Tag Archives: Historic Arkansas Museum

42nd Annual Territorial Fair at Historic Arkansas Museum today from 10 to 4

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hamlogoHistoric Arkansas Museum will host the 42nd Annual Territorial Fair on Saturday, May 9, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This popular annual event is a fun and free opportunity for adults and children of all ages to experience what life was like during Arkansas’s Territorial era. Living history performances, blacksmith demonstrations, historical dances and pioneer games will be happening on the museum’s historic grounds, a preserved and meticulously recreated section of an early downtown Little Rock neighborhood.

Living historians will portray residents of the museum’s historic block. Visitors can witness a raucous card game in the Hinderliter Grog Shop, Little Rock’s oldest surviving structure (c. 1827), or visit a territorial lawyer for a land deed.  In the Print Shop, “Arkansas Gazette” founder William Woodruff will be looking for apprentices and young visitors are encouraged to apply!

Blacksmith Terr Fair for webHistoric Arkansas Museum’s master bladesmith, Lin Rhea, will provide demonstrations in the Black Smith Shop and visitors can see how cloth was dyed in the Arkansas Territory. Children will have the opportunity to make Mother’s Day cards just in time for Mother’s Day.

The “Early Arkansaw Re-enactors” will interact with guests on the grounds with historically accurate clothing, tools and accessories. The Arkansas Country Dance Society will lead guests in historical dances to tunes that were popular during the territorial era. The Southern Center for Agroecology will be selling a variety of plants and heirloom seeds for Mother’s Day and spring planting. Lunch will be available for purchase from Gammy & Gamp’s “Home Style” Food Truck.

The museum’s seven galleries of Arkansas-made art and artifacts and the Sturgis Children’s Gallery will be open during the Territorial Fair. There is no charge for parking or admission. The Museum Store will be open for Mother’s Day shopping with a variety of unique Arkansas-made gifts and books. From 12 to 2 p.m. in the Museum Store, guests will have the opportunity to meet author Layne Livingston Anderson and buy a signed copy of “Haunted Legends of Arkansas” a great book for campfire storytelling.

Currently on exhibit:

  • Suyao Tian: Entangled Beauty
  • Suggin Territory: The Marvelous World of Folklorist Josephine Graham
  • Arkansas Made Gallery
  • We Walk in Two Worlds: The Caddo, Osage and Quapaw in Arkansas (permanent)
  • The Knife Gallery (permanent)

Historic Arkansas Museum is open 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 1 – 5 p.m. on Sunday. Admission to the galleries and parking are free; admission to the historic grounds is $2.50 for adults, $1 for children under 18, $1.50 for senior citizens. The Historic Arkansas Museum Store is open 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 1 – 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Historic Arkansas Museum is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, which was created in 1975 to preserve and enhance the heritage of the state of Arkansas. Other agencies of the department are Delta Cultural Center in Helena, Arkansas Arts Council, Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center and Old State House Museum.

May 2nd Friday Art Night features a collaboration between Historic Arkansas Museum and Arkansas Arts Council

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It is once again time for 2nd Friday Art Night!  One of the highlights this month is a collaboration between Historic Arkansas Museum and the Arkansas Arts Council.

The Arkansas Arts Council curated exhibition, (Everyday) Interpretations: Cindy Arsaga, Joe Morzuch, and Adam Posnak, opens in the Trinity Gallery  for  Arkansas Artists and the Year of Arkansas Beer continues  with Apple Blossom Brewing Company.

 

Cindy Arsaga, Joe Morzuch, and Adam Posnak work  in three distinctly different media. Each artist derives inspiration  from everyday experience.
  •  Arsaga, who lives in Fayetteville, uses photography to  capture  images of daily experience and employs a  process of layering encaustic (hot wax) pigment on  her photographs.
  •  Morzuch, who lives in Bono, captures beauty in the  most mundane objects to create dancing color and  light with oil paint on canvas.
  •  Posnak, who lives in West Fork, makes terracotta pottery,  the decoration of which reflects an interest in various  traditional systems of belief, particularly those of  West Africa and the African Diaspora.

