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Category Archives: Visual Art
Culture Turkey – Lord Featherwick
Happy Thanksgiving. Today’s entry comes from the Culture Turkey, not the Culture Vulture.
One of the newer sculptures in Riverfront Park is “Lord Featherwick” by Herb Mignery. It is sited near the Belvedere in the park.
“Lord Featherwick” is part of Mignery’s anthropomorphic series. It whimsically depicts a turkey with a top hat, jacket, spats, umbrella and monacle.
He is probably very relieved to have made it through another Thanksgiving.
Dr. Dean Kumpuris to be honored by Arkansas Arts Council
Dean Kumpuris will receive the Governor’s Arts Award for Arts Community Development in early 2016. The Arkansas Arts Council announced today the recipients for next year’s awards.
Kumpuris is being honored for his three decades of work to improve the cultural and civic life of Little Rock. In particular, he has focused much of his work on the revitalization of downtown, the development of the River Market, and expansion of Riverfront Park.
Through his vision and efforts to place public art downtown, in less than 10 years, nearly 100 sculptures have been installed in the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden, as well as in parks along the Arkansas River and throughout Little Rock. He created the annual fundraiser, Sculpture at the River Market Show and Sale, which attracts thousands of visitors to Little Rock each year and features hundreds of sculptures from internationally recognized artists.
He is a gastroenterologist and has served on the Little Rock City Board of Directors since 1995. He is also the Chairman of the UALR Board of Visitors and a past member of the Advertising and Promotion Commission.
Sculpture Vulture: Native Knowledge
November is Native American Heritage Month. One way to learn more about Native Americans in Little Rock’s history is to visit Riverfront Park.
There are several exhibits in the park that discuss the importance of Native Americans in this region prior to and since the settlement of Little Rock. Denny Haskew’s Native Knowledge is a tribute to the Caddo, Osage, and Quapaw Native American Cultures of Arkansas.
It is sited near the Quapaw Line and La Petite Roche. The location is important because the Quapaw Line was used as demarcation to separate the Quapaw Tribe from land available for white settlers. It ran from La Petite Roche due south. In addition, La Petite Roche was a stop along the “Trail of Tears” as Native American tribes were resettled from their original homes in the American Southeast to points west.
Three bronze twice life-size representational sculptures are mounted on 6” thick hexagonal buff colored sandstone panels suspended between I-beam arches representing the outline of theout canoes of the Osage, Caddo and Quapaw. The bronze sculptures are patinated to match the stone panels giving the appearance of being carved from stone. The back of each panel is etched with a pottery design from each of the three tribes mentioned above.
Tax proposal for Arts Center, Military Museum, Parks advances
The Little Rock Advertising and Promotion Commission voted to refer a 2% hotel tax to the City Board of Directors to eventually be put before the voters.
This tax would be used for capital upgrades at the two MacArthur Park museums. It is expected to go before the City Board in December for an election in February.
More information on this process and the individual proposals from both museums will be featured on the Culture Vulture blog in coming weeks.
Monday Musings: Janell Mason
This Thursday, Janell Mason will be recognized as the Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser by the Association of Arkansas Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. While she will be recognized primarily for her work with the Ronald McDonald House, she devotes her time to many worthy causes. One of her focuses each spring is the Sculpture at the River Market show and sale.
Here, in her own words, are some thoughts about her volunteering and her responses to the Nine Monday Musings questions.
I serve on the board of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkansas. The Ronald McDonald House, located directly across the street from Arkansas Children’s Hospital, is a 28-bedroom home away from home for families whose child is receiving treatment in area hospitals. Families staying there need to be close to the hospital, and are provided with comfortable beds, a hot shower, play space, nightly dinners prepared by community volunteers, and the support of other families in similar situations. Every day families staying at the House say, “We don’t know what we would do without the Ronald McDonald House.” Families stay in the House for an average of 21 days, but some stay overnight while other stay for months while their child receives cancer treatment or a transplant.
I also serve as chair of the Where Hope Has a Home capital campaign, which is raising funds for construction of a new House at the corner of MLK and 10th. Of the $8.6 million required to build this 5-story, 35,000 sq. foot home, we need just $600,000 to complete the campaign! While construction of a new, larger Ronald McDonald House is our ultimate goal, our House and programs are more than just a building. We pride ourselves on providing a home away from home that allows families to be at their child’s side through every step of their healing while allowing them to have a safe, private and, at times, fun place to rest, reflect and comfort one another. The success for us is being able to provide families with what matters most—time with their child.
-My earliest memory was (age and incident)
Very vivid – Go Texan Day. We went downtown to watch the Salt Grass Trail riders parade through town. I was wearing my black cowgirl outfit with white fringe and red cowboy boots. I loved those boots! Age 3, Houston, TX
-When I was in high school and imagined my adulthood, I thought I would be…
a commercial photographer or journalist. My, how life has different plans for us.
-Star Wars, Star Trek, Battle of the Network Stars, or Dancing with the Stars?
Star Trek (Live Long and Prosper). Watched it every day after school. I always wanted a tribble.
-I most identify with the Winnie the Pooh character of…
Christopher Robin
-The performer I’d drop everything to see is…
Two – Andrea Bocelli and Steve Perry
-My first paying job was…
University of Houston Bookstore when I was home summer after my freshman year. I stocked shelves and organized. I especially enjoyed the smell of the books in the stock basement; the scent of knowledge.
-A book I think everyone should read is….
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
-My favorite season is…
Fall; it is so colorful in Arkansas!
-We are all geeks (or experts) about something.
My field is Volunteerism.
Coke is it! in new Clinton Center exhibit
The Clinton Presidential Center celebrates the art and history of the Coca-Cola Bottle’s 100-year anniversary during its upcoming temporary exhibit, Coca-Cola: An American Original. The exhibit is divided into two sections and occupies both the Garden View room, located on the first floor, and the Temporary Gallery, located on the third floor.
Illustrations of an American Original will be located in the Garden View Room and will have as its focus the now-iconic images and advertising campaigns that have helped define the Coca-Cola brand. Illustrations will include three original paintings by Norman Rockwell, an American artist who created a total of six paintings that were ultimately used in finished Coca-Cola ads. The three others, known as the “Missing Rockwells,” have yet to be located. Additionally, Illustrations feature several images of Santa Claus, including the first Coca-Cola Santa painted by Fred Mizen that appeared in The Saturday Evening Post in December of 1930, as well as nine original Haddon Sundblom illustrations.
An American Original at 100 is housed in the Temporary Gallery, bringing together historic bottle “firsts.” It features a 13-bottle chronology, including an original glass bottle produced in 1902, a replica of the prototype contour bottle created by the Root Glass Company in 1915, and a prototype of the aluminum bottle that debuted in 2008.
Also, the exhibit showcases pop art by Andy Warhol—including videos, photographs, prints, and other original works—and folk art by Howard Finster, who incorporated the Coca-Cola bottle into dozens of his pieces over his prolific career. Another portion of this exhibit is dedicated to American presidents and their connection to the global brand. An American Original at 100 was recently on display at the High Museum of Art Atlanta.
In addition to Illustrations of an American Original and An American Original at 100, the Center is also displaying a full-size antique Coca-Cola delivery truck produced in 1949 by the White Motor Company and a spectacular hanging installation comprised of more than 750 3D-printed, ribbon-shaped interpretations of the bottle’s classic shape.
Coca-Cola: An American Original is the Center’s 42nd temporary exhibit. It will close on February 15, 2016. Admission to temporary exhibits is included in the price of Library admission.
Little Rock Culture Vulture 