Due to travel complications, the May 2 appearance by Lonnie G. Bunch III in Little Rock has been cancelled.
The program was to have been the 29th Frank and Kula Kumpuris Distinguished Lecture presented by the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton School of Public Service.
The Clinton Presidential Center’s upcoming temporary exhibit, Washed Ashore: Art to Save the Sea, will debut on April 27, 2019. Washed Ashore is a family-friendly exhibit that will feature more than 20 giant sea life sculptures – made entirely of trash and debris collected from beaches. This exhibit poignantly illustrates the toll trash takes
on our oceans and waterways.
The incredible marine life sculptures will be accompanied by educational signage allowing visitors to learn about the fascinating species, environmental stewardship, responsible consumer habits, and how “every action counts” to help save our waterways.
Washed Ashore is a visual reminder of the disposable products that end up in our waters, and that each of us can take action to prevent further pollution. “Hope, creativity, [and] imagination will be required to meet the challenges that we face with our oceans,” said President Bill Clinton to the National Oceans Conference in June 1998. “But they are the traits that first enabled and inspired explorers to take to the sea. They are traits that allowed us to look at our inextricable ties to our environment and invent new ways to protect our natural wonders from harm in the last three decades. In the 21st century, these traits – hope, creativity, imagination – they must lead us to preserve our living oceans as a sacred legacy for all time to come.”
The Washed Ashore exhibit will be primarily displayed inside two of the Clinton Center’s
galleries. Visitors will see Eli the Eel, walk through the Reef at Risk, and be able to play the Styrofoam Drum Set. The exhibit will open to the public on April 27; a second phase featuring additional sculptures will open in June, when Priscilla the Parrot Fish, a 16-foot-long, 1,500-pound brightly-colored sculpture will greet visitors from the water fountains located outside the front doors.
“The sculptures are beautiful, truly works of art, but they are a poignant reminder that our oceans and waterways are precious resources that need our attention now more than ever,” said Stephanie S. Streett, executive director of the Clinton Foundation.
“From the student visitor to the grand parent, we hope that everyone who has the opportunity to enjoy Washed Ashore walks away with a renewed sense of awe and responsibility.”
Washed Ashore presents an opportunity to reflect on the Clinton administration’s efforts to safeguard essential bodies of water and promote environmental stewardship. “President Bill Clinton’s administration took strong action to protect our coasts and waterways,” said Terri Garner, director of the William J. Clinton Presidential Library. “He signed crucial legislation and issued key executive orders designed to improve water quality, protect wetlands and coasts, and reduce waste while increasing the use of recycled products.”
Though there have been a few events earlier, today (April 25) offers several events to kick off the 2019 Arkansas Literary Festival.
During the day at the Clinton Presidential Center and also the Museum of Discovery is a Day of Science and Reading. Students meet Miami-based author Laurie Friedman, Mallory McDonald, Super Sitter and Can You Say Catastrophe? and Nashville-based illustrator, Higgins Bond, A Place for Turtles and Lorraine: The Girl Who Sang the Storm Away. Both successful presenters are originally from the Natural State. Limited seating is available.
Tonight at 6pm at the ESSE Purse Museum a program will feature Anita Davis, the museum’s founder. The author of What’s Inside?: A Century of Women and Handbags, 1900–1999, she is a native Arkansan and lifelong collector who loves outsider art, Gladys Knight, dream work, her two daughters, and learning about the mysteries of life. Her varied life experience includes owning a mail-order catalog called Pure and Simple in the 1980s and co-owning Vagabonds coffee house and vintage store in the 1990s. She has a talent for finding valuables (“They’re valuable to me!”) in unexpected places and has led the revitalization of Little Rock’s SoMa neighborhood, where ESSE Purse Museum & Store is located. What’s Inside? is an extension of her endeavor to explore concepts of art, history, and the feminine at ESSE – the only purse museum in the United States and one of only three in the world.
At 7pm at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater, Elliot Ackerman & Charmaine Craig participate in a discussion entitled, The Human Element of War. Despite the dehumanization that goes hand in hand with war and the media coverage of conflict, moments of deep humanity can be glimpsed even in the most harrowing of circumstances. How do we ensure that those moments are not overlooked, and that our stories – even fictional ones – reflect the nuances of a historical moment? Join 2017 National Book Award Finalist Elliot Ackerman (Dark at the Crossing) and 2017 Longlister Charmaine Craig (Miss Burma) for a discussion on depicting conflict, preserving humanity, and finding truth in fiction. This session is presented in partnership with the National Book Foundation, presenter of the National Book Awards.
The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Philip Mann, Music Director and Conductor, presents the fifth concert of the 2018-2019 River Rhapsodies Chamber Music season with Debussy & Poulenc, Tuesday, Apr. 16th at 7:00 p.m. at the Clinton Presidential Center.
ASO musicians present Debussy’s Violin Sonata, Poulenc’s Sextet for Piano and Winds, and music from Steinmetz.
River Rhapsodies Chamber Music Concerts are held in the intimate setting of the Clinton Presidential Center’s Great Hall. A cash bar is open before the concert and at intermission, and patrons are invited to carry drinks into the concert. The Media Sponsor for the River Rhapsodies Chamber Music Series is UA Little Rock Public Radio.
General Admission tickets are $23; active duty military and student tickets are $10 and can be purchased online at www.ArkansasSymphony.org; at the Clinton Presidential Center beginning 60 minutes prior to a concert; or by phone at 501-666-1761, ext. 1.
