Little Rock Look Back: LR Mayor Charles Bussey

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Mayor Bussey BWFuture Little Rock Mayor Charles Bussey was born on December 18 in 1918.  Throughout his life he was a trailblazer.  He was the first African American Sheriff’s Deputy in Pulaski County and expanded the Junior Deputy program into the African American community.

In 1968 he became the first African American elected to the Little Rock City Board of Directors. He was not the first African American to run for the City Board, but he was the first to win a race.  Mr. Bussey sought support not just from the African American community, but from all sectors of Little Rock.  Apparently, while campaigning in 1968, he deliberately went into the Arkansas headquarters of segregationist presidential candidate George Wallace to see about leaving campaign literature.  A hulking man with a broad smile, he shocked the young receptionist. He was undoubtedly the first (and probably last) African American to enter that campaign headquarters.

He served from 1969-1977 and again from 1979 through 1991.  In 1981 he was selected by his fellow City Directors to serve as Little Rock’s Mayor, which made him the first African American Mayor of Little Rock.  He served as Vice Mayor of Little Rock for a total of 8.5 years which is the longest of anyone in the City’s history.

Throughout his lifetime Mayor Bussey championed youth outreach efforts.  He also was active in the Arkansas Municipal League, National League of Cities, West Little Rock Rotary Club, Elks, Shriners and many other organizations.

In 2006 he was posthumously inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame.  The previous year, 20th Street in Little Rock was renamed in his honor. In 2015 he was included in the Arkansas Civil Rights Heritage Trail.

It’s OFFICIALLY Here! The new Star Wars movie

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IMG_5919As a third grade boy, I remember devouring the novelized version of Star Wars in 1977. I read everything I could about the movie. I owned the two album London Symphony Orchestra soundtrack.

I was a few months late to Star Wars figures, but Christmas of 1977 and birthday of 1978 did feature them as gifts. (I promptly lost my Sandcrawler weapon at my grandparents’ house on Christmas day.)

In those early days, I was excited by the idea of NINE Star Wars movies. Then, I gave up hope when George Lucas abandoned them after Return of the Jedi. When the prequels were announced during my adulthood, I was excited. Only to be disappointed by the actual movies (though admittedly they did get better by episode 3).

But now – the day my eighth grade self dreamed of, is here! What happens AFTER Return of the Jedi.

In honor of Star Wars: The Force Awakens opening day, here is a flash back to the Arkansas Gazette ad in June 1977 when the first film hit Little Rock (a full month after it first opened in New York).

It did not reach Little Rock until June 24, 1977. Given its status as a sleeper hit, it is no surprise that it came into Little Rock largely unnoticed.

In that day, major films opening on a Friday would be heralded the previous Sunday with a substantial advertisement. The first Star Wars ad ran on Thursday, June 23, 1977, the day before it opened. By contrast, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, which would play at the same theatre, had a large ad on Sunday, June 19.

While Star Wars would seem like the perfect movie for the great UA Cinema 150, it did not play there. The film playing at the 150 was A Bridge Too Far, which was, at least an action movie. Star Wars did not even open at a UA theatre. It opened at the ABC Cinema 1 & 2 (located at Markham and John Barrow) and at the McCain Mall Cinema. (The ABC Cinema location is now home to discount cellphone and discount clothing businesses; a cinema has returned to McCain Mall but in a different location.)

The day it opened, there was a fairly large ad which incorporated the familiar beefcake Luke, Leia in flowing gowns, and Darth Vader mask. On the Sunday after it opened, there was a slightly smaller ad with the same artwork. McCain Mall also ran a small add for both Star Wars and Herbie. It noted that Star Wars was a film that management “does not recommend for children.”

15 Highlights of 2015 – Polk Stanley Wilcox wins AIA/ALA Library Building Award for CALS Children’s Library

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Childrens Library 2For the final fifteen days of 2015, a look back at some of the cultural highlights of 2015.

Up first –

Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects and the Central Arkansas Library System were honored with Library Architecture’s highest and most prestigious achievement: A 2015 AIA/ALA Library Building Award. 

Of all libraries submitted, the 2015 AIA/ALA Library Building Awards honor only six separate projects. The Hillary Rodham Clinton Children’s Library and Learning Center joins prestigious projects from as far away as Vancouver, Washington, Dartmouth, Mass., Norfolk, Virginia, San Antonio, Texas, and Des Moines, Iowa. The projects was honored at the National ALA Conference in San Francisco on June 25-30th.

To encourage excellence in the architectural design and planning of libraries, the National American Institute of Architects (AIA) in Washington DC and the American Library Association (ALA) created this award to distinguish accomplishments in library architecture. Biennially, representatives of each organization celebrate the finest examples of library design from around the world designed by American Architects.

