Registration is open for Arkansas Arts Center Museum School classes

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Art classes and workshops continue this fall at the Arkansas Arts Center’s Riverdale space and select offsite locations. The Museum School offers classes and workshops in painting, drawing, ceramics, printmaking, metals, glass, jewelry and woodworking for all ages and skill levels. Registration for new students opens August 19, and classes begin in September.

At the Arts Center’s Riverdale location, Museum School students will find more than 15,000 square feet of studio space to create and learn. The Cantrell Road location will also offer convenient and secure parking and new amenities for students.

Select Museum School classes will also be held at offsite locations. Select drawing classes will be held at CALS Main Library in downtown Little Rock. At the Old Mill in North Little Rock, students will find a weekend painting workshop. Bookbinding and letterpress printing classes will be held at Yella Dog Press in downtown Little Rock. Youth studio art and theatre classes will be found at the Hillary Rodham Clinton Children’s Library and Learning Center. Select youth studio art classes will also be held at Maumelle and Terry libraries.

“It is so important that our Museum School students have the creative space they need to continue pursuing their work while our MacArthur Park building is under construction,” said Rana Edgar, Director of Education and Programs. “The Riverdale space and our partnerships with organizations across Central Arkansas have allowed us to do just that.”

The Museum School’s temporary move to Riverdale is just one aspect of the Arts Center’s commitment to remaining accessible to the community while its MacArthur Park facility is under construction. Construction on the MacArthur Park building is scheduled to begin this fall. The Museum School will move back to the Arts Center’s renovated MacArthur Park building upon its completion, scheduled for early 2022.

Registration for Fall Quarter classes opens August 19 for new students. Members of the Arkansas Arts Center get a 20% discount on classes and workshops in the Museum School. Class schedules and registration details can be found at arkansasartscenter.org/museumschool or call 501-372-4000.

75 years ago, first USS Little Rock was launched

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On August 27, 1944, the first USS Little Rock was launched in Philadelphia at the Cramp Shipbuilding Company shipyards.  A 10,000 ton Cleveland Class light cruiser, it first touched water in the Delaware River.

The sponsor of the ship (who broke the champagne bottle on the hull) was Ruth May Wassell, the wife of Little Rock alderman Sam Wassell.  The main address was delivered by Congressman Brooks Hays, whose district included Little Rock.  A crowd of 5,000 was gathered to witness the launch.

According to the Associated Press Congressman Hays called light cruisers, “the hottest item of naval combat.”

The congressman further elaborated:

The people of Little Rock are proud to have such a ship as this bear their city’s name.” said Mr. Hays. “Even those of us who know little about the classification of naval vessels know that the cruisers have distinguished themselves in the Pacific war and that this is the outstanding type of combat vessel for that area. The navy men tell us that the cruiser is the ‘work horse of the navy.’ big enough to go into any battle, fast enough to lead any task force.

Carrying, as it has, the heaviest load in the Pacific where the greatest battles have taken place, the cruisers have added luster to naval history. We hope that, in the time remaining before our enemies are put down, the Little Rock will take her place along side the Boise, the San Francisco, the Helena,and the Chicago, preserving the prestige of the cruisers.

We are glad to honor the workmen and the company for which they work.  I am sure we are all impressed with the spirit of teamwork which produced the results we observe today.  In March 1943, the keel was laid and for 18 months materials for the ship have come from everywhere. The taxes to pay for it will be assessed against men and women of great and little resources. Teamwork from beginning to end did the job.

So with the war.  A glorious victory lies ahead, but there is much remaining to be done. Only teamwork can supply the dynamic power yet needed to complete that victory. Every ship launching is a reminder of the power that comes to a people who work together to achieve.”

Other guests at the ceremony included United States Senator John L. McClellan and Congressman and senator-elect J. William Fulbright. Alderman Sam Wassell was also present.  He and his wife hosted a dinner for the Arkansas delegation and other dignitaries the night before the christening while they were in Philadelphia.

At the request of the Secretary of the Navy, Little Rock Mayor Charles Moyer designated Mrs. Wassell for the honor of sponsoring the USS Little Rock. There are not details as to why Mayor Moyer made the designation.  A first cousin of Alderman Wassell, Dr. Corydon Wassell had been an early World War II hero and was a favorite of President Franklin Roosevelt.  Paramount had released a movie about him earlier in 1944. That may have been a reason for the designation.

The Little Rock City Council sent a bouquet of roses to the ceremony, fitting since the city’s nickname at the time was “City of Roses.” After the launch, Mrs. Wassell sent a telegram to Mayor Moyer and the Council

Thanks a million for the beautiful bouquet of red roses. They made the christening of the cruiser Little Rock perfect. I wish it could have been possible for you to have been present.  The cruiser is 600 feet long and will have a crew of 1,200 men.  I was so proud of our city.  Little Rock has something to be proud of.

