Category Archives: Visual Art

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.

Ark. Arts Center Conversation this Sunday

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The Arkansas Arts Center will present a “conversation” with Mia Hall as part of the Friends of Contemporary Craft annual lecture series on Sunday, April 29, 2012 at 6 p.m. in the Arkansas Arts Center Lower Lobby.

Mia Hall is an artist and educator based in Little Rock, where she is heading the Furniture Design Department at UALR as well as producing one-of-a kind works that are exhibited locally and nationally. She works with both conceptual, self-narrative sculptural forms and formal sculptures based on observations in nature, as well as functional furniture with an interest in concrete.

Though born in Sweden, Hall studied and graduated from the San Diego State University with degrees in Applied Design and Furniture Design. She has taught workshops at Arrowmont, OCAC and Marc Adams
and has been an artist-in-residence at the Oregon College of Art in Portland, OR.

Tickets to attend the “conversation” are $15 for FOCC members and $20 for nonmembers.

A light dinner will be served. Reservations are required. Call 501-372-4000 or email FOCC@arkarts.com to make reservations.

Friends of Contemporary Craft are Arkansas Arts Center Members share an interest in contemporary craft media. To become an Arkansas Arts Center member and to join the FOCC, contact 501-372-4000 or visit http://www.arkarts.com.

UALR to Honor Sotomoras at FINALE

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UALR will honor Eileen and Dr. Ricardo Sotomora at the seventh annual Finale at 6:30 p.m., Saturday, April 28 at the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall in the UALR Fine Arts Building.

Reservations to the black-tie optional event are $150 with $110 being deductible.

Finale celebrates the arts in Central Arkansas and is the premier fundraising event for UALR’s fine arts programs. The dinner gala features performances and artwork by students.

Dr. Sotomora is the only pediatric cardiologist in private practice in Arkansas. He is the exclusive provider of cardiology services for children at Baptist Health Medical Center and St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center, in Little Rock, and Baptist Health Medical Center in North Little Rock. His cardiology practice is managed by Eileen.

The Sotomoras were instrumental in founding the American Heart Association’s annual “Heart Ball,” in Arkansas, a debutante ball that not only raises proceeds for the organization but strives to teach girls about volunteerism and health. In 2006, Dr. Sotomora received the “Worthen Cornett Award,” the highest honor given to a person for work on behalf of the American Heart Association in Central Arkansas.

In 2008, they chaired the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra’s Opus XXIV. Currently, Dr. Sotomora is a trustee of the Arkansas Arts Center Board and a member of the development committee. Both of the Sotomoras are members of the Director’s Circle.  The Sotomoras are supporters of the Venezuelan “El Sistemia,” a government-funded program that currently assists nearly one million Venezuelan children in learning classical music.

“Eileen and Ricardo are amazing leaders in the Central Arkansas community,” said Deborah Baldwin, dean of the UALR College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. “We are honored that they would assist us in raising awareness about how arts programs enrich the communities in which we live.”

Finale 2012’s performance will feature UALR music students performing scenes from the Broadway musical, “Into the Woods,” with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. Craig O’Neill of Today’s THV will serve as master of ceremonies. This is his fourth year to host the event.

In the live auction, Finale will feature a designer jewelry piece created by Sissy’s Log Cabin.

Presenting sponsors of the 2012 event are Glazer’s Distributors of Arkansas and Sissy’s Log Cabin. Premier sponsors include Pediatrix, Terri and Chuck Erwin, and Chip and Cindy Murphy. Sustaining sponsors are Simmons First National Bank, Blue Cross Blue Shield, East-Harding, Inc., Entergy, US Bank, and HBO/Time Warner.

Arts organizations from around the region lend their support to Finale each year. This year’s participating arts partners are Accademia dell’Arte, Arkansas Arts Center, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, and the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.
Reservations to Finale are $150 each. Call Rivka Kuperman at (501) 765-9636 or at rekuperman@ualr.edu for more information.

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….

 

Digital Dialogues Family Festival at Ark. Arts Center this Saturday

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This Saturday the Arkansas Arts Center will host an event to provide fun for the whole family at the Digital Dialogues Family Festival from 1pm to 4pm at the Arts Center on April 21.

Technology has always been an important part of the art world. This event will give families the chance to explore technology and art through activities involving cameras, flip book animation, illustrations, digital jewelry and shadow play.

Comic book artist, storyteller and illustrator Mitch Breitweiser will demonstrate how he digitally creates Captain America comics.  Since 2005, he has worked on dozens of Marvel comic books including Captain America, Iron Man, The Hulk, the Fantastic Four and more. He will also be available for autographs.

To make things even more fun, Dippin’ Dots ice cream and lemonade will be served.

The exhibition The New Materiality: Digital Dialogues at the Boundaries of Contemporary Craft will also be on view. Organized by the Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, Mass., and curated by Fo Wilson, this exhibition explores the growing use of digital technologies as a means of expression in craft and art in the United States.

Tickets for the Family Festival are $5 per person or $20 per family. Arkansas Arts Center members attend for free. Tickets can be purchased at the door.

The Digital Dialogues Family Festival is sponsored by Arkansas Business Publishing Group and Dippin’ Dots, Inc. For more information, call 501-372-4000 or visit http://www.arkarts.com.

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.