“How People Make Things” exhibit now open at Museum of Discovery

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MOD makeThe Museum of Discovery’s latest exhibit, How People Make Things, is now open.
Every object in our world has a story of how it is made. How People Make Things tells that story by linking familiar childhood objects to a process of manufacturing that combines people, ideas and technology.
The exhibit, inspired by the factory tour segments from the “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” television series, offers hands-on activities using real factory tools and machines to create objects with four manufacturing processes – molding, cutting, deforming and assembly.
Step into the exhibit’s main office, where you can don coveralls, lab coats, aprons, safety glasses, boots and hard hats to become a factory technician, worker or supervisor.
Use a die cutter to create objects, operate a 3-axis mill to carve a block of wax, deform a penny, mold pourable wax, explore vacuum forces and more.
“How People Makes Things is a very hands-on, interactive exhibit, in keeping with the approach our museum takes with every exhibit we feature,” said Kelley Bass, CEO of the Museum of Discovery. “It was a big hit when we had it here in 2013, and we’re thrilled to bring it back for our visitors to enjoy.”
The exhibit also features factory tour videos from the “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” television series that depict the making of crayons, carousel horses, balls, traffic lights, quarters, shoes, toy cars and toy wagons.
How People Make Things will be on display at the Museum of Discovery until March 27, 2016.
Museum of Discovery’s mission is to ignite a passion for science, technology and math in a dynamic, interactive environment.

Legacy of Civil War topic of seminar at Old State House today

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cw-seminarThe Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission and the Old State House Museum are sponsoring a seminar on the legacy of the Civil War on Saturday, October 10.

ACWSC Chairman Tom Dupree described it thus: “As we near the end of the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, we wanted to address the lingering influences of the war,” Dupree said. “Each of our speakers will look at different aspects of the war and how they continue to affect us today.”

Speakers at the “Legacy of Arkansas’s Civil War” will be:

•Dr. Elliott West – University of Arkansas at Fayetteville on “Arkansas: Where One War’s Edge Was Another War’s Center”

•Dr. Carl Moneyhon – University of Arkansas at Little Rock on “Conflicting Civil War Memories and Cultural Divides in Arkansas”

•Dr. Jeannie Whayne – University of Arkansas at Fayetteville on “The Civil War and the Burden of Arkansas History”

•Dr. Cherisse Jones-Branch – Arkansas State University on “’How Free is Free?’: African Americans in Post-Civil War Arkansas”

•Dr. Kelly Houston Jones – Austin Peay University on “Women After the War: Profiles of Change and Continuity”

•Dr. Tom DeBlack – Arkansas Tech University on “’What Is to Become of Us?’: The Postwar Lives of Major Figures in Civil War Arkansas”

For more information on this and other sesquicentennial events, visit http://www.arkansascivilwar150.com/events/.

Creative Class of 2015: Nikolai DiPippa

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ND_PhotoRecently, the Clinton School Speaker Series hosted its 1,000th speaker. Nikolai DiPippa has been involved with the program since its early days, joining the Clinton School in 2006.

His official title is Director of Public Programs. But what it means is that he is in charge of identifying, booking, and squiring the participants in the Clinton School Speaker Series.  This is a task that takes diplomacy, patience, organization, creativity, and charm.  It also takes long hours day-in and day-out.

In addition, DiPippa is executive producer and host of “Clinton School Presents” radio program on KUAR. In these programs, he conducts one-on-one interviews with some of the distinguished speakers at the Clinton School.

A Little Rock native, he studied at Catholic High and Hendrix College.  Humble and self-effacing, his varied interests have served him well in identifying and pursuing a wide-range of speakers for the Clinton School.

Past speakers from the Clinton School are available for viewing at the Speakers Series website, which also features information on upcoming events.

CALS announces cancellation of tonight’s Heiskell Lecture with Jonathan Karl

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Due to recent developments regarding the election of a new Speaker of the House, ABC News requires Jonathan Karl, ABC News’ chief White House correspondent,to be in Washington, D.C., and he is unable to present the Central Arkansas Library System’s (CALS)J.N. Heiskell Distinguished Lecture today.
In an email, Karl said, “The breaking news on the Capitol has forced me to be in Washington — I tried hard to avoid that but I was given no choice. In such a major breaking story, ABC News felt I must be there to report for World News Tonight and our other platforms.
“We are hopeful that we will be able to reschedule Mr. Karl’s presentation,” said CALS director Bobby Roberts. “We are very disappointed the lecture will not happen tonight. Journalists’ jobs are to cover current events, and important things are happening now in Washington, D.C.”

