Category Archives: Visual Art

M2 Gallery’s May Sessions at South on Main continues tonight with the music and art of Bryan Frazier

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Sessions :: Diamond States & the art of Bryan FrazierM2 Gallery is curating May Sessions at South on Main by highlighting connections between music and visual art.

For the third Wednesday in May, they invite you to experience the music & art of Bryan Frazier, of Diamond States.

Tickets for this event are $7 in advance or $10 at the door. Music begins at 8 pm. Guests may reserve a table for dinner by calling (501) 244-9660.

ABOUT DIAMOND STATES
Bryan Frazier (The Alpha Ray) vocals guitars
Eric Morris (The See) Bass
Jordan Crain (Free Micah) guitars vocals
Brooks Browning (Good Time Ramblers) Drums

A mix of Britrock influences such as Travis, Doves, Snowpatrol, Oasis and American/Canadian heroes, The Stills, Wilco and Guided By Voices brings pop sensibility with lo-fi space rock vibes wrapped in a parka and arriving on a Vespa. A vague vision of Quadrophenia with better haircuts.

ABOUT M2 GALLERY
M2 Gallery is located in SOMA and offers a large selection of original artwork from both established and emerging artists. With a wide range of style and price, M2 Gallery is sure to fill your art needs. M2 also works with a large network of galleries throughout the country so that we can make sure to find exactly what our clients are looking for. Gallery director Mac Murphy has over 15 years experience, and has been the driving force behind M2 Gallery winning the Platinum Service Award for several years.

Little Rock Look Back: Fine Arts Club opens first public art gallery in Arkansas

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Pulaski County Courthouse, site of Fine Arts Club first gallery

On Tuesday, May 15, 1928, the Fine Arts Club opened an art gallery on the fourth floor of the Pulaski County Courthouse. This was the first step toward their dream of creating a visual arts museum.

County Judge C. P. Newton identified space within the Courthouse for the gallery.  It opened with works by 40 Arkansas artists and fifteen from outside of the state. The collection was mainly watercolors and oil paintings.

Judge Newton spoke at the dedication ceremony. Other speakers were Fred W. Allsopp, representing the Fine Arts Club and Janet Hempstead Pierce (making historical remarks prepared by her father, Fay Hempstead, who was unable to attend).

Berta Hamilton Baird, president of the Fine Arts Club presided over the event and also made remarks about May Danaher, the founder of the club. Musical entertainment was provided by Alma Colgan, Toistine Haley, sisters Grace and Elizabeth Schaer, Margaret Farrior, and Lucile Owens.

Among those helping Mrs. Baird and Miss Danaher plan the event were Eula Terral (former First Lady of Arkansas), Mary Chapple Allsopp, Frances Edmonson Almand, Jennie Holmes Tillar, Louise Loughborough, Jean Hollenberg, and Dilla Horrocks among others.

The gallery was open from 2pm to 5:30pm on weekdays.

Seven Mays later, plans were authorized by the City of Little Rock to construct the Museum of Fine Arts in City Park.  In May 1961, the plans were unveiled for the new Arkansas Arts Center (incorporating the existing Museum of Fine Arts building).  Now, 91 years later, the Arkansas Arts Center is preparing for an even bigger future.

Sculpture for Mother’s Day

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Happy Mother’s Day!

This sculpture is Jane DeDecker’s PATTY CAKE which is located in Riverfront Park. It was donated by the late Dale Nicholson in memory of his wife, Pat.

ArtWorks returns to Arkansas Rep tonight

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Arkansas Repertory Theatre will host its 31st annual ArtWorks auction on May 11 featuring artwork by local artists under age 40. The fundraiser also includes live music, an open bar and appetizers from local eateries.

Doors open at 6 p.m. with the live auction starting at 7 p.m. Tickets are $50 and may be purchased at TheRep.org, by calling the Box Office at (501) 378-0405 or at the door. To go along with the ‘under 40’ theme, attendees under age 40 can purchase tickets for $40.

“ArtWorks is always a really fun night that brings art enthusiasts together. This year, we are so excited to partner with these tremendously talented local artists – all who are under age 40,” said Susan Nichols, ArtWorks Coordinator. “We’re grateful for their donations and support of The Rep.”

This is the first major Rep fundraising event since the theatre began its 2019 “Rebuild the Rep” Season.

Special guest emcees will help present each piece of art. They include: Billy St. James (102.5 FM), Wess Moore (Fox 16), Donna Terrell (Fox 16), James Bobo (Rep board member) and Lance Restum (Arkansas Travelers).

