Category Archives: Museum

Arts & Humanities Month: Museum of Discovery

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The Museum of Discovery, which has its roots as Little Rock’s oldest museum, is currently closed for renovations.  First founded in the 1920s by Bernie Babcock in a streetfront store, it later was housed in Little Rock City Hall and for many years called the old Arsenal building in MacArthur Park its home. In the 1990s, it moved to the burgeoning River Market district as an anchor tenant in the Museum Center building.

In April 2011, the museum closed for a reimagination of its space in the building.  Once it reopens to the public in early 2012, the Museum of Discovery will, for the first time in 85 years have a streetfront entrance.  Once inside, visitors will experience Arkansas’ premier science center with exhibits geared to all ages from pre-school up to adulthood.  This expansion and renovation was made possible through the support of the hundreds of donors, the tireless efforts of a Board of Directors, the generosity of the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, support of the City of Little Rock and the vision and leadership of Nan Selz, the museum’s executive director.

While the museum is closed, its camps, traveling exhibits and participation in the Arkansas Discovery Network has continued.  Special events such as Dino Dash and Uncorked have continued as well.  Tonight, the 2011 edition of Uncorked takes place.  With the theme “Mad Scientist Mash” it takes place at the Clinton Presidential Center, just down the street from the Museum’s location.

Arts & Humanities Month: Central Arkansas Library System

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Just over 100 years ago, a Carnegie library was founded in Little Rock as the first Public Library. After ebbing and flowing in two different locations on Louisiana Street in downtown, it has now blossomed into the Central Arkansas Library System.

In addition to the Main Library, which was a catalyst for the redevelopment of the River Market District, there are currently eleven other branches in Little Rock, other parts of Pulaski County, and one in neighboring Perry County.

Not content with merely being a place for people to check out books, CALS also houses the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture, the Cox Creative Center, the Darragh Center, the Arkansas Studies Institute, Butler Center Books and the Arkansas Literary Festival. Among the annual programs presented by CALS are the Rabbi Ira Sanders Lecture, and the Booker Worthen Literary Prize.

Under the leadership of Dr. Bobby Roberts, CALS has become a living, breathing entity with dynamic programming for patrons from pre-school to well-seasoned. A perfect example is that on October 27 at the Main Library there is a Halloween costume contest for kids as well as a lecture entitled “Was There Really a Female Pope?”

Arts & Humanities Month: Governor’s Arts Awards

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Governor Mike Beebe and the Arkansas Arts Council are presenting the Governor’s Arts Awards at a ceremony and luncheon today in Little Rock. The recipients include:

  • LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Vincent Insalaco – North Little Rock
  • ARTS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AWARD: John Gaudin – North Little Rock
  • ARTS IN EDUCATION AWARD: Nicole Capri – Little Rock
  • CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP OF THE ARTS AWARD: Thoma Thoma – Little Rock
  • FOLKLIFE AWARD: Mike Shirkey – Fayetteville
  • INDIVIDUAL ARTIST AWARD: Larry Foley – Fayetteville
  • PATRON AWARD: Hershey and Denise Garner – Fayetteville
  • JUDGES’ SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD: Claire Haun – North Little Rock

The awards are sponsored by the Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.  The Governor’s Arts Awards recognize individuals and corporations for their outstanding contributions to the arts in Arkansas. The recipients were nominated by the public and then selected by an independent panel of arts professionals from around the state. Each recipient will receive an original work of art created by Arkansas artist Winston Taylor of Russellville, recipient of the 2011 Arkansas Living Treasure award.

Also at the luncheon, the recipients of the Individual Artist Fellowships will be recognized.  This year’s recipients are:

MUSIC COMPOSITION

  • Richard Salonen – Farmington
  • Rena Wren – Hot Springs
  • Shannon Wurst – Fayetteville

POETRY

  • Mary Angelino – Fayetteville
  • J. Camp Brown – Fort Smith
  • Cynthia King – Fayetteville

SCULPTURE/INSTALLATION ART

  • Ty Brunson – Russellville
  • John Rankine – Eureka Springs
  • Cary Voss – Conway

Arts & Humanities Month: 2nd Friday Art Night

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As proof of how fast time passes, it is again the second Friday of the month which means “2nd Friday Art Night.”

Started in 2005, this downtown art gallery walk in the River Market District vicinity showcases a variety of museums and galleries.  In addition to viewing art, there are refreshments and usually live music at the various stops along the way.  There is also a free art shuttle to take visitors from location to location. The event runs from 5pm to 8pm.

Among the various participating sites are Historic Arkansas Museum, Arkansas Studies Institute, Christ Episcopal Church, Hearne Fine Art, Mediums Art Lounge, Copper Grill, Dizzy’s Gypsy Bistro, Lulav and Third Street merchants of the River Market District.

Arts & Humanities Month: Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site Visitor Center

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The eyes of the world may have been on Little Rock in September 1957, but understanding what happened then and since is no easy task. The National Park Service opened the expanded Visitor Center in 2007 in conjunction with the commemoration events of the 50th anniversary.  The original site of the Visitor Center, the refurbished Mobil Gas Station remains a component of the Park Service. It now serves as an education center.

The exhibits inside the Visitor Center explore the events of September 1957. They also explore the roots of segregated education in Arkansas. Other exhibits look at the larger Civil Rights struggle as well as the school and Little Rock since 1957. In addition, a Commemorative Garden sits across the street from the Visitor Center and Central High School. There are Park Service Ranger-led tours of the Central High School offered at 9am and 1:15pm on Monday through Friday. Since the school remains an operating high school, tour times may be altered due to school events.  The Visitor Center is open from 9am to 4:30pm daily.