The USS Little Rock (CL-92) was commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, on June 17, 1945.  After service during the end of World War II and the post-war era, it was decommissioned on June 24, 1949. After being refit, it was recommissioned on June 3, 1960. It was permanently decommissioned on November 22, 1976.  The following year it was towed to Buffalo where it has been a museum since then.

The current USS Little Rock was commissioned adjacent to the original USS Little Rock — the only time a new ship was commissioned next to the previous ship to bear its name.

Help the ASO with an acoustic test at Robinson Center

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The ASO in rehearsal at Robinson Center

School’s back.

It is test time!

Tonight you can take a test that has no wrong answer. It requires no studying.

ASO is conducting an amplified acoustic test and tuning of the Robinson Center on Tuesday, August 27, with a goal of optimizing the concert and listening experience for our Pops Live! series and other concerts with amplified instruments or voice.

The orchestra will be on stage and the ASO needs you to be in the house to get a realistic sonic environment, and to provide feedback on your listening experience. You will have a rare chance to peek behind the curtain at a working rehearsal, where you will hear ASO work on selections chosen to test the venue for an optimized orchestra experience, including two vocalists, a sneak peek at an upcoming Pops Live! Concert, and maybe even a Holiday selection!

This free, general admission event is limited to ASO season ticket holders, Concert Members, SHARP members, donors, members of the ASO’s youth and education programs, and their invited guests. If you have friends you would like to introduce to the orchestra, please invite them! We will ask all attendees to complete a very short survey about your listening experience. We want people to spread throughout the hall so we have listeners in every section, so we can best serve our entire audience. Please RSVP for you and your guests at ArkansasSymphony.org/acoustic-test

The orchestra will work in an empty hall from 7 p.m., the audience will be allowed in to take their seats at 7:45 p.m., and the open rehearsal/test will begin at 8 p.m. and will last about an hour.

Museum of Discovery closed to public on Tuesday, August 27 for building repairs

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The Museum of Discovery will be closed on Tuesday, August 27, 2019.

The closing is the result of a repair to the museum’s main air conditioning unit that requires all of the air units to be shut down for two days. The museum will reopen Wednesday, August 28.

The staff apologizes for the inconvenience!
Additional cooling units have been brought in for the museum’s animal residents to insure they remain healthy and happy. As always, the animals will remain under the care and supervision of the museum’s animal care team.

Looking at five canine sculptures in Little Rock

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August 26 is National Dog Day!  To mark this occasion, here are five sculptures found in Little Rock which feature dogs.  Two are in the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden, one is in the Bill Clark Wetlands, one is at the Little Rock Animal Village, and the newest one is in the Heights roundabout.

Ken Newman’s FOREVER READY was donated in 2009 by the Sculpture at the River Market.   It is sited in the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden.  Mr. Newman is a member of the National Sculptors’ Guild.  One of Mr. Newman’s specialties is animals.  Cast in bronze, Forever Ready depicts a Labrador.  Here is Mr. Newman’s artist statement on the piece.

So, ‘Forever Ready’ is that reflection of the breed (hunter, companion and teacher)…Capturing its intense nature with discipline and loyalty, I have set the lab on edge so intense, that if not given the command to go, it will just fall off. But, it is able to maintain balance – wet and ready to go again. The lab’s shadow is cast in the water below, for a I cannot think of a lab without water.

A few yards from Forever Ready, another dog stands inquisitively.  Commissioned in 2010 and unveiled in 2011, Dan Glanz’s BORIS is a likeness of Boris Kumpuris, the dog and companion of Mary and Dr. Dean Kumpuris.

Glanz captures the friendly and inquisitive nature of Boris in this work, which can be found in the Vogel Schwarz sculpture garden. Most weekends Boris can be seen with Dean as the two walk through Riverfront Park and the River Market. Boris explores and inspects the park along with Dean. Each year during the Sculpture at the River Market show, Boris visits with Dean and meets all the sculptors.

The sculpture was donated by longtime Kumpuris family friend Margaret Clark. She and her late husband Bill were two of the earliest supporters of sculpture along the Arkansas River. They donated another piece in honor of their grandchildren. A sculpture in memory of Bill was stands in the wetlands park which bears his name.

The Bill Clark Wetlands is actually the location of the third dog.  It is Chloe, Bill Clark’s faithful hunting dog.  She stands next to Bill in Clay Enoch’s sculpture STEADY.  Dedicated in 2011, it was a tribute to the man who helped build the Clinton Presidential Library.