Local eateries providing food and drinks include: Three Fold Noodles and Dumpling Co., Capers, Copper Grill, Golden Eagle of Arkansas, Allsopp & Chapple and Atlas Bar.

The artists with work up for auction include: Joshua Asante, Matt Bates, Trevor Bennett, Rhett Brinkley, Justin Bryant, Heather Canterbury, Matthew Castellano, Krystal Cornelius, Meagan E. Davis, Margo Duvall, John Funderburg, Robert Hinojosa, Jon Hodges, Phillip Rex Huddleston, Bethany Johnson, Layet Johnson, Kesha Lagniappe, Jack Lloyd, Rayna Mackey, Haley Naylor, Claire Nichols, Brandy Thomason McNair, Emily Parker, Jennifer Perren, Emma Presley, Adrian Quintanar, Haynes Riley, Nathaniel Roe, Lily Ryall, Sulac, Chris Swasta, Louis Watts, Eleanor Wheeler, DeQuan Fidel Whitley, Brian Wolf, Emily Moll Wood, Markeith Woods and Rachel Worthen.

§  Doors open at 6 p.m.; Live auction starts at 7 p.m.

§  Tickets are $50 ($40 for those under age 40) at the door, TheRep.org or (501) 378-0405

2nd Friday Art Night in two locations at CALS Library Square

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The Central Arkansas Library System’s Library Square plays host to TWO different 2nd Friday Art Night locations.

The Galleries at Library Square – Concordia Hall Gallery presents “Fifty Years of McFarlin Oil: Paintings and Sculpture by an Arkansas Traveler”

No photo description available.Their newest exhibition features the work of Patrick McFarlin. He has been making art under the moniker of McFarlin Oil for more than fifty years.

This exhibition of paintings and sculptures follows McFarlin from his time creating works of sculpture during the Bay Area funk movement back to his home state of Arkansas as he works through the eighties and beyond, painting his varieties of Ships of Fools as well as large so-called Manic-Expressive narrative paintings.

Featured music artist DJ Mike Poe (diverse solo vinyl DJ).

Three other continuing exhibitions include “EMBRAID—Three Northwest Arkansas Strands” in the Underground Gallery, “Part to Whole: The Making of Art, the Artist, and the Artists’ Artist Group” in the West Gallery, and Ron Robinson’s collection of vintage movie posters.

Image may contain: mountain, tree, sky, outdoor, nature and waterThe Bookstore at Library Square presents the opening reception of “Southern Reflections” by Little Rock artist Glenda L. McCune at the monthly event, 2nd Friday Art Night #2FAN

Visit the bookstore six days a week. Three floors of books, gifts, locally made art & jewelry, plus an art gallery on the 3rd floor. By far the best place to buy used books in central Arkansas. Monday – Saturday 9am-5pm. Gallery open during regular bookstore hours.

 

2nd Friday Art Night at Historic Arkansas Museum – Music by John Willis Music and the opening of “Acansa to Arkansas: Maps of the Land”

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No photo description available.

Join Historic Arkansas Museum at 2nd Friday Art Night for the opening of “Acansa to Arkansas: Maps of the Land.” John Willis Music will be the evening’s musical guest. The Water Buffalo and Buffalo Brewing Company will be the featured brewery.

The reception is sponsored by the Historic Arkansas Museum Foundation, with special thanks to 107 Liquor. Beverages and appetizers will be served in the Stella Boyle Smith Atrium. The exhibits and reception are free and open to the public.

“Acansa to Arkansas: Maps of the Land”
2nd Floor Gallery

Based on the expedition routes of French and Spanish explorers, 18th century maps of the North American continent were vague and inaccurate, typically noting only significant rivers and mountain ranges. Early maps were often made with political and economic motives; in some instances, map makers took advantage of the unknown nature of newly acquired territories, manipulating boundaries to the advantage of their European sponsors.

Demand for American-made maps increased as the country’s boundaries expanded and dreams of westward migration took hold; map publication blossomed in the United States in the 1790s, and by 1820, the cartography hub of Philadelphia was home to around 150 engravers. Settlement of the new frontier required accurate maps, and gradually, map makers came to rely less on the hand-written notes of early explorers and depended more on the mathematical calculations of surveyors who used tools like a Gunter’s chain, compass, sextants, and theodolites to triangulate distances.

This exhibit chronicles changes in Arkansas’s place names, population demographics, and geography from the period just before La Harpe’s first explorations of the area in 1722 until early statehood.