Tag Archives: Arkansas Heritage Month

Sculpture Vulture: George Rose Smith

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Continuing with the Sculpture Vulture focus on famous Arkansans during Arkansas Heritage Month, today’s feature is George Rose Smith.  This sculptural plaque is located in the garden at the main building of the Central Arkansas Library System downtown campus.

Created by John Deering, it showcases Justice Smith sitting in his judges robe with pen in hand. In the background is a large crossword puzzle grid.  This sculpture pays homage to the fact that Justice Smith was both a respected member of the bar as well as an author of crossword puzzles.

In his final opinion from the Arkansas Supreme Court before he retired, he embedded a message using the first letter of each paragraph to spell out his farewell.  A masterful puzzle constructor, he authored puzzles which appeared in The New York Times.  Little Rock District Judge Vic Fleming carries on this tradition of being a published puzzle author as well as judge in Arkansas.

Justice Smith was the scion of a family of Arkansas attorneys. His grandfather Uriah Rose, a longtime partner at the law firm which now bears his name, was a delegate to the Hague.

Below the sculpture is this inscription:

Judge George Rose Smith

1911-1992

Wordsmith Extraordinaire

New York Times Crossword Puzzle Author

Arkansas Supreme Court Justice 1949-1987

Second Friday Art Night

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Tonight is the monthly Second Friday Art Night.  Among the many stops on the way is Historic Arkansas Museum, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

In keeping the May being Heritage Month, HAM is opening an exhibit tonight which showcases three Arkansas artists who celebrate Arkansas’ history. In the Trinity Gallery for Arkansas Artists the exhibit is called Creating the Elements of Discovery: Tim Imhauser, Jason Powers and Emily Wood.

The exhibit will run through August 5. Each artist’s approach makes way for a subtle discovery, into object, person and place.

Little Rock sculptor Tim Imhauser’s wood pieces reveal the nature of the wood’s grain as he, through sculpting, enhances those patterns to tell its story. Ozark artist Jason Powers’ graphite drawings capture the small expressions of human emotion, while he continues to pursue diversity in the subject matter and media of his art. Little Rock artist Emily Wood expresses a sense of a place in her landscapes, drawing inspiration from her southern Arkansas upbringing.

Down the street from HAM at the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, two exhibits will be highlighted:  Arkansas Arts Educators State Youth Art Show 2012 plus Small Town: Portraits of a Disappearing America.

The Arkansas Art Educators State Youth Art Show 2012 includes the Best of Show winners from art competitions held in seven different regions in the state: Northwest, Northeast, Central, Eastern, Southwest, Southeastern, and Western. The artwork was created by talented students from kindergarten through twelfth grade.

The photographic exhibition Small Town: Portraits of a Disappearing America will also be opening.

 

Sculpture Vulture: Fred Darragh Jr.

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May is Arkansas Heritage Month.  In keeping with that, the Sculpture Vulture in May will feature sculptures of Arkansans.

Today is a sculptural plaque of Fred Darragh, Jr. which was created by John Deering.  It depicts Mr. Darragh in standing in a suit with a wry smile on his face and his hands casually resting in his pockets.

Over his right shoulder is an image of a the earth with a plane circling it.  This pays homage to Mr. Darragh’s status as a pilot as well as his interest in world travel.  It also pays tribute to his belief in a common humanity which unites people of all ages, races, backgrounds, and economic statuses.

Accompanying this sculpture is a plaque which says:

Fred Darragh, Jr.

(1916-2003)

pilot, veteran, businessman, world traveler, philanthropist, civil rights advocate, library trustee, raconteur, supporter of the first amendment, and friend of the oppressed.

The sculpture is displayed near the entrance to the Darragh Center in the Central Arkansas Library System’s main building.

KUAR – Radio Flyer

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KUAR FM 89 will celebrate Arkansas Heritage Month with its sixth performance of Arkansas Flyer, the live variety show highlighting the best of Arkansas culture and music, at 6 p.m. Friday, May 4, at Wildwood Park for the Arts.

Hosting the festivities will be Little Rock singer-songwriter Amy Garland. The Salty Dogs, purveyors of original honky-tonk twang, will be the house band, and Velvet Kente, rock-n-roll with an Afro-beat, will be the featured act. The Flyer’s own Invisible Radio Theater returns with old-fashioned radio humor.

Arkansas Flyer returns to the 625-seat Lucy Lockett Cabe Theatre at Wildwood Park for the Arts in west Little Rock, and KUAR will host a barbecue dinner beginning at 6 p.m. The show starts at 7.

Advance online tickets for Arkansas Flyer cost $20 – $25 at the door – and include the dinner and libations. Admission for ages 12 and younger is $10. Arkansas Flyer will be broadcast on KUAR FM 89 at 7 p.m. on May 14 and 1 p.m. on May 28, Memorial Day.

Arkansas Flyer is made possible in part by a grant from the Department of Arkansas Heritage, funded by the 1/8 cent conservation tax, Amendment 75.

Historic Preservation Alliance seeking Endangered Places nominations

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The Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas is now accepting nominations for the 2012 Most Endangered Places List.  The deadline for nominations is Monday, April 2, 2012.

Every year, many historic properties across the state of Arkansas are threatened by demolition, neglect, lack of resources or knowledge of their importance. Each of the endangered resources holds a special place in our collective memory and helps to define who we are as a people, a culture, and a State. Once these unique places are gone, they are gone forever

The Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas has maintained a Most Endangered Places List in our state since 1999. By bringing attention to these threatened buildings, sites and places in Arkansas, we seek to raise awareness in communities statewide and to create many success stories from places in peril. This nomination form is your chance to initiate your own story of success.

Properties selected for the Most Endangered Places List will be announced in May during Arkansas Heritage Month and National Preservation Month.

The list of Arkansas’s Most Endangered Historic Places is publicized each year through the announcement of the list in mid-May, which is also Arkansas Heritage Month and National Preservation Month. Press packets are issued to the media in conjunction with the announcement, encouraging TV and radio coverage as well as articles in both statewide and local newspapers. In addition, the Alliance newsletter annually publishes an article about the properties in the list, and information about the list is provided to the Arkansas Historical Quarterly and to the newsletters of local preservation groups and historical societies.

Each year, the Board of Directors of the Alliance appoints a special five-member “Most Endangered List Committee” to oversee the selection of properties for the list and to work with Alliance staff on organizing the announcement of that year’s list.

The composition of this special committee is as follows:

  • A representative of the Alliance Board of Directors
  • A representative of the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program
  • An architect
  • A historian familiar with Arkansas history
  • An at-large member chosen from the Alliance membership

The representative of the Alliance Board of Directors chairs the committee.