Tag Archives: Old State House Museum

2nd Friday Art Night ‘neath the June Moon

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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.

 

 

 

Over 60 films shown at LR Film Festival today PLUS the Awards Gala tonight!

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LRFF2015 longThe Little Rock Film Festival has another jam-packed day today.

At 10am the films are:

  • H. – Butler Center
  • “Made in Arkansas” Shorts Block 6 – The Joint
    • “Go to the Ball with Me, Jenny” (Cole Borgstadt), “Simple” (Scott McEntire), “Stay a While” (Michael Kelley), “Sassy & the Private Eye” (Tanner Smith), “The Whisperers” (Jason Miller) and “Perfect Machine” (Jarrod Paul Beck)
  • “This Life” World Shorts Block – Bill and Margaret Clark Room
    • “The Suburbs Go On Forever” (Mark Day), “The Way Things Are” (Guy Nemesh), “Stella Walsh” (Rob Lucas), “The Youth” (Dehanza Rogers) and “Unmappable” (Diane Hodson, Jasmine Luoma)

Barge starts at 10:30 in the Ron Robinson Theater.

 

The 12:30 lineup includes:

  • Uncle Kent 2 – Ron Robinson Theater
  • The Hunting of the President – Clinton School. Filmmaker Harry Thomason will be present and lead a discussion.
  • Sweaty Betty – Stickyz
  • “Made in Arkansas” Shorts Block 5 – The Joint
    • “Not Interested” (Matt Foss), “The Making of ‘Sensitivity Training’” (Tanner Smith), “’Twas the Night of the Krampus” (Donovan Thompson), “Vampire-Killing Prostitute” (Jordan Mears), “Southern Pride” (Nick Lane), “The Paper Boy” (Thien Ngo) and “I Hate Alphaman” (Hunter West)
  • “Adventure” World Shorts Block – Bill and Margaret Clark Room
    • “Twelve Traditions” (Jonathan Cuartas), “Dust” (Mike Grier), “The Answers” (Michael Goode), “Spearhunter” (Adam Roffman), “The Other Side” (Scott Brown), “Big Boy” (Bryan Campbell) and “September Sketch Book” (Ronnie Cramer)

“Made in Arkansas” The Hanging of David O. Dodd will show at the Butler Center starting at 1pm.

At 2:30 there will be a filmmaker panel on Cinematic Non-fiction in the Filmmakers Lounge.

 

The films at 3:00pm are:

  • Western – Ron Robinson Theater
  • God Bless The Child – Butler Center
  • Cartel Land – Clinton School
  • “Made in Arkansas” Shorts Block 1 – Stickyz
    • “Loser” (Andrew Lisle), “Forsaken” (Krisha Mason), “Monotony Broken” (J. C. Cocker), “Stranger Than Paradise” (Johnnie Brannon), “Rites” (Cody Harris), and “The Dealer’s Tale” (Justin Nickels).
  • “Made in Arkansas” Block 4 – The Joint
    • “The Tricycle” (David Bogard, “What Was Lost” (Romello Williams, “Overgrown” (Bruce Hutchinson, “Pyro” (Cole Borgstadt, and “The Space Station” (Michael Sutterfield)
  • “Explore” World Shorts Block – Bill and Margaret Clark Room
    • “Swimming in Your Skin Again,” “Beach Week,” “The Many Sad Fates of Mr. Toledano,” “Displacements,” “Pequeño bloque de cemento con pelo alborotado conteniendo el mar” and “When I Write.”

 

The last batch of films today are at 5:30:

  • (T)ERROR – Ron Robinson Theater
  • Funny Bunny – Butler Center
  • How to Change the World – Clinton School
  • Applesauce – Stickyz
  • “Made in Arkansas” Block 3 – The Joint
    • “Undefeated” (Nathan Willis), “Little Brother” (Eric White), “Spoonin’ the Devil” (Michael Carpenter), “Meredith” (Scott Eggleston), and “The Town Where Nobody Lives” (Al Topich)
  • “Quirks” World Shorts Block – Bill and Margaret Clark Room
    • “The Department of Signs and Magical Intervention,” “Woman of the World,” “reConception,” “Happy Hour,” “Miss Famous,” “Love in the Time of March Madness,” and “Jake Plays First Base.

