Tag Archives: Mosaic Templars Cultural Center

18th Big Boo!-seum Bash Tonight

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bigbooseumFor the 18th year, Little Rock Museums have joined together to present BIG BOO!-seum Bash Thursday, October 24, 2013 from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. This FREE event provides a safe alternative to door to door trick-or-treating. Each location will offer games, story-telling, candy and fun!

Participating members of the Greater Little Rock Museum Consortium will host BIG BOO!-seum Bash at the following locations:

  • Central Arkansas Library System (Main Branch)
  • Central High School National Historic Site
  • Curran Hall Visitors Center
  • Historic Arkansas Museum
  • MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History
  • Museum of Discovery
  • Mosaic Templars Cultural Center
  • Old State House Museum
  • Witt Stephens Jr. Central Arkansas Nature Center

Visitors can drive to each location, where FREE parking is available.

Participants can start at any location where Game Cards will also be issued at each site. Visit all nine participating locations to qualify for the Grand Prize-Flat Screen TV (additional information listed on Game Cards). 

New this year, each site will offer a prize drawing for kids who visit that site.  Be sure to register at each of the sites visited.  For instance, the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History will draw for a FREE boys or girls bicycle.

Arkansas Sounds lineup announced

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arkansas_sounds_2013There’s something about the Arkansas River that makes free live music sound even better. DeQueen native Collin Raye and a tribute to Delight native Glen Campbell will headline the Arkansas Sounds Music Festival, a free annual event hosted by the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, a department of the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS). On Friday and Saturday, September 27-28, the festival will feature Arkansas music and musicians both past and present at programs for all age groups at the River Market Pavilions, First Security Amphitheatre, and the Main Library.

Music in a large variety of genres and styles will showcase Arkansans’ love of music.

Friday, September 27 at the River Market Pavilions

Time Band Musical Genre
6 p.m. The Smittle Band jazzy Americana
7:15 p.m. Tav Falco & Panther Burns southern gothic roots/rockabilly
8:30 p.m. Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks gypsy jazz

Saturday – First Security Amphitheatre

Noon The Sound of the Mountain instrumental progressive rock
1 p.m. The 1 oz. Jig funk
2:15 p.m. Messy Sparkles electro-pop one man DJ
3:30 p.m. Big Piph (Epiphany) progressive hip-hop
4:45 p.m. War Chief Americana rock and roll
6 p.m. Mountain Sprout hillbilly bluegrass
7:15 p.m. Bonnie Montgomery country honky tonk
8:30 p.m. Glen Campbell Tribute
9:30 p.m. Collin Raye modern country

Three programs for children and teens are scheduled at the Main Library beginning at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, September 28.

10:30 a.m. Ages Up to 6 years The Kinders Concert 3rd Floor Youth Services
1 p.m. Ages 7-12 Hip Hop Songwriting and Production workshop Level 4 Teen Center
2 p.m. Ages 13-19 Hip Hop Songwriting and Production workshop Level 4 Teen Center

Additional programs are scheduled during September at different venues in downtown Little Rock.

Friday, Sept. 13 – 5 p.m.
Second Friday Art Night performance by Michael Carenbauer
Butler Center Galleries, 401 President Clinton Avenue

Thursday Sept. 19 6 p.m.
Cocktail party to celebrate the release of Encyclopedia of Arkansas Music
Main Library’s Darragh Center, 100 Rock Street

Monday, Sept. 23  6 p.m.
Songwriters Showcase
Main Library’s Darragh Center, 100 Rock Street

Tuesday, Sept. 24  7 p.m.
Performance honoring Clark Terry
Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, 501 W. 9th Street

Thursday, Sept. 26 6 p.m.
Tav Falco book signing, with the Arkansas Literary Festival
Main Library’s Darragh Center, 100 Rock Street

The Arkansas Sounds Music Festival and all related events are free and open to the public. For a complete schedule, see www.arkansassounds.org. To volunteer for the Arkansas Sounds Music Festival, contact Angela Delaney at adelaney@cals.org or 918-3095. For more information, visit www.cals.org.

May 16 Architeaser: Mosaic Templars Cultural Center

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IMG_5421As part of Arkansas Heritage Month, today’s Architeaser focuses on the cornice over the entrance to the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center.

The Mosaic Templars Cultural Center began as a dream by community leaders who had grown up attending events at the Mosaic Templars of American National Grand Temple. This had been a centerpiece of African American life not just for Little Rock but for the mid-south.

In 1992, the building was slated for demolition so that a fast-food restaurant could be built on the lot. In late 1993, the City of Little Rock purchased the building for $110,000  to save it from demolition as organizers were raising funds for the restoration.  In 2001, the City transferred ownership to the State of Arkansas for the establishment of the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center.

