Category Archives: Museum

Creative Class of 2015: Chris Hancock

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ChrisHancock_K0A1139-webSocial media at history museums may seem to be a paradox. But Chris Hancock proves that it can be a successful way to increase outreach and awareness.   As Communications Manager at Historic Arkansas Museum, he uses cutting edge technologies (and old school methods) to spread the word about Arkansas’ earliest days.

A native of Russellville and graduate of UCA, he joined HAM in September 2014.  Prior to that he was Public Information Officer at one of HAM’s sister museums – Mosaic Templars Cultural Center.

In addition to getting ready for HAM’s Candlelight Gala on November 7, he is also co-chair of Pop Up in the Rock’s Pop Up West 9th which takes place on October 24.

Hancock is a member of the City of Little Rock’s City Beautiful Commission and is on the Board of studioMAIN. He is also active in the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Create Little Rock initiative.

A Whole New Light at the 2015 Boo at the Zoo this month

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2015 BooAttendees coming to the Little Rock Zoo’s annual Halloween festival will get to see the park in a whole new light this year with the addition of glowing decorations in theme of Halloween. Boo at the Zoo opens to the public Oct. 17 – 18 and continues Oct. 23 – Oct. 31, with a special Adult Night on Oct. 16, a new Teen Night on Oct. 22, and a Dia de los Muertos event Oct. 30.

The Zoo will come alive at night with thousands of new holiday lights decorated throughout the park, including trees wrapped with Halloween-colored lights, pathways decorated with exciting visual displays, and spooky new attractions for the Haunted Train and Haunted House.

Boo at the Zoo will also feature all the fun that Arkansas families have come to expect, with trick-or-treat stations full of toys and candy to choose from, carnival rides and games, bounce house inflatables, Frankenstein’s Dance Party and the Thriller Dance performance, a nightly costume contest, live music every night, free s’mores with every ticket, free milk from Hiland Dairy, the Haunted Carousel ride, Haunted Train ride, a hay maze, face painting, glitter tattoos, kid’s area games, Haunted Bingo, and food trucks with food available for purchase each night.

Admission to Boo at the Zoo is $20 per person for wristband admission and includes all rides, attractions and six tickets for trick-or-treat stations and s’mores. Wristband admission does not include food or retail purchases or Haunted Bingo. General Admission is $10 and includes six tickets that may be used for trick-or-treat stations, s’mores, or for rides and attractions. Rides and attractions take between two and 10 tickets. Individual tickets for rides, attractions, treat stations and s’mores are also sold inside the Zoo for $.50 each and guests purchasing General Admission tickets also have the option to upgrade to a wristband if they chose. Admission passes can be purchased online starting now at www.LittleRockZoo.com/boo or at the Zoo’s front gate entrance.

Boo at the Zoo is sponsored by the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau, Blue and You Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation, Acxiom, Ambetter of Arkansas, Coca-Cola, Cumulus Broadcasting with B98.5, Alice 107.7 and KOKY 102.1, Arkansas Federal Credit Union, Aristotle, Discount Trophy, New Age Distributing, The Wonder Place, TruService Credit Union, Kroger, Target, Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Premium Refreshment Services.

Adult Night Oct. 16

Boo at the Zoo will also feature an Adult Night for anyone 21 years of age or older on Friday, Oct. 16, where adults can preview the event and enjoy adult beverages at trick-or-treat stations that come complimentary with ticket purchases. All rides, attractions, games and events of Boo at the Zoo will be available for adults during Adult Night. While costumes are not required, visitors are encouraged to do so. Tickets for Adult Night are $25 per person for non-members and $20 per person for Zoo members.

Teen Night Oct. 22

For the first time, Boo at the Zoo will offer a Teen Night for those in grades 7th through 12th. Students are asked to present their student ID’s for entry or to present a document verifying their grade level. Chaperone tickets are also available at a discounted price for this event, and the Zoo has added extra security on this night to ensure that teens have a safe and fun experience. Tickets for Teen Night are $20 per person and chaperone tickets are $10 per person.

