Tag Archives: Historic Arkansas Museum

#5WomenArtists – Elsie Bates Freund

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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 first is Elsie Bates Freund.

Born in Missouri in 1912, she was active as an artist in both Eureka Springs and later Little Rock. She died there in 2001.

Freund drew inspiration from her home in the Ozarks and applied it to painting and ceramics. As a painter and ceramicist and she signed all of her jewelry as “Elsa” and her paintings as “Elsie.”  Her work can be found at many museums including the Smithsonian, Arkansas Arts Center and Historic Arkansas Museum.

Freund is one of the 5 Women Artists being highlighted by Historic Arkansas Museum this month as part of its #5WomenArtists effort.

Celebrate Bicentennial of creation of Arkansas Territory

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On March 2, 1819, the Arkansas Territory was created.  It was carved out of the Missouri Territory (which itself had been carved out of the Louisiana Territory).  The land consisted of what is now Arkansas as well as most of what is now Oklahoma.

Today (March 1) from 9am to 1pm, the Department of Arkansas Heritage is leading events to commemorate the bicentennial of the establishment of the Arkansas Territory. These will take place on the second floor of the rotunda at the Arkansas State Capitol.  At 10am, Governor Asa Hutchinson will make remarks.

Throughout the commemoration there will be family-friendly activities and opportunities to learn about the history of Arkansas. Many of the divisions of the Department of Arkansas Heritage will be on hand. And, of course, there will be birthday cake!

 

Happy Birthday George Washington

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George Washington (Lansdowne portrait) by Gilbert Stuart, oil on canvas, 1796

George Washington (Lansdowne portrait) by Gilbert Stuart, oil on canvas, 1796 National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. Acquired as a gift to the nation through the generosity of the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation.

Though Monday the 18th was the Federal George Washington Birthday holiday, today is his actual birthday.

George Washington was born on February 22, 1732, in Westmoreland, Virginia. He is one of only two American Presidents to not have any authority over the land now known as Little Rock. Washington never ventured west of the Mississippi River, so never visited Arkansas.

As the first President and Father of his Country, he has many things named after him. In Little Rock, Washington Street is named in his honor.

The Washington Inaugural Bible

In 2013, two Little Rock museums highlighted George Washington artifacts. Historic Arkansas Museum displayed the Washington family Bible for several months. At the start of that time, they also showcased the Bible on which Washington swore his first oath as President (the inaugural inaugural?).

A few months later, the Clinton Presidential Center featured Washington’s personal annotated copy of the 1789 “Acts Passed at a Congress of the United States of America.” This artifact had been purchased by the Mount Vernon Ladies Association in 2012.

In 2004, the Arkansas Arts Center exhibited the 1796 Gilbert Stuart Landsdowne Portrait of Washington. This was on display a few months before the opening of the Clinton Presidential Center.  In 1976, they had an exhibit dedicated to 18th and 19th century portraits of the Washington, Custis and Lee families. Five years earlier, the museum had displayed prints of Washington in April 1971.

3 Exhibits open on 2nd Friday Art Night at 1 Historic Arkansas Museum

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Join Historic Arkansas Museum for a reception for the openings of “Flourish,” “Olivia Trimble: Ozark Comforts” and “Featured Focus from the Permanent Collection.” Tonya Leeks and Company will be the evening’s live entertainment. New Province Brewing Company will be the evening’s featured brewery.

The reception is sponsored by the Historic Arkansas Museum Foundation, with special thanks to 107 Liquor. Beverages and appetizers will be served in the Stella Boyle Smith Atrium. The exhibits and reception are free and open to the public.

• • •

“Flourish”
Jessica Mongeon and Cara Sullivan
Trinity Gallery, February 8 – April 7, 2019

Mongeon’s inspiration comes from the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest and Petit Jean State Park in Arkansas. She creates her paintings on stone paper, an eco-friendly tree-free material made of calcium carbonate and resin. She says, “I hope that by capturing the unique landscapes of these protected natural areas, I will have encouraged people to support policies which fund their protection and to oppose decisions which may threaten them.”

Sullivan’s recent paintings pay homage to the overgrowth. Her spray painted surfaces reserve attention for the cast-aways: the uncultivated blooms of common weeds. She says, “More than a nod to the lowly weed, these paintings are for me a meditation on the irreverent, persistent nature and joy of rebellion.”

