Category Archives: Public Art

Sculpture Vulture: George Rose Smith

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Continuing with the Sculpture Vulture focus on famous Arkansans during Arkansas Heritage Month, today’s feature is George Rose Smith.  This sculptural plaque is located in the garden at the main building of the Central Arkansas Library System downtown campus.

Created by John Deering, it showcases Justice Smith sitting in his judges robe with pen in hand. In the background is a large crossword puzzle grid.  This sculpture pays homage to the fact that Justice Smith was both a respected member of the bar as well as an author of crossword puzzles.

In his final opinion from the Arkansas Supreme Court before he retired, he embedded a message using the first letter of each paragraph to spell out his farewell.  A masterful puzzle constructor, he authored puzzles which appeared in The New York Times.  Little Rock District Judge Vic Fleming carries on this tradition of being a published puzzle author as well as judge in Arkansas.

Justice Smith was the scion of a family of Arkansas attorneys. His grandfather Uriah Rose, a longtime partner at the law firm which now bears his name, was a delegate to the Hague.

Below the sculpture is this inscription:

Judge George Rose Smith

1911-1992

Wordsmith Extraordinaire

New York Times Crossword Puzzle Author

Arkansas Supreme Court Justice 1949-1987

Sculpture Vulture: Fred Darragh Jr.

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May is Arkansas Heritage Month.  In keeping with that, the Sculpture Vulture in May will feature sculptures of Arkansans.

Today is a sculptural plaque of Fred Darragh, Jr. which was created by John Deering.  It depicts Mr. Darragh in standing in a suit with a wry smile on his face and his hands casually resting in his pockets.

Over his right shoulder is an image of a the earth with a plane circling it.  This pays homage to Mr. Darragh’s status as a pilot as well as his interest in world travel.  It also pays tribute to his belief in a common humanity which unites people of all ages, races, backgrounds, and economic statuses.

Accompanying this sculpture is a plaque which says:

Fred Darragh, Jr.

(1916-2003)

pilot, veteran, businessman, world traveler, philanthropist, civil rights advocate, library trustee, raconteur, supporter of the first amendment, and friend of the oppressed.

The sculpture is displayed near the entrance to the Darragh Center in the Central Arkansas Library System’s main building.

Sculpture Vulture – Worthen Obelisk

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Today is the annual Mt. Holly Cemetery RIP (Rest in Perpetuity) picnic.  Today’s Sculpture Vulture feature is an obelisk in Mt. Holly which serves as a grave marker for Arkansas banker and author W. B. Worthen.

William Booker Worthen was born in Little Rock in 1852.  In 1874, he entered the banking business which in 1888 became known as W. B. Worthen and Company. Later known as Worthen Bank, it survived through recessions, world wars and the Great Depression.  Mr. Worthen also served as publisher of the Arkansas Gazette and wrote a history of the Arkansas banking industry.  He died in 1911.

The obelisk is the tallest structure in Mt. Holly Cemetery and is likely the tallest monument in Little Rock. Though it is still a very impressive structure, the trees which have grown up along side of it now obscure the obelisk from view outside of the cemetery.

The obelisk is four-sided with largely smooth faces until the pointed top.  At the base, in addition to Mr. Worthen’s name, there is some ornamentation for a couple of feet.  But by early 20th century standards the ornamentation is simple.

Other members of the Worthen family are buried in the plot marked by the obelisk, as well as throughout the cemetery.  Mr. Worthen’s granddaughter-in-law, Mary F. Worthen has been a member of the Cemetery Association since the 1950s.  One great-grandson, George, continues in the banking business while another, Bill, is director of Historic Arkansas Museum.

Sculpture Vulture: Mount Holly Cameos

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Today’s Sculpture Vulture returns to Mt. Holly Cemetery.  There are quite a few sculptures of angels and religious figures throughout the cemetery.   There are a few very unique sculptural ornamentations in the cemetery. These are carvings to represent the faces of the deceased which are mounted on grave markers.  Though this does not purport to be an exhaustive list of the carvings, it does showcase the ones the Culture Vulture noticed on a recent visit to Mt. Holly.