 

At 8pm tonight the Little Rock Film Festival Awards Gala will take place at the Old State House Museum.  Winners will be announced for several awards including:

  • Golden Rock Narrative Feature Grand Prize
  • Golden Rock Documentary Feature Grand Prize
  • Made in Arkansas Grand Prize
  • Cinematic Non-Fiction Grand Prize
  • Arkansas Times Best Southern Film

Seersucker Social at Old State House Museum tonight

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OSH SeersuckerThe Fourth Annual Seersucker Social takes place tonight at the Old State House Museum from 6pm to 9pm.

This year’s edition is sponsored by Little Rock Soiree. The Seersucker Social is the signature event of the Old State House 1836 Club.  The evening promises plenty of lawn games, hors d’oeuvres, mint juleps and live music by the Big Steel River Band.

This year, all proceeds will benefit the School Bus Fund to bring K-12 students from all over Arkansas to the Old State House Museum.

Tickets are $40. 21+ only. For more information, contact brooke@arkansasheritage.org

The Old State House Museum is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

Robinson Redux – April

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RCMH AprilWhile Robinson Center Music Hall is closed for renovations, the Culture Vulture is taking a monthly look at past performances. Today’s entry looks at Aprils from 1940 to 2010 in years that end in a “0” or “5.”

Edward Everett Horton kicked off April 1940 at Robinson Auditorium on the 1st with the comedy Springtime for Henry. The performance was marred by the sound of the new building’s air conditioning system, which was being used for the first time during a performance.  Five years later, on April 1, 1945, the auditorium was home to An Evening of Sigmund Romberg which featured the composer in person with performers singing some of his songs.  April 1945 also saw a performance of Earl Carroll Vanities (the 3rd) and Carmen featuring the Metropolitan Opera singers (the 16th.)

Tenor James Melton performed on April 25, 1950.  In April 1955, the lineup included William Bendix in The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial on the 23rd. The next night the Spring Music Festival took place. It featured school children performing.

On April 25 1960, The Coasters, Bo Diddley, LaVerne Baker and others. The month ended with a youth concert aimed at children. April 1970 included a production of Arthur Miller’s The Price (the 6th), the Southwest Regional Ballet Festival (April 11) and drummer Buddy Rich (April 18).  In April 1975 (the 6th) Hair returned to Robinson for one performance. This time there was no controversy such as had met the first visit a few years earlier.

April 1985 was very busy. On the 13th, there was a Ballet Festival Gala. April 20 & 21 featured an Arkansas Symphony Orchestra classical concert.  A touring production of the musical Gigi performed on the 22nd.  It starred Louis Jourdan (who had appeared in the Oscar winning film, albeit in a different part), Betsey Palmer and Taina Elg. The ASO was back on April 28 with a children’s music concert.

Cathy Rigby flew into Robinson Center with a tour of Peter Pan from April 10 to 12.  On April 4, 1995, the Community Concert Association brought the Russian Seasons Dance Company for a performance.  The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra performed Verdi’s Requiem Mass in Memory of Manzoni on April 8 & 9, 1995. Singer Millie Jackson wrote and appeared in the play Young Man, Older Woman, which played on April 30 of that year.

Several Contemporary Christian music acts performed on April 3. The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra closed their 1999-2000 season on April 8 & 9 with a concert featuring Carolyn Brown on flute. On April 27, 2000, President Clinton headlined a memorial service for civil rights activist Daisy Bates.

April 2005 was full of a variety of performances. Natalie Cole was in concert on April 3 with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.  On William Shatner narrated David Itkin’s Exodus with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra on April 9 & 10, 2005. Arkansan Kyle Dean Massey starred in the tour of 42nd Street which started its performances at Robinson Center on April 18, 2005. In conjunction with an exhibit at the Old State House Museum, a gospel concert featuring the Racy Brothers and the Hunter Brothers closed out April 2005 on the 30th.

David Itkin bid farewell to conducting the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra in April 10 & 11, 2010, with a performance of Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony.  On April 15, the Electrify Your Strings! concert took place. Comedian Gabriel Iglasias and his Fluffy Shop Tour stopped at Robinson on April 24.

For Poetry Month – Epilogue

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Since April is Poetry Month, here is a poem written by the Culture Vulture.  It was inspired by visits to the Old State House Museum and Women’s City Club buildings before they were renovated.

