At 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.
Dale Chihuly is credited with revolutionizing the Studio Glass movement and elevating the perception of the glass medium from the realm of craft to fine art. He is renowned for his ambitious architectural installations around the world in historic cities, museums, and gardens.
The exhibit includes new and early works representing the breadth and scope of the artist’s vision over the last four decades. The exhibit features four installations designed specifically for the Clinton Presidential Library. One installation is on-view in the temporary exhibition space, one in the Garden View Room, one in the Sky Lobby and one in the outdoor fountain.
The exhibit will run from May 17, 2014 to January 5, 2015. The Clinton Presidential Library & Museum is open Monday-Saturday 9-5 and Sunday 1-5,
There are only three days remaining to experience (or experience again) The Crossroads of Memory: Carroll Cloar and the American South exhibit at the Arkansas Arts Center. It runs through June 1.
The paintings of Carroll Cloar (1913-1993), rank among the most haunting and beautiful evocations ever made of the American South. Drawing upon family stories, photographs of ancestors, rural scenery, small town life, and memories of his childhood on an Arkansas farm, Cloar captured the quiet richness of a simpler world.
Marking the centenary of the artist’s birth, The Crossroads of Memory: Carroll Cloar and the American South will include approximately seventy paintings, ranging from early Realist masterpieces to the poignant pictures of his later career.
An exhibition organized by the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art and the Arkansas Arts Center curated by Stanton Thomas, Curator of European and Decorative Art at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, the exhibition will feature works from major public collections as well as rarely seen pictures still in private hands.
Presented in Arkansas by: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette; Lisenne Rockefeller; Stella Boyle Smith Trust.
Sponsored in Arkansas by: Anonymous; Bailey Foundation; Sandra and Bob Connor; Terri and Chuck Erwin; Friday, Eldredge & Clark, LLP; Eileen and Ricardo Sotomora; John Tyson & Tyson Foods, Inc.; Arkansas Farm Bureau/Agriculture Council of Arkansas; Capital Hotel; Cindy and Greg Feltus; Munro Foundation; J.D. Simpson; Don Tilton; Gus and Ellis Walton.
Tonight, the Historic Arkansas Museum will be hosting a lecture and book signing for the recently released Architects of Little Rock: 1833–1950, penned by Little Rock architects, Charles Witsell and Gordon Wittenberg.
The evening will begin at 5:30 with a special presentation and lecture discussing the book. Speakers will include Bill Worthen, Historic Arkansas Museum; Tom Adams, WD&D; John Greer, WER Architects/Planners; Bobby Roberts, Central Arkansas Library and a special presentation will be given by Wesley Walls, President AIA Arkansas.
A reception and book signing will begin immediately following the lecture. All are invited to attend this special evening. “There are many ways of knowing the built environment. In their Architects of Little Rock, Mr. Witsell and Mr. Wittenberg explore the always complex relationship between buildings and the visionary thinkers—sometimes ordinary craftsman— who produced them. In so doing, they not only have uncovered the design rationales and circumstances of production that influenced a wide spectrum of Little Rock architecture but moreover have written a significant work of architectural scholarship that addresses the history of the architect’s profession,” Ethel Goodstein-Murphree, architectural historian and professor of architecture, University of Arkansas.
Architects of Little Rock: 1833–1950, is being released this month. The book is co-written by Little Rock architects, Charles Witsell and Gordon Wittenberg and edited by Marylyn Jackson Parins. Architects of Little Rock provides biographical and historical sketches of the architects at work in Little Rock from 1833 to 1950. It is the story of the people behind the city’s most important buildings. Thirty-five architects are profiled, including George R. Mann, Thomas Harding, Charles L. Thompson, Max F. Mayer, Edwin B. Cromwell, George H. Wittenberg, Lawson L. Delony, and others. Famous buildings, including the Historic Arkansas Museum, the Old State House, the Arkansas State Capitol, St. Andrews Cathedral, Little Rock City Hall, the Pulaski County Court House, Little Rock Central High School and Robinson Auditorium are showcased, bringing attention to and encouraging appreciation of the city’s historic buildings.
Charles Witsell and Gordon Wittenberg are retired principals of the Little Rock architecture firms WER Architects/Planners (Witsell, Evans and Rasco) and WD&D (Wittenberg, Delony and Davidson), respectively.
On May 14, 1902, future Little Rock Mayor John Vines Satterfield, Jr. was born in Marion. He grew up in Little Rock and Earle. J.V. was a star quarterback for the Earle football team and is featured in a painting of that team by respected painter Carroll Cloar. That painting is currently on display through June 1 at the Arkansas Arts Center as part of their exhibit of the works of Carroll Cloar.
Following high school, J.V. taught and coached and sold Fords. He then moved to Little Rock and sold insurance and later securities. In 1931 he opened his own business; that same year he built a house at 40 Beverly Place in Little Rock, which would serve as his home until his death.
J. V. Satterfield was elected to serve as Mayor of Little Rock in 1939 and served one term, until 1941. He was credited with saving the City from bankruptcy because of his fiscal policies. Among his efficiencies were the creation of a central purchasing office and using grass moved from the airport to feed the Zoo animals. Though as a private citizen he had voted against the creation of a municipal auditorium in 1937, Mayor Satterfield fought valiantly to ensure that Robinson Auditorium opened to the public once he took office. Shortly after he became Mayor, it was discovered that there were not sufficient funds to finish the construction. After the federal government refused to put in more money, he was able to negotiate with some of the contractors to arrange for the building to be completed. He also oversaw a successful special election to raise the money to finish the project.
Satterfield was a staunch supporter of the airport and worked to expand it. He would serve as the chair of the first Municipal Airport Commission. He also established the Little Rock Housing Authority (on which he would later serve on the board). Mayor Satterfield also served as President of the Arkansas Municipal League in 1941.
