Tag Archives: Historic Arkansas Museum

Now’s the time to nominate museums and libraries for National Medal for Museum and Library Service

Posted on by

National MedalLittle Rock is blessed to have a dynamic library system and over a dozen exciting museums.  Let’s face it, the words “dynamic” and “exciting” are not always synonymous with libraries and museums.

Each year, the Institute of Museum and Library Services presents select museums and libraries with the nation’s highest honor, the National Medal for Museum and Library Service.  IMLS is now accepting nominations for the 2016 award which recognizes libraries and museums that make significant and exceptional contributions in service to their communities. Nomination forms are due October 1, 2015.

All types of nonprofit libraries and library organizations, including academic, school, and special libraries, archives, library associations, and library consortia, are eligible to receive this honor. Public or private nonprofit museums of any discipline (including general, art, history, science and technology, children’s, and natural history and anthropology), as well as historic houses and sites, arboretums, nature centers, aquariums, zoos, botanical gardens, and planetariums are eligible.

Winners are honored at a ceremony in Washington, DC, host a two-day visit from StoryCorps to record community member stories, and receive positive media attention. Approximately thirty finalists are selected as part of the process and are featured by IMLS during a six-week social media and press campaign.

Winning the medal elevates an institution’s profile and can positively impact fundraising, programming, and outreach activities.

Anyone may nominate a museum or library for this honor, and institutions may self-nominate. For more information, reach out to one of the following contacts.

Program Contact for Museums:
Mark Feitl, Museum Program Specialist
202-653-4635, mfeitl@imls.gov

Program Contact for Libraries:
Katie Murray, Staff Assistant
202-653-4644, kmurray@imls.gov

About the Institute of Museum and Library Services
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 35,000 museums. Their mission is to inspire libraries and museums to advance innovation, lifelong learning, and cultural and civic engagement. To learn more, visit www.imls.gov and follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

Celebrate the Arts Council’s Arkansas Living Treasures tonight at Historic Arkansas Museum

Posted on by

2fan ham 0715Tonight’s 2nd Friday Art Night at Historic Arkansas Museum is a special event! In collaboration with the Arkansas Arts Council, a sister agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, it celebrates the work of those who have been designated Arkansas Living Treasures.

“Art. Function. Craft. The Life and Work of Arkansas Living Treasures” – See the works of Arkansas’s finest and most fascinating artists and artisans practicing, preserving and progressing traditional craft. Hear about their personal artistic journeys in a series of documentary shorts. This exhibition, and corresponding film series, is a collaboration of Historic Arkansas Museum and the Arkansas Arts Council, which gives the Arkansas Living Treasure Award to those who excel in the practice of a traditional craft.

Since 2002, the Arkansas Arts Council has recognized Arkansas Living Treasures, Arkansas artisans who excel in the practice of a traditional craft and who have passed the tradition on to the next generation. For the past four decades, Historic Arkansas Museum’s Arkansas Made has systematically documented, collected and preserved the work of Arkansas artisans who lived and worked in the state from the early 19th century to present day. In 2013, the Arkansas Arts Council and Historic Arkansas Museum collaborated to produce a series of short films that celebrate the lives and work of each Arkansas Living Treasure.

In addition, the evening will feature award-winning Arkansas fiddler,Clancey Ferguson. Historic Arkansas Museum’s Year of Arkansas Beer continues with Saddlebock Brewery of Springdale.

The festivities run from 5pm to 8pm.

Frontier 4th at Historic Arkansas Museum today

Posted on by

FrontierFourthCelebrate Independence Day as it was celebrated on the Arkansas frontier. During the territorial and early statehood days of Arkansas, July 4 was THE holiday to celebrate.

Historic Arkansas Museum will be offering activities and demonstrations all day.  The afternoon activities include an old-time patriotic parade, 19th century music and encounters with people from the past.

Cheer “huzzah” during a reading of the Declaration of Independence by Congressman French Hill (around 3pm) and sign your own copy in the print shop. Watch out for Red Coats! This year marks the 240th anniversary of the start of the revolution. Watch a reenactment of two battles and a duel on the lawn near the farmstead.

Children can walk on stilts and play other pioneer games, and they’ll be invited to take up brooms and wooden rakes to train with the militia. They will also have the opportunity to create flags, streamers and signs to use in the parade.

Visit Historic Arkansas Museum for an afternoon of old-fashioned fun!

All activities are free and open to the public.

Celebrate Arkansas’ Statehood today at Historic Arkansas Museum and Old State House Museum

Posted on by
Statehood Day

Statehood Day

The Old State House Museum and Historic Arkansas Museum will celebrate Arkansas’ Statehood today. A joint living history event, “The Quest for Statehood: From The Delta To The Hills,” will mark 179 years of statehood at both locations.

