Tag Archives: Arkansas Arts Center

Artober – Art I Can’t Live Without

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October is Arts and Humanities Month nationally and in Little Rock. Americans for the Arts has identified a different arts topic to be posted for each day in the month.  Starting off is Art I Can’t Live Without.

For me, it is Diego Rivera’s DOS MUJERES, or PORTRAIT OF TWO WOMEN.

Painted in 1914, it is part of the permanent collection of the Arkansas Arts Center.  This oil on canvas, which stands six and a half feet tall and five and a half feet wide, is a portrait of Angelina Beloff and Maria Dolores Bastian.

Influenced by cubists such as Picasso, Rivera adopted fracturing of form, use of multiple perspective points, and flattening of the picture plane.  Yet his take on this style of painting is distinctive.  He uses brighter colors and a larger scale than many early cubist pictures. Rivera also features highly textured surfaces executed in a variety of techniques.

The painting was a gift to the Arkansas Arts Center by Abby Rockefeller Mauzé, sister of Arkansas Governor Winthrop Rockefeller.

Annual Meeting/Open House for Arkansas Arts Center tonight

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Join the Arkansas Arts Center in its new space in Riverdale to hear about our accomplishments over the past year!

Enjoy beverages and lite bites as you view the AAC’s new Museum Shop, Museum School studios, and event space.

This is a free member event. RSVP at arkansasartscenter.org/openhouse or by calling 501-372-4000.

Not a member? Become one today at arkansasartscenter.org/become-a-member.

Photographer Ansley West Rivers is distinguished lecturer for Arkansas Arts Center tonight

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Image result for ansley west riversThe Arkansas Arts Center presents Ansley West Rivers tonight as part of its Distinguished Lecture Series.

It will take place at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater in the Library Square campus.  There will be a reception (with cash bar) at 5:30pm followed by the lecture at 6:00pm.

Photographer Ansley West Rivers’ practice focuses on the intersection of landscape and humanity. Through photography, West Rivers bears witness to the state of water now, as time is pertinent to understanding the effects of change. Her Seven Rivers series includes images both beautiful and haunting in an attempt to challenge the viewer’s perspectives on the landscapes that sustain us.

West Rivers’ work is featured in many public and private collections including the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, The Judge Collection, LaGrange Art Museum, and The Mayo Collection. Additionally, West Rivers’s work has been shown at the Wattis Institute of Contemporary Art (San Francisco, CA), Sous Les Etoiles Gallery (New York, NY), Burrard Arts Foundation (Vancouver BC), EUQINOM Projects (San Francisco, CA), The Brower Center (Berkley, CA), Kala Art Institute (Berkley, CA), Carmel Visual Arts (Carmel, CA), Hathaway Gallery (Atlanta, GA), United Photo Industries (DUMBO, Brooklyn, NY), The Print Center (Philadelphia, PA), The Wiregrass Museum (Dothan, AL), and Laney Contemporary (Savannah, GA).

West Rivers will be available to sign copies of her book, Seven Rivers Monograph, before and after the lecture.

CALS Ron Robinson Theater (100 River Market Avenue)

$10 or free admission + free Library Square parking for members

The Arkansas Arts Center Artmobile receives grant from Kum & Go

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The Arkansas Arts Center received a $7,500 grant from Kum & Go to support the Artmobile’s 2019–2020 touring season. 

The Artmobile – the Arkansas Arts Center’s “gallery on wheels” – is one of very few mobile museums in the country, and the only program of its kind in Arkansas. This unique gallery space features themed exhibitions of works from the Arkansas Arts Center Foundation Collection.

The Artmobile’s current exhibition, The Spirit of Independence, takes its name from Kent Bicentennial Portfolio: Spirit of Independence, commissioned in 1976. The exhibition presents a selection of works from the Arkansas Arts Center Foundation Collection that reflect on American history and ideals. The featured works explore movements and moments in American history, from the Great Migration to the Civil Rights and Women’s Rights movements. Other works explore the American experience through the symbols most often associated with the country. Through these works, Artmobile visitors are invited to reflect on their ideas of freedom, democracy and equality.

The Artmobile travels with an onboard educator will help visitors engage with the art and invite discussion in the context of visual arts, geography, economics, English language arts, environmental science, and technology. A curriculum guide offers a wide range of activities that fulfill Arkansas State Standards and frameworks – from quick-start activities to comprehensive lesson plans designed for K-12 audiences. Community Nights provide schools with an opportunity to invite the greater community into the gallery outside of normal school hours.

The Artmobile will be visiting libraries, community centers, fairs, and festivals throughout the state during the 2019-2020 season. When the Artmobile isn’t touring throughout the state, it will also be available for scheduled tours at the Arkansas Arts Center’s Riverdale location.

For more information, follow the Artmobile’s journey online at arkansasartscenter.org/community or on Twitter at twitter.com/ArkArtmobile.

The Arkansas Arts Center was formally established on Sept 6, 1960

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Architectural model of the original Arkansas Arts Center which would open in 1963.

On Tuesday, September 6, 1960, the City of Little Rock Board of Directors adopted ordinance 11,111 which formally established the Arkansas Arts Center.

In July 1957, the City Council of Little Rock granted the Museum of Fine Arts the authority to solicit and receive funds for expanding that museum’s physical plant.  During that process, it had been decided that the museum needed an expanded mission and a new name.  By the summer of 1960, the museum supporters had raised sufficient funds to proceed with constructing the new facility.  Therefor the new ordinance was prepared and submitted to the City Board.  (In November 1957, the City Council had been replaced by a City Board.)

Ordinance 11,111 set forth that the Museum of Fine Arts would be known as the Arkansas Arts Center and that the previous museum’s board would serve as the board for the new museum.  The Board of the Arkansas Arts Center was given the authority to have the new building constructed in MacArthur Park and the existing building modified.  As a part of the planning for the new museum, the City committed $75,000 for the capital campaign.

The groundbreaking for the new museum would take place in August 1961.  Mayor Werner Knoop, who signed Ordinance 11,111, took part in the groundbreaking.

Media attending the September 6, 1960, City Board meeting were more interested in discussion about a potential leash law for dogs within the City limits.