For the “Year of Arkansas Beer” this month HAM is featuring Apple Blossom Brewing Company.  

  • Hazy Morning Coffee Stout made with Arsaga’s Coffee – This beer was gently aged on thirty pounds of an Arabica blend roasted by Arsaga’s Coffee Roasters in Fayetteville. Strong notes of coffee in the nose with hints of floral and citrus from the use of American hops. Medium bodied beer  with medium notes of oats and malted barley, and a dominant flavor of coffee.
  •  Armstrong APA – ABBC’s flagship ale features caramel, dried fruit, and nut malt notes with heavy  American citrus hops. Their favorite  blend of India Pale Ale and Strong  American Pale Ale styles.

 

There will be live music by David Bise, Sam Ellis & Drew Morse of The Cons of Formant.

It all takes place from 5pm to 8pm at Historic Arkansas Museum.

Historic Arkansas Museum and the Arkansas Arts Council are agencies of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

Little Rock Look Back: Major Nicholas Peay

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LR sealOn April 28, 1784, in Virginia, future Little Rock Alderman (and acting Mayor) Major Nicholas Peay was born the eleventh of at least thirteen children.  (His gravestone lists a May date for his birth, but other records indicate April 28, 1784.) A veteran of the War of 1812 and the Indian Wars, he later moved to Kentucky (where he met and married his wife, Juliet Neill, in 1814) before settling in Arkansas on September 18, 1825.  At the time, they were the ninth family to set up residence in Little Rock.

After arriving in Little Rock, he bought the Little Rock Tavern. This started a fifty year tradition of his family owning taverns and hotels in Little Rock. In 1828, he was appointed Assistant Postmaster of Little Rock.  From 1825 to 1831, Little Rock residents were allowed to elect five Trustees prior to the formal incorporation. Major Peay was one of those who served on the Board of Trustees.

He later served on the Little Rock City Council, and in 1839 served for seven months as Acting Mayor due to the prolonged absence of Mayor Jesse Brown.  In 1841, his friend Gen. Zachary Taylor, paid a visit to Little Rock and stayed with him on the General’s way to Fort Smith.

Nicholas and Juliet Peay had at least eleven children, though only five appeared to have lived until adulthood. One of those, Gordon Neill Peay, served as Little Rock’s 23rd Mayor from 1859 to 1861. Other descendants of Nicholas Peay who followed him into public service include his grandson Ashley Peay, who was an Alderman in the 1920s (son of John Coleman Peay) and great-great-grandson Joseph B. Hurst (a great-grandson of Mayor Peay), who was a City Director from 1967 to 1970. In addition, Hurst’s daughter-in-law, Stacy Hurst served three terms on the City Board from 2003 to 2014; she is now Director of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

Major Peay’s egg-nog recipe has been passed down for generations. It is the inspiration for the Historic Arkansas Museum yearly Nog-Off.  This past year, museum director Bill Worthen and his daughter were the sixth and seventh generation of the family to make Peay’s egg-nog. The Worthens are descended from Mayor Peay’s son who was also named Gordon Neill Peay.

Major Nicholas Peay is buried with his wife and many other family members in Mount Holly Cemetery.

A full slate for the third day of the 2015 Arkansas Literary Festival

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2015 ALF 1Many activities today with the Arkansas Literary Festival!

At 10am –

  • Karen Joy Fowler, Janis F. Kearney and Jamaica Kincaid on a panel – Acts of Empowerment at the Darragh Center.
  • Alison Hedge Coke and Casandra Lopez on a panel – Indigenous Grace in the Main Library
  • Stephen Roth, Jay Ruud and John Vanderslice on a panel – Island of Fatal Pride in the Arkansas Studies Institute
  • Karen Akins, John Horner Jacobs and Ann Leckie on a panel – Science Fiction & Fantasy in the Arkansas Studies Institute
  • Michael Barrier will discuss his book Funnybooks on the 3rd floor of River Market Books & Gifts
  • Joe Barry Carroll will give a workshop at Historic Arkansas Museum
  • Arree Chung will discuss Ninja! At the Hillary Rodham Clinton Children’s Library and Learning Center.

