5×5 ArtWorks event tonight at Arkansas Rep

Posted on November 8, 2019 by Scott

Image may contain: text

ArtWorks presents a one-night exhibit featuring the work of 120 local artists.

Experience Second Friday Art Night in a new way by attending Little Rock’s first 5×5 Event! 120 local artists have produced 120 unique, 5-inch square canvases priced at $55 each.

The Rep’s lobby bar will be open, featuring Little Rock’s own DJ Mario Luna. Plus, the delicious Katmandu Momo Food Truck will be outside. The event is free (but a $5 donation would be appreciated) so be sure to get here early and secure your favorite piece to purchase!

Doors open at 5pm with art sales beginning at 5:55 p.m.

November 5 is the final day for the Artspace Rocks Survey!

Posted on November 4, 2019 by Scott

Image may contain: text Tuesday, November 5, is the final day to take the Artspace Rocks Market Survey.

Earlier in 2019, the Windgate Foundation invited Artspace, a national nonprofit leader in the field of affordable creative space development, to explore the feasibility of creating an affordable live/work community in the Little Rock metro region, a region they are calling “The Rocks.”

A series of meetings with the community and local leaders occurred in July and August, setting the stage for this next big step: A Creative Space Needs Survey of creative people, especially those interested in affordable space. Input will help the local stakeholder group and Artspace determine if there is ample need for new space, what type of space to create, what “affordable” means in the community, where to build, and if this idea should be taken to the next step.

Your input is critical to advancing plans for a new, affordable, creative space facility in the Little Rock metro area. A facility where creative people (artists, “creatives”, arts educators/administrators, people who make things, and those who keep alive cultural practices) can have affordable space in which to live and work, create, practice, connect and share with the public.

Please take the survey at https://www.artspace.org/ArtspaceRocks to have your voice heard in this process.

Artober – Education. The LRSD’s Artistry in the Rock

Posted on October 29, 2019 by Scott

October is Arts and Humanities Month nationally and in Little Rock. Americans for the Arts has identified a different arts topic to be posted for each day in the month. Next up is Education.

While the Little Rock School District has long valued the arts, for the past decade they have expanded the opportunities for students to learn and to showcase what they have learned. In March 2020, they will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the program they call “Artistry in the Rock.”

The Arts play a pivotal role in developing the whole child. Learning in multi-arts experiences engages and strengthens fundamental cognitive capacities such as spatial reasoning, conditional reasoning, problem solving and creative thinking. All of which develop in students the kind of thinking and problem solving skills desired by businesses when making hiring decisions, and which serve as a greater benefit in our complex global marketplace.

The 10th annual Artistry in the Rock will take place March 16-19, 2020 and feature an exhibition of extraordinary artwork and performances by Pre-K – 12th grade students of the Little Rock School District, at the Hall of Industry on the State Fairgrounds, 2800 Howard Street, Little Rock. Artwork will be on display from 9am-2pm and performances begin at 9:30 daily.

To celebrate the 10th anniversary, the District will host musical fundraisers at the Ron Robinson Theater, in addition to the March 19th culminating event. Here is a schedule of performances at Ron Robinson:
• December 13, 2019 – Holiday music featuring LRSD choirs from elementary, middle and high schools
• January 13, 2020 – Local musicians donate their talent, showcasing a blend of Pop, Neo-Soul and Rap
• February 10, 2020 – LRSD’s music educators display their talents
• March 13, 2020 – Inaugural performance of the All City Jazz Bands

Then, at the Hall of Industry on March 19th, guests will enjoy an evening of special performances from Voices Without Borders, an elementary honors ensemble, and the All City Concert Bands, as well as refreshments in the VIP area. The outstanding artwork of students and staff will be offered during a silent auction with proceeds benefiting Artistry in the Rock’s scholarship program for graduating seniors planning to major in the arts or art education.

Only one week left to take the Artspace Rocks Artist Market Survey!

Posted on October 28, 2019 by Scott

Image may contain: text There is only one week left to have your voice heard on the Artspace Rocks Arts Market Survey!

Please take the survey at https://www.artspace.org/ArtspaceRocks to have your voice heard in this process.

Artober – Spotted. In two senses of the word, Ballet Arkansas dancers during ACANSA 2019

Posted on October 28, 2019 by Scott

Image may contain: 7 people, people smiling, people sitting, shoes, child, shorts and outdoor

October is Arts and Humanities Month nationally and in Little Rock. Americans for the Arts has identified a different arts topic to be posted for each day in the month. Today’s feature is “Spotted.”

