Tag Archives: CALS

Musical Legacy of Sister Rosetta Tharpe celebrated tonight by Arkansas Sounds, AETN at CALS Ron Robinson Theater

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sister_rosettaTonight at 7pm at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater, Arkansas Sounds presents a detailed look at the life of Sister Rosetta Tharpe with a screening of The Godmother of Rock and Roll and a tribute mini-concert of her songs.

Arkansas native Rosetta Nubin Tharpe (Sister Rosetta Tharpe) was one of gospel music’s first superstars, the first gospel performer to record for a major record label (Decca), and one of the first artists to cross over from gospel to secular music. Tharpe has been cited as an influence by numerous musicians, including Bob Dylan, Little Richard, Elvis Presley, and Arkansan Johnny Cash.

In partnership with AETN, Arkansas Sounds will celebrate the 100th anniversary of her birth with a screening of the PBS American Masters documentary The Godmother of Rock and Roll, followed by a musical tribute performance of her songs.

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.

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

Arkansas Sounds Gone By – a special Butler Center Legacies and Lunch today at noon

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arkansas_swingerToday at noon in the CALS Darragh Center, “Arkansas Sounds Gone By” will be a special musical Legacies & Lunch program.  It will showcase songs about Arkansas or written by people from the state, drawn from the Butler Center’s Ron Robinson Sheet Music Collection.

Musical guests – including David Austin, Bob Boyd, Susan Gele, Dent Gitchel, Richard Hunter, Herb Rule, Stephanie Smittle, George West, and others – will perform songs from the famous fiddle tune “Arkansas Traveler” to Arkansas native Floyd Cramer’s big hit “Last Date.” Vocalists will be accompanied by piano and fiddle.

Learn about the remarkable variety of songs from or about Arkansas, about the extraordinary music collection donated by Ron Robinson, and about the Tin Pan Alley songwriters who created songs about Arkansas without ever visiting the state.

Legacies & Lunch, the Butler Center’s monthly lecture series, is free, open to the public, and supported in part by the Arkansas Humanities Council. Programs are held from noon-1 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month. Attendees are invited to bring a sack lunch; drinks and dessert are provided. For more information, contact 918-3033.

Sculpture Vulture for Banned Books Week – Dee Brown

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20120519-114242.jpgThis week is Banned Books Week.  One of the books which has often appeared on Banned Books list is Arkansan Dee Brown’s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.  In honor of that, today’s Sculpture Vulture revisits Kevin Kresse’s sculpture of the author which is located at the CALS branch which bears his name.

Visitors to the Dee Brown Library are greeted by Kevin Kresse’s 2004 sculpture of the celebrated author. The bronze likeness depicts Brown with a bepenciled hand raised to his chin as if in the midst of a wondrous thought while writing. The titles of some of his books surround the pedestal including his most famous book: 1971’s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.

Brown was a graduate of Little Rock High and Arkansas State Teachers College (now Little Rock Central and University of Central Arkansas, respectively). After a career as a librarian and bivocational but prolific author, he returned to Little Rock in 1973 and focused full time on his writing. He died in 2002.

ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW tonight at the Ron Robinson Theater

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RRT Rocky HorrorDo the Time Warp tonight at the Ron Robinson Theater when The Rocky Horror Picture Show is screened.

Doors open at 7pm, movie starts at 8pm.

A mixture of fantastical rock opera and horror movie spoof. A couple of ordinary kids – Brad and (Dammit) Janet (I love you) – have car trouble one dark and rainy night and knock on the door of a looming gothic mansion. They are stunned to learn that they have stumbled into an ongoing convention of kinky characters, hosted by Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a mad scientist who is a sweet transvestite from Transylvania.

The movie stars Tony nominee Tim Curry, Tony winner Barry Bostwick and Oscar winner Susan Sarandon along with appearances by Meat Loaf, and Richard O’Brien (who wrote the stage show and co-wrote the movie).

Originally a flop, it became one of the first cult-classic movies which ended up running for years in various cities.  Now is the chance to again see it on the big screen.

Admission is $7. Concessions are available for purchase.