At 11:30am –

  • Scott Simpson will lead a Dinosaur Odyssey in the Ron Robinson Theater
  • Megan Abbott & Ben Percy on a panel – Thrill Me in the Darragh Center.
  • Morgan Murphy & Desha Peacock on a panel – Social Savvy in the Arkansas Studies Institute
  • Lisa Howorth and James Korne Gay on a panel – Mississippi Two by Two on the 3rd floor of River Market Books & Gifts
  • John A. Beineke & James Presley on a panel – Notorious Crimes at Historic Arkansas Museum
  • Brian Turner discusses Memories of a Soldier at the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History
  • Tiphanie Yanique and Sefi Atta on a panel – Vital Fusion at Mosaic Templars Cultural Center
  • Michele Raffin discusses The Birds of Pandemonium at the Witt Stephens Jr. Arkansas Nature Center

At 1pm –

  • Issa Rae will discuss The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl at the Ron Robinson Theater
  • Michael Kardos & M.O. Walsk on a panel – The Unputdownables at the Darragh Center.
  • Mary Miller & Timothy S. Lane on a panel – Triumph of Youth in the Main Library
  • Jesse J. Hargrove and Janis F. Kearney on a panel – Celia and T.J. in the Arkansas Studies Institute
  • Cheryl & Griffith Day on a panel – Baking Days in the Arkansas Studies Institute
  • Jonathan Darman discusses Landslide: LBJ and Ronald Reagan on the 3rd floor of River Market Books & Gifts
  • Joe Barry Carroll discusses Growing Up…in Words and Images at Historic Arkansas Museum
  • Jeff Allen and Preston Lauterbach on a panel – Beginning in 1866 at Mosaic Templars Cultural Center
  • Amanda Petrusich and Kent Russell on a panel at the Witt Stephens Jr. Arkansas Nature Center
  • Spencer Reese discusses The Road to Emmaus at Christ Episcopal Church

At 2:30 pm –

  • Rick Bragg discusses Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story at the Ron Robinson Theater
  • Quan Barry and Brock Clarke on a panel – Luminosity at the Darragh Center.
  • Richard Lange, Thomas Pierce & Antonio Ruiz-Camacho on a panel – Short Stories in the Main Library
  • Maxine Payne discusses Making Pictures in the Arkansas Studies Institute
  • Morgan Murphy discusses Off the Eaten Path: On the Road Again in the Arkansas Studies Institute
  • Meili Cady discusses Smoke on the 3rd floor of River Market Books & Gifts
  • Frank Thurmond discusses Ring of Five at Historic Arkansas Museum
  • Ted Rall discusses Traveling to Afghanistan at the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History
  • Jamaica Kincaid discusses See Now Then at Mosaic Templars Cultural Center
  • Scott Sampson discusses How to Raise a Wild Child at the Witt Stephens Jr. Arkansas Nature Center

At 4 pm –

  • Marck Beggs, Nickole Brown, Hope Coulter, Jessica Jacobs, Sand Longhorn and Jo McDougall headline a poetry panel at the Ron Robinson Theater
  • Kevin Brockmeier and Tania James on a panel at the Darragh Center.
  • Desha Peacock leads a workshop on creating your style in the Main Library
  • J. Hartley discusses Macbeth: A Novel in the Arkansas Studies Institute
  • Sam Quinones and Marilyn Wedge on a panel in the Arkansas Studies Institute
  • Seph Lawless discusses Black Friday on the 3rd floor of River Market Books & Gifts
  • Laura Parker Castoro and Adrienne Thompson on a panel at Historic Arkansas Museum
  • Molly Guptill Manning discusses When Books Went to War at the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History
  • Guy Lancaster and Andrew Maraniss on a panel – History and Sport at Mosaic Templars Cultural Center
  • Michael Largo discusses The Big, Bad Book of Botany at the Witt Stephens Jr. Arkansas Nature Center