Americans for the Arts does not define if that is the adjective or the past-tense verb. But these photos of Ballet Arkansas dancers at the kick off of ACANSA 2019 fulfills both.

They were spotted (seen) performing in two alleys of the CALS Library Square campus. And the dancers’ bodies became spotted as they used them to apply paint to four large canvases.

Image may contain: 1 person Image may contain: 1 person, standing Image may contain: one or more people, shorts and outdoor Image may contain: 3 people, people standing, shoes and child

Image may contain: 10 people, people smiling, people standing Image may contain: 11 people, including Mike Fothergill, people smiling, child

Image may contain: 3 people, people smiling, people sitting Image may contain: 1 person

20 years of indoor mural at Little Rock City Hall

Posted on October 28, 2019 by Scott

On October 28, 1999, a mural was dedicated inside Little Rock City Hall. Painted by artists Donald Gensler and Charlotte Allison, it was created to honor the City for its assistance in saving the Kramer School building. As calendars everywhere were poised to turn from 1999 to 2000, it looked back to a time when the 20th Century was on the horizon.

Gensler and Allison drew inspiration for the mural from images they saw in old photographs. They were surprised to see photos of white and African American men working together at the original port of Little Rock which existed at La Petite Roche in what is now Riverfront Park. The photo was from the late 1800s before Jim Crow laws were fully enforced in Little Rock which separated the races more fully.

The only image in the mural that was not taken from an old photo is the mother holding the young baby. A fellow Kramer School resident and her young child posed for that photo. (Given that it was 20 years ago, that child is soon to be 21.)

At the dedication ceremony, held in Little Rock City Hall’s rotunda, Gensler and Allison as well as Mayor Jim Dailey spoke. Joe Terry, a local actor and dancer who was also a Kramer School resident, sang “Old Man River” from Show Boat.

Gensler and Allison worked on the painting inside City Hall for a couple of weeks. They would often stop what they were doing to talk to City Hall employees and visitors to the building about the process of painting a mural.

While neither of the two artists currently live in Little Rock, a piece of them remains in this lasting tribute.

At the time, the Kramer School was serving as an artists cooperative. While the building is no longer fulfilling that purpose, the efforts to make it thus saved it from a wrecking ball. (The burgeoning effort of Artspace to create a live/work space in Little Rock would not repeat the Kramer School scenario because Artspace will maintain ownership of their facility guaranteeing its mission remains arts-based.)

Artober – Monuments. Jane DeDecker’s EVERY WORD WE UTTER commemorating the Woman’s Suffrage Centennial

Posted on October 26, 2019 by Scott

Earlier this month, a monument was dedicated in Little Rock which commemorates the Woman’s Suffrage Centennial. Jane DeDecker’s Every Word We Utter is the centerpiece of a new plaza inside the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden.

DeDecker’s sculpture features Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Stanton Blatch, Alice Paul, and Ida B. Wells, all national leaders in the Women’s Suffrage movement. It also features two Arkansas women who played important roles: Josephine Miller Brown and Bernie Babcock.

The sculpture is based on the concept of a drop of water not only causing ripples but also rising up again after its impact with the surface. The women are presented in a series of levels, each building on the work done by previous generations.

On the based of the sculpture are engrave the names of other courageous Arkansas women who were part of the decades-long women’s suffrage effort. These include: Frances Reeve Edmonson Almand, Freda Hogan Amerigner, Dr. Ida Joe Brooks, Mary Ascena Burt Brooks, Anne Wade Roark Brough, Haryot Holt Cahoon, Florence Lee Brown Cotnam, Cate Campbell Cuningham, Eliza Bradshaw Dodge, Mary Fletcher Drennan, Pauline Floyd, Elizabeth Wallin Foster, Minnie Ursula Oliver Rutherford Fuller, Lizzie Dorman Fyler, Mary Knapp, Mary W. Loughborough, Clara Alma Cox McDiarmid, Josephine Irvin Harris Pankey, Charlotte Andrews Stephens, Adolphine Fletcher Terry, and Gertrude Watkins.

Little Rock Culture Vulture

Cultural events, places and people in the Little Rock area

Category Archives: Visual Art

5×5 ArtWorks event tonight at Arkansas Rep

November 5 is the final day for the Artspace Rocks Survey!

Artober – Education. The LRSD’s Artistry in the Rock

Only one week left to take the Artspace Rocks Artist Market Survey!

Artober – Spotted. In two senses of the word, Ballet Arkansas dancers during ACANSA 2019

20 years of indoor mural at Little Rock City Hall

Artober – Monuments. Jane DeDecker’s EVERY WORD WE UTTER commemorating the Woman’s Suffrage Centennial

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: