Tag Archives: UA Little Rock

June 2nd Friday Art Night is busting with Fun

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2nd Friday Art NightJune is Busting Out All Over with great art and music downtown on 2nd Friday Art Night.  Visual art, music, refreshments, a trolley for transportation can all be yours for the low price of FREE.  The festivities run from 5pm to 8pm, unless otherwise noted.

Among the highlights:

  • Old State House Museum (300 West Markham) will feature Geoff Robson and David Gerstein performing duets for violin and cello.
  • Historic Arkansas Museum (200 East Third) will celebrate the opening of its new Arkansas Made Gallery; in addition there will be live music by Parkstone.
  • Edge Gallery (301B President Clinton Ave) will be featuring contemporary art.
  • Butler Center Galleries (401 President Clinton Ave) is showing Creative Expressions; Arkansas Arts Educators; From the Vault: Works from the CALS Permanent Collection; and Old School: Remembering the Brinkley Academy
  • Courtyard Marriott Downtown (521 President Clinton Ave) is teaming up with Spirited Art Little Rock and hosting a painting class in its cafe beginning at 6:30pm.
  • Hearne Fine Art (1001 Wright Ave, Suite C) will host an opening reception for Reflections In Silver: Silverpoint Drawings by Aj Smith & Marjorie Williams-Smith.
  • studioMain (1423 South Main Street) they are featuring a UALR Student Furniture Showcase.  This has become an annual exhibit of furniture pieces created by students of the UALR Applied Design program.

Actor Julie Adams – UALR Distinguished Alum – will speak on UALR campus today

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julieadamsUALR’s 2013 Distinguished Alumna Julie Adams will return to campus for a one-on-one interview with Dr. Jay Raphael, chair of UALR Theatre and Dance, at 2 p.m. Friday, June 7 at the Haislip Arena Theatre.

A book signing will follow.

Adams landed her first leading role in the The Dalton Gang in 1949. After a series of Western films, Adams starred alongside James Stewart in Bend of the River. She became a Hollywood star following 1954’s Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Guests may purchase Adam’s memoir, The Lucky Southern Star: Reflections from the Black Lagoon, for $30 at the Bailey Alumni Center. Copies may also be reserved by calling 501.683.7208.

The book provides an in-depth look at Adam’s rise to stardom in Hollywood following her time in Depression-era Arkansas and graduation from then-Little Rock Junior College.

All are invited to attend, including those who met Adams at the awards luncheon in May.

Adams will make another appearance in Little Rock at the Old State House Museum for the opening reception of the new exhibit, Lights! Camera! Arkansas! The event will begin at 7 p.m. Friday, June 7.

 

Arts Center, studioMain present lecture on Bauhas tonight.

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bauhaus

Photograph by Gordon Watkinson
Bauhaus Building – ‘Bauhaus Sign’

The Arkansas Arts Center, the state’s premiere center for visual and performing arts, together with studioMain, presents a special symposium, “From the Bauhaus to Our House,” discussing the history and influence of the Bauhaus movement to be held Friday, May 24, at 5 p.m., in the Arkansas Arts Center Lecture Hall. This symposium is in conjunction with the Arts Center’s current exhibition, Bauhaus twenty-21: An Ongoing Legacy – Photographs by Gordon Watkinson, on view May 24 – September 1, in the Winthrop Rockefeller Gallery.

“The Arts Center is pleased to be hosting such a notable panel of expert speakers,” said Arkansas Arts Center director of education Lou Palermo. “The Bauhaus movement was inspired by a world-changing vision to unite artists and craftsmen, and we will take a deeper look into that vision with the upcoming symposium. We are so excited to be partnering with studioMain to be able to offer this event to our friends and members of the Arkansas Arts Center.”

There will then be an hour break for viewing the exhibit and refreshments, followed by a 7 p.m. discussion with a panel of architectural experts in the design fields. Admission is free and no ticket required. The symposium will feature four of the top speakers in the state to discuss this important movement in architectural history. They are as follows: Dr. Floyd Martin (UALR, Art History), John Greer (WER Architects and Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas), Mia Hall (UALR, Applied Design) and Dr. Ethel Goodstein-Murphree (UA Fay Jones School of Architecture).

This exhibition conveys the lasting philosophies of the Bauhaus, a German expression meaning “house for building” and the name of an important German School principle of architecture and design. The Bauhaus school was founded by Walter Gropius in 1919 and introduced the sleek, functional architecture that is found in many of today’s modern buildings.

The exhibition is comprised of photographs, plans and elevations, and furniture that capture the essence of Bauhaus design and its influence on architecture. By pairing Bauhaus buildings with contemporary examples by leading architects, Gordon Watkinson explores the legacy of such modern ideas as passive solar, radiant heat and prefabricating housing.

UALR Jazz Ensemble Tonight

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The sounds of jazz will emanate from the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall tonight when the UALR Jazz Ensemble presents a concert.

The program will include arrangements of “Anything Goes” by Cole Porter; “April in Paris” by Vernon Duke; “Ko-Ko,” “In a Mellow Tone”and “Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me” by Duke Ellington; and “Wherever You Go” by Pat Metheny.

The ensemble features student musicians on saxophones, trombones, trumpets, and rhythm section. Michael Underwood is the director. Admission is free. Call (501) 569-3924 or e-mail mpunderwood@ualr.edu.

UALR to honor film actor Julie Adams this week

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Hollywood actor Julie Adams, a 1946 graduate of Little Rock Junior College, will be honored Friday, May 10, with UALR’s Distinguished Alumni Award, the highest honor given by the Alumni Association.