CANCELLED – Jonathan Karl will present the CALS J.N. Heiskell Distinguished Lecture

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jonathankarlJonathan Karl, ABC News’ chief White House correspondent, will present the Central Arkansas Library System’s (CALS) J.N. Heiskell Distinguished Lecture on Friday, October 9, at 6:30 p.m. in the Ron Robinson Theater, 100 River Market Ave.
 The event is free and open to the public. A reception will follow the program. Seating is general admission. Reservations are appreciated, but not required. RSVP at lellis@cals.org, or 918-3024.
Jonathan Karl, ABC News’ chief White House correspondent, covers the White House forWorld News Tonight, Nightline, and Good Morning America. Karl joined ABC News in January, 2004, and has also served as the network’s Senior Congressional Correspondent, Senior Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Senior National Security Correspondent, and Senior Political Correspondent.
Karl has covered political campaigns in virtually every state and has reported from more than 30 countries, including Iraq, Afghanistan, China, Pakistan, and Sudan. He traveled internationally with the President, Vice President, Secretary of State, and Secretary of Defense to cover topics such as three presidential elections, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the intelligence community, and Congressional reaction to the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Jonathan Karl’s extensive experience and political knowledge allow him to discuss foreign affairs, America’s role in the post-September 11 world, national politics, and current events with insight and expertise. Karl also elaborates on what he has learned as moderator and organizer of Sustaining Democracy, a series of panel discussions on America’s changing political landscape. In 2001, Karl won the National Press Foundation’s Everett McKinley Dirksen Award, the highest honor for Congressional reporting and in 2013 was awarded with a Walter Cronkite Excellence in Journalism award.
The Heiskell Distinguished Lecture is named for J.N. Heiskell, the longest-serving member of the Library’s Board of Trustees and editor of the Arkansas Gazette for more than seventy years. J.N. Heiskell was the longest-serving member of the Library’s Board of Trustees, serving from 1910-1972, and he served as President from 1950 until his death in 1972. Speakers and programs honor Heiskell’s commitment to excellence in journalism as well as his support of the library. Past speakers include Helen Thomas, Ernest Dumas, Walter Mears, David Pryor, Dexter Filkins, and John O’Hara.

Music of the Night this weekend in Little Rock presented by Arkansas Chamber Singers

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acs nightThis weekend the Arkansas Chamber Singers present their first concerts of the season.  Entitled “Music of the Night,” they will take place at St. Edward’s Catholic Church on Friday evening at 7:30pm and at St. James United Methodist Church on Sunday afternoon at 3:00pm.

Under the leadership of John Erwin, artistic director and conductor, the concert features excerpts from Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “All Night Vigil”, “Sure On This Shining Night” by Morten Lauridsen and “Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine” by Eric Whitacre. The choir will also perform “Dark Night of the Soul” by Ola Gjeilo and “Abendlied”, “O Schne Nacht” and “Sehnsucht” by Johannes Brahms.

Lynn Bauman is the accompanist, and Lisette Christensen is the executive director.

 

Tickets purchased in advance are $15 Adult and $10 Student; at the door they are $18 Adults, $12 Students.

October 2015 2nd Friday Art Night!

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2FAN logo Font sm2It is time again for Second Friday Art Night!

On the second Friday of Arts & Humanities Month, it is a great way to experience the richness the arts and humanities bring to Little Rock.  Among the offerings this month are:

Historic Arkansas Museum’s free opening reception of “Kat Wilson’s Layers”

Arkansas photographer Kat Wilson is widely known for her Habitats series inspired by the hard-working people living in her blue-collar Arkansas town. Wilson’s work has continued to evolve as she has exhibited across Arkansas at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and Arkansas Arts Center among others, and across the nation through exhibitions in Reno, NV, and Chicago, IL. Her work has received national and international recognition.

In a new series, Wilson’s technical process of layering photographs draws out a painterly quality typically absent in the glossy surface of a photograph. Wilson gathers images from varying degrees, often pulling information in a complete 360. She then layers them in an effort to tell a broader story of the scene.

 

CALS Butler Center opening of “Photographic Arts: African American Studio Photography from the Joshua & Mary Swift Collection”

This is the first exhibition of works from the Joshua & Mary Swift Collection, featuring photographs of African American people, created in a studio setting during the 1860s-1940s. Many of the featured photographs were hand colored, which created artful and unusual effects on otherwise formal portraits.

Other exhibits at the Butler Center are “Disparate Acts Redux: Bailin, Criswell, Peters” – an exhibition created by three artists who have found community with each other during the past thirty years’ “Weaving Stories & Hope: Textile Arts from the Japanese American Internment Camp at Rohwer, Arkansas” – a collection of decorative patterns, landscapes, and still life compositions created on muslin and denim; and “Gene Hatfield: Outside the Lines” – an exhibition characterizing the life and vitality of his life’s works.

 

Christ Church opening of solo exhibit of mixed media works by Diane Harper.

Little Rock artist Diane Harper translates images from a military childhood into new works of art in painting, printmaking, and mixed media in what she calls a “posthumous collaboration” with her father. His was a colorful career as a forensic photographer in the U.S. Military Crime Lab, and later in the Arkansas State Crime Lab. He taught himself photography by taking volumes of photos of his family and their adventures together.

The driving motivation behind this collaborative work is not only for Harper to gain a sense of place, but to position herself behind her father’s lens to see how he saw her, his family, and the rest of the world