READThe new Children’s Library and Learning Center is based on experiential learning, where children are educated through hands on activities that teach life skills needed to become responsible adults. Referred to as a “community-embedded, supportive learning center,” this library offers not only books, but also a performance space, a teaching kitchen, a greenhouse and vegetable garden, and an arboretum.

The award is given every two years.  It is the second time that Polk Stanley Wilcox has received the award for a CALS project.  In 2011 the firm won it for the Arkansas Studies Institute building.  Not only is it rare for a firm to receive this award, it is even more rare for the same firm to receive it twice for working with the same client.  These honors are a testament to the leadership at both Polk Stanley Wilcox and the Central Arkansas Library System.

Dr. Susanah Shaw Romney, UALR History Professor, receives NEH fellowship

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Susanah Shaw Romney, assistant professor of history at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, received a $50,400 fellowship award from the National Endowment for the Humanities to conduct research on the Dutch empire.

Dr. Susanah Shaw Romney, UALR

Dr. Susanah Shaw Romney, UALR professor and author, lands National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship.

Romney was awarded the maximum amount under the Fellowships for University Teachers category to pursue her project titled “Personal Interactions and Imperial Geographies in Early Modern Dutch Colonies.”

In addition to Romney, the NEH awarded 294 other projects, for a total of $21.8 million in grants. Only two projects from Arkansas received NEH funding.

“NEH provides support for projects across America that preserve our heritage, promote scholarly discoveries, and make the best of America’s humanities ideas available to all Americans,” said NEH Chairman William D. Adams.

Romney, who plans to write a book based on her research, will conduct a comparative study of the early modern Dutch empire in North and South America, southern Africa, and southeast Asia.

“This fellowship lets me do new research on people and places that I haven’t encountered before. It gives me a chance to read records about Munsee Indians in the Hudson Valley, Khoekhoe people of southern Africa, Dutch traders in Guyana, and South Asian slaves on Java,” said Romney.

“I’ll be able to bring that new perspective to students in my classes at UALR and to the scholarly community through the book that I will write,” she added.                                                  

Romney’s previous book on the Dutch empire, “New Netherland Connections: Intimate Networks and Atlantic Ties in Seventeenth-Century America” garnered several awards, including the 2014 Berkshire Conference of Women Historians Book Prize.

Susanah Shaw Romney is originally from California, and did her undergraduate work in history at UC Santa Cruz. She received her Ph.D. from Cornell University, where she worked with Prof. Mary Beth Norton on women in Colonial America. Her research focuses on gender, race, and the fur trade in the seventeenth-century Dutch colony that later became New York. Her book is the winner of the 2014 Berkshire Conference of Women Historians First Book Prize, 2013 Jamestown Prize (given every two years by the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture), and the 2013 Hendricks Prize from the New Netherland Institute. She is now at work on a new project looking at gender, settlement, and land claims in the seventeenth-century Dutch empire in North America, Guyana, South Africa, and Java. Her research has taken her from the Huntington Library in California, to the Stadsarchief in Amsterdam, to the Western Cape Archives in South Africa. She offers classes at UALR on the colonial period, slavery, the frontier, pirates, gender, and other topics.

For more information about recently awarded NEH grants, go to www.neh.gov/news.

About the National Endowment for the Humanities

Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanitiessupports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at www.neh.gov.

The 2016 Arkansas Arts Council “Works on Paper” artists announced

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Arkansas_Arts_Council_logo_2The Arkansas Arts Council recently announced the 37 Arkansas artists who were selected for the 2016 Small Works on Paper touring exhibition.

Now in its 29th year, Small Works on Paper is a juried visual art exhibition that showcases artwork no larger than 18 x 24 inches by Arkansas artists who are members of the Arkansas Artist Registry, an online gallery showcasing the artwork of Arkansas artists.

Forty works are featured in the show that will travel to 10 galleries throughout the state in a yearlong show. The exhibition will make its first stop Jan. 5-29 at the Batesville Area Arts Council’s Gallery on Main on 226 E. Main St.

The entries were juried by Kati Toivanen, professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Ten artists were selected by Toivanen to receive purchase awards. Purchase award winners receive the cash amount equivalent to the value of their selected works. Funded by entry fees, the purchase award pieces become part of the exhibition’s permanent collection.

The artists selected to receive purchase awards are Kathy Attwood of Eureka Springs; Margo Duvall, Amy Edgington and Robert Reep, all of Little Rock; Clarke Galusha of Norphlet; Matt Kaye of Camden; Penny Jo Pausch of Jonesboro; David Rackley and Rachel Trusty of Russellville; and Steven Vickers of Van Buren.

The complete list of artists is below.