Julie Adams with Andy Griffith in 1962

Adams with Andy Griffith in 1962

The red carpet will be rolled out for Adams and other award recipients at the William J. Clinton Presidential Library. The annual awards luncheon, hosted by the UALR Foundation Fund Board and the Alumni Association, will begin at 11:30 a.m.

Admission is free. However, guests are encouraged to donate a minimum of $50 to the UALR Alumni Association’s scholarship fund. Limited public seating will be available. Please RSVP by calling the alumni office at 501-683-2694.

Adams, born Betty May Adams, attended Little Rock Junior College from 1944 to 46 and was heavily involved in the drama department and a member of the Trojan Theater Guild.

She hoped to join a summer stock theater in Connecticut following graduation and take her chances as a stage actress in New York City afterward, but the program was full. Instead, Adams moved to Los Angeles.

The rest, as they say, is movie history.

In 1949, Adams landed her first leading role as Polly Medford in the film, “The Dalton Gang,” and continued to appear in numerous other western movies including a starring role in “Bend of the River,” alongside film icon James Stewart.

Adams became an even more recognizable star after being cast as a bathing suit bombshell in 1954’s “Creature from the Black Lagoon.” She was also featured in the musical “Tickle Me” starring Elvis Presley.

In addition to appearing in more than 50 films, Adams has had a range of roles in television, including several appearances as Janice Barton on the popular series “Perry Mason,” the only character among Mason’s clients to be convicted during the CBS show’s nine-year run.

Adams also appeared in “The Andy Griffith Show,” “General Hospital,” “The Jimmy Stewart Show,” “Beverly Hills 90210,” and “Melrose Place.” In 1987, she accepted a recurring role as Eve Simpson on CBS’s series, “Murder, She Wrote.” In the past decade, she has had roles in ABC’s popular series, “Lost,” as well as “CSI: New York.”

Adams, who still resides in Los Angeles, recently completed The Lucky Southern Star: Reflections From The Black Lagoon, an in-depth look at her rise to stardom.

Dr. Cal Ledbetter Collection opens at UALR Center for Arkansas History and Culture

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The UALR Center for Arkansas History and Culture revealed its newest collection, donated by educator, scholar, and legislator Calvin R. Ledbetter Jr., at a reception held at the Arkansas Studies Institute Tuesday evening, April 30.

Calvin R. Ledbetter Jr.The 12-linear-foot collection covers Ledbetter’s life between 1964 and 1988. The papers document Ledbetter’s political career including the state’s legislative sessions from 1967 to 1977. A portion of the papers references his academic career at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Ledbetter, 84, led an accomplished political and educational career.

In addition to the collection housed at ASI, there is an online exhibit at ualrexhibits.org/ledbetter. The digitized collection includes photographs, video clips, and a selected bibliography on articles and books written by Ledbetter.

In 1960, Ledbetter joined the faculty at Little Rock University, now the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He has served as chair of the Department of Political Science and dean of the College of Liberal Arts, now the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. After retiring in 1997, Ledbetter was named professor emeritus of political science.

The gift of Dr. Ledbetter is not just his collection, ever the visionary, he has an eye on the future. In addition to donating his papers for research, Ledbetter has established the Cal Ledbetter Arkansas Legislative Institute Endowment to promote a better understanding of Arkansas through the scholarly study of legislators and legislative process.

Ledbetter served for five terms in the Arkansas House of Representatives between 1967 and 1977. In the course of his political career, he served three Arkansas’ governors, Winthrop Rockefeller, Dale Bumpers, and David Pryor. CAHC holds the collections of both Rockefeller and Bumpers.

The UALR Center for Arkansas History and Culture is housed in the Arkansas Studies Institute, a partnership between UALR and the Central Arkansas Library System. For more information, go to ualr.edu/cahc.

In recognition of his contributions, the Arkansas House of Representatives passed HR1045 this session. It was sponsored by Rep. Ann V. Clemmer, a member of the UALR Political Science faculty.

Double Bill Opera at UALR Tonight and Sunday

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The UALR Opera Theatre will present a double-bill performance of “The Telephone” and “The Medium,” both by Gian Carlo Menotti, at 7:30 p.m., Friday, May 3, and again at 3 p.m., Sunday, May 5, in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall in the UALR Fine Arts Building.

Opeara at UALRBoth performances will feature the talents of students in the vocal arts program and will be performed in English, the language in which they were written.  These operas premiered on Broadway in the 1940s as a double-bill and have been presented together and separately by opera  Carcompanies and theatre troupes since then.

UALR students can receive one free ticket; all other student tickets are $5. These tickets may be reserved by calling 501.569-3295.

For general admission, tickets are $15 and can be purchased through the music box office at 501.569.8993.

“The Telephone”
“The Telephone” is a romantic comic opera in one act about a suitor on a mission.

According to Don Bernardini, professor of music and director of the vocal program, “Ben, bearing a gift, comes to visit Lucy at her apartment. He wants to propose to her before he leaves on a trip. Despite his attempts to get her attention for sufficient time to ask his question, Lucy is occupied with interminable conversations on the telephone, but Ben will not be deterred!”

 

“The Medium”
“The Medium” is a two-act dramatic opera. Would-be psychic, Baba, with her daughter, Monica, pose as ghosts from the beyond during séances.

They take in a person who is deaf and doesn’t speak as a lodger but become distrustful of him. During one session, Baba feels a mysterious cold hand around her throat which panics her into revealing to her clients that she is a fake. When they refuse to believe her, Baba’s terror leads to tragedy.