Hornibrook

James H. Hornibrook was born on July 8, 1840 and died on May 24, 1890.  He came to Little Rock from Toronto following the Civil War and ran a very successful saloon business.  He died of an “apoplectic stroke” just shy of his 50th birthday.  His house is now the Empress of Little Rock Bed & Breakfast located near the Governor’s Mansion.   He had feared his death and had commissioned a death mask to be made.

Johnson

Sydney J. Johnson was born February 12, 1866 and died on March 17, 1899.  He was a banker, Little Rock City Treasurer, and Pulaski County Deputy Circuit Clerk. He died from complications of a broken leg, an injury sustained while sledding.

Fones

Daniel Gilbert Fones was born on August 19, 1837 and died on May 28, 1912.  He was a hardware merchant who served as president of the German National Bank, the Arkansas Building & Loan Association, and the Equitable Building & Loan Association.  He served on the Little Rock School Board from 1883 to 1893.  Together with his brother James, he founded the Fones Brothers Hardware Company.  The final location of their warehouse, 100 Rock Street, opened in 1921. In 1997, after extensive renovation and repurposing the building reopened as the main branch of the Central Arkansas Library System.

LeFevre

Leon LeFevre was a farmer who owned a great deal of land north of the Arkansas River. He was born on April 19, 1808 and died on February 26, 1892. The house that he built in 1842 existed in what later became North Little Rock until 1966.  He was born on his family’s property prior to the establishment of Little Rock over a decade later. As Little Rock became formalized and grew to include both sides of the Arkansas River, he became a civic leader.

Peyton

Dr. Craven Peyton was born on November 30, 1823 and died on November 7, 1872.  He was a physician in Little Rock.  During the Civil War, he held the rank of Colonel and was commander of the 13th Regiment, Arkansas Militia.  He was Kentucky native who moved to Little Rock after graduating from Medical School. During the Mexican War he was commissioned as a surgeon in the Arkansas Regiment of Volunteers. He was one of the founders of Arkansas’s Medical School.

Architeaser – April 21

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Yesterday’s Architeaser was a lion which is on top of the old Arkansas Gazette building and now home to the eSTEM lower school.

Here is today’s Architeaser, rounding out animal week. From the real to the mythical….

 

Sculpture Vulture: Brookin Memorial in Mount Holly

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The Pulitzer Prizes are announced tomorrow.  Two previous Pulitzer Prize winners are buried in Mt. Holly – poet John Gould Fletcher and publisher J. N. Heiskell.  With an eye toward the Pulitzers as well as some of the sculpture in Mt. Holly, today the Sculpture Vulture focuses on a statue which honors the memory of Little Rock firefighter Henry C. Brookin.

The sculpture depicts a firefighter in a helmet holding a hose.  On the base is the inscription “Erected by the Volunteer Firemen of Little Rock to the memory of Henry C. Brookin. Born Mar. 23, 1852, Died Mar. 11, 1891. He Was Killed Responding.”

The statue, forged in metal, is only a couple of feet tall but stands on a stone pedestal of approximately four feet tall. It marks Mr. Brookin’s grave. It is the only metal statue in the cemetery and the only one which does not depict an angel, child or religious figure.

Sculpture Vulture: Love and Forgiveness at St. Mark’s Episcopal

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This week’s Sculpture Vulture focuses on Denny Haskew’s Love and Forgiveness which can be found in the columbarium at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. Donated by Mary and Dr. Dean Kumpuris it is the focal point of this peaceful, respectful site of contemplation, grief and hope.

Haskew’s sculpture features a rising figure with arms stretched out and palms facing upward towards the heavens. The figure is emerging from a cross which is planted in a pile of rocks at the base. The figure’s face is marked with a serene determination.

This sculpture was cast in 1999. It stands approximately 8 feet tall in bronze on top of a two foot stone base. It was the first of Haskew’s sculptures to be placed in Little Rock.  He now has several in private collections as well as Riverfront Park.

A member of the National Sculptors’ Guild, Haskew has participated each year in the Sculpture at the River Market invitational.