Epilogue

scratched oak floors
plaster peeling off of the walls
banisters smoothed by time’s sandpaper
the chandelier–Arachne’s loom
dank, dusty, musty odors permeate from
the drapes hanging
like Babylon’s gardens
the ballroom is lifeless.

But, stop and listen

Laughter
Strains of music
The rustle of taffeta and satin as
Women practice Terpsichore’s art
Whirling and swirling around with
Men in white tie and tails.
The clinking of glasses
To toast triumphs…and future hopes.

All of these are as much a part of the room as

scratched oak floors
plaster peeling off of the walls
banisters smoothed by time’s sandpaper….

Emancipation & Reconstruction focus of Civil War 150 Seminar today at Old State House Museum

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oldstatehouseAs part of its celebration of the passage of the 13th Amendment in Arkansas, the Old State House Museum and the Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission will hold a mini-seminar this afternoon from 1pm to 5pm.  The seminar’s topic will be “Emancipation and Reconstruction.”

1:00 pm Introduction
1:15 pm Speaker – Tom DeBlack, End of the war
2:00 pm Speaker – Angela Walton-Raji, Emancipation
2:4 5pm Break
3:00 pm Speaker – Carl Moneyhon, Reconstruction
3:45 pm Q & A/Wrap-up
4:15 pm Program Ends

The Old State House Museum and the Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission are programs of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

Bio Information:

Tom DeBlack: End of the war
Thomas DeBlack is a professor of history at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville, Arkansas. He is a 1969 graduate of Nashville (Arkansas) High School and holds a B. A. from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas (1973), an M.S.E. from Ouachita Baptist University (1979), and a PhD from the University of Arkansas (1995). Tom taught in the public schools in Arkansas for twelve years. He is a past president of the Arkansas Historical Association and the Arkansas Association of College History Teachers and currently serves on the board of the Arkansas Humanities Council.He is co-author Arkansas: A Narrative History (University of Arkansas Press, 2002; 2nd edition, 2013 ), and author of With Fire and Sword: Arkansas 1861-1874 (University of Arkansas Press, 2003). In 2003 Arkansas: A Narrative History was named the winner of the Arkansas Library Association’s Arkansiana Prize, and With Fire and Sword was named the first winner of the Butler-Remmel Arkansas History Literary Prize. Tom is currently working on a book on Lakeport Plantation in Chicot County and on a centennial history of Arkansas Tech University. He lives in Conway with his wife Susan, an optometrist, and their eleven-year-old daughter, Susannah.

Angela Walton-Raji: Emancipation
Angela Walton-Raji is a genealogist and researcher specializing in the Freedmen of Indian Territory. She is the author of Black Indian Genealogy Research, African Ancestors Among the Five Civilized Tribes and the co-publisher of VOICES of Indian Territory a scholarly journal with focus on the historical documents pertaining to the Freedmen of the Five Tribes. She has spoken at a number of national conferences and institutes throughout the nation. A native of western Arkansas, Ms. Walton-Raji earned a bachelor’s degree in Romance Languages from St. Louis University and a master’s degree from Antioch University. She works at the University of Maryland Baltimore County as Director of Graduate Recruitment, and continues to study, research and lecture on the history of Indian Territory Freedmen.

Carl Moneyhon: Reconstruction
Dr. Moneyhon joined University of Arkansas-Little Rock faculty in 1973 and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He is faculty liaison with the University History Institute, an organization that develops closer ties between the department and the community. He also serves on the editorial boards of the Arkansas Historical Quarterly and the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture. He was won the UALR Faculty Excellent Award for Research and the UALR Faculty Excellence Award for Teaching. Dr. Moneyhon is a specialist in the history of the American Civil War and the South and is widely published in the field. His work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, and he recently received one of the first College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Summer Fellowships for Research. He is a Fellow of the Texas Historical Association.

150th Anniversary of 13th Amendment marked today at Old State House’s Arguments for Freedom

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2014-06-21-13thAmendmentJoin the Old State House Museum’s “Arguments For Freedom,” today at 11 am.

Living History Interpreters will reenact the ratification of the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery in the United States. Learn about the reasons Arkansas ratified the 13th Amendment and the concerns the political leaders faced at the end of the Civil War. Arrive early to meet the statesmen and find out their views on this topic.

The Old State House Museum is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.