Tag Archives: University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Little Rock Look Back: A (Tom) Prince of a Mayor

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Mayor PrinceFuture Little Rock Mayor Tom Prince was born on August 13, 1949.  After graduating high school in 1967 (where he was on the state championship golf team), he attended the United States Naval Academy.  He later received his law degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and began practicing law in Little Rock.

In 1984 he ran for the City of Little Rock Board of Directors and was elected.  In January 1985, he was selected by his fellow City Directors to serve as Mayor of Little Rock.  He served as Mayor until January 1987.  During his term in office, Arkansas celebrated its Sesquicentennial. Mayor Prince oversaw the City’s participation in the celebratory activities.  As Mayor he was also a strong advocate for expanding the city’s involvement in quality of life issues through enhanced parks and arts while maintaining a commitment to public safety and public works issues. After the completion of his four year term on the City Board, he did not seek a second term.

City of Little Rock races are non-partisan.  After leaving office, he became involved in Democratic Party politics.  In 1992, he campaigned for Bill Clinton’s presidential bid in Iowa and other Midwest states.  When his law partner, Sheffield Nelson, ran for Governor in 1994 as a Republican, Prince resigned from his Democratic Party positions and worked on the Nelson campaign.  In 1997, he was elected chair of the Pulaski County Republican Committee.  In 1998, he ran for the United States Senate as a Republican.

In 1999, Prince experienced a family tragedy and took a sabbatical from practicing law. In 2000, he moved to St. Louis to become general counsel for a securities firm located there.  Following several years with the securities firm, he joined a St. Louis law firm in private practice.  After spending over a decade in St. Louis, Prince returned to Central Arkansas and is managing business interests.

New Visual Arts Building Announced for UALR thanks to gift from Windgate Foundation

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With a target date to open in fall 2017, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s newest building will be among the finest higher education facilities in the country for visual arts education.

UALR unveiled the design concept for the 71,636 square-foot building today during a news conference in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall. The visual arts building will be funded by a $20.3 million grant award approved by the Trustees of the Windgate Charitable Foundation, headquartered in Siloam Springs. The grant, designated for building construction and equipment, is the second largest gift in UALR’s history.

UALR serves about 1,000 students each year who are enrolled in visual arts classes. This semester, 180 students have designated visual arts as their major, and there are 16 full-time faculty devoted to visual arts programs.
Entry Drive
The new facility, to be located on the UALR campus at 28th Street and East Campus Drive, will bring together under one roof the applied design program currently located at University Plaza and the art history and studio arts programs currently in the Fine Arts Building, a structure built in 1977 to house the departments of art and music.

The new building will integrate UALR’s Applied Design, Art History and Studio Arts classes into a facility that promotes collaboration and creativity between students, faculty and guests under one roof. Drawing/Painting/Printmaking/Art History and 2D Design and Illustration classrooms will be located on the north side of the building to make use of the large expanse of glass along 28th Street.

Faculty and administrative offices will be oriented on the south side to take advantage of the campus and natural plaza views. Photography and Graphic Design spaces will complete the programs that are housed within the visual arts track.

Students and visitors have the opportunity to experience two generous art galleries within the building showcasing both permanent and transitional exhibits or attend a guest lecturer speaking in the 80-seat lecture hall and reception venue on the ground floor.

The Applied Design spaces will be organized within a single story industrial high bay section of the building to take advantage of the expansive volumes of space necessary for Sculpture/Metalsmithing/Furniture Design /3D Craft & Fibers/Ceramics. Each of these spaces has access to an outdoor studio space that allows work on large pieces with natural ventilation and sunlight.

The building will be designed to achieve a LEED Silver rating with the USGBC LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system.

The Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Art/Applied Design track, a unique program in Arkansas, primarily serves students interested in the study of traditional arts and crafts representative of the South Central region of the U.S., with particular emphasis upon craft practices within Arkansas.

“The vision of the Department of Art is to be a destination center for students intent on pursuing lifelong careers in the visual arts,” said department chair Tom Clifton. “This new facility will enable the department to embrace traditional, contemporary, and technological approaches to the visual arts in central Arkansas and provide opportunities for students throughout the southern region of the United States.