Originally, the Center planned to restore the 1913 Mosaic Templars of America National Grand Temple, but the original building was destroyed by fire in March 2005. The new 35,000 square feet interior is a state-of-the-art museum complex with exhibits, classroom, staff offices, and an Auditorium that seats 400 people. The façade of the new structure is a facsimile of the 1913 building complete with the Annex building façade, which burned in 1984.

The cornice which is featured today is a copy of the original cornice.  The original cornice, as well as the cornerstone, are some of the few things which survived the 2005 fire.  The original cornice is on display.

A museum of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center is dedicated to collecting, preserving, interpreting, and celebrating African American history, culture and community in Arkansas from 1870 to the present, and informs and educates the public about black achievements – especially in business, politics and the arts.

Through special events, education programs, ongoing research and exhibits such as the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame, the museum celebrates Arkansas’s African American heritage. Tours of the museum provide a detailed look at the history of African Americans in Little Rock and Arkansas.

 

Arkansas Literary Festival This Weekend!

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litfestlogoThe Arkansas Literary Festival, the premier gathering of readers and writers in Arkansas, has expanded to include over 90 authors in many locations on both sides of the river from April 18-21, 2013.

The Central Arkansas Library System’s Main Library campus, other venues in the River Markets and Argenta Arts districts are the sites for a stimulating mix of sessions, panels, special events, performances, workshops, presentations, opportunities to meet the authors, book sales, and book signings. Most events are free and open to the public.

Festival authors include:

Salma Abdelnour, David Abrams, Mary Stewart Atwell, Beth Ayer, Jenni B. Baker, Jan Barry, Carolyn Briggs, Kevin Brockmeier, Sam Calvin Brown, Oliver Burkeman, Mary Bucci Bush, Drew Cameron, Raquel Cepeda, Da Chen, Joseph Crespino, James Daily, Lela Davidson, Edmond Davis, Sylvia Day, James W. Erwin, Richard Ford, Ben Fountain, Tim Gallagher, Tim Gallagher, Paula J. Giddings, Kay Collett Goss, Jessica B. Harris, Ruth Hawkins, Roger D. Hodge, Ty Jaeger, Jay Jennings, Ben Katchor, Janis F. Kearney, Jeannette Keith, Brian and Terri Kinder, Steve Kistulentz, Christi Shannon Kline, Jon Krampner, Travis Langley, Carlotta Walls LaNier, Dorothy R. Leavell, Domingo Martinez, Ayana Mathis, Carla Killough McClafferty, Rosetta Miller-Perry, Lydia Millet, Pat Mora, Linda Murphy, Sara Nesson, Cynthia LeJeune Nobles, Harry Ostrer, Darcy Pattison, Lori Perkins, Leonard Pitts Jr., Garry Craig Powell, Padgett Powell, Joe Queenan, Karen Russell, Eric Rutkow, Courtney Miller Santo, Rosie Schaap, Martha Silano, Heather Sutherlin, Steve Teske, Chuck Thompson, Charles Todd, Caroline Todd, Duncan Tonatiuh, GB Tran, Dennis Vannatta, Frank X Walker, John Corey Whaley, Steve Wiegenstein, David Wesley Williams, Johnathon Williams, Rita Williams-Garcia, Christian Wiman, Jan Wolfe, Ron Wolfe, C.D. Wright, Steve Yates

This year’s Festival authors have won an impressive number and variety of distinguished awards, such as the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Pulitzer Prize for Journalism, James Beard Foundation Award, PEN/Hemingway Award, Newbery Honor, National Book Critics Circle Award, a Coretta Scott King Honor, PEN/O.Henry Prize; Pushcart Prize; Barnes and Noble Discover Prize for Fiction, Roger Ebert’s Film Festival Thumbs Up Award, Pure Belpré Award, International Griffin Prize for Poetry, International Documentary Association Best Documentary Short, Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators, and several National Book Award Finalists. Many of the presenters’ works have been translated into multiple languages and made into films.

Special events for adults during the Festival include a cocktail reception with the authors, food, wine, and spirits workshops, films, a play, and Spoken Word LIVE!, a city-wide poetry competition. Panels and workshops will feature topics such as fiction, memoir, screenwriting, super hero psychology & law, Warrior Writers Project, erotica, and more.

Children’s special events include a storytime on the lawn of the Governor’s Mansion, a book fiesta, the artmobile, plays, outdoor activities, and Super Hero Activity Afternoon. Festival sessions for children will take place at both the new Children’s Library, 4800 10th Street, and the Youth Services Department at the Main Library, 100 Rock Street.

At Level 4, the Main Library’s teen center, teens can meet authors and illustrators, participate in ComiCALS, activities and panels such as a cosplay contest, video game tournament, a writing workshop, and zombie survival activities.

