Tonight: “Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration,” Dr. Buzz Aldrin and Leonard David

Buzz AldrinLegendary astronaut Dr. Buzz Aldrin and Leonard David, veteran space journalist and co-author of Dr. Aldrin’s new book, “Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration” will be in conversation this evening at 6:00pm at Robinson Center Music Hall.

Selected into the NASA in 1963, Dr. Aldrin developed docking and rendezvous techniques for spacecraft in Earth and lunar orbit, which was critical to the success of the Gemini and Apollo programs, and are still used today. He pioneered underwater training techniques, as a substitute for zero gravity flights, to simulate spacewalking and during the 1966 Gemini 12 mission, he preformed the first successful spacewalk. On July 20, 1969, Dr. Aldrin, along with Neil Armstrong made their historic Apollo 11 moonwalk, becoming the first two humans to set foot on another world.

Leonard David has been reporting on space exploration for nearly five decades. Mr. David is the 2010 winner of the prestigious National Space Club Press Award, presented this honor during the Club’s annual Robert H. Goddard Memorial Dinner in April 2011 that was held in Washington, D.C. Currently, Leonard is SPACE.com’s Space Insider Columnist, as well as a correspondent for Space News newspaper and a contributing writer for several magazines, specifically Aerospace America, the membership publication of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). This program is sponsored by the Clinton Foundation and Clinton School of Public Service.

*This lecture has limited seating available. Invitation is non-transferrable. Reservations are required. Reserve your seats by emailing publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu or calling 501.683.5239.

Following the lecture, Dr. Aldrin and Leonard David will be available for a book signing of their new book, “Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration.” To reserve a copy, please contact Michelle Ross at the Clinton Museum Store at mross@clintonfoundation.org or 501-748-0401.

Clinton School, Library participate in LETTER FROM A BIRMINGHAM JAIL reading at noon today

4a08bf2ea81f2e2204f4fa22b3c66604f60eb8deb9a4On the 50th anniversary of the day that Martin Luther King, Jr. began writing his famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” the Clinton School and Clinton Foundation will join participants around the world for a public reading of King’s letter in celebration.

King wrote the letter in 1963 after he was arrested for participating in the Birmingham Campaign, a non-violent protest against racial segregation in the city. Written in response to criticism of the campaign from local clergy, the letter became a classic document of the Civil Rights Movement.

Those reading the letter will include elementary school and middle school students, local celebrities, Clinton Foundation staff and Clinton School students. This event is sponsored in conjunction with the Birmingham Public Library.

The program will take place at 12 noon today in the Great Hall of the Clinton Presidential Center.

Architeaser June 22

Yesterday’s Architeaser was a diamond toward the top of the Clinton Museum Store Building.  The building also houses the offices for City Year Little Rock/North Little Rock as well as some of the Clinton Foundation operations.

Here is today’s Architeaser.

Deadline Approaching for Arkansas Arts Summit Registration

The Arkansas Arts Council is pleased to be a sponsor of the 2012 Arkansas Arts Summit April 17-18 at the William J. Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock. This intensive, two-day event will provide practical training for board members and arts administrators to help build and maintain art organizations and programs.

The conference will also offer performances, social events and networking opportunities. Registration is $95 and deadline to register is April 1. Click here to download a registration form, which includes a conference agenda and hotel information.

The Summit is presented by the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts and the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the Kennedy Center.

Led by Kennedy Center President Michael M. Kaiser, the conference will equip participants to:

    • Recruit and manage board members
    • Achieve fundraising success
    • Create institutional image with impact
    • Improve strategic financial planning
    • Develop and support effective marketing campaigns

Sponsors include the Arkansas Arts Council, the William J. Clinton Foundation, Donna and Mack McLarty, Kaki Hockersmith, Mid-America Arts Alliance, the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute, the Windgate Foundation, Stella Boyle Smith Trust, the City of Little Rock and the City of North Little Rock.

Oscar winner Geena Davis at the Clinton School

Academy Award-winning actor Geena Davis founded is speaking tonight in Little Rock.  She is being hosted by the University of Arkansas Clinton School for Public Service and the William J. Clinton Foundation.

She founded the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media in 2004. The institute is the only research-based organization working within the media and entertainment industry to engage, educate and influence the need for gender balance, reducing stereotyping and creating a wide variety of female characters in entertainment. Davis won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in “The Accidental Tourist” in 1988.

The lecture is being held in the Wally Allen Ballroom of the Statehouse Convention Center at 6:00 pm.  Seating is limited and reservations are required.  To make a reservation, email publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu, or call 501-683-5239.

THEA Foundation

On this day of giving thanks and expressing appreciation, the entry focuses on The THEA Foundation, which gives so much throughout the state.

The mission of the THEA Foundation is to advocate the importance of the arts in the development of our youth.

The THEA Foundation is was founded in 2001 by Paul and Linda Leopoulos, parents of Thea Leopoulos, who was tragically killed in her junior year of high school. Thea had blossomed after discovering her artistic gifts in painting, writing, dance, speech, and drama. The THEA Foundation was created soon after Thea’s untimely death as a way to provide other young people the opportunity to find their confidence through involvement in the arts.

Thea Leopoulos

Thea’s interest in the arts required hard work, focus, and concentration, and she accomplished wonderful things. The harder she worked the better and more satisfying the results. It was exciting to watch her evolve into a whole person who believed she could challenge herself in any area of study.

Programs of the Foundation are designed to provide opportunities for student involvement in the arts. Research into the implementation and results of successful arts-infused programs in schools around the country have led us to become an advocate for improving our schools curriculum through arts administration. This advocacy points to a better curriculum delivery process that motivates all students. When students are engaged and having fun learning, test scores rise, discipline problems diminish, and schools become a place for growth for all students.

The THEA Foundation sponsors scholarships in visual and performing arts, as well as filmmaking. In addition, the THEA Foundation sponsors workshops, the Art Closet (which provides supplies for art teachers to use in classroom instruction), and Art Across Arkansas – in partnership with the William J. Clinton Foundation.

The THEA Foundation’s advocacy is based on schools that have successfully motivated and engaged students through an arts-infused delivery system of instruction for the curriculum. An arts-infused delivery system means teaching math, science, social studies, history, spelling, writing, speech, and literature using art, drama, music, and rhyme to enhance the learning process.

The THEA Foundation reaches all corners of the state.  This work emanates from the THEA Foundation Center for the Arts on Main Street in North Little Rock.  Dedicated in 2008, it features the Judy Kohn Tenenbaum Gallery.