The Windgate Charitable Foundation has provided consistent and visionary support of the UALR Department of Art through scholarships, program support, visiting artists, workshops and gallery exhibitions.

Four Percussionists; 60 Instruments – Tonight at UALR

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percussionThe University of Arkansas at Little Rock Percussion Ensemble will host a concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 28, in the University Theatre of the Center for Performing Arts that will include a daring performance of over 60 instruments.

The concert is free and open to the public.

Presented by the UALR Department of Music and under the direction of Conductor and Founder Charles Law, the show will include a performance of Bahrah for percussion quartet by Brandon Hendrix, Sands of Africa by Eric Harper, and Chopin’s Prelude No. 20 transcribed by Kevin Lepper.

A rendition of Bella by Carlos Santana arranged for mallets by Oliver Molina and Trinidad Blue Basin traditional arranged by Lisa Rogers will follow.

The finale will feature a performance of John Cage’s Third Construction for Percussion. This challenging work by Cage features over 60 instruments performed by four musicians creating a landscape of rhythm and sounds including shakers and twenty cans.

Celebrating more than 20 years, the UALR Percussion Ensemble is a high-energy group performing throughout the Midwest and South in concerts and clinics for students of all ages.

The ensemble has performed at the University of Missouri, University of Georgia, University of New Orleans, Mobile Alabama Concerts in the Park, Chicago Public Schools, Silver Dollar City, and Little Rock World Fest.

They explore a wide range of repertoire representing the most current and recognized composers of the time in percussion. The group has used music to reach out to inner-city and at-risk youth with the International House of Blues Foundation in New Orleans and the House of Blues Club.

Arkansas Jazz Festival at Clinton Presidential Center Friday & Saturday

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jazzheroThe Clinton Presidential Center celebrates Jazz Appreciation Month with the Arkansas Jazz Festival, featuring “Blue” Lou Marini. Held in partnership with the Arkansas Jazz Educators and the University of Arkansas at Monticello, this FREE, two-day festival will be held at the Clinton Center Park and will showcase the talent of jazz bands from around the state.

Featured artist, Lou Marini, has been a member of Blood, Sweat and Tears, The Saturday Night Live Band, and the Blues Brothers Band. He is an original member of the Blues Brothers Band, since the first appearances on Saturday Night Live, and appeared in both movies, as well as all recordings and tours.

Arkansas Jazz Festival
April 24 – 25, 2015
Clinton Presidential Center Park

Schedule of Performances:

Friday, April 24
3:30 p.m. Central High School Jazz II
4:30 p.m. West Memphis High School
5:30 p.m. Benton Junior High School
6:30 p.m. Harding University
7:30 p.m. Bryant High School

Saturday, April 25
9:00 a.m.  Central High School Jazz II
10:00 a.m. University of Arkansas at Little Rock
11:00 a.m. El Dorado High School
12:00 p.m. Arkansas Tech University
1:00 p.m.  Jonesboro High School
2:00 p.m.  Texarkana, Texas 8th Grade
3:00 p.m.  University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
4:00 p.m.  Pea Ridge High School
5:00 p.m.  Texas High School
6:00 p.m.  University of Arkansas at Monticello, Featuring Lou Marini

Piano recital this afternoon by UALR Music Professor Dr. Linda Holzer

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Piano recitalDr. Linda Holzer, professor of music at UALR, will hold​ a piano recital at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 22, in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall in UALR’s Fine Arts Building.

Admission is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the UALR Department of Music at 501.569.3264​

The music will present something for everyone, from the jazz stylings of Bill Evans piano solo “Peace Piece” to a poetic masterpiece, “Sonata Op. 109,” by Beethoven​,​ to three selections by award-winning U.S. composers.

For one the three selections, Dr. Holzer will perform “Love Twitters” by Augusta Read Thomas.

She will be joined by Arkansas Symphony Orchestra’s English horn player, Beth Wