Tag Archives: Butler Center for Arkansas Studies

Legacies & Lunch Today: Music industry legend Bill Carter

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bill_carterThe monthly Legacies & Lunch program returns today with music industry legend Bill Carter.

He will discuss his exciting, wildly varied career as an attorney, agent, and more at the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies’ Legacies & Lunch on Wednesday, June 5, at noon in the Main Library’s Darragh Center, 100 Rock Street. (For instance, when the Rolling Stones were arrested in Arkansas, they called Carter.)

Carter will talk about his childhood in Rector, Arkansas and his wild ride through the music industry, plus a stint as a Secret Service agent. As an attorney, he is noted for his work with the Rolling Stones, securing their ability to enter and tour the United States in the sixties. As an agent, he represented musical artists such as Reba McEntire, Tanya Tucker and Waylon Jennings. He also served as a Secret Service agent, which he addresses in his memoir, Get Carter. His book will be available for sale and signing at the program.

The Butler Center’s Legacies & Lunch program is free and open to the public and supported in part by the Arkansas Humanities Council. Attendees are invited to bring a sack lunch; drinks and dessert will be provided.

The Butler Center for Arkansas Studies is a department of the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS). It was founded in 1997 to promote the study and appreciation of Arkansas history and culture. The Butler Center’s research collections, art galleries, and offices are located in the Arkansas Studies Institute building at 401 President Clinton Ave. on the campus of the CALS Main Library.

For more information, call 918-3029.

Art Abounds Downtown during 2nd Friday Art Night

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2FAN logo Font sm2Among the various sites featured tonight from 5pm to 8pm as part of 2nd Friday Art Night are:

The Central Arkansas Library System Butler Center Galleries (401 President Clinton Avenue) is opening three new exhibits:

Creative Expressions (which will run through August 25)

This exhibition features artwork from the Creative Expressions Program at the Arkansas State Hospital.  Creative Expressions is a non-profit organization that uses the visual arts to promote and support the self-awareness and growth of individuals with mental illness.

Arkansas Art Educators State Youth Art Show (which will run through July 27)

Arkansas League of Artists Spring Members Show (which will run through June 28 at the Cox Creative Center).

 

studioMAIN (1423 South Main Street) will open a new exhibit – “From Bauhaus to our Haus”

studioMAIN invites you to join us this Friday for our exhibit celebrating the Bauhaus movement. Come learn about that history of the movement and its influence on today’s architecture, design, and education. Several local examples of building inspired by the Bauhaus and International style will also be highlighted.

This will be a great opportunity to learn (or be reminded) about this amazing transition in the history design before the opening of the Arkansas Arts Center’s upcoming exhibit, Bauhaus twenty-21: An Ongoing Legacy (May 24 – September 1).

As part of the member’s opening for the AAC, studioMAIN will be hosting a lecture and panel discussion, stay tuned for further information in the next couple weeks.

 

Historic Arkansas Museum (200 East Third Street)

In addition to the opening of two new exhibits, HAM will have live music by the Rolling Blackouts and an opening reception for two new exhibits. Opening in the Trinity Gallery is Reflected by Three: William Detmers, Scott Lykens and G. Tara Casciano. Opening in the 2nd Floor Gallery will be Painting in the Open Air: Day and Night, with plein air paintings by Jason Sacran.

 

Old State House (300 West Markham)

Up-cycled Jewelry. Create an artful bracelet from unexpected found supplies: safety pins, buttons, charms and fabric. These bracelets make great Mother’s Day gifts.

Arkansas Literary Festival This Weekend!

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litfestlogoThe Arkansas Literary Festival, the premier gathering of readers and writers in Arkansas, has expanded to include over 90 authors in many locations on both sides of the river from April 18-21, 2013.

The Central Arkansas Library System’s Main Library campus, other venues in the River Markets and Argenta Arts districts are the sites for a stimulating mix of sessions, panels, special events, performances, workshops, presentations, opportunities to meet the authors, book sales, and book signings. Most events are free and open to the public.

Festival authors include:

Salma Abdelnour, David Abrams, Mary Stewart Atwell, Beth Ayer, Jenni B. Baker, Jan Barry, Carolyn Briggs, Kevin Brockmeier, Sam Calvin Brown, Oliver Burkeman, Mary Bucci Bush, Drew Cameron, Raquel Cepeda, Da Chen, Joseph Crespino, James Daily, Lela Davidson, Edmond Davis, Sylvia Day, James W. Erwin, Richard Ford, Ben Fountain, Tim Gallagher, Tim Gallagher, Paula J. Giddings, Kay Collett Goss, Jessica B. Harris, Ruth Hawkins, Roger D. Hodge, Ty Jaeger, Jay Jennings, Ben Katchor, Janis F. Kearney, Jeannette Keith, Brian and Terri Kinder, Steve Kistulentz, Christi Shannon Kline, Jon Krampner, Travis Langley, Carlotta Walls LaNier, Dorothy R. Leavell, Domingo Martinez, Ayana Mathis, Carla Killough McClafferty, Rosetta Miller-Perry, Lydia Millet, Pat Mora, Linda Murphy, Sara Nesson, Cynthia LeJeune Nobles, Harry Ostrer, Darcy Pattison, Lori Perkins, Leonard Pitts Jr., Garry Craig Powell, Padgett Powell, Joe Queenan, Karen Russell, Eric Rutkow, Courtney Miller Santo, Rosie Schaap, Martha Silano, Heather Sutherlin, Steve Teske, Chuck Thompson, Charles Todd, Caroline Todd, Duncan Tonatiuh, GB Tran, Dennis Vannatta, Frank X Walker, John Corey Whaley, Steve Wiegenstein, David Wesley Williams, Johnathon Williams, Rita Williams-Garcia, Christian Wiman, Jan Wolfe, Ron Wolfe, C.D. Wright, Steve Yates

This year’s Festival authors have won an impressive number and variety of distinguished awards, such as the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Pulitzer Prize for Journalism, James Beard Foundation Award, PEN/Hemingway Award, Newbery Honor, National Book Critics Circle Award, a Coretta Scott King Honor, PEN/O.Henry Prize; Pushcart Prize; Barnes and Noble Discover Prize for Fiction, Roger Ebert’s Film Festival Thumbs Up Award, Pure Belpré Award, International Griffin Prize for Poetry, International Documentary Association Best Documentary Short, Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators, and several National Book Award Finalists. Many of the presenters’ works have been translated into multiple languages and made into films.

Special events for adults during the Festival include a cocktail reception with the authors, food, wine, and spirits workshops, films, a play, and Spoken Word LIVE!, a city-wide poetry competition. Panels and workshops will feature topics such as fiction, memoir, screenwriting, super hero psychology & law, Warrior Writers Project, erotica, and more.

Children’s special events include a storytime on the lawn of the Governor’s Mansion, a book fiesta, the artmobile, plays, outdoor activities, and Super Hero Activity Afternoon. Festival sessions for children will take place at both the new Children’s Library, 4800 10th Street, and the Youth Services Department at the Main Library, 100 Rock Street.

At Level 4, the Main Library’s teen center, teens can meet authors and illustrators, participate in ComiCALS, activities and panels such as a cosplay contest, video game tournament, a writing workshop, and zombie survival activities.

Through the Writers In The Schools (WITS) initiative, the Festival will provide presentations by several authors for Pulaski county elementary, middle, and senior high schools and area colleges.

Support for the Literary Festival is provided by sponsors including Central Arkansas Library System; Friends of Central Arkansas Libraries (FOCAL); Department of Arkansas Heritage; Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau; Fred K. Darragh Jr. Foundation; Arkansas Democrat Gazette; Mosaic Templars Cultural Center; Regions; ProSmartPrinting; MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History; Historic Arkansas Museum; Clinton Presidential Center; Hendrix-Murphy Foundation; Wright, Lindsey & Jennings LLP, Arkansas Times; Christ Church, Little Rock’s Downtown Episcopal Church; Witt Stephens Jr. Central Arkansas Nature Center; Arkansas Library Association; Henderson State University; University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service; Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre; Arkansas Governor’s Mansion; Hendrix College Creative Writing and the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation Programs in Literature & Language; Hendrix College Project Pericles Program; Hendrix College; University of Arkansas at Little Rock, English Department; University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Department of Rhetoric and Writing; Pulaski Technical College; Jewish Federation of Arkansas; Arkansas Arts Center; Power 92 Jams; Central High School National Historic Site; National Park Service; Literacy Action of Central Arkansas; Capital Hotel; Little Rock Film Festival; and LuLav. The Arkansas Literary Festival is supported in part by funds from the Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Author! Author!, a cocktail reception with the authors, will be Friday, April 19 at 8pm on the fifth floor of the CALS main library building.  Tickets are available at the door.

The Arkansas Literary Festival is a project of the Central Arkansas Library System. The Festival’s mission is to encourage the development of a more literate populace. A group of dedicated volunteers assists Festival Coordinator Brad Mooy with planning the Festival. Jay Jennings is the 2013 Festival Chair. Other committee chairs include Katherine Whitworth, Talent Committee; Lisa Donovan, Youth Programs; and Amy Bradley-Hole, Moderators.

Mixing Music, Drinks and Art at 2nd Friday Art Night

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2FAN logo Font sm2April showers us with another opportunity to enjoy 2nd Friday Art Night downtown in Little Rock from 5pm to 8pm.  Included in the various participating venues are Historic Arkansas Museum and Old State House Museum.  (For those who want to attend City Year’s Red Jacket Ball tonight honoring Rep. Darrin Williams, this works out perfectly because 2nd Friday Art Night starts at 5pm, so you can still enjoy it before RJB starts.)

At Historic Arkansas Museum, Capital Hotel Bar and Grill mixologist—and two-time Nog-off winner—David Burnette will mix and muddle, and show you how to make the perfect mint julep just in time for derby season. Ozark-inspired, funky-folk band Mockingbird will set the whole splendid night to music.

At the Old State House Museum, Tim Anthony will play jazz music.

The Arkansas Studies Institute has several exhibits including: Clinton for Arkansas, Arkansas Society of Printmakers, From the Vault: Works from the CALS Permanent Collection and No I’m Not, He Is: “A Flying Snake and Oyyo” Comic Retropsective.

Legacies & Lunch looks at Language

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cals“Down in the Holler: A Lesson in Ozarks Folk Speech” is the topic for April’s Legacies & Lunch program.

The words heap, poke, and middlin’ have suprising origins. Learn about the history of the Ozark dialect with Susan Young during the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies’ Legacies and Lunch program on Wednesday, April 3, at noon in the Main Library’s Darragh Center, 100 Rock Street.

Young’s presentation will look at how Ozark dialect was influenced by 16th century England as well as Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. Words used by Chaucer  and Shakespeare are still alive today in the Ozarks. Young serves as Outreach Coordinaor at the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History in Springdale. She is a fifth-generation Ozarker.

The Butler Center’s Legacies & Lunch program is free and open to the public and supported in part by the Arkansas Humanities Council. Attendees are invited to bring a sack lunch; drinks and dessert will be provided.

The Butler Center for Arkansas Studies is a department of the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS). It was founded in 1997 to promote the study and appreciation of Arkansas history and culture. The Butler Center’s research collections, art galleries, and offices are located in the Arkansas Studies Institute building at 401 President Clinton Ave. on the campus of the CALS Main Library.

For more information, call 918-3029.

Marching to 2nd Friday Art Night

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2FAN logo Font sm2March’s 2nd Friday Art Night features host of outstanding art exhibits and music performances throughout Downtown Little Rock tonight from 5pm to 8pm.