Arts & Humanities Month: Arkansas Arts Center showcases Barnet, metal works

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The Arkansas Arts Center’s newest exhibits have recently opened.

Barnet

Will Barnet at the Arkansas Arts Center: A Centennial Exhibition celebrates Barnet’s 100th birthday. The exhibit highlights the museum’s vast array of works by this important 20th and 21st century artist.  The exhibit runs through January 15 in the Townsend Wolfe Gallery.

Tori Study #006 - Hoss Haley

Cast, Cut, Forged and Crushed: Selections in Metal from the John and Robyn Horn Collection showcases works cast in metal by over two dozen artists from the John and Robyn Horn collection.  It runs through January 15 in the Jeannette Edris Rockefeller Gallery.

Continuing at the Arts Center is the Museum School Faculty Exhibition: Past and Present which runs through November 13 in the Sam Strauss, Sr. and Stella Boyle Smith Galleries.

Other events at the Arkansas Arts Center this month include:

Sunday, October 16, 2011 – 6pm: Conversation with David Clemons – Lecture Hall

Thursday, October 20, 2011 – 6:30pm: Jessica Nicoll lecture “Will Barnet: A Life’s Work in Context” – Lecture Hall

Wednesday, October 26, 2011 – 7pm: The Arts in Motion Film Series: Ballets Russes

Arts & Humanities Month: Clinton School lectures and Old State House

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Two cultural institutions in Little Rock are partnering today on an event.  The University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service is presenting one of its lectures today at the Old State House Museum.

The Clinton School lecture series offers a variety of speakers on a panoply of topics.  The speakers range from local figures to international dignitaries.  The lectures are free and open to the public; one needs only to RSVP since the seating is limited. The speeches are filmed and archived on the school’s website, as well.  This month’s lineup features:

  • “Behind the Scenes at Clinton’s ‘91 Announcement: Building a Community of Hope that Inspires the World” – Monday, October 3, 2011 at 12:00 p.m. (Old State House) *In Partnership with Old State House Museum
  •  “Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock,” author David Margolick -Tuesday, October 4, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall) *Book signing to follow
  •  “Scaling Social Good,” Erin Ganju, co-founder and CEO of Room to Read – Wednesday, October 5, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
  • John Kinkade, executive director of the National Sculptors’ Guild – Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
  • “Cotton and Race in the Making of America,” author Gene Dattel – Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall) *Book signing to follow
  •  “The Second City,” a panel discussion – Friday, October 14, 2011 at 12:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall) *In partnership with the Arkansas Repertory Theatre
  •  Arkansas Puzzle Day 2011 – Saturday, October 15, 2011 at 9:00 a.m. (Sturgis Hall)
  •  Phillip Singerman, associate director for Innovation and Industry Services at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) – Monday, October 17, 2011 at 12:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall) *In partnership with the Arkansas Economic Development Commission
  •  Ellen Dunham-Jones, professor of architecture and urban design, Georgia Tech – Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
  • Toni Maloney, co-founder and CEO of BPeace – Wednesday, October 19, 2011 at 12:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
  • “Fighting for Darfur: Public Action and the Struggle to Stop Genocide,” author Rebecca Hamilton – Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 12:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall) *Book signing to follow
  •  Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf – Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
  • David J.R. Frakt, Professor of Law and United States Air Force Officer – Friday, October 21, 2011 at 12:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
  • The Arkansas Consumer Confidence Report – Monday, October 24, 2011 at 12:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
  • Markus Kostner, economist, World Bank – Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 12:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
  •  Catherine Bertini, former World Food Prize Laureate – Thursday, October 27, 2011 at 12:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
  •  “Straight Talk,” A Community Conversation – Thursday, October 27 at 6:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
  •  Congressman Tim Murphy (R, Penn.) – Friday, October 28, 2011 at 12:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
  •  Melissa Boteach, Half in Ten manager, Center for American Progress – Monday, October 31, 2011 at 12:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)

Reserve your seats by emailing publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu, or calling 501-683-5239.

The Old State House Museum is located inside Arkansas’ first state capitol building.  A museum of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, it is dedicated to showcasing Arkansas history from 1836 to the present.  It has a variety of permanent exhibits as well as temporary exhibits.  The building’s most famous modern moments have been when it served as the backdrop to Bill Clinton’s 1991 presidential race announcement.  It was also on the front lawn that he celebrated on election nights in 1992 and 1996.

Current exhibits at the Old State House are:

  •  Arkansas/Arkansaw: A State and its Reputation, through March 4, 2012.

This exhibit sheds new light on the evolution of Arkansas’s backwoods, hillbilly image. The exhibit entitled, explores both the favorable and unfavorable parts of this history.

  • An Enduring Union: Arkansas in the Civil War, through 2012

This exhibit examines why Arkansas commemorates its Civil War veterans and features artifacts documenting the post-war Confederate and Union veteran reunions in the state. As part of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, it will be followed by four other exhibits.

The permanent exhibits are:

  • As Long as Life Shall Last: The Legacy of Arkansas Women
  • Pillars of Power: The Old State House – A Historical Landmark of Arkansas
  • On The Stump: Arkansas Politics, 1819 – 1919
  • 1836 House of Representatives Chamber
  • First Families: the Mingling of Politics and Culture
  • In addition, the museum has five parlors and one hallway depicting different eras of furniture and decorative styles ranging from the 18th to the early 20th centuries.

Some of the programs the Old State House has planned in October are:

Wednesday, October 12, 2011, 12 noon

  • Brown Bag Lunch Lecture – Public Health and the Syphilis Epidemic in Arkansas in the 1940s

Wednesday, October 19, 2011, 10:30am

  • Little Beginnings Toddler Program – Fall, with Jane Jones-Schulz