Artists
Diane McVinney, flute
Leanna Renfro, oboe
Kelly Johnson, clarinet
Susan Bell León, bassoon
David Renfro, horn
Geoffrey Robson, violin
John Krebs, piano
Tatiana Roitman Mann, piano
Program
STEINMETZ – What’s Going On (Consortium Commission)
McVinney, L. Renfro, Johnson, León, D. Renfro
DEBUSSY – Violin Sonata
Robson, Krebs
POULENC – Sextet for Piano and Winds
McVinney, L. Renfro, Johnson, León, D. Renfro, Mann
Stephanie S. Streett is the executive director of the Clinton Foundation. In this role she oversees the day-to-day operations of the Clinton Presidential Center, including the development and implementation of its educational programs, special events, exhibits, and services as well as staff management.
She establishes and cultivates strategic partnerships and cooperative arrangements with state and local governments, the non-profit and private sector, community groups and other organizations. Stephanie also serves as the corporate secretary for the Clinton Foundation Board of Directors.
Stephanie has used her position to broaden culture in Little Rock through the wide variety of exhibits which the Clinton Center has hosted. A wide variety of styles of visual arts, design, contemporary craft, sports, science and history have been showcased in exhibits at the Clinton Center. She also was instrumental in planning the special events in conjunction with the Clinton Center 10th Anniversary in 2014 and the 2017 celebration of the 25th anniversary of President Clinton’s election.
In addition, she has been active in promoting partnerships with the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Together with Kaki Hockersmith, she has facilitated several seminars which have brought key Kennedy Center leaders to Little Rock. Together they lead the effort known as Fusion: Arts + Humanities Arkansas. Now in its second year, Fusion promotes heritage and culture and celebrates human achievement by weaving the arts and humanities together.
She has been the president of the University of Arkansas Alumni Association National Board of Directors and is co-chair of the Board of Directors for City Year Little Rock. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Downtown Partnership of Little Rock and is a member of the International Women’s Forum Arkansas. In April 2018, she was honored with the 2018 City Year Little Rock Lifetime of Service Award at the Red Jacket Ball.
Through their social media campaign #5WomenArtists, the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) asks, “Can you name five women artists?
In response to that, this month five artists with Little Rock connections will be highlighted throughout March. Up next is Robyn Horn. She is a talented artist who also is an avid collector and promoter of other artists.
Born in Fort Smith, Horn graduated from Hendrix College with a degree in art. In the late 1970s, she was the photographer for Arkansas Parks and Tourism.
Her work as an wood artist started in 1983. Since then, she has worked in a variety of styles that have evolved over the years. Horn is drawn to abstract, geometric sculpture, the volume of it, the form, the textures, the negative spaces. She is influenced by the nature of the material and its resistance to being changed and thinks in terms of wood and stone,. Her works explore line and mass, the interplay of angles and planes to create effects of light and shadow, with a strong emphasis on visual grace, and a sense of structural strength and unity. She has also resumed painting.
Currently her works can be seen at the Clinton Presidential Center (in the White House Craft exhibit which runs through the end of the month) and at Galleries at Library Square on the CALS campus. Her work is also part of the Arkansas Arts Center permanent collection as well as on display at Crystal Bridges and other locations throughout Arkansas and beyond. In 2018, she published a book The Sculpture of Robyn Horn.
It is Spring Break week! Several Little Rock museums have special activities planned.
Museum of Discovery
March 18 – March 22 • 10 am to 4 pm
Monday, March 18 – Meet and have your photo taken with Jet Propulsion from “Ready Jet Go!” Enjoy hands-on activities that teach about space and more.
Tuesday, March 19 – Meet and have your photo taken with Nature Cat, the star o PBS Kids’ “Nature Cat”! Enjoy hands-on activities about the wonderful outdoors and meet some of nature’s coolest animals!
All Days
Tesla Shows: 11 a.m., 12 p.m., 1 p.m., 2 p.m. & 3 p.m.
Awesome Science Demos: 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m. & 2:30 p.m.
Meet Museum Animals: 10 a.m., 12 p.m., 2 p.m. & 4 p.m.
Historic Arkansas Museum
Spring Break 2019: Settling in Arkansas
March 18 – March 22 • 10 am to 4 pm
In celebration of Arkansas’s Territorial Bicentennial, our Spring Break activities will focus on settling this state. The museum’s historic block has countless stories of making a life in early Arkansas, from just after becoming a territory to a decade after Statehood. Visitors can spend each day learning about a different person’s path to Arkansas. We will cook Pioneer food, make hands-on crafts, and share a few pioneer skills.
Little Rock Zoo
March 18 – March 22 • 9:30am to 4:00pm
See daily feedings of the penguins, interact with education exhibits, attend a meet and greet with animals, go to the Party in the Plaza, have a special meet and greet at the Arkansas Heritage Farm, and chat with animal keepers.
Clinton Presidential Center
March 18 – March 22 • 10:00am to 2:00pm
The Clinton Presidential Center invites children of all ages to enjoy FREE Spring Break activities on March 18 – 22, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Join us for FREE craft activities for the entire family! We’ll offer an instructional glass fusion project, led by Little Rock School District art specialist Sharon Boyd-Struthers, in conjunction with our White House Collection of American Crafts: 25th Anniversary Exhibit. Spring Break activities are FREE; however, admission fees to tour the Museum apply.
Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre
March 19 – March 22 • 2:00pm
Special Spring Break matinee performances of Charlotte’s Web on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this week.
Wilbur the piglet is the runt of his litter. But under the loving care of eight-year-old Fern Arable—and due in no small part to the delicious and plentiful slops on her Uncle Homer’s farm—Wilbur grows up into a fine specimen of a pig. Wilbur is no ordinary pig, and thanks to the acrobatic web-writing of his friend Charlotte, a kindly barn spider, the world soon learns just how “terrific” and “radiant” he is. Come join in this heart-warming barnyard adventure and marvel at the wonder of Charlotte’s web.
Little Rock Culture Vulture 