Tag Archives: Sculpture at the River Market

Sculpture at the River Market Show and Sale this weekend!

Posted on by

Little Rock residents and visitors alike will have the opportunity to see and purchase works by leading sculptors when the Sculpture at the River Market Invitational Show and Sale takes place at the River Market pavilions on May 4 & 5

Over 700 sculptures will be on display in the River Market pavilions and in the adjacent area of Riverfront Park on these two days. The works featured will include all types of media, style, subject matter, and size.

The 2019 sculptors include: Lorri Acott, Serena Bates, Terry Bean, Jeff Best, Kelly Borsheim, Craig Campbell, Kathleen Caricof, Leslie Daly, Darrell Davis, Jane DeDecker, Michael Dunton, Theresa Dyer, Clay Enoch, Denny Haskew, Felipe Jimenz, James Keller, Edwad LaBonne, Jackie Mild Lau, and Bryan Massey.

Other participating sculptors are: Darren Miller, Ken Newman, Joe Norman, Nnamdi Okonkwo, Ed Pennebaker, John Powell, Timothy Roundy, Emelene Russell, Wayne Salge, Ryan T. Schmidt, Adam Schultz, Gene Sparling, Charles Strain, Bilhenry Walker, Michael Warrick, Basil Barrington Watson, CT Whitehouse, Russell Whiting, and David Zahn.

Sculpture at the River Market will be open in the River Market pavilions from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Saturday, May 4, and from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Sunday, May 5.

On Saturday, Alex Palmer from the Museum of Discovery will offer activities for children at 12 noon and 2pm adjacent to the River Market pavilions.

On Sunday, two food trucks will be on site with food available for sculpture guests to purchase.  Nach’yo Nachos and Rock-Brick Oven Pizza will both be present from 11am until 2pm.

On Friday, May 5, at 6:30 p.m., a Preview Party will kick off the weekend.  With food provided by Copper Grill, beverages provided by Southern Glazer’s and Stella Artois, it will be a festive atmosphere offering guests the first chance to purchase sculptures as well as visit with the sculptors.

Also that night, guests to the Preview Party will be able to vote for their favorite sculpture in the 2019 Public Monument Competition.  The winner, which will be announced on Sunday, May 5, at 3:00 p.m., will be placed adjacent to City Hall at the corner of Markham Street and Broadway Street in 2020.  The seven semifinalists are: Theresa Dyer, Clay Enoch, Joe Norman, Nnamdi Okonkwo, Ryan T. Schmidt, Charles Strain and Basil Barrington Watson.

Little Rock Look Back: MOCKINGBIRD TREE sculpture installed on April 21, 2016

Posted on by

Photo by LRCVB

On April 21, 2016, Michael Warrick’s Mockingbird Tree sculpture was installed at the corner of Chenal Parkway and Chenal Valley Drive.

The piece was commissioned by Sculpture at the River Market after winning the 2015 Public Monument Sculpture competition.

The eighteen (18) foot tall sculpture is made out of stainless steel. It presents a fanciful version of a tree with cloud-like foliage.  Nestled in the tree are bronze mockingbirds (Arkansas’ state bird).

Warrick is a professor in the Department of Art at the University of Arkansas Little Rock and has been an artist and educator for 30 years. His work has resulted in more than 150 solo and group exhibitions and has been represented in 29 private collections and 34 public venues.

Lunar New Year – Year of the Pig

Posted on by

Today marks the start of the Lunar New Year. This year is the Year of the Pig!

To celebrate this, here is a photo of Sandy Scott’s River Market Pig.  It is located in Riverfront Park adjacent to the River Market pavilions.

River Market Pig was one of the initial six sculptures installed in the River Market area and dedicated in November 2004 on the Sunday prior to the opening of the Clinton Library.

 

Little Rock Look Back: Installation of Lorri Acott’s PEACE Sculpture in 2015

Posted on by

On January 26, 2015, the City of Little Rock and Sculpture at the River Market installed Lorri Acott’s PEACE sculpture at the southeast corner of the intersection of Main Street and Second Street.