Dia de los Muertos Oct. 30

In honor of the traditional Hispanic holiday, Dia de los Muertos, the Little Rock Zoo has partnered with Hola! Arkansas to host a special Boo at the Zoo on Oct. 30. The rich culture of Dia de los Muertos will be showcased by members of Hola! Arkansas, who will set up a special altar in honor of deceased relatives – a tradition of many Hispanic families celebrating this holiday that normally falls on Nov. 1. This special night of Boo at the Zoo will also feature Hispanic dancers and performers. All regular Boo at the Zoo activities and events will also be available, and the event is open to the public.

About Boo at the Zoo

Boo at the Zoo is Arkansas’s largest Halloween festival featuring trick-or-treating in a safe environment along with dozens of Halloween themed activities for the entire family. Now is its 24th year, Boo at the Zoo has become a staple for central Arkansas families. Boo at the Zoo is a nighttime event where the Little Rock Zoo reopens after normal operating hours to host ghosts and ghouls and everything that goes “bump” in the night in all corners of the Zoo. Costumes are not required to attend Boo at the Zoo but are encouraged. The event is known for popular attractions such as the Haunted Train where the Zoo’s miniature train is turned into a haunted nighttime attraction as well as the Haunted Carousel that is free to the public. To learn more visit www.LittleRockZoo.com/boo

The Little Rock Zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

“How People Make Things” exhibit now open at Museum of Discovery

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MOD makeThe Museum of Discovery’s latest exhibit, How People Make Things, is now open.
Every object in our world has a story of how it is made. How People Make Things tells that story by linking familiar childhood objects to a process of manufacturing that combines people, ideas and technology.
The exhibit, inspired by the factory tour segments from the “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” television series, offers hands-on activities using real factory tools and machines to create objects with four manufacturing processes – molding, cutting, deforming and assembly.
Step into the exhibit’s main office, where you can don coveralls, lab coats, aprons, safety glasses, boots and hard hats to become a factory technician, worker or supervisor.
Use a die cutter to create objects, operate a 3-axis mill to carve a block of wax, deform a penny, mold pourable wax, explore vacuum forces and more.
“How People Makes Things is a very hands-on, interactive exhibit, in keeping with the approach our museum takes with every exhibit we feature,” said Kelley Bass, CEO of the Museum of Discovery. “It was a big hit when we had it here in 2013, and we’re thrilled to bring it back for our visitors to enjoy.”
The exhibit also features factory tour videos from the “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” television series that depict the making of crayons, carousel horses, balls, traffic lights, quarters, shoes, toy cars and toy wagons.
How People Make Things will be on display at the Museum of Discovery until March 27, 2016.
Museum of Discovery’s mission is to ignite a passion for science, technology and math in a dynamic, interactive environment.

Legacy of Civil War topic of seminar at Old State House today

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cw-seminarThe Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission and the Old State House Museum are sponsoring a seminar on the legacy of the Civil War on Saturday, October 10.

ACWSC Chairman Tom Dupree described it thus: “As we near the end of the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, we wanted to address the lingering influences of the war,” Dupree said. “Each of our speakers will look at different aspects of the war and how they continue to affect us today.”

Speakers at the “Legacy of Arkansas’s Civil War” will be:

•Dr. Elliott West – University of Arkansas at Fayetteville on “Arkansas: Where One War’s Edge Was Another War’s Center”

•Dr. Carl Moneyhon – University of Arkansas at Little Rock on “Conflicting Civil War Memories and Cultural Divides in Arkansas”

•Dr. Jeannie Whayne – University of Arkansas at Fayetteville on “The Civil War and the Burden of Arkansas History”

•Dr. Cherisse Jones-Branch – Arkansas State University on “’How Free is Free?’: African Americans in Post-Civil War Arkansas”

•Dr. Kelly Houston Jones – Austin Peay University on “Women After the War: Profiles of Change and Continuity”

•Dr. Tom DeBlack – Arkansas Tech University on “’What Is to Become of Us?’: The Postwar Lives of Major Figures in Civil War Arkansas”

For more information on this and other sesquicentennial events, visit http://www.arkansascivilwar150.com/events/.

