Category Archives: Public Art

LR Cultural Touchstone: Anita Davis

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anita davisAnita Davis has founded a museum, a sculpture garden and nurtured an eclectic retail community which has transformed Main Street south of I-630 into a thriving SOMA with its own unique identity.

Starting in 2004, she began to acquire property along Main Street in the teen blocks.  After attending a conference and learning about “placemaking” she started to envision ways to transform South Main through various artforms.

On the site of a burned out fast food restaurant, she devised the plans for the Bernice Garden. This sculpture garden and community gathering spot has become a hotspot for festivals (including the annual Cornbread Festival – another of her projects – this year it will be November 3), community events and a farmer’s market.

More recently, she opened the ESSE Purse Museum.  ESSE grew out of a traveling exhibit selected from Davis’ extensive collection. From 2006 to 2011, “The Purse & the Person: A Century of Women’s Purses” (curated by Curatrix Group and managed by Smith Kramer Fine Art Services) traveled the country. The collection was exhibited in Concord, Mass.: Little Rock, Ark.; Edmund, Okla.; Columbia, S.C.; Pasadena, Calif.; Rockford, Ill.; Logan, Kan.; Fullerton, Calif.; Baton Rouge, La.; Dallas; Sacramento; and Seattle.

Now Davis has brought her handbags back to Little Rock for good and given them a home worthy of the part they have played in women’s lives and history. ESSE is housed in a historic building in SoMa, an up-and-coming, hip neighborhood in downtown Little Rock.  The Huffington Post declared it one of the hot museums for 2014.

Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts to visit Little Rock

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NEA LRDr. Jane Chu, a former resident of Arkadelphia, is the new chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.  On Tuesday, October 7, she will be in Little Rock.

At 1:30, she will be part of a presentation at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre.  Steve Luoni of the University of Arkansas Community Design Center, will lead a discussion of the Creative Corridor.  Dr. Chu will also make remarks.  Mayor Mark Stodola will be the host of the event.  The public is invited to attend.

During her visit in Little Rock, Dr. Chu will also take part in a variety of meetings and tours.

LR Cultural Touchstone: Kay Kelley Arnold

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(Photo courtesy of Bill & Hillary Clinton National Airport)

(Photo courtesy of Bill & Hillary Clinton National Airport)

Little Rock’s rich cultural history has been influenced by many outstanding men and women.  This October, during Arts & Humanities Month 2014, the Culture Vulture is looking at 31 outstanding women who have shaped cultural life in Little Rock…and beyond.

Kay Kelley Arnold.  While attending law school, she worked at the Arkansas Arts Council.  As she relayed to Soiree, she helped artists who taught in schools. Through that job, she met many creative people “and developed a love of all types of artistic expression.”  During Bill Clinton’s first term in office as Governor, she was on his staff. In that capacity, she served as his liaison to what is now known as the Department of Arkansas Heritage.  When he left office in January 1981, so did she.

In 1986, Governor Clinton tapped Arnold to lead the Department of Arkansas Heritage.  In addition to supervising six cultural departments, she stepped into the job as plans were being made for Arkansas’ Sesquicentennial. She also oversaw those efforts which were heavily tilted toward artistic and historic events.

During the 1987 Arkansas General Assembly, Arnold led the successful effort for the legislators to approve a real estate transfer tax.  The legislation proved immensely beneficial to historic properties.  She entered the corporate world in 1988 joining Arkansas Power & Light. While serving in various capacities for AP&L and Entergy, Arnold split her time between Little Rock and Washington DC.  She maintained close ties to Little Rock’s cultural community including service on the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Board.  She served as Chair of the ASO Board at a crucial time in the organization’s history.  In addition, she has served as a member of the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission.

Arnold has recently completed two terms on the Little Rock Airport Commission.  During her time on that body, the airport purchased and installed several pieces of public art.

Now retired from Entergy, she is often seen around Little Rock enjoying cultural events.

On Labor Day – Enjoy the Fruits of Sculptors Labors in the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden

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Little Rock 2011 040Located along the banks of the Arkansas River in the heart of Riverfront Park, the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden has more than 70 pieces of public sculpture.

This premiere sculpture garden is made possible through the support of the Vogel Schwartz Foundation. The art in the sculpture garden is acquired annually from proceeds of the Sculpture At The River Market Show and Sale held each April.

