No Ceilings Full Participation Report is focus of Clinton Center program today

noceilingsLocal and national leaders will gather at the Clinton Presidential Center to discuss the No Ceilings Full Participation Report, the culmination of a year-long, global data aggregation effort that identifies the significant gains women and girls have made – and the gaps that still remain – since the U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995.

On March 9, 2015, the No Ceilings Full Participation Report was released at an event in New York City with Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, and Melinda Gates. On March 30, the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton School of Public Service will host a panel discussion and provide a forum for panelists to localize the data and information gathered in the report.

The event is FREE, but reservations are required. To reserve your seat, email LRevent@clintonfoundation.org.

Panelists will include:

  • Terri McCullough, director of No Ceilings: The Full Participation Project
  • Marcy Doderer, president and chief executive officer of Arkansas Children’s Hospital
  • Scott Shirey, founder and executive director of KIPP Delta Public Schools
  • Beth Keck, senior director of Women’s Economic Empowerment for Walmart
  • Dara Richardson-Heron, chief executive officer of the YWCA
USA

 

It will take place in the Great Hall of the Clinton Presidential Center.

Doors open at 11:30 a.m; program begins at noon.

Little Rock Look Back: President Clinton performs with Arkansas Symphony

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton addresses the audience after reciting Martin Luther King's famous speech, 'I Have A Dream', to the music of Alexander L. Miller at Robinson Auditorium March 25, 2003 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Clinton was the honored guest for a performance by the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra to benefit the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Foundation. (Photo by Karen E. Segrave/Getty Images)

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton addresses the audience after reciting Martin Luther King’s famous speech, ‘I Have A Dream’, to the music of Alexander L. Miller at Robinson Auditorium March 25, 2003 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Clinton was the honored guest for a performance by the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra to benefit the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Foundation. (Photo by Karen E. Segrave/Getty Images)

On March 25, 2003, former President Bill Clinton took the stage of Robinson Center Music Hall to perform with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. Entitled “Let Freedom Ring – A Patriotic Celebration,” the evening was a joint fundraiser for the Symphony and the Clinton Foundation.

Before a packed house of over 1700, Clinton narrated Aaron Copland’s A Lincoln Portrait which weaves excerpts from Lincoln speeches with Copland’s own unique classical take on American heartland music.  Clinton also narrated Let Freedom Ring, a symphonic setting by Alexander Miller of Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech.

The evening also consisted of Broadway veteran and Little Rock favorite Lawrence Hamilton singing “Wheels of a Dream” from the musical Ragtime.  On Broadway and on national tour, Hamilton had previously sung the song.  The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra also performed An American in Paris by George Gershwin and “Jupiter” from The Planets by Gustav Holst.  This final selection was a tribute to the seven astronauts who had died in the crash of the space shuttle Columbia on February 1, 2003.

David Itkin, who was then the musical director of the ASO, conducted the concert.

 

Spring Break at the Clinton Center with Peanuts and the Arkansas Symphony

This Spring Break, the Clinton Center invites students to enjoy fun and FREE activities.  

With partners like the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, the Center invites families to engage in interactive musical activities. Students will have the opportunity to play different types of instruments and meet local musicians.  

Additionally, students can enjoy Peanuts-themed activities inspired by the Center’s current temporary exhibits, “Pigskin Peanuts” & “Heartbreak in Peanuts.”  

March 23 – 27, 2015
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Clinton Presidential Center

March 23: Interactive musical activities with local musicians & Peanuts activities

March 24 – 26: “Instrumential Petting Zoo” with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra & Peanuts activities

March 27: Interactive musical activities with local musicians & Peanuts activities

Spring break activities are FREE; however, admission fees to tour the Museum apply.

Noted African American Scholar to speak tonight at Clinton Library



The Clinton Foundation in conjunction with the City of Little Rock and the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame presents a Black History  Month program this evening.  This year’s featured speaker is Dr. Robert L. Williams II. 

Dr. Williams is a Professor Emeritus of Psychology and African and Afro-American Studies at the Washington University in St. Louis and a prominent figure in the history of African-American Psychology. 

