Category Archives: Visual Art

Sculpture Vulture: Love and Forgiveness at St. Mark’s Episcopal

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This week’s Sculpture Vulture focuses on Denny Haskew’s Love and Forgiveness which can be found in the columbarium at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. Donated by Mary and Dr. Dean Kumpuris it is the focal point of this peaceful, respectful site of contemplation, grief and hope.

Haskew’s sculpture features a rising figure with arms stretched out and palms facing upward towards the heavens. The figure is emerging from a cross which is planted in a pile of rocks at the base. The figure’s face is marked with a serene determination.

This sculpture was cast in 1999. It stands approximately 8 feet tall in bronze on top of a two foot stone base. It was the first of Haskew’s sculptures to be placed in Little Rock.  He now has several in private collections as well as Riverfront Park.

A member of the National Sculptors’ Guild, Haskew has participated each year in the Sculpture at the River Market invitational.

Sculpture Vulture: Baptist Health Healing Garden

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On the grounds of Baptist Health, there is a Healing Garden which features a sculpture by Kevin Kresse.  It depicts a person reaching down to help out another person.  Kresse’s abstract style allows the viewer to determine whether they think it is Jesus Christ helping a fallen man, or just a “Good Samaritan” aiding someone in distress.

The garden, which was designed by P. Allen Smith, also includes a cross on one end and a fountain on the other end.  Cathy Mayton, who was longtime executive vice president of Baptist Health envisioned the Healing Garden, which was supported by Russell Harrington, ceo and president of Baptist Health.  The project was made possible by donations from the Estate of Mary Ann Boyd, Mr. and Mrs. Bob Shell, the Stella Boyle Smith Trust, Mr. and Mrs. Sam Winstead, Gertrude Butler, Mr. and Mrs. R.J. Wills and hospital auxiliaries.

Though many people walk past the Healing Garden without noticing it as they are going in or exiting the hospital, it provides a refuge for countless visitors as well as employees.

A few years ago, I was out there and saw a grandfather and his toddler grandson in the garden.  I have no idea whether they were at the hospital for a joyous reason or a sad reason. But whatever the reason, as they were playing in the garden, they were enjoying themselves and having a time alone – just the two of them – in the midst of the hustle and bustle of life.

This space exemplifies the purpose of public art.  It allows people to have their own unique experience which meets the current need of their life. It allows for interaction, quiet reflection, and personal experiences.

Every time I am there I see a variety of ages, races, and backgrounds sharing the space in a meaningful way.  It is through public art, and the arts in general, that we can come together as a society.   Art allows us to be both an individual and part of a greater being at the same time.

JAZZKAPELLE jazzes up the Arkansas Arts Center

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Tonight, March roars out like a Lion (instead of the proverbial docile lamb) at the Arkansas Arts Center.  Studio Party: Jazzkapelle is the Arkansas Arts Center’s premiere fundraising event for 2012. Following the overwhelming success of Studio Party after Tabriz in 2011, Studio Party has evolved to its own event. Designed as an exciting prohibition-themed party that supports the Arkansas Arts Center, the Studio Party theme is inspired the 1921 Max Beckmann drawing from the AAC collection titled Jazzkapelle, which is German for jazz band.

At Studio Party, guests are invited into the Deco-drenched cabaret experience of the early 20th century, just as in the drawing.

“One of the benefits of having a world class collection of art at your fingertips is that it offers an almost endless supply of themes and subjects to spark the imagination,” says Todd Herman, Executive Director of the Arkansas Arts Center. “I love the idea that we are using a German drawing from the 1920s as our inspiration this year for Studio Party. The noise and energy that are so apparent in the drawing by Beckmann will be translated into a high-energy party at the Arts Center!”

Party goers will dance the night away in a club setting to Liquid Pleasure from Atlanta, GA, who in their 29th year have firmly established themselves as the South’s premiere show and dance band.

Tickets to the Studio Party are $100 party tickets and $250 VIP tickets. VIP tickets put AAC Patrons one step closer to the dance floor. While sipping sloe gin fizzes and classic champagne cocktails in a speakeasy lounge atmosphere, pre-party goers will enjoy the Roaring 20’s tastiest treats, live jazz and the antics of a Cabaret clad wait staff.