Evening activities include:

  • Fed, White & Blue at 5pm at the Oxford American annex (1300 Main) featuring author and TV personality Simon Jajumdar
  • Joshua Wolf Shank discussing Powers of Two at the Clinton School at 6pm
  • Pub or Perish, moderated by Bryan Borland at Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack at 7pm
  • Speak Now at Mosaic Templars Cultural Center at 7pm
  • John Waters discussing Carsick at the Ron Robinson Theatre at 8pm

Rebecca Wells headlines first day of 12th Annual Arkansas Literary Festival

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2015 ALF 1The 12th annual Arkansas Literary Festival kicks off today.

  • From 5pm to 7pm, there will be a book sale preview party at River Market Books & Gifts in the Cox Creative Center.
  • At 5:30, the exhibit “Page Turners” featuring Bryan Collier will open at Hearne Fine Art.
  •  At 6pm, there will be a Summer Reading Club Preview on the 3rd floor of the Main Library.
  •  Rebecca Wells will discuss “Divine Secrets” at 7pm on stage at the Ron Robinson Theatre. She is the author of the “Ya Ya Sisterhood” books. She will also return to Little Rock in 2016 to perform her one-woman show at the Arkansas Rep.

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, 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.

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.

The 2nd decade of 2nd Friday Art Night begins tonight!

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2nd Friday Art Night2nd Friday Art Night starts its 2nd decade tonight.

Among the highlights are:

Historic Arkansas Museum (5-8 pm)

Two Exhibit Openings:

  • Suggin Territory:  The Marvelous World of Folklorist Josephine Graham opens in the Arkansas Made Gallery.
  • Suyao Tian: Entangled Beauty opens in the 2nd Floor Gallery

The Year of Arkansas Beer, sponsored by Historic Arkansas Museum Foundation and presented by Arkansas Brewers Guild, continues in April with Lost Forty Brewing’s Belgian Blonde.

 

Old State House Museum (5 – 8pm)

Join violinists Geoff Robson and Ryan Mooney and cellist Felice Farrell for a performance of works for string trios by Boccherini, Schubert, Mozart, Dohnanyi, and Beethoven. The event is free and music will be performed on an informal schedule starting at 5 p.m. The museum will remain open until 8:00. This is a casual event and guests are welcome to drop in and seat themselves after the music has started.

 

Butler Center Galleries  (5 – 8pm)

Opening exhibition – White River Memoirs: An Exhibition by Chris Engholm

The White River and its tributaries represent the most ecologically intact watershed in the continental United States. Over a million people inhabit it, living in 234 communities in 60 counties. For the past two years, Chris Engholm has traveled the White River in a cedar strip canoe, listening to people connected to it and collecting the artwork of 25 fine artists who maintain a special relationship with it. This artwork, photographs, and information about the river are presented in White River Memoirs. 

Featured artist: Sheliah Halderman 

Sheliah Halderman is a retired teacher who now paints pastels full time. Her paintings have won local and national awards, and she is very active in the Arkansas Pastel Society.

Featured musician: The Arkansas Weather

This band comprises graduates of the UALR music program who play an unpredictable combination of jazz, soul, R&B, funk, and pop.

Celebrate National Quilting Day at Historic Arkansas Museum 

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Join the Arkansas Quilters Guild at Historic Arkansas Museum to celebrate National Quilting Day!

Arkansas Quilters guild will celebrate National Quilting Day by presenting demonstrations of several quilting techniques. Learn about English paper piecing, how to create a 2-color binding and modern cutting techniques. There will be a demo of the official National Quilting Day Quilt Pattern with instructions for its construction. See also how to create a “Disappearing Hourglass”. Learn more about the art of quilting and the rich heritage it offers us as you visit with guild members.

While you’re at HAM, check out the award-winning quilts on display in the Great Arkansas Quilt Show III exhibit.  Historic Arkansas Museum is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.