He is well known as the stalwart critic of racial and cultural biases in IQ testing, for coining the word “Ebonics” in 1973. He has published more than 60 professional articles and several books. 

He was a founding member of the Association of Black Psychologists. Dr. Williams was a 2011 inductee into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame. 

The program will begin at 6pm at the Clinton Center in the Great Hall. A reception will follow. 

Lineup for 2015 Arkansas Literary Festival announced

alf maurice               Prestigious award-winners, big names, GRAMMY nominees, filmmakers, journalists, and artists are among the diverse roster of presenters who will be providing sessions at the twelfth annual Arkansas Literary Festival, April 23-26, 2015. The Central Arkansas Library System’s Main Library campus and many other Little Rock venues are the sites for a stimulating mix of sessions, panels, special events, performances, workshops,presentations, opportunities to meet authors, book sales, and book signings. Most events are free and open to the public.

The Arkansas Literary Festival, the premier gathering of readers and writers in Arkansas, will include more than 80 presenters including featured authors John Waters, Rebecca Wells, Charles D. Morgan, Andrew Keen, Cheryl & Griff Day, Issa Rae, Ted Rall, Rick Bragg, Megan Abbott, Seph Lawless, Wesley K. Clark, and Bryan Collier.

This year’s Festival authors have won an impressive number and variety of distinguished awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, Presidential Medal of Freedom, Purple Heart, GLAAD Stephen F. Kolzak Award, Hugo Award, Coretta Scott King Award, Caldecott Honor, American Society of Newspaper Editor’s Distinguished Writing Award, Hammett Prize, Rosenthal Family Foundation Award, Bram Stoker Award, Whiting Writers Award, Plimpton Prize, Shorty Award for best web show, Beatrice Hawley award, New York Times Editor’s Selection, Poets Prize, Romantic Times Legend of Romance, Porter Prize, a James Beard Award nominee, the U.S. nominee for the Hans Christen Andersen Award, and more.

Special events for adults during the Festival include a cocktail reception with the authors, a session with John Waters, special art exhibits, and a workshop on developing a personal style. Panels and sessions include genres and topics such as scientific thinking, Jerry Lee Lewis, the web series The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, comic art, romance, war, and baking.

Children’s special events include a Tiny Ninja workshop, and a play based on Chicken Little and the Little Red Hen. Festival sessions for children will take place at both the Hillary Rodham Clinton Children’s Library and Learning Center, 4800 10th Street, and the Youth Services Department at the Main Library, 100 Rock Street. Special events for teens include a session with E. Lockhart, whose book, We Were Liars, was the best reviewed book for young adults in 2014..

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), Arkansas Humanities Council, Fred K. Darragh Jr. Foundation, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, ProSmart Printing, Little Rock Family, KUAR FM 89.1, Arkansas Democrat Gazette, Sync, Arkansas Life, William Jefferson Clinton Foundation, MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History, Windstream, Arkansas Federal Credit Union, Arkansas Times, Wright, Lindsey & Jennings LLP, Hampton Inn Downtown/McKibbon Hotel Group, Capital Hotel, Historic Arkansas Museum , TransAmerica, Witt Stephens Jr. Central Arkansas Nature Center, Arkansas Library Association, Pulaski Technical College, Union Pacific, Sequoyah National Research Center, Gibbs Elementary School, Rockefeller Elementary School, Hendrix College, Hendrix College Project Pericles Program, Arkansas Women’s Forum, Philander Smith College, University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, East Harding, University of Arkansas at Little Rock English Department, University of Arkansas at Little Rock Department of Rhetoric and Writing, Pyramid Art, Books & Custom Framing/Hearne Fine Art, Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, Literacy Action of Central Arkansas, Christ Episcopal Church, and Lamar Advertising. 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 24, at 7 p.m. and the Fred Darragh Distinguished Lecture with John Waters, will be Saturday, April 25 at 8 p.m. Tickets for both events are $25 in advance, and $40 at the door, and go on sale at ArkansasLiteraryFestival.org beginning Tuesday, April 1. Author! Author! tickets will also be available for purchase at the Main Library and River Market Books & Gifts, 120 River Market Avenue.