October 2015 2nd Friday Art Night!

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2FAN logo Font sm2It is time again for Second Friday Art Night!

On the second Friday of Arts & Humanities Month, it is a great way to experience the richness the arts and humanities bring to Little Rock.  Among the offerings this month are:

Historic Arkansas Museum’s free opening reception of “Kat Wilson’s Layers”

Arkansas photographer Kat Wilson is widely known for her Habitats series inspired by the hard-working people living in her blue-collar Arkansas town. Wilson’s work has continued to evolve as she has exhibited across Arkansas at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and Arkansas Arts Center among others, and across the nation through exhibitions in Reno, NV, and Chicago, IL. Her work has received national and international recognition.

In a new series, Wilson’s technical process of layering photographs draws out a painterly quality typically absent in the glossy surface of a photograph. Wilson gathers images from varying degrees, often pulling information in a complete 360. She then layers them in an effort to tell a broader story of the scene.

 

CALS Butler Center opening of “Photographic Arts: African American Studio Photography from the Joshua & Mary Swift Collection”

This is the first exhibition of works from the Joshua & Mary Swift Collection, featuring photographs of African American people, created in a studio setting during the 1860s-1940s. Many of the featured photographs were hand colored, which created artful and unusual effects on otherwise formal portraits.

Other exhibits at the Butler Center are “Disparate Acts Redux: Bailin, Criswell, Peters” – an exhibition created by three artists who have found community with each other during the past thirty years’ “Weaving Stories & Hope: Textile Arts from the Japanese American Internment Camp at Rohwer, Arkansas” – a collection of decorative patterns, landscapes, and still life compositions created on muslin and denim; and “Gene Hatfield: Outside the Lines” – an exhibition characterizing the life and vitality of his life’s works.

 

Christ Church opening of solo exhibit of mixed media works by Diane Harper.

Little Rock artist Diane Harper translates images from a military childhood into new works of art in painting, printmaking, and mixed media in what she calls a “posthumous collaboration” with her father. His was a colorful career as a forensic photographer in the U.S. Military Crime Lab, and later in the Arkansas State Crime Lab. He taught himself photography by taking volumes of photos of his family and their adventures together.

The driving motivation behind this collaborative work is not only for Harper to gain a sense of place, but to position herself behind her father’s lens to see how he saw her, his family, and the rest of the world

Creative Class of 2015: Kevin Delaney

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kevin30rock-headshotThe Science Expert on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Kevin Delaney, spends his days on the staff of the Museum of Discovery.  A native of New Jersey, he came to Arkansas a few years ago.  He serves as the director of visitor experience at the museum.  In that capacity, he performs Awesome Science experiments for children and created the Science After Dark program for adults.

His job allows him to combine his interest in science, interacting with the public, and showing off his flair for the dramatic.

Prior to joining the museum staff, Delaney worked as a playwright, director and teacher.

He has made three appearances on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. More are in the works.

The final Science After Dark of 2015 will take place on Friday, October 30.  Watch for more detail.

Creative Class of 2015: Sericia Cole

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sericiaSericia Cole has quietly and quickly transformed the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center.  She was named interim director in July 2012 and permanently took the post in November of that year.  Since then, she has expanded programming and outreach efforts of the museum.

Under her leadership, Mosaic Templars has started lunchtime lecture series and has expanded its exhibition schedule.  She has also worked to ensure that special events take place year-round at the museum.  In addition to exhibits on a variety of aspects of African American history in Arkansas, the museum is the permanent home of the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame.

A Little Rock native and UALR graduate, she has previously worked for Governor Mike Beebe, Philander Smith College, Wildwood Park for the Arts, and KATV.