Peace was the winner of the 2014 Sculpture at the River Market Show and Sale public monument competition. The 12-feet-tall sculpture is made of bronze. It features a human figure standing with hands outstretched over its head. In between the hands is an arc made up of origami cranes.

The Sculpture at the River Market Committee commissioned the $60,000 sculpture and donated it to the City of Little Rock. “Peace” is made of bronze and features a long silhouette with colorful bronze origami cranes, known as symbols of peace and hope.

The sculpture design has won several accolades, including an “Art to Change the World” award from the American Civil Liberties Union and the 2014 World Citizens Artist Award from an international competition featuring art inspired the theme of peace.

Little Rock Look Back: Installation of Chapel’s THE CENTER

Posted on by

On October 19, 2012, the first winner of the Sculpture at the River Market public monument sculpture competition was dedicated.

Selected at the 2011 Sculpture at the River Market Show and Sale, Chapel’s THE CENTER is located to the west of the Junction Bridge in Riverfront Park.  It stands fifteen feet and is composed of glass, stainless steel and bronze.

According to Chapel:

The theme of The Center is a coalescence around a strong core.  Historically the Arkansas River was one of the mainstays of Little Rock’s economy.  Recently, the River has taken on a new life as a cultural and arts center through the various sculpture parks and amphitheater along its banks.

 

All of the disparate themes of life here are represented by the complex structure of gathering arcs.  These highly finished arcs reflect all the colors of the surrounding environment while the transparent central glass column refracts the changing light.  The shape itself will cast a fascinating shadow providing a constantly changing and adapting sculpture.

Little Rock Look Back: Dedication of Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden

Posted on by

The original seven sculptures. Clockwise from top left: Conversation with Myself; Straight and Narrow; Bateleur Eagle; First Glance; Sizzling Sisters; Cascade; and Full of Himself

After nearly a week of rain, the skies dried up and on Friday, October 16, 2009, the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden was dedicated.

Designed and created by the staff of the Little Rock Parks and Recreation Department, the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden started with seven sculptures. These were purchased at the 2007 and 2008 Sculpture at the River Market Show and Sales.

The original seven were: Full of Himself by Jan Woods, Cascade by Chapel, Bateleur Eagle by Pete Zaluzec, Sizzling Sister by Wayne Salge, Conversation With Myself by Lorri Acott, First Glance by Denny Haskew, and Straight and Narrow by Lisa Gordon.

The sculpture garden was named after the Vogel Schwartz Foundation in recognition of its contributions to the project. The garden was dedicated on the afternoon of the preview party for the 2009 Show and Sale.

The Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden did not have seven sculptures for long. New pieces have been added every few months since then.  In 2017, an expansion was dedicated which doubled the size and allowed for larger pieces to be installed.  Today there are over seventy sculptures in the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden and more than twenty elsewhere in Riverfront Park.

The 2019 Sculpture at the River Market Show and Sale is set for May 4 and 5 with a preview party on May 3.

Little Rock Look Back: First Sculpture at the River Market Show and Sale in 2007

Posted on by

After a decade of over 100 sculptures being installed throughout the city, it is hard to believe that the first Sculpture at the River Market Show and Sale was only eleven years ago. It took place October 5 through 7, with a preview party on October 4.

Approximately 400 sculptures were on display in the River Market pavilions and in the adjacent area of Riverfront Park. The works featured included all types of media, style, subject matter, and size.

Among the sculptors participating were Gary Alsum, Diana Ashley, Sutton Betti, Shelley Buonaito, Kevin Box, Kathleen Caricof, Chapel, Tim Cherry, Dee Clements, Jane Dedecker, Edward Fleming, Martin Gates, Daniel Glanz, Carol Gold, Bruce Gueswel, Linda Hall, Bre & David Harris, and Denny Haskew.

Other sculptors included Tony Hochstetler, Hank Kaminsky, Kevin Kresse, Mark Leichliter, Gloria Lewis, Jim Lewis, Philip Major, Bryan Massey, Anne Mitchell, Leo E. Osborne, Louise Peterson, Wayne Salge, Ryan Schmidt, Sandy Scott, Margaret Warren, Michael Warrick, CT Whitehouse, and Pete Zaluzec.