Tag Archives: Department of Parks Heritage and Tourism

Happy 50th Birthday to the National Endowment for the Arts & National Endowment for the Humanities

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NEANEH50On September 29, 1965, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed into law the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 at a White House Rose Garden ceremony, attended by scholars, artists, educators, political leaders, and other luminaries.

The law created the National Endowment for the Humanities as an independent federal agency, the first grand public investment in American culture. It identified the need for a national cultural agency that would preserve America’s rich history and cultural heritage, and encourage and support scholarship and innovation in history, archeology, philosophy, literature, and other humanities disciplines.

On this occasion, President Johnson said: “Art is a nation’s most precious heritage. For it is in our works of art that we reveal ourselves, and to others, the inner vision which guides us as a nation. And where there is no vision, the people perish.”

This new law was the fruit of two presidents, several senators and representatives, and four previous pieces of legislation. Separate bills had been introduced, in previous years, into the House by Representative Frank Thompson (D-NJ), and into the Senate by Senators Hubert Humphrey (D-MN) and Jacob Javits (R-NY). Senator Claiborne Pell (D-RI) had overseen hearings on some of this preliminary legislation, beginning in October 1963, before the death of President John F. Kennedy.

Over the years, the NEA and NEH have awarded millions of dollars to Little Rock based institutions, organizations and individuals through direct appropriations.  They have also impacted Little Rock cultural life through funding of the Mid-America Arts Alliance, Arkansas Arts Council, Department of Arkansas Heritage, Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism, and U.S. Conference of Mayors among others. These groups have either re-granted the dollars to Little Rock entities or undertaken projects which have directly impacted and improved life in Little Rock.

 

13 pieces of art will be unveiled at Mosaic Templars as part of 2015 Creativity Arkansas event

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Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, Arkansas’s museum of African American history and culture, will unveil thirteen unique pieces in the 2015 Creativity Arkansas art collection during an Opening Reception at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17.

First introduced in 2009, Creativity Arkansas showcases works from prominent African American artists who have a connection to Arkansas which depict, represent, or illustrate historical places, events, or people that have been significant to the state’s black culture. Consistent with the mission of MTCC, the collection preserves and documents Arkansas’s African American history through vivid works in a variety of media.

The name Creativity Arkansas is inspired by the Kwanzaa holiday principle of “Kuumba” (or “Creativity”) which translates to mean to do as much as we can to leave our communities more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited. The 2015 Creativity Arkansas theme is Ancestral Landscapes: From Africa to Arkansas and contains artwork by ten renowned artists: AJ Smith, Jonathan Wright, Rex DeLoney, LaToya Hobbs, Higgins Bond, Danny Campbell, Ariston Jacks, Angela Davis Johnson, Bryan Massey, Sr., and George Frederick Nash.

Artwork acquired for Creativity Arkansas are used for MTCC’s educational programming and periodically serve as inspiration for new public programs. The entire collection is funded through a grant from the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council.

The museum opened its doors in September 2008, and the opening of the art exhibit is part of activities marking its 7th anniversary celebration. Free and open to the public, the reception will feature refreshments and live music by Off the Cuff.

The 2015 Creativity Arkansas exhibit will be on display at Mosaic Templars Cultural Center from September 2015 through March 2016.

For more information about MTCC’s anniversary events, please visit mosaictemplarscenter.com or call 501.683.3593.

The Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, a museum of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, is dedicated to telling the history of African Americans in Arkansas from 1870 to the present, especially in the areas of politics, business and the arts. Other agencies of the Department of Arkansas Heritage include Arkansas Arts Council, Arkansas Historic Preservation, Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, Delta Cultural Center, Historic Arkansas Museum and Old State House Museum.

Sandwich in History at Shiloh Baptist Church today at noon

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ahpp Shiloh Baptist ChurchThe monthly architectural history program “Sandwiching in History” visits Shiloh Baptist Church, located at 1200 Hanger Street. The program begins at noon today.  A historian with the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program delivers a brief lecture about the church before leading guests on a tour.

The historically black congregation of Shiloh Baptist Church was organized in 1886 by Rev. O. H. Redicks and occupied an earlier building at the southwest corner of Hanger and E. Twelfth streets in Little Rock’s Hanger Hill neighborhood. The current buff brick church features elements of the Gothic Revival style.

