#1: Country music legend Hank Williams Jr. , hip-hop hit makers Salt-n-Pepa and grunge-influenced modern rockers Buckcherry – these are the first three headliners announced for the 2014 Riverfest.
Festival organizers will reveal three more next Tuesday! Get your half-price 3-day passes for $20 each at Walgreens starting April 1st.
On January 16, 1916, future Little Rock Mayor Martin Borchert was born in Stuttgart. After graduating high school he moved to Little Rock. He started work at ACME Brick and spent 21 years there before engaging in other business interests. Among these businesses were Martin Borchert Co., ASCO Hardware, Dtection Systems Inc. and Component Systems Inc. In 2005 he was inducted into the Arkansas Construction Hall of Fame.
Mayor Borchert was elected to the Little Rock City Board of Directors in 1964 and served from January 1965 through December 1968. He chose not to seek a second term. In 1967 and 1968 he served as Mayor of Little Rock. During this time, he laid out the vision for what has become Riverfront Park along the Arkansas River.
Other civic achievements included being a member of the Board of the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce, being on the Governor’s Citizens Advisory Committee, a member of the Pulaski County Quorum Court, vice chairman of the Arkansas Planning Commission, and being on the Little Rock Air Force Base Community Council. In 1967 he served on the President’s National Advisory Council to the Small Business Administration. Mayor Borchert served on the Little Rock Water Commission, including a tenure as chairman. In 1985, he was chairman of the Metropolitan Transit Policy Board and as chairman oversaw the transfer of the Central Arkansas Transit system to the Central Arkansas Transit Authority. One of the achievements of which he was very proud of was that he was one of the very first in Arkansas to receive an Adopt the Highway road.
Mayor Borchert was married for 57 years to Rosemary “Biddy” Branch Borchert. They had two children, a son, John “Topper” Borchert and a daughter, Leslie Borchert Wilson. He died on May 11, 2007.
Here are 26 of the Culture Vulture’s favorite photos from 2013.
Mount Holly Cemetery in January 2013.
A former movie theatre at 13th and Pine.
Faded advertisement at 12th and Cedar.
A father and daughter enjoying time together at the Arkansas Arts Center.
Looking up through the grand staircase at Little Rock City Hall.
Peering through a piece of public art in the River Market.
Doorways
Inside one of the houses on the Quapaw Quarter Spring Tour.
A Superhero and his mother leaving the library after checking out books and games.
A duck enjoying the Carrie Remmel Dickinson Fountain at the Arkansas Arts Center.
The stairwell in the Villa Marre.
A downtown streetsign.
The Broadway Bridge balustrade reflected in a rain puddle.
The stairwell in the auditorium on the Philander Smith campus.
The Tower Building.
Geese at dusk over MacArthur Park.
Raindrops rest on the new Patty Cake sculpture in Riverfront Park.
The Capital Hotel.
A pigeon at City Hall.
Birds alighting on transformer wires.
A downtown sidewalk.
The Clinton Presidential Bridge during the JCA Walk for CommUNITY.
Gingko leaves in Hillcrest.
Robinson Auditorium
Steps along the Broadway Bridge after the December snow.
A December sunset in midtown Little Rock.
In no particular order, here are 13 cultural highlights of 2013 in Little Rock.
1. The 73 year old Joseph Taylor Robinson Municipal Auditorium received a new lease on life when Little Rock voters approved an extensive, two-year plan for renovation, remodeling and expanding the new facility.
2. Speaking of Robinson, the new Ron Robinson Theatre was constructed in the Arcade Building. It will be the flagship home of the Little Rock Film Festival as well as a site for events hosted by the Clinton School of Public Service and the Central Arkansas Library System.
3. The Little Rock Film Festival came downtown with all of its films being shown in downtown Little Rock and Argenta. Among the highlights of the festival were Short Term 12, Bridegroom and Don John which have received plaudits at other festivals and are appearing on Best of 2013 lists as well as receiving award nominations.
4. As Main Street continues to redevelop, plans were announced in 2013 for the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and Ballet Arkansas to each move their offices and rehearsal spaces downtown. Joining them will be an expansion of educational space for the Arkansas Repertory Theatre.
5. A few blocks south on Main Street, the new South on Main restaurant and performance space opened. Weekly performances of live music accent the food and drink under the leadership of Chef Matt Bell.
6. Further down Main Street, Little Rock’s newest museum opened. The Esse Purse Museum honors women and their struggles, accomplishments, hopes and dreams through highlighting the purse.
7. Fashion also took center stage at the William J. Clinton Presidential Center as well with an exhibit on Oscar de La Renta. In addition to showcasing his contributions to design, the exhibit attracted many boldfaced names from the worlds of fashion and politics to an event in Little Rock.