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. Katherine Whitworth is the 2015 Festival Chair. Other committee chairs include Kevin Brockmeier, Talent Committee; Susan Santa Cruz, Festival Guides; Laura Stanley, Hospitality Gifts; and Amy Bradley-Hole, Moderators.

For more information about the 2015 Arkansas Literary Festival, visit ArkansasLiteraryFestival.org, or contact Brad Mooy at bmooy@cals.org or 918-3098. For information on volunteering at the Festival, contact Angela Delaney at adelaney@cals.orgor 918-3095.

Greater Little Rock Preservation Awards presented tonight at Quapaw Quarter annual meeting

QQAThe Quapaw Quarter Association will present the Greater Little Rock Preservation Awards at its 2014 Annual Membership Meeting on Tuesday, October 7 at the Ron Robinson Theater.  This year’s award recipients include the Argenta Branch of the William F. Laman Public Library System, Stone’s Throw Brewing Company, the Clinton Foundation, Donna Thomas and Wright Avenue Neighborhood Association, and J. Chandler and Co.  Rachelle Walsh will receive the Peg Smith Award to recognize her exemplary volunteer work. Carolyn Newbern will be presented with the Jimmy Strawn Award, the QQA’s most prestigious award, presented to someone whose efforts on behalf of the preservation of Greater Little Rock’s architectural heritage are an inspiration to the entire community.  Matt DeCample will serve as emcee of the awards ceremony.

The QQA is also kicking off efforts to raise awareness about mid-century modern architecture in Little Rock, beginning with a special lecture from Dr. Ethel Goodstein-Murphree of the Fay Jones School of Architecture.  Goodstein-Murphree’s lecture, “Rock ‘n’ Roll, Poodle Skirts, and a White I-Beam: The Preservationist’s Guide to Loving the 1950s and its Architecture” will be presented at the meeting.

The meeting will begin at 6:00 p.m. following a 5:30 reception at the Ron Robinson Theater at 100 River Market Avenue in Little Rock.  The QQA’s annual membership meeting is free and open to the public.  Nonmembers may join at the door.

As Part of Entergy Arkansas 100th Birthday, Downtown Bridges Officially Illuminated Tonight

Arkansas River LightsEntergy Arkansas, the City of Little Rock, Pulaski County Facilities Board Authority, the William J. Clinton Foundation, the Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau, the City of North Little Rock and the Downtown Little Rock Partnership will be celebrating the official illumination of the Main Street, Junction and Clinton Presidential Park Bridges at First Security Amphitheater.

Event Schedule:

5:00-6:00 PM      Entertainment by the Natural State Brass Band

6:00-6:20 PM      Official Event – Opening remarks followed by the flipping of the switches and the illumination of all three bridges with a festive light show (bridges will remain illuminated)

Following              Entertainment by the Big Dam Horns

8:00 PM                 Event Ends

Ottenheimer Market Hall will be open for this event, so food and beverages will be available. This is a public event and all who want to attend and participate in this historic event will be welcomed – it is sure to be great fun, and an exciting day in our city’s history.

This once-in-a-lifetime event is made possible by a $2 million gift by Entergy Arkansas as part of its 100th anniversary in Arkansas, as well as support from the William J. Clinton Foundation, the Pulaski County Bridge Authority, Philips Lighting, Koontz Electric, the cities of Little Rock and North Little Rock, Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau and the North Little Rock Visitors Bureau. Total project cost is $2.4 million.

According to James Jones of Entergy Arkansas:

Entergy Arkansas has much for which to be thankful, and much to celebrate. A century in business is a rare achievement, and we appreciate the opportunity to have been a part of Arkansas’ history since 1913. The utility industry and Arkansas have come a long way in 100 years, and Entergy Arkansas is proud to have played a part in “Helping Build Arkansas,” a phrase founder Harvey Couch said often.