45th Historic Arkansas Museum Territorial Fair today from 10 to 4

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hamlogoHistoric Arkansas Museum will host the 45th Annual Territorial Fair on Saturday, May 12, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This popular annual event is a fun and free opportunity for adults and children of all ages to experience what life was like during Arkansas’s Territorial era. Living history performances, blacksmith demonstrations, historical dances and pioneer games will be happening on the museum’s historic grounds, a preserved and meticulously recreated section of an early downtown Little Rock neighborhood.

Pioneer games and crafting
Cooking and blacksmithing demonstrations
Living history with the Early Arkansas Reenactors Association
Animals from Heifer International
Mother’s Day cards in the Old Print Shop with print blocks designed by Neal K Harrington
Performances by the Arkansas Country Dance Society
Live music by Suzanne and Jim
Balloon art with Hanson’s Balloon Twisting
FREE Loblolly Creamery ice cream and Diamond Bear Brewing Company root beer
Heritage food from Cypress Knee Food Truck

The Museum Store will be open for Mother’s Day shopping with a variety of unique Arkansas-made gifts and books.

Historic Arkansas Museum is a historic site museum of Arkansas’s frontier days. Five pre-Civil War houses, on their original block, are restored to antebellum appearances, so you can learn about life pre-Civil War in Arkansas. Guided tours of the historic houses encounter actors portraying original residents, making it easy to step back in time and learn about the history of Arkansas.

Little Rock Look Back: Miss America Donna Axum sings at Robinson Auditorium

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Photo from Encyclopedia of Arkansas, courtesy of Mike Polston

While she had made a few other appearances in Little Rock during her reign as Miss America, on May 11, 1964, Donna Axum appeared in concert at Robinson Auditorium.

She sang with the Arkansas Symphony (not directly connected with the current Arkansas Symphony Orchestra) and the Arkansas Choral Society.

The concert was part of the Arkansas State Festival of the Arts which was an annual event from the late 1950s until the mid 1960s.

Miss Axum’s most recent appearance at Robinson was last June when she appeared, along with several other former Miss Arkansas title holders, at the 2017 Miss Arkansas pageant.  She was joined on stage by Savvy Shields, who like Miss Axum, was a former Miss Arkansas who held the title of Miss America.

Little Rock Look Back: William Grant Still

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Long known as the Dean of African American composers, Dr. William Grant Still was a legend in his own lifetime.

Dr. Still, who wrote more than 150 compositions ranging from operas to arrangements of folk themes, is best known as a pioneer. He was the first African-American in the United States to have a symphonic composition performed by a major orchestra. He was the first to conduct a major symphony orchestra in the US; the first to conduct a major symphony in the south; first to conduct a white radio orchestra in New York City; first to have an opera produced by a major company. Dr. Still was also the first African-American to have an opera televised over a national network

Dr. Still was born May 11, 1895 in Woodville, Mississippi to parents who were teachers and musicians. When Dr. Still was only a few months old, his father died and his mother took him to Little Rock. Inspired by RCA Red Seal operatic recordings, his musical education began with violin lessons.  He graduated from Gibbs High School in Little Rock.

After his studies at Wilberforce University and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, he played in orchestras and orchestrated for various employers including the great W. C. Handy. For several years he arranged and conducted the “Deep River Hour” over CBS and WOR.  He also played in the orchestra for the 1921 musical Shuffle Along, which was the first Broadway musical to feature an all African-American cast and writing team.

In the 1920’s, Still made his first appearances as a serious composer in New York. Several fellowships and commissions followed. In 1994, his “Festive Overture” captured the Jubilee prize of the Cincinnati Symphony orchestra. In 1953, he won a Freedoms Foundation Award for “To You, America!” which honored West Point’s Sesquicentennial Celebration. In 1961, he received honors for this orchestral work, “The Peaceful Land”. Dr. Still also received numerous honorary degrees from various colleges and universities, as well as various awards and a citation from Arkansas Governor Dale Bumpers in 1972.

In 1939, Dr. Still married journalist and concert pianist Verna Avery, who became his principal collaborator. They remained together until Dr. Still’s death in 1978.  In a proclamation marking the centennial of Dr. Still’s birth, President Bill Clinton praised the composer for creating “works of such beauty and passion that they pierced the artificial barriers of race, nationality and time.”

In 1995, Dr. Still was posthumously inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame.  In 2016, the ballroom at Robinson Center was named in his honor.  Earlier this month, Opera in the Rock performed Still’s opera Troubled Island.

2018 Lineup for MOVIES IN THE PARK Announced

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Superheroes, teenagers, princesses, and a bunny are just some of the characters who will be visiting Little Rock’s FirstSecurity Amphitheatre in 2018 for Movies in the Park.

Movies in the Park is a free outdoor movie series in Little Rock’s River Market. The mission of Movies in the Park is help foster a sense of community and enjoyment in downtown Little Rock by bringing people together to enjoy a movie in a unique setting
along the scenic banks of the Arkansas River.

June 6 – Wonder Woman (PG-13) Sponsored by Clinton School of Public Service

June 13 –  Zootopia (PG) 

June 20 –  School of Rock (PG-13) 

June 27 – Sixteen Candles (PG)

July 11 – Star Wars the Force Awakens (PG-13) Sponsored by SCM Architects

July 18 – Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (PG) 

July 25 – Beauty and the Beast (PG) (2017) 

Movies in the Park is a free outdoor film series shown at First Security Amphitheatre in Riverfront Park. Movies start at dark. (This being summer that means sometime between 8pm and 8:30pm.)

Guests are welcome to bring picnics but please no glass containers and pick up afterwards. Alcohol is allowed during the movie, but guests remain subject to all local, state and federal laws and ordinances. Uniformed security is on site for everyone’s safety.