Windstream Corporation is the Studio Party presenting sponsor. Event sponsors are East-Harding, Central/Moon Distributors, Inc., Noble Strategies, CWP Productions and Stone Ward. Patron sponsor is First Security Bank.

Tickets will be available at the door.

Deadline Approaching for Arkansas Arts Summit Registration

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The Arkansas Arts Council is pleased to be a sponsor of the 2012 Arkansas Arts Summit April 17-18 at the William J. Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock. This intensive, two-day event will provide practical training for board members and arts administrators to help build and maintain art organizations and programs.

The conference will also offer performances, social events and networking opportunities. Registration is $95 and deadline to register is April 1. Click here to download a registration form, which includes a conference agenda and hotel information.

The Summit is presented by the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts and the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the Kennedy Center.

Led by Kennedy Center President Michael M. Kaiser, the conference will equip participants to:

    • Recruit and manage board members
    • Achieve fundraising success
    • Create institutional image with impact
    • Improve strategic financial planning
    • Develop and support effective marketing campaigns

Sponsors include the Arkansas Arts Council, the William J. Clinton Foundation, Donna and Mack McLarty, Kaki Hockersmith, Mid-America Arts Alliance, the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute, the Windgate Foundation, Stella Boyle Smith Trust, the City of Little Rock and the City of North Little Rock.

Sculpture Vulture: St. Vincent

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This week’s Sculpture Vulture features sculptures on the campus of the St. Vincent Medical Center. On either side of the main entrance to the hospital are marble sculptures. One is of the hospital’s namesake St. Vincent de Paul and the other is of Jesus Christ.

The statue of St. Vincent depicts him with two children. In his left arm, he holds a small boy and is looking down at a young girl with outstretched arms. The statue was given in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph A. Young.

Opposite the statue of St. Vincent is a statue of Jesus Christ. It depicts him standing with arms raised.

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Sculpture Vulture: Statuary at St. John’s

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Last week’s Sculpture Vulture looked at the state of St. John the Baptist on the St. John Catholic Center campus.  Today’s looks at three other statues on the ground.  Though there are other sculptures and icons inside worship spaces on the grounds of St. John’s, these are outdoors and are therefore more properly discussed as public art rather than solely as religious iconography.

Near the campus entrance is a statue of the Virgin Mary with her hands clasped as if in prayer.  Behind her are radiating beams of light. At the base of the statue is a cherub who is actually supporting the pedestal on which she stands.  Another cherub is off to the side. It is possible that there is a missing cherub who was originally on the other size to balance out the statue.

There is another statue of Mary on the campus.  In August 1988 a statue was dedicated in honor of the Marian Year which ran from June 1987 through August 1988.  It was donated by the Bishop and priests of the Diocese of Little Rock and dedicated by Most Rev. Andrew J. McDonald, who was Bishop at the time.  It depicts Mary with her arms at her sides and hands open and outstretched.

The other statue is that of Christ as an adult. It is located near the Marian Year statue.  Given in memory of Barbara Anderson, it features Christ with one hand outstretched and the other hand pointing to his heart.

A Conversation with Rocco Landesman this afternoon

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Rocco Landesman, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, will be making his first visit to Arkansas. Rocco Landesman, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, will be making his first visit to Arkansas today.

As a part of that visit, he will be participating in a Please join us for a very enlightening panel discussion at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre. It is being co-hosted by The Rep and the Oxford American. Arkansas First Lady Ginger Bebee will introduce the conversation.

Visiting Arkansas for the first time, Chairman Landesman will participate in a panel discussion with Rep Producing Artistic Director Bob Hupp and Oxford American Publisher Warick Sabin. Arkansas Arts Council Executive Director Joy Pennington will moderate the panel on “Creative Placemaking in Little Rock.”

The panel discussion will take place in the Rep’s Cindy Murphy Theatre at 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. Following the panel, there will be a reception at 5:00 – 6:00 p.m.
The panel discussion and lobby reception are free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

Rocco Landesman was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 7, 2009 as the tenth chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Prior to joining the NEA, he was president of Jujamcyn Theatres, which owns five Broadway theatres. A Broadway theater producer and multiple Tony winner, he has brought Big River (1985 Tony Award for Best Musical), Angels in America: Millennium Approaches (1993 Tony Award for Best Play), Angels in America: Perestroika (1994 Tony Award for Best Play), Into the Woods, and The Producers (2001 Tony Award for Best Musical) to Broadway.