Tag Archives: Capital Hotel

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.

ASO at Capital Hotel Tonight

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ASO at CHMusicians from the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra will be performing this evening in the lobby of the historic Capital Hotel.

The music will start at 5:00 pm and will feature the Quapaw Quartet.

In 2011, the ASO started these free concerts in the lobby of the Capital Hotel.  The marble and tile of this historic lobby provide a wonderful acoustic backdrop for the musicians.

The concert will feature short, accessible pieces along with commentary from the musicians.

Unlike concerts in music halls, guests here are encouraged to bring drinks to their seats or to stand and move around while the musicians are playing.  It is a relaxed, informal atmosphere where the audience and musicians alike are able to interact with each other.

This concert is part of the ASO’s ongoing efforts to play throughout the community under the leadership of Music Director Philip Mann and Executive Director Christina Littlejohn.  In addition to the Capital Hotel concerts, they offer occasional free concerts at UAMS and have recently started the INC (Intimate Neighborhood Concerts) subscription series.

Sandwiching in History at Capital Hotel today

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Capital Hotel frontThe Arkansas Historic Preservation Program’s “Sandwiching in History” program pays a visit this month to a location which is accustomed to receiving visitors — The Capital Hotel.

Built in 1872-1873 by businessman William P. Denckla, the Denckla Block, as it was then called, housed various shops on the first floor with offices and gentlemen’s apartments on the upper floors. The building featured a distinctive cast-iron façade with a projecting cornice, arched window openings, and engaged columns with Corinthian capitals. In 1877 the Denckla Block was converted into an hotel and quickly became the center of political and social activity in Little Rock. Over the years the building has been expanded upward and southward.

By the late 1960s, it fell into disrepair.  But through two extensive renovations, the Capital Hotel has been restored to its original beauty and continues to provide luxury accommodations in the capital city.

The “Sandwiching In History” program is a series of tours that seeks to familiarize people who live and work in central Arkansas with the historic structures and sites around us. The tours take place on Fridays at noon, last less than an hour, and participants are encouraged to bring their lunches so that they can eat while listening to a brief lecture about the property and its history before proceeding on a short tour.

The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

ASO Musicians Play at Capital Hotel This Evening

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ASO at CH

Scene from a previous ASO concert in the Capital Hotel lobby

Musicians from the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra will be performing this evening in the lobby of the historic Capital Hotel.

In 2011, the ASO started these free concerts in the lobby of the Capital Hotel.  The marble and tile of this historic lobby provide a wonderful acoustic backdrop for the musicians.

The concert will feature short, accessible pieces along with commentary from the musicians.

Unlike concerts in music halls, guests here are encouraged to bring drinks to their seats or to stand and move around while the musicians are playing.  It is a relaxed, informal atmosphere where the audience and musicians alike are able to interact with each other.

This concert is part of the ASO’s ongoing efforts to play throughout the community under the leadership of Music Director Philip Mann and Executive Director Christina Littlejohn.  In addition to the Capital Hotel concerts, they offer occasional free concerts at UAMS and have recently started the INC (Intimate Neighborhood Concerts) subscription series.

12 Images from ’12

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In no particular order, here are a dozen of my favorite photos from 2012.

12of12 diversions

Though Diversions closed and a new bar Next is in the space along Kavanugh, earlier in the year captured the shadow on an inside ledge.

Leaves floating in a fountain.

Leaves floating in a fountain.

Shadows on the Tower Building.

Shadows on the Tower Building.

The historic Woodruff house.

The historic Woodruff house.

Falling snow in Hillcrest looks more like a scifi attack.

Falling snow in Hillcrest looks more like a scifi attack.

Back stairwell at LR City Hall.

Back stairwell at LR City Hall.

One of LR's newest hotspots, RJ Tao's bar top features lights and colors.

One of LR’s newest hotspots, RJ Tao’s bar top features lights and colors.

Warwick and Jessica Sabin sharing a quiet moment at their wedding.

Warwick and Jessica Sabin sharing a quiet moment at their wedding.

At height of autum, a maple tree in MacArthur Park.

At height of autum, a maple tree in MacArthur Park.

An early morning look at the west facade of the Clinton Presidential Center.

An early morning look at the west facade of the Clinton Presidential Center.

I love shadows. When two competing shadows provide an overlay, I am even happier.

I love shadows. When two competing shadows provide an overlay, I am even happier.

12of12 capital

The Capital Hotel and vehicles provided holiday lights.

Little Rock Tree Week – Capital Hotel

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IMG_3580As Little Rock Tree Week continues, today’s feature is the Capital Hotel.  In addition to enjoying the tree, visitors to the Capital Hotel can admire Chef Tandra’s gingerbread village as well as musical performances in the lobby.

The schedule for the remainder of this week is:

• Don Roberts Elementary on Tue, Dec 18 at Noon
• Violinists on Tue, Dec 18 at 5:30pm
• Capital String Quartet on Wed, Dec 19 at 5:30pm
• St. Paul United Methodist Bells on Wed, Dec 19 at 7pm
• Booker Arts Magnet on Thu, Dec 20 at 10:15am

Among the groups performing earlier this month have been: Forest Heights Middle School, Horace Mann Magnet, eSTEM, Pulaski Academy, Williams Magnet, Episcopal Collegiate, Mount St. Mary Academy, Central Arkansas Christian, Sylvan Hills High School, Holy Souls School, Bale Elementary, Cabot Middle School and the UCA Hornaments.

The arrival of the tree at the Capital Hotel.

The arrival of the tree at the Capital Hotel.

The tree and other decorations at the Capital Hotel are overseen by Tipton Hurst.  The Hurst family is descended from Little Rock’s first hoteliers, the Peay family. The Peay Hotel stood a few blocks away from where the Capital Hotel was constructed in the 1870s.

The tree arrived on a Friday afternoon. It took several hours to get it raised into place and secured.  It took all weekend for a crew to decorate the tree, which has thousands of lights wrapped around its branches.  The tree was officially lit on Monday, December 3.