non-members; free for members and students.

Professor Scallen received her BA from Wellesley College, her MA from the Williams College Graduate Program in the HIstory of Art, and her PhD from Princeton University. After receiving her doctorate, she held a graduate internship in the Paintings Department of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. A specialist on the paintings and prints of Rembrandt van Rijn, her book, Rembrandt, Reputation, and the Practice of Connoisseurship, was published in 2004.  She has been a faculty lecturer on trips to The Netherlands and Belgium for Princeton University and CWRU, and is the author of two courses for The Great Courses Company, Art of the Northern Renaissance and Museum Masterpieces: The National Gallery, London.

Attendees are welcome to stay after the lecture to view Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London during the exhibition’s special extended hours.

Best Impressions restaurant will also be open during the extended hours.

Adults can go “Back to School” with Science after Dark tonight

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scienceafterdarkaugust13The Museum of Discovery’s monthly adults-only Science After Dark goes “Back to School” this month.

Tonight, Wednesday, August 28 from 6-8 p.m. the program is celebrating back to school with a trip to fifth grade. They will have some hands-on science activities that you’ll remember from elementary school along with a few other things you once learned but have probably since forgotten.

And because no back to school themed event would be complete without a homage to the cafeteria, there will be a signature drink called a hot tater toddy. We might even have a cafeteria lady serving up some grub.

Tickets are $5 or free for members. There will be a cash bar.

Science after Dark occurs the last Wednesday of each month from 6pm to 8pm. Museum educators pick a science-related topic, and develop an event around it. The event is for ages 21 and older.

It is a great chance to explore the museum’s exhibits and enjoy downtown Little Rock.

Art comes to life at Arkansas Arts Center tonight

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Rembrandt van Rijn Portrait of the Artist, ca. 1665 Oil on canvas Kenwood House, English Heritage, Iveagh Bequest (88028836) Photo courtesy American Federation of Arts

Rembrandt van Rijn
Portrait of the Artist, ca. 1665
Oil on canvas
Kenwood House, English Heritage, Iveagh Bequest (88028836)
Photo courtesy American Federation of Arts

In conjunction with Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London the Arkansas Arts Center and Arkansas Festival Ballet are presenting “Stepping off the Canvas: A History of Dance from Rembrandt to Turner.”

Dancers from Arkansas Festival Ballet will bring the masterpieces to life in a way which shows the evolution of both dance and visual art through the past centuries.

The program begins at 7pm with a complimentary wine reception at 6pm.

Tickets are $25 for non-members and $20 for Arkansas Arts Center members. Ballet ticketholders will receive a complimentary visit to the exhibition at a later date.

Now through September 8, 2013, the Arkansas Arts Center is hosting the exhibition: Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London. From one of the greatest country houses in England, a treasure trove of Old Master paintings is in Little Rock. This summer, the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock is one of only four institutions in North America hosting this special exhibition.

The Arkansas Arts Center is an art museum with a children’s theatre and a studio school. Opened in 1963, its mission is to ensure that learning, inspiration and creative expression in the arts flourish throughout Arkansas, for people of all ages and backgrounds. The AAC realizes this mission by developing, preserving and exhibiting its outstanding permanent collection, offering a rich variety of art from other collections and presenting programs for the education and cultural benefit of the public. Dr. Todd Herman is the Executive Director.

Arkansas Festival Ballet, Rebecca M. Stalcup, Artistic Director, is a repertory dance company dedicated to classical ballet training and performance. The company was founded in 2000. Arkansas Festival Ballet’s seasonal programming includes enchanting storybook ballets and mixed-bill productions featuring fresh, new choreography by local and guest artists, along with excerpts from beloved ballet classics.