Category Archives: Visual Art

Sculpture Vulture: The Spirit of Central High

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Located at the northwest corner of Park and Daisy L. Gatson Bates is the Central High School Commemorative Garden. The showcase of the garden is a sculpture created by Michael Warrick and Aaron P. Hussey.

The focal point of this piece is a pair of archways. The outward facing sides of each archway evokes the architecture of the historic high school through the buff bricks, cornice work and even statues.

On the reverse are a series of black and white photographs depicting the rich history and legacy of the school from its construction in 1927 through 2000.

By depicting a variety of decades and events, this sculpture does not shy away from 1957 there are images from that school year included. These several dozen photographs represent the hundreds of thousands of students who have gone to high school in this building since the doors first opened.

Nor does the sculpture try to explain away or justify actions. Instead it embraces the roots of excellence which gave birth to the school and shows the manifestation of that excellence in modern times which has been made possible by the crucible that was the flashpoint of 1957.

February Frieze Frame Friday

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Each Friday in February, the Little Rock Culture Vulture will feature a frieze which can be found in Little Rock.

Today’s frieze is inspired by friezes from ancient cultures showing a laborer at work.  The shirtless and muscular nature of the man is evocative of friezes that can be seen today in Greek or Roman ruins.  His hair, breeches and shoes are more in keeping with the late 1700s/early 1800s as is the style of the printing press.

It is found, fittingly, on an annex to the Arkansas Gazette building, which now houses the lower grades of the eStem Public Charter School.

LEGO artist back at Clinton Center tonight

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LEGO portrait of President Clinton

Back by popular demand, the Clinton Presidential Center hosts a second appearance by lawyer-turned-artist Nathan Sawaya.  In his remarks, he will relay how his childhood love of LEGOs has transformed into his artistic expression.

Sawaya’s works on display at the Center include buildings, furniture, animals and even “paintings.”

The exhibit “Art of the Brick” continues until February 12.

After the program, guests are invited to tour the exhibit. Sawaya will be signing copies of his book, The Art of the Brick Pictorial, which is available for purchase at the Clinton Museum Store.

Admission is free. Children are welcome. To reserve your seats e-mailing Joy Secuban at jsecuban@clintonfoundation.org or call (501) 370-8000.

Art of Architecture: William E. Massie – “Physical Delineations”

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This month brings two editions of the “Art of Architecture” lecture series.  Tonight is the second as William E. Massie discusses Physical Delineations.  The program begins at 6:00pm in the lecture hall of the Arkansas Arts Center.

William E. Massie received a Bachelor of Fine Art in Architectural Studies from Parsons School of Design, New York, NY. He subsequently received a Master of Architecture from Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture. Upon graduation he worked for Robertson + McAnulty Architects and James Stewart Polshek and Partners. In 1993 he started his own company while simultaneously accepting a teaching position in the Graduate School of Architecture at Columbia University where he was appointed as the Coordinator for Building Technologies Research.

Massie is currently the Architect-in Residence / Head of Architecture Department at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and a Tenured Professor of Architecture at Rensselear Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. He has taught at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana and Parsons School of Design in New York City.

He has participated as a visiting critic at many institutions nationally including, Harvard, Yale, California Polytechnic Institute and Lawrence Technological University. In 2005 he participated as the Keynote Speaker and appointed Bruce Goff Chair at the University of Oklahoma on the future of technology and digital processes in architecture and architectural education.

The 2011-2012 Art of Architecture lecture series is sponsored by the Architecture and Design Network, with support from the Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the Arkansas Arts Center and the Fay Jones School of Architecture.

Sculpture Vulture: RABBIT REACH

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Tomorrow is the Chinese New Year — it marks the start of the Year of the Dragon.  That means today is the last day of the Year of the Rabbit.

In honor of that, today’s Sculpture Vulture features Tim Cherry’s Rabbit Reach.

The sculpture is located at the corner of Sherman Street and President Clinton Avenue across from the Museum of Discovery.

The sculpture is a gift from Whitlow Wyatt and the Carey Cox Wyatt Charitable Foundation. It was given in memory of George Wyatt and Frank Kumpuris.  Those two gentlemen were the fathers of Whitlow Wyatt and Dean & Drew Kumpuris.

Cherry’s sculpture was selected for this spot because of its proximity to children at the Museum and in the River Market district.  The design and size of the sculpture encourages children to climb on it and to play around the rabbit.  While some public art is situated so it cannot be touched, this one is situated to be touched as part of the appreciation experience.

Fabcraft the focus of January 17 Art of Architecture lecture

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Perez

This month brings two editions of the “Art of Architecture” lecture series.  Tomorrow night (Tuesday, January 17), Santiago R. Perez will discuss Fabcraft: Crafting the Future with Digital Fabrication.  The program begins at 6:00pm in the lecture hall of the Arkansas Arts Center.

Santiago R. Pérez is the 21st Century Chair in Integrated Practice and Assistant Professor of Architecture at Fay Jones School of Architecture, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.  He will discuss recent work emerging from the new advanced fabrication, or FabLab, facility, which Pérez directs, at the Fay Jones School of Architecture.

The FabLab is under development in conjunction with the acquisition of new computer-controlled equipment, including a 5-axis CNC (computer numerically controlled) mill and steel plasma cutter, and the anticipated arrival of a fully articulated robot. These new initiatives are part of the ongoing research and teaching focus of Perez, who joined the school’s faculty in fall 2010.

Pérez will introduce the public to emerging digital fabrication projects, methods and tools, highlighting both current projects and recently exhibited or published work. The presentation will focus on innovation utilizing digital fabrication, computer numerically controlled tools and rapid prototyping. In particular, Pérez will discuss the relationship between traditional craft culture and making, and advanced, computationally assisted fabrication, toward a new confluence that he has termed “fabcraft.”

The term fabcraft can be understood as a new merger of craft and fabrication that combines the best of both worlds – the insights gained from knowledge of traditional craft processes, mixed with computational design and digital fabrication. The emergence of these robotic and computationally assisted tools in architecture is revolutionizing both the teaching and practice of architecture, and the increasing academic focus on making as an integral part of the design process.

The 2011-2012 Art of Architecture lecture series is sponsored by the Architecture and Design Network, with support from the Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the Arkansas Arts Center and the Fay Jones School of Architecture.

Sculpture Vulture: FUSION

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For 23 years, Vernon C. Johnson, Sr., worked as a security guard at the Central Arkansas Library System’s main branch.  Following his 2006 death, his friends and colleagues at CALS commissioned a sculpture as a memorial to him.

Michael Warrick’s Fusion is a limestone orb atop a pedestal.  Etched into the orb are handprints of various sizes as well as scallops and ridges.  As a befitting memorial to a man who helped everyone with whom he came into contact, the handprints are of various sizes representing both children and adults.

Sitting at the corner of 2nd and River Market (formerly Commerce) Streets, Fusion anchors the southeastern corner of the CALS campus downtown.  Tucked away into a landscaped area, it greets visitors on foot as well as in cars waiting at the nearby stop sign.  In so doing, it quietly interacts with visitors in the same way that Johnson did for over two decades at CALS.