Among the highlights this month are:

Butler Center for Arkansas Studies

  • No I’m Not, He Is: A Flying Snake and Oyyo Comic Retrospective – Created by artist and musician Michael Jukes, the popular Flying Snake and Oyyo cartoon strip was featured in Little Rock’s alternative newspapers during the eighties. This exhibition gathers the cream of the corniest Flying Snake cartoons and other artworks for your viewing pleasure. Through May 25.
    • From the Vault: Works from the CALS Permanent Collection – Managed by CALS’s Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, the library’s art program also collects and supports artists working and living in Arkansas. This exhibition features historical and contemporary artwork that shows the breadth and quality of art being created in Arkansas. On display in the exhibition will be historical paintings by Donald Draper, small works on paper by Little Rock’s own visionary artist Arthur Grain, a spectacular sculpture by Mary Cockrill, and much more. Through April 27
    • Clinton for Arkansas – Selected materials from the Bill Clinton State Government Project depict Clinton’s political career in Arkansas and its impact on the state. Items representing both politics and policy are featured, including materials from his run for Congress in 1974 and his term as attorney general, as well as from his twelve years as governor. In addition, the exhibition highlights campaign memorabilia from 1974 through his second presidential bid in 1996. Through April 27.

 

Old State House Museum

  • Fourte in Concert – Fourte, the Youth String Quartet of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, will perform in the 1885 House of Representatives Chamber.
  • Things You Need to Hear: Memories of Growing Up in Arkansas – Just how different was life in Arkansas 50 or 100 years ago?  This exhibit explores the histories of regular folk from 1890 to 1980.  The exhibit is developed from years of oral histories compiled by special guest curator Margaret Jones Bolsterli.

 

Historic Arkansas Museum

  • Hidden Arkansas is an assortment of visual impressions by a group of creative art photographers from the Blue-Eyed Knocker Photo Club, begun in 2008. The assignment challenged the artists to capture in print form what each feels is “hidden” in Arkansas. Some found memories in the closets of an older building, hidden completely until hit just right by sunlight. Artists exhibiting are: Cindy Adams, Darrell Adams, Gail Arnold, James Allen, Ann Ballard Bryan, Mary Chamberlain, Ray Chanslor, Susan Crisp, Susan Ebel, Rachel Green and Rachel Louisa Worthen.
  • Opening reception with live music by Peg Roach Loyd on May 8, 5 – 8 pm, in conjunction with downtown Little Rock’s 2nd Friday Art Night

NATURAL STATE NOTABLES book launched on Monday

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natural_state_notablesSchool-aged children can learn about famous Arkansans in Natural State Notables: 21 Famous People from Arkansas by Steven Teske, a new book from Butler Center Books. Teske will read from the book and sign books, which will be available for purchase, on Monday, March 4, at 4:00 p.m. in the Central Arkansas Library System’s (CALS) Children’s Library and Learning Center at 4800 W. 10th Street.

Biographies on Arkansans including Maya Angelou, Johnny Cash, Bill Clinton, John Grisham, Scottie Pippen, Winthrop Rockefeller, Mary Steenburgen, and Sam Walton highlight the accomplishments and backgrounds of some of Arkansas’s most celebrated sons and daughters. The book features pictures, timelines, and information on each Arkansan.

Natural State Notables author Steven Teske works as an archival assistant for the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies. He has also written Unvarnished Arkansas about famous people in Arkansas in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and he co-wrote Homefront Arkansas about life in Arkansas during wartime from the war with Mexico in 1848 to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in the twenty-first century. He has worked for the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture, the Butler Center’s online resource about the state of Arkansas, and he teaches college classes in history and comparative religions for the Arkansas State University-Beebe’s campus on the Little Rock Air Force Base.

Butler Center Books is a project of the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, a department of the Central Arkansas Library System. This publishing program was made possible by a gift from John G. and Dora “DeDe” Ragsdale. Butler Center Books publishes volumes that increase knowledge about and appreciation of the history and culture of Arkansas. The University of Arkansas Press in Fayetteville is the distribution agent for Butler Center Books.

The Butler Center for Arkansas Studies was founded in 1997 to promote the study and appreciation of Arkansas history and culture. The Butler Center’s research collections, art galleries, and offices are located in the Arkansas Studies Institute building at 401 President Clinton Ave. on the campus of the CALS Main Library.

The event, which will include a reception and a preview tour of the new facility, is free and open to the public. RSVP to marey@cals.org or 918-3033. The Children’s Library will open on Saturday, March 16.