8. George Washington was the focus of two separate exhibits in Little Rock during 2013. Historic Arkansas Museum showcased his inaugural Bible as well as his family Bible. At the Clinton Presidential Center “A Tribute to George Washington” was on display. It featured George Washington’s personal copy of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights from Mount Vernon, and a portrait of George Washington painted in 1797 by artist Gilbert Stuart on loan from the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
9. The amphitheatre in Riverfront Park received a new name (First Security Amphitheatre) and a new roof just in time to kick off its 26th year and to play host to musical acts during Riverfest.
10. Rembrandt and Rothko were just two of the artists featured in exhibits at the Arkansas Arts Center through 2013. The Arts Center featured the exhibit Treasures of Kenwood House which highlighted the works of Rembrandt, Van Dyck and many other world class artists. Earlier in the year, exhibits highlighted Bauhaus architecture and relics of the Japanese internment camp at Rohwer. The Arts Center was also the site of the world’s second largest yarn bomb installation.
11. The Little Rock Zoo welcomed two new elephants: Sophie and Babe. The Zoo also was the site of the birth of Bugsy the penguin and four new tiger cubs. The tigers were born as the result of the Zoo’s new tiger exhibit which facilitated not only easier mating but also allows for the separation of the mother and cubs from the father.
12. The Central Arkansas Library System opened its new Children’s Library. A few months after the building opened, a name was bestowed and it is now known as the Hillary Rodham Clinton Children’s Library and Learning Center.
13. As 2013 drew to a close, the holiday decorations at the Capital Hotel received international recognition as Forbes named them one of the ten best hotel Christmas trees in the world. The nearly 30 foot tree was decorated by Tipton Hurst.
One of the two newest sculptures to be located in Riverfront Park is Jane DeDecker’s Patty Cake. This is one of two sculptures in the Nicholson Sculpture Plaza which was dedicated in September 2013.
Patty Cake depicts a mother with a child sitting on the mother’s knees. The two are facing each other and playing the game which gives the sculpture its name.
This sculpture was donated by longtime KATV executive Dale Nicholson in memory of his wife Pat.
Part of Jane DeDecker’s artistic philosophy is her desire to select a moment to which everyone can relate on a personal level. These moments span all generations, depicting universal scenes. This may speak of the love between parent and child, the freedom of imagination, or the simple dignity of everyday tasks. Each is a timeless expression of the human experience, causing us to reflect and evaluate.
On August 24, 1818, the Quapaw Line was drawn. Starting at La Petite Roche and heading due south, this line formed the boundary between the Quapaw tribe lands and public lands available for settlement. Though by 1824, the Quapaw were forced to give up all of their lands, the line continued serve as an important marker. In the ensuing six years, the first permanent settlement of Little Rock took place and streets were planned.
It is interesting to note that the 1818 treaty referred to La Petite Roche as the Little Rock. Some have speculated that this is the first official use of “Little Rock” to designate the outcropping. When the Post Office was established in March 1820, it was given the name Little Rock.
There is a marker commemorating the beginning of the Quapaw Line located at La Petite Roche in Riverfront Park. The first segment of the line is also noted in the park. There are also sunken markers (such as the one to the left) place along the line at various points. In MacArthur Park, at the corner of 9th and Commerce Streets, there is a marker noting that the line passed through at that location.
A good account of walking the Quapaw Line through downtown Little Rock can be found on this website.
Most of what is now called the Quapaw Quarter was located to the west of the Quapaw Line. However, it did take its name from the fact that the tribe had once lived in that area and was later sequestered to lands near it. The name for the area was chosen by a committee composed of David D. Terry, Peg Newton Smith, Mrs. Walter Riddick Sr., Dr. John L. Ferguson, and James Hatcher. They had been appointed to a Significant Structures Technical Advisory Committee to advocate for preservation of important structures as a component of the City of Little Rock’s urban renewal efforts.
Movies in the Park concludes its 2013 season tonight. It has been an all-star blockbuster summer. So what better way to end it than by showing Joss Whedon’s all-star, blockbuster 2012 flick – THE AVENGERS. The heroes will start saving the world tonight at dusk, so bring a picnic supper tonight to Riverfront Park and enjoy.
The film stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlette Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L. Jackson and Gwyneth Paltrow. It also features the talents of Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Stellan Skarsgard, Paul Bettany and Alexis Denisof. Also appearing in the film are Powers Boothe, Jenny Agutter, Harry Dean Stanton, Stan Lee, Thomas Roberts and Lou Ferrigno.
The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Visual Effects.
Movies in the Park is a free outdoor movie series in Little Rock’s River Market. They take place at the First Security Amphitheatre. The mission of Movies in the Park is help foster a sense of community and enjoyment in downtown Little Rock and throughout Central Arkansas by bringing people together to enjoy a movie in a unique setting along the scenic banks of the Arkansas River.
The movie will start tonight at dark. Visitors are welcome to bring picnics but please no glass containers and pick up afterwards. Those choosing not to bring their own picnic, Riverfront Park does have concessions available for sale.
Bring bug spray, picnic and family and have a good time!
The Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau Technical Services department provides all the equipment for the movies.
Little Rock Culture Vulture 