“Olivia Trimble: Ozark Comforts”
Second Floor Gallery, February 8 – May 5, 2019

Olivia Trimble cares about her community, and she understands the power of words and images to lift people up or tear them down. Using the tools of a traditional sign painter, she aims to improve the urban landscape and positively impact the people of Northwest Arkansas. Trimble opened her business, Sleet City Signs, determined to recapture the excitement and individuality common to hand-painted signs of times past. The quilt square paintings she is now known for began as a simple craft project to produce a gift for a friend, but as she made more of them, the meaning of her painted quilts became more significant. Olivia appreciates the long history of quilting in Arkansas, and the many hours of hidden work contained within a completed quilt. She was invited to paint quilt squares at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art for their American Made exhibit in 2016, and her work has appeared outside the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, Perrodin Supply Co. in Springdale, and on many hand-painted signs around Northwest Arkansas.

“Featured Focus from the Permanent Collection”
Foyer of Cabe Gallery, Feb. 1 – 28, 2019

In honor of Black History Month, the Cabe Gallery foyer will display a selection of contemporary fine art by influential African American Arkansas artists during the month of February. The focused look includes an iconic delta landscape by Henri Linton, Larry Wade Hampton’s impressionistic scene of daily life, a country church by Glenda McCune and the delicate silverpoint realism of a Marjorie Williams-Smith still life.

2nd Friday Art Night – Historic Arkansas Museum offers Dave Miller and Rocktown Revival

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There may not be a Nog Off this month, but 2nd Friday Art Night at HAM still offers a lot of fun!

Historic Arkansas Museum is kicking off the first 2nd Friday Art Night of 2019 with Little Rock’s Dave Miller and Rocktown Revival!

Miller is a musical storyteller, evoking images of places and relationships in the Sotuh and who “entertains audiences with his ready wit and warm expression of a kind of Ozark-bred joy and wonder.”

The Water Buffalo and Buffalo Brewing Company will be serving up the brew for the evening.

Exhibits at the museum include:

  • Face to Face: Contemporary Portraits
  • More or Less: Liz Smith & Katherine Strause
  • History in Color: The Spectrum of Daily Life in Early America

Little Rock Look Back: David Fulton, LR’s 4th Mayor

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On January 2, 1771 in Ireland, future Little Rock Mayor David Fulton was born.

He served as the fourth and final mayor of the Town of Little Rock in 1835. His term was cut short by the transition of Little Rock from town to city status. Once that happened in November 1835, a new election had to be held.

Mayor Fulton was also proprieter of the Tan Yard, a tanning operation in Little Rock.   He later served as a judge and was appointed as  Surveyor General of Public Lands in Arkansas by President Martin Van Buren in 1838.

Mayor Fulton married Elizabeth Savin in June 1795 in Maryland.  She died in November 1829, while they resided in Alabama.  One of their children was William Savin Fulton who served as Territorial Governor of Arkansas in 1835 and 1836 and was one of Arkansas’ first US Senators upon statehood in 1836.  Mayor Fulton was serving as Mayor at the same time his son was Governor.

Mayor Fulton came to Little Rock in 1833.  His daughter Jane Juliet Shall and her four children came to Little Rock as well.  The family made the move to be nearer to the future governor.  The Fultons and Shalls rented the Hinderliter House (now part of Historic Arkansas Museum) in 1834.  One of his descendants, Louise Loughborough was the person who saved the Hinderliter House from destruction and was founder of what is now Historic Arkansas Museum.

In addition to serving as Mayor, he was president of the Anti-Gambling Society and a Pulaski County Justice of the Peace.  From 1836 until 1838, he was County Judge of Pulaski County.

Mayor Fulton died on August 7, 1843 and is buried at Mount Holly Cemetery as are several other members of his family.

Got Nog? 14th Ever Historic Arkansas Museum Nog Off is tonight

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As part of 2nd Friday Art Night, the 14th EVER Nog Off takes place tonight at Historic Arkansas Museum.

Inspired by an inter-staff discussion about the best eggnog recipe among Little Rock’s first families, it has grown into an event attracting thousands of visitors each year.

Longtime (and now “retired”) museum director Bill Worthen still makes the eggnog recipe of Nicholas Peay, an early settler who is one of Bill’s many storied ancestors.  Joining Bill as contestants are teams from Arkansas Pioneers Association, Allsopp and Chapple, Big Orange, Loblolly, Old Mill Bread, EJs Eats, One Eleven at the Capital Hotel, South on Main, Stones Throw Brewery, and The Pizzeria.

The judges this year are Georgia Pellegrini, Louise Terzia, and Helaine R. Williams.

Three awards are given:  The People’s Choice, the Taster’s Choice (judges) and the Not Your Great, Great, Great Grandfather’s Eggnog (a nod to Colonel Peay).

Vote for your favorite nog, enjoy live music by the Electric 5, visit the #gotnog selfie station, sing carols around the fire, sample roasted pecans, and just HAVE FUN!

This FREE event runs from 5pm to 8pm.