$644,600 from NEA is going to the Arkansas Arts Council

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In pursuit of its commitment to advance the creative capacity of people and communities across the nation, the National Endowment for the Arts announces its second round of funding for FY 2018.

This funding round includes annual partnerships with state, jurisdictional, and regional arts agencies as well as the categories of Art Works, Creativity Connects, Our Town, and Research: Art Works.

One of the grantees was the Arkansas Arts Council which will receive $644,600.  This will support arts programs, services, and activities associated with carrying out the Arkansas Arts Council’s NEA-approved strategic plan.  The Arts Council is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

There were a total number of six (6) grants to entities in Arkansas.  These grants are worth $814,600.  As noted yesterday in a post, one of the grantees was the Arkansas Arts Center.

Earlier this year, the NEA announced its first round of grants which included $10,00 for the Arkansas Repertory Theatre to support production of The Call; $12,500 to the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra to support the Canvas Festival, which combined visual arts and the performance of live symphonic music; $10,000 to the Chamber Music Society of Little Rock to support a series of chamber music performances and related educational programming; and $25,000 to the Oxford American to support the publication and promotion of the magazine.

Dr. Jane Chu, who is the Chairman of the NEA, has announced she will be stepping down on June 4, 2018, at the conclusion of her four year term.  A graduate of Arkadelphia High School and Ouachita Baptist University, she has visited Little Rock during her tenure at the helm of the NEA.

$50,000 grant from the NEA goes to Arkansas Arts Center

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National Endowment for the Arts Chairman (and former Arkansas resident) Jane Chu has approved more than $80 million in grants as part of the NEA’s second major funding announcement for fiscal year 2018. Included in this announcement is an Art Works grant of $50,000 to the Arkansas Arts Center to support the conservation of art works by John Marin.

The Art Works category is the NEA’s largest funding category and supports projects that focus on the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and/or the strengthening of communities through the arts.

“The variety and quality of these projects speaks to the wealth of creativity and diversity in our country,” said NEA Chairman Jane Chu. “Through the work of organizations such as the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock, NEA funding invests in local communities, helping people celebrate the arts wherever they are.”

The Arkansas Arts Center’s 290-work collection is the second largest repository of John Marin works in the world. The collection was donated to the Arts Center by the artist’s daughter-in-law, Norma Marin, in 2013. Beginning with his 1909 debut exhibition of watercolors at Alfred Stieglitz’s 291 Gallery in New York, until his death in 1953, Marin was a major force among the cutting-edge modern artists in America. The artist was best known for his lively, idiosyncratic watercolors, etchings and oil paintings of the disparate worlds of gritty New York City and coastal Maine.

“We are incredibly grateful for this support from the NEA,” said Todd Herman, Arkansas Arts Center Executive Director. “This grant will allow us to continue to preserve this spectacular collection of works by iconic American modernist John Marin for future generations.”

Repertorium Praeter Theatrum

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It was two weeks ago yesterday that the Arkansas Rep announced suspension of operations.  It was a week ago yesterday that the Rally at the Rep was held which raised money and community spirit for the Rep.

Supporters of the Rep have made a good start in donating over $113,000 towards the goal of $750,000.  The John & Robyn Horn and Windgate Charitable Foundations have generously extended matching grants to make donated dollars stretch even further.  It does not mean the money woes are eliminated. It just means there is a clearer pathway to reaching the goal.

Yesterday was the final day of employment at the Rep for many folks.  These are good people.  Some grew up here. Others came here to work.  All became a part of Arkansas in addition to becoming part of the Arkansas Rep.

A few staff members remain.  Even when operations are in suspension, there are still tasks to accomplish.

And excitingly the Rep’s Education Department is continuing its summer programming under the leadership of Anna Kimmell.  From June 18 through August 3, there will be a series of age-based sessions for kids ranging in age from kindergarten up to 2018 high school graduates.

The education programming illustrates a key reason the Rep is important.  Yes, the final two-week program is geared toward high school kids and offers a conservatory-style training. It is a wonderful opportunity for those who think they might be interested in pursuing a career in the performing arts.

But a key aspect of all the sessions is the use of the performing arts as forms of self-expression.  Even if the students never set foot on stage again, they have learned confidence. They have learned arts appreciation. They have learned to respect themselves and others.

This is what theatre does. This is what the arts do.

Last weekend, I was in the Rep’s auditorium for the Ballet Arkansas performance.  After it was over, I unexpectedly found myself lingering in the space.  I then realized why.  I wanted to soak in the atmosphere of the room.  So I went up to the lower balcony and walked around.  I snapped the photos which accompany this entry.

I hope I am back in the space for a performance in the coming months.  But I realized it could be even longer in the future.  So I relished the chance to wander around.  And wonder about the future.

In the coming weeks, key supporters of the Rep will be working out a vision for the future of the institution.  Many tough discussions will be had. Many difficult decisions will be made. What will the future look like? Only St. Genesius probably knows. And as the patron saint of actors and comedians, he is not yet telling.

It is said (though it is likely apocryphal) that the Roman Senator Cato the Elder ended each of his speeches with “Ceterum censeo Carthaginem delendam esse” or some variation. Meaning, of course, Carthage must be destroyed.

Since learning that fact from my mother sometime in elementary school (that’s what happens when your mother is a world history teacher), I have been fascinated by Latin phrases.   (When I grow up, I want to be Jed Bartlet who can spout the proper Latin phrase at the right time.)

I especially like the idea of a battle cry in Latin.  It somehow seems more forceful.

So I end this entry, and plan on ending future entries about the Rep with the Latin for “Save the Repertory Theatre” (sorry, Arkansas does not translate well into Latin.)

Repertorium Praeter Theatrum