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); Department of Arkansas Heritage; Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau; Fred K. Darragh Jr. Foundation; Arkansas Democrat Gazette; Mosaic Templars Cultural Center; Regions; ProSmartPrinting; MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History; Historic Arkansas Museum; Clinton Presidential Center; Hendrix-Murphy Foundation; Wright, Lindsey & Jennings LLP, Arkansas Times; Christ Church, Little Rock’s Downtown Episcopal Church; Witt Stephens Jr. Central Arkansas Nature Center; Arkansas Library Association; Henderson State University; University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service; Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre; Arkansas Governor’s Mansion; Hendrix College Creative Writing and the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation Programs in Literature & Language; Hendrix College Project Pericles Program; Hendrix College; University of Arkansas at Little Rock, English Department; University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Department of Rhetoric and Writing; Pulaski Technical College; Jewish Federation of Arkansas; Arkansas Arts Center; Power 92 Jams; Central High School National Historic Site; National Park Service; Literacy Action of Central Arkansas; Capital Hotel; Little Rock Film Festival; and LuLav. The Arkansas Literary Festival is supported in part by funds from the Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Author! Author!, a cocktail reception with the authors, will be Friday, April 19 at 8pm on the fifth floor of the CALS main library building.  Tickets are available at the door.

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. Jay Jennings is the 2013 Festival Chair. Other committee chairs include Katherine Whitworth, Talent Committee; Lisa Donovan, Youth Programs; and Amy Bradley-Hole, Moderators.

Distinguished Laureate Lecture tomorrow at Mosaic Templars Cultural Center

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The Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, a museum of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, welcomes world-renowned physicist Dr. Oliver Keith Baker for a Arkansas Black Hall of Fame Distinguished Laureate Lecture tomorrow.

Dr. Baker, a McGehee native , will lecture on his ground-breaking research on particle physics, also referred to as Higgs Boson and the ‘God particle.’  He was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame in 2006. Dr. Baker is a Professor of Physics at Yale University.  He is also Director of the Arthur W. Wright Nuclear Structure Laboratory at Yale.

To bring students, educators should contact our Education Department at 501-683-3592.

The Mosaic Templars Cultural Center honors the story of the Mosaic Templars of America and all of Arkansas’s African American history.  The museum is dedicated to telling the story of the African American experience in Arkansas. The Center’s name is taken from the Mosaic Templars of America, a black fraternal organization founded in Little Rock in 1883 whose headquarters sat on the prominent West Ninth and Broadway location.

The mission of the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center is to collect, preserve, interpret and celebrate Arkansas’s African American history, culture, and community from 1870 to the present, and to inform and educate the public about African American’s achievements – especially in business, politics, and the arts.The center’s exhibits highlight fraternal organizations, African American entrepreneurs as well as integration.

Mosaic Templars Celebrates Inauguration of President on January 21

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Today is officially Inauguration Day. But since it falls on a Sunday, the festivities have been moved to Monday, January 21. (President Obama is being sworn in privately today in advance of tomorrow’s festivities, as is the custom when events fall as they do this year.)

Tomorrow, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center will host an event to watch the second inauguration ceremony of President Barack Obama.  The doors will open at 10am.  There is no admission fee.

Also starting tomorrow and running through June 29, Mosaic Templars will be home to a traveling exhibit which celebrates the first inauguration of President Obama.

Commissioned by Doug Morton & Marilyn Brown of Denver, this life size memorial to the historic inauguration of the first African American President, is to record and place into our American political landscape this transitional event that is destined to transform our country. It is composed of the President, the First Lady, the First Daughters, and Chief Justice John Roberts administering the Oath of Office. 

Mosaic Templars Cultural Center is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

Martha Miller new director at Department of Arkansas Heritage

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MARTHA MILLER: New Heritage leader.Last week, Governor Mike Beebe announced that Martha Miller would be the new Director of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.  She succeeds Cathie Matthews, who retired at the end of 2012 after serving for 15 years.

In making the announcement the governor noted, “Martha is a life-long Arkansan who has strong experience within the department and with state government. Promoting her from her position as deputy director was an easy and sensible decision in light of Cathie Matthews’ retirement.

Miller, 60, previously served as Deputy Director for the Department of Arkansas Heritage Museums. Formerly a self-employed attorney and lobbyist, she has served on the boards of Lyon College (her alma mater), the Little Rock Interfaith Hospitality Network and Audubon Arkansas.

The Department of Arkansas Heritage’s mission is to identify Arkansas’ heritage and enhance the quality of life by the discovery, preservation, and presentation of the state’s cultural, historic and natural resources. The agency oversees the Arkansas Arts Council, Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, Delta Cultural Center, Historic Arkansas Museum, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center and the Old State House Museum.