Following the outbreak of World War II, Satterfield enlisted in the Army and was given the rank of a Major. He later was promoted to a Colonel and worked in the Pentagon during its early days.
In the late 1940s Satterfield became president of a small Little Rock bank called People’s Bank. The bank changed its named to First National Bank when it moved into new offices at 3rd and Louisiana in 1953. By focusing on smaller customers and courting corporate customers, Satterfield grew the bank into one of the state’s largest banks. He maintained his desk in the lobby of the bank so he could interact with the customers and ensure they were having a positive experience.
Due to chronic health issues, Satterfield retired from the bank in 1964. He died in March 1966.
The Arkansas Arts Center, the state’s leader in international, visual and performing arts, presents the 53rd Young Arkansas Artists exhibition, on view May 9 – July 27, in the Alice Pratt Brown Atrium and the Sam Strauss Sr. Gallery.
“At the Arkansas Arts Center, we believe that the arts have the ability to educate and empower our children while cultivating a positive form of self-expression,” said Arkansas Arts Center executive director Todd Herman. “We strive to promote quality arts education initiatives and achievement in the visual arts and through this exhibition, we are offering a wonderful platform to celebrate artwork created by our very own Arkansas youth.”
First presented in 1961, the 53rd Young Arkansas Artists exhibition is a celebration of both the creative achievements of young artists and the youthful spirits of Arkansans. Now in its sixth decade, this annual children’s art exhibition showcases artwork by Arkansas students from with hopes to ensure learning, inspiration and creative expression are occurring in our state’s classrooms. In 2013, teachers from 127 schools across Arkansas submitted 508 works for consideration. Of those, 102 works were selected for inclusion in the exhibition.
The exhibition is open to all Arkansas students from kindergarten through 12th grade. Art must be original and completed within the current 2013-2014 school year. Original works in all media including drawings, paintings, prints, photographs, collages, crafts, and sculpture are eligible. Teachers may submit only one artwork per grade level per school or program. Entries must be made through a public, private or home school teacher or instructor of an art program. All artists whose works are selected will receive notification on March 18 and the deadline for delivery of all selected entries is April 11.
Works will be selected for the exhibition by the Arkansas Art Educators Association. A juror selects one Best of Class and two Honorable Mentions for each grade, and each winning artist’s school receives a monetary award to supports its art program. Selected works from the exhibition travel to schools and other venues around the state as part of the Arkansas Arts Center’s State Services Program. The juror will also select the following awards: one Middle School and one High School level Art and the Written Word Award, the Ray Smenner Best in Show Painting Award and the Mid Southern Watercolorists Best in Show watercolor award.
The 53rd Young Arkansas Artists exhibition is sponsored by Barbara and Steve Bova, Dale and Lee Ronnel, The Philip R. Jonsson Foundation and The Central Arkansas Library System. Awards for the exhibition are sponsored by Arkansas Children’s Hospital.
Today there will be a Family Festival and Awards Ceremony in celebration of the 53rd Young Arkansas Artists exhibition on May 10 from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Activities for kids of all ages will be offered and awards will be presented at 1 p.m. in the Lecture Hall. The events are free for members and exhibition artists, $5 for a non-member individual and $20 for a non-member family. Guests are similarly invited to enjoy a matinee performance of Sleeping Beauty at 2 p.m. in the Children’s Theatre that will also be held on May 10.
For more information, visit arkansasartscenter.org/yaa or call (501) 372-4000.
Arkansas Arts Center programs are supported in part by: the City of Little Rock; the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau; the City of North Little Rock; and the Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Hundreds of sculptures and thousands of visitors will again populate the River Market Pavilions when Sculpture at the River Market returns for the seventh year on April 26 and 27.
The sculptures will be on display in the River Market Pavilions and in the adjacent area of Riverfront Park. The works featured will include all types of media, style, subject matter, and size.
Admission to Sculpture at the River Market is free. Sculpture at the River Market Market will run from 9AM to 5PM on Saturday, April 26 and from 10AM to 4PM on Sunday, April 27.
This evening there will be a preview party where patrons will get the first chance to see the artwork, visit with the sculptors, and purchase sculptures. Tickets for the preview party are $100. The entertainment will be provided by Dizzy 7. Following the preview party, “Bronze and Brewskis” will take place beginning at 8:30.
On Saturday at 1PM and 3PM and again on Sunday at 2PM, Segway tours of the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden will be offered. There will also be food trucks set up in a special Food Truck Plaza next to the River Market pavilions.
The sale and show is sponsored by the City of Little Rock and the National Sculptors’ Guild. Proceeds from the sale of artwork will fund upgrades in Riverfront Park and the River Market.
Among the artists are Lori Acott, Virginia Annett, Terry Bean, Gregory Beck, Hunter Brown, Shelly Buonaiuto, Kathleen Caricof, Tim Cherry, Dee Clements, Merrilee Cleveland, Darrell Davis, Jane DeDecker, Clay Enoch, Steve Frank, Jim Green, Denny Haskew, Damian Jones, Rollin Karg, Ana Lazovsky, Bryan Massey, Ryan Mays, Julie McCraney-Brogdon, Ken Newman, James Paulsen, Ed Pennebaker, Merle Randolph, Kevin Robb, Dale Rogers, Timothy Roundy, Emelene Russell, Wayne Salge, Ted Schaal, Valerie Schafer, Adam Schultz, John Sewell, Stephen Shachtman, Kim Shaklee, Gene Sparling, Pati Stajcar, Charles Strain, Tod Switch, Darl Thomas, Michael Warrick and C.T. Whitehouse.
Little Rock Culture Vulture 