Costumed interpreters will transform The Old State House and Historic Arkansas Museum into the daily life and work of people representing all sections of 1836 Arkansas with games, talks and activities from 10 to 4 on June 13th.

Pick up a packet of clues about which historical figure you are, where you’re traveling from and why you are in Little Rock on this special day; use these clues to complete a task specific to your character and win a prize! You can participate as an individual, a couple or as a family! All activities are free and open to the public.

The museums are both agencies of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

2nd Friday Art Night ‘neath the June Moon

Posted on by

2FAN logo Font sm2Tonight at Historic Arkansas Museum during 2nd Friday Art Night, there will be a reception celebrating Arkansas artists Heather Condren & Miranda Young.  It will feature live music by Handmade Moments.  Historic Arkansas Museum’s Year of Arkansas Beer* continues with Core Brewing Company of Springdale, AR.

Heather Condren uses repurposed books to create low relief portraiture illustrating that “books don’t have to tell a story through writing, they can also tell a story through form.” Condren (Conway) earned her BFA with an emphasis in Graphic Design at the University of Central Arkansas.

Miranda Young combines her experience working with diverse media in this exhibition of linocuts and quirky ceramic sculptures mounted like taxidermy. Animal imagery in Young’s work explores the spiritual and emotional meanings that humans associate with animals. Young (Little Rock) is a Printmaking Instructor and Scenic Designer at the Arkansas Arts Center. She earned her BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute.

The exhibition continues in the Second Floor Gallery through August 9, 2015.

 

At the Old State House Museum, live music will be the artform that is celebrated.  Join musicians Bonnie Montgomery and Geoff Robson will play on the lawn of the Old State House Museum on Friday, June 12, to kick off a weekend celebrating 179 Years of Arkansas Statehood. Bring your picnic blankets and lawn chairs to enjoy the music and weather. This event is free.

 

 

 

Legacy of LR architect Ed Cromwell to be discussed tonight

Posted on by
CromwellTonight the Architecture and Design Network will host a panel discussion on the legacy of longtime Little Rock architect Ed Cromwell.
The panelists are:
  • Charles Penix, Chief Operating Officer, Cromwell Architects and Engineers
  • Bill Worthen, Director, Historic Arkansas Museum
  • Don Evans, architect and associate of the late Ed Cromwell

Chris East is the program’s moderator.  It will take place at 6pm at the Arkansas Arts Center, following a reception at 5:30pm.

After working at various jobs during the early years of the Depression, Ed Cromwell, who graduated from Princeton in 1931 with a degree in architecture, moved to Little Rock in 1935 to take a position with the  Resettlement Administration. After a year with the agency, he left to devote full time to the practice of architecture, a career which spanned forty-eight years, from 1936 to1984. Cromwell, who remained active in the community after his retirement, died in 2001, leaving a legacy that continues to impact people’s lives.

There would be no Maumelle if it hadn’t been for Cromwell’s vision of a planned community on the 5,000 acres of land owned by Jess P. Odum, an Arkansas businessman and insurance executive. The Capital Hotel might have been taken out by the wrecker’s ball if it hadn’t been for his determination to save the historic structure. An advocate for the city’s riverfront development, he understood its importance long before others did. He championed historic preservation and  chaired the commission of the Arkansas Territorial  Restoration (now the Historic Arkansas Museum). Cromwell Architects and Engineers, the firm he founded, has to its credit the design of many public buildings and facilities throughout the state and beyond.

The three panelists will explore Cromwell’s legacy as a creative architect, a visionary planner and a champion of  historic  preservation. Architecture and Design Network (ADN) lectures are free and open to the public. For additional information, contact ardenetwork@me.com.

ADN’s supporters include the Arkansas Arts Center, the University of Arkansas Fay Jones School of Architecture, the Central Section of the Arkansas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and friends in the community.

Heritage Month – Hinderliter House

Posted on by

HinderliterThe Hinderliter House is the oldest building still in existence in Little Rock.  It is now part of the Historic Arkansas Museum.

The Hinderliter Grog Shop began as a log structure in 1826-27 by Jesse Hinderliter, a man of German descent. It was his home and business, where he lived with his wife and two slaves until his death in 1834. Popular folklore associates the building with the last meeting of the territorial legislature of 1835. Red oak logs and cypress flooring were used in the grog shop’s construction. The clapboard siding and porch were later additions. Inside, the hand-carved federal mantel in the formal dining room shows that style was important, even in a log house on the frontier.

Many modifications were made to the building over the years.  Work to restore it in the late 1930s and again in the late 1960s removed many of these alterations.

The Hinterliter House and other structures on the Historic Arkansas Museum can be toured daily. They are being showcased today (May 9) as part of HAM’s 42nd Annual Territorial Fair.

The Hinderliter House was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 5, 1970.