Little Rock 2011 044The sculpture garden features natural terraces and walkways designed by City of Little Rock’s Leland Couch, Mark Webre and John Kinkade of the National Sculptors’ Guild. The design creates a more intimate space to view smaller works within the Riverfront Park and is ideal for hosting receptions, as well as allowing visitors to enjoy the sculptures in solitude. This dynamic sculpture garden is located north of the Little Rock Marriott Hotel and east toward the River Market.

Sculpture at the River Market will present its next annual Show and Sale on April 24-26, 2015.  The Preview Party, a ticketed event held on Friday night (April 24), will introduce hundreds of sculptures from internationally recognized artists chosen for the 2015 Show and Sale in a party setting in the River Market Pavilions.  This exquisite evening, featuring food, libations, live entertainment and more, allows party guests the first opportunity to meet and visit with the artists while viewing and purchasing works.  Additionally all patrons at the Preview Party will vote for their favorite proposal from the semi-finalists works.

On Saturday and Sunday (April 25-26) admission to Sculpture At The River Market Show and Sale is free. Thousands of visitors populate the Pavilions to see and purchase works of all media, style, subject matter, and size. The sculptures will be on display in the River Market Pavilions and in the adjacent area of Riverfront Park.

ArtPlace America Awards $345,000 to Little Rock for Main Street

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ArtPlace_MAP_OCD_trans-520x337ArtPlace America announced today that the City of Little Rock has been awarded a $345,000 grant to enhance its creative placemaking project on Main Street Creative Corridor – a four block area of Main Street where arts organizations are relocating.  Little Rock is one of only 55 of 1,300 communities selected to receive 2014 funding.

In Little Rock the money will be used in a four block area of the Creative Corridor to enhance streetscapes, signage, artwork and an opening celebration.

“We are delighted to share this exciting news with our community. While we know first-hand that deploying the arts can transform communities, having our work recognized by a generous grant from ArtPlace further supports and validates our efforts to use the arts to revitalize our city,”  said Mayor Mark Stodola.

“Investing in and supporting the arts have a profound impact on the social, physical, and economic futures of communities,” said ArtPlace Executive Director Jamie L. Bennett. “Projects like these demonstrate how imaginative and committed people are when it comes to enhancing their communities with creative interventions and thoughtful practices.”

About ArtPlace America

ArtPlace America (ArtPlace) advances the field of creative placemaking, in which art and culture plays an explicit and central role in shaping communities’ social, physical, and economic futures.  To date, ArtPlace has awarded $56.8 million through 189 grants to projects serving 122 communities across 42 states and the District of Columbia.

ArtPlace is a collaboration among the Barr Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Ford Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The William Penn Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Rasmuson Foundation, The Surdna Foundation, and two anonymous donors.

ArtPlace seeks advice and counsel from its close working relationships with the following federal agencies: the National Endowment for the Arts, the US Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Education, and Transportation, along with leadership from the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Domestic Policy Council.

ArtPlace has additional partnership from six major financial institutions: Bank of America, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Chase, MetLife and Morgan Stanley.

Little Rock Creative Corridor schematic designs for Main Street are on the City’s website: http://www.littlerock.org/!userfiles/editor/docs/The%20Creative%20Corridor_Final%20Report.pdf.

 

CELEBRATE public art tonight at CALS

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celebrateIn conjunction with 2nd Friday Art Night, the public dedication of Celebrate, the Central Arkansas Library System’s (CALS) newest public art piece, will take place Friday, June 13, at 6 p.m. 
This kinetic sculpture was commissioned in 2010 by CALS, Jim Conner, and other donors to commemorate the library’s centennial of service to the community and was recently installed on the Main Library’s campus, between the patron parking lot and the Arkansas Studies Institute building. 
The sculpture, in the shape of a spinning top, is inscribed with the word “Celebrate” in numerous languages from English to Binary Code to Klingon.
 
Michael Warrick, the sculptor who created Celebrate, and Bobby Roberts, director of CALS, will speak at the dedication. All will be welcome to try out the kinetic sculpture by giving it a spin. Afterward, attendees will be invited into the Butler Center Galleries to enjoy refreshments and live music as part of 2nd Friday Art Night. 

Seven sculptures to be added to Riverfront Park

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Sculpture at the River MarketAt the recent Sculpture at the River Market show, seven “2014 Show Purchases” were made.

Space Race – Merle Randolph

Vixen – Pati Stajcar

Retro Trees – Dale Rogers

Hula Hoop – Janie DeDecker

Liberation – Charles Strain

Old Ringneck – Valerie Schafer

Textured Torso – Timothy Roundy


Look for these pieces to be added to the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden soon.

2014 SaRM purchases 12014 SaRM purchases 22014 SaRM purchases 3