Sandwiching in History is a program of the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.  The AHPP is responsible for identifying, evaluating, registering and preserving the state’s cultural resources. Other DAH agencies are the Arkansas Arts Council, the Delta Cultural Center in Helena, the Old State House Museum, the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission and the Historic Arkansas Museum.

New Deputy Director for Arkansas Heritage announced

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DAH Dep DirStacy Hurst, director of the Department of Arkansas Heritage (DAH), announced today that she has named Rebecca Burkes as the new deputy director for DAH. Burkes holds an M.S. in operations management from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and a Juris Doctorate from the Baylor University School of Law.

“I am very happy to bring Rebecca on board to help lead and manage DAH,” said Hurst. “Her skills in managing organizations and people will be a tremendous asset to us. Our seven separate agencies, operating under the larger umbrella of Heritage, will benefit greatly from her skills.”

Burkes most recently was an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School, Madison. Previous to that, she lived in Northwest Arkansas, where she practiced law in Fayetteville (1993-95), was corporate counsel at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., in Bentonville (1995-98) and was vice president and chief counsel for the Burkes Company, a diversified real estate development, construction and brokerage company (1998-2011).

The Department of Arkansas Heritage, through its seven agencies, seeks to recognize the state’s heritage and to enhance Arkansas’s quality of life through the discovery, preservation and presentation of the state’s cultural, natural and historic resources. The agencies are Arkansas Arts Council, Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, Delta Cultural Center, Historic Arkansas Museum, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center and Old State House Museum.

Mozart in A tonight

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kiril mozartaThe St. Luke’s Festival of the Senses, our parish’s arts series, is gearing up for new year packed with exciting concerts and arts events. The year kicks off Monday, August 31st at 7pm with Mozart in A, a chamber music program.

The selections will be Mozart pieces composed in A major: Piano Concerto No. 23 and the first movement of Mozart’s Symphony No. 29.musicians performing are Tatiana Roitman, piano; Kiril Laskarov, violin; Eric Hayward, violin; Katherine Williamson, viola; and Stephen Feldman, cello.

Festival of the Senses is funded by private donations, the Arkansas Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Arkansas Arts Council wants to hear from you! Take their Strategic Planning survey

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The Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, is in the process of developing a new strategic plan that will guide the agency for the next five years. To help us understand the needs and issues of our constituents,

Got a few minutes to spare? The Arkansas Arts Council would appreciate your input by taking their short survey.

Your feedback will help them better understand how they can continue to advance and empower the arts for the benefit of all Arkansans. Thanks for your support of the arts in Arkansas!
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/QHVH33P

Arts Abound Tonight at 2nd Friday Art Night

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2FAN logo Font sm22nd Friday Art Night proves there is a cure for the Summertime Blues.  It offers visual art, music, food and drink!  You can eat, drink, learn, appreciate, and be merry!

At Historic Arkansas Museum from 5 to 8 pm there will be a free opening reception for two new exhibits: Katherine Rutter & Ginny Sims in the Trinity Gallery for Arkansas Artists and PopUp in the Rock: The Exhibit in the Second Floor Gallery. Enjoy live music by John Willis and the Late Romantics and #ArkansasMade brews from Moody Brews. Delicious appetizers provided by Boulevard Bread.

Down the street, the Old State House Museum will be offering musical performances by traditional folk artists Mockingbird from 5-8 p.m. The Old State House Museum will be open for self-guided tours and Mockingbird will play in the acoustically-rich 1836 Arkansas House of Representatives chamber. The room is one of the most historically significant rooms in the state, and this is a fun way for you and your family to see and experience it.

A few blocks south, Christ Church will be featuring the works of John and Judy Shantz Honey and their exhibit “Reflections on Abstraction.”

  • John Honey is a member of Mid-Southern Watercolorists and Arkansas League of Artists. He has studied the use of water-based mediums and collage under several nationally recognized artists. He is constantly challenged to find a different approach for including the elements of design in his paintings. He favors abstraction over realism as a means of expression. John’s work has been seen in juried exhibitions at the Arkansas Art Center.
  • Judy Shantz Honey enjoyed an interest in art as a child, and this interest continued through her studies at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and in the Museum School at the Arkansas Arts Center. She has also studied with nationally recognized art instructors in art workshops around the United States and in Mexico.  Watercolor, acrylic, and collage are her primary mediums, with work on paper and on canvas. She is a member of Mid-Southern Watercolorists, the Arkansas League of Artists and the Arkansas Arts Council.