  • John W. Ahlen, Little Rock
  • Joshua Asante, Little Rock
  • Kathy Attwood, Eureka Springs
  • Sandy Barksdale, Cotter
  • James Berg, Hot Springs
  • Susan Chambers, Little Rock
  • Melissa Cowper-Smith, Morrilton
  • Warren Criswell, Benton
  • Margo Duvall, Little Rock
  • Amy R. Edgington, Little Rock
  • L.S. Eldridge, Rogers
  • Thad Flenniken, Royal
  • Janet Gade-Malone, Hot Springs
  • Clarke Galusha, Norphlet
  • Angela Greene, North Little Rock
  • Lori Halley, Springdale
  • Gwen Haverland, Van Buren
  • Matt Kaye, Camden
  • Kimberly Kwee, Little Rock
  • Tim LaTourette, Fayetteville
  • Brian Madden, Little Rock
  • Jason McCann, Maumelle
  • Kasten McClellan Searles, Little Rock
  • Stephanie McLeod, Springdale
  • Robin Miller-Bookhout, North Little Rock
  • Penny Jo Pausch, Jonesboro
  • Laura Raborn, Little Rock
  • David Rackley, Russellville
  • Robert Reep, Little Rock
  • Sabine Schmidt, Fayetteville
  • Cathryn H. Slater, Little Rock
  • Stacy Spangler, Little Rock
  • Tod Swiecichowski, Little Rock
  • Rachel Trusty, Little Rock
  • Steven G. Vickers, Van Buren
  • John Watson, North Little Rock
  • Judy Wright Walter, Texarkana

The Arkansas Arts Council is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

 

Flying Solo is focus of final LR 2015 Tales from the South, tonight at the Arkansas Arts Center

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talesfromthesouthThe saying goes “It takes a village,” but at times one can find herself “Flying Solo.” Tonight, Tales originates at Best Impressions at the Arkansas Arts Center. The storytellers exploring the theme for this edition are Lennie Dusek, Sherry Rankins-Robinson, and Deborah Carroll.

Music is by The Salty Dogs.

“Tales From the South” is a radio show created and produced by Paula Martin Morell, who is also the show’s host. The show is taped live. The night is a cross between a house concert and a reading/show, with incredible food and great company. Tickets must be purchased before the show, as shows are usually standing-room only.

“Tales from the South” is a showcase of writers reading their own true stories. While the show itself is unrehearsed, the literary memoirs have been worked on for weeks leading up to the readings. Stories range from funny to touching, from everyday occurrences to life-altering tragedies.

Dinner is served from 5pm to 6:30pm, the show starts at 7pm.  Admission is $15.  Dinner can be purchased separately.

You MUST purchase your ticket before the show.

Previous episodes of “Tales from the South” air on KUAR Public Radio.

Grants for Rep, ASO, Oxford American announced by National Endowment for the Arts

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nea-logo-960Three Little Rock based cultural institutions were among the eight Arkansas recipients of National Endowment for Arts grants recently announced.

These were Art Works and Challenge America grants. Art Works grants supports the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts and the strengthening of communities through the arts. Challenge America grants offer support primarily to small and mid-sized organizations for projects that extend the reach of the arts to underserved populations whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited by geography, ethnicity, economics or disability.

The Arkanas Repertory Theatre received $15,000 to support a production of An Iliad by Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare.  The playwriting team has adapted Homer’s Trojan War epic into a compelling monologue that captures both the heroism and horror of warfare. A key theme is the personal cost of war. The theatre will continue and deepen its ongoing partnership with the Little Rock Air Force base and will engage with the service members and their families during the project. During the performance run, veterans returning from service overseas will share their personal stories as part of a post-performance community conversation. Activities will occur in the theater’s newly constructed second stage and center for community engagement on the Main Street Creative Corridor.

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra received $10,000 to support performances and educational workshops that will culminate in the world premiere performance of a composition by D.J. Sparr, featuring guitarist Ted Ludwig.  The composition is inspired by Ludwig’s flight from New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. In addition to performances, electric guitarists Ludwig and Sparr will lead workshops for student musicians and community members from central and southeastern Arkansas, including a high percentage of low-income residents.

The Oxford American received $20,000 to support the publication and promotion of the magazine.  Exploring the complexity and vitality of the American South, the magazine publishes poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and criticism by emerging and established authors. The magazine will be promoted through social media, the magazine’s website, a weekly e-newsletter, and events throughout the South.

In addition, TheatreSquared in Fayetteville received $25,000 for its Arkansas New Play Festival. This is presented in Fayetteville and Little Rock. The Little Rock performances are in conjunction with the Arkansas Rep.

Other Arkansas recipients were the Walton Arts Center, Sonny Boy Blues Society (for the King Biscuit Blues Festival), Ozarks Foothills Film Festival and John Brown University.