This tribute to Clark shows Bill and Chloe in an early morning duck hunt scanning the horizon.  It is also positioned so that Bill is also gazing at the Clinton Presidential Center. His firm was the contractor on that building, and he spent thousands of hours walking in the area looking at the building during the construction.

A portion of the ground he trod during construction has been set aside as the Bill Clark Wetlands, and STEADY is placed in the wetlands as a memorial to Bill.

In 2015, the Little Rock Animal Village unveiled Lorri Acott’s WHO RESCUED WHO.  Located at the entrance to the Little Rock Animal Village, it depicts a person and dog looking at each other. They are sharing a bond of respect, admiration and love.

The human figure has Acott’s trademark extended length legs. These represent the ability to overcome obstacles and rise above adversity.  This is even more apt when considering the role that pets can play in our lives, as well as the role humans play in “adopting” rescued pets.

The sculpture is dedicated to the memory of Jack Adcock. It is given by his family, which includes longtime City Director Joan Adcock, their two children, eleven grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Little Rock’s newest canine sculpture is Ken Newman’s Taking Attendance. It is installed in the new roundabout at Kavanaugh and McKinley.

In discussing the sculpture, Newman says:

The forms, shapes and gestures of my sculptures are expressions of external and internal influences, and influences not necessarily from models or photographs. This sculpture signifies the moments when I have encouraged my dog to walk in front of me unleashed, as it fosters confidence in our relationship.

August 26, 1935 – plans approved which would lead to creation of Robinson Auditorium

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An August 25, 1935, rendering in the ARKANSAS GAZETTE of the proposed Little Rock auditorium at Capitol and Scott Streets.

On August 26, 1935, the City of Little Rock took its first significant step in a decade for the creation of a City auditorium.

Under the leadership of Mayor R. E. Overman, the City Council approved authorization for the City to apply for $1,000,000 from the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works (PWA) for the construction of an auditorium.  The PWA had issued a September 16, 1935, deadline for applications to be received as it sought to spend $4.8 billion in construction projects.

The auditorium plan was announced on Saturday, August 24, 1935.  Much preparation had already been undertaken before the project was publicly unveiled.  Private presentations hhad taken place, a team of architects had been chosen (Eugene Stern and the firm of Wittenberg & Delony), and a location had been selected.

The auditorium complex was slated for a block bounded by Capitol, Scott, Fourth and Cumberland Streets.  The Women’s City Club building on that block would remain with the new structure being built to wrap around two sides of the existing structure. The site was chosen because it was one block east of the Main Street business corridor and near existing meeting locations such as the Boys Club, Albert Pike Hotel, Albert Pike Masonic Lodge and several churches.

As planned by the architects, this structure’s front façade would have run the length of the Capitol Avenue side of the block.  The building was proposed to be constructed of concrete, stone and steel.  It would have a large hall with a proscenium stage and seating capacity of 4,000 with overflow of an additional 500.  The adjoining exhibition hall could seat 3,500 people.  The plan called for 150 cars to be parked in the building, and an additional 100 cars to be parked on a surface lot on the site.

Following an August 26 closed door meeting to discuss the project from which members of the public and press were excluded, in open session the City Council voted to pursue the funding for the million dollar auditorium.  If approved by the PWA, the funds would be provided in grants and loans, to be paid by over a 35 year period.

The auditorium proposal was filed with the PWA in Washington in September 1935.  Throughout the next several months, Mayor Overman and the city were engaged in a series of conversations and negotiations with the PWA for the expansion of both the water system and the sewer system. This diverted attention from pursuing the auditorium immediately.  This specific auditorium project stalled.  But because the plan had been filed by the September 16 deadline, it allowed the City to make use of PWA funds a few years later which would lead to the construction of Robinson Auditorium.

National Dog Day is a great day to buy Arkansas Rep 2020 subscription

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August 26 is National Dog Day.

As a tribute to it, one should consider purchasing a subscription to Arkansas Rep’s Spring 2020 season.

Why does that relate to National Dog Day?

Because one of the productions is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Based on Mark Haddon’s best-selling novel of the same name, this play by Simon Stephens has won five Tony Awards, six Drama Desk Awards, and seven Olivier Awards, including Best Play from all three.  

It tells the story of Christopher, a 15-year-old boy who describes himself as “a mathematician with some behavioral difficulties” who has never ventured alone past his street. Now he is on a mission – an investigative adventure that will upturn the world of his family and community forever.

Through innovative design and storytelling, it puts the audience inside Christopher’s mind as together they go on this incredible journey. The production will run from April 1 to April 19.

The other two shows in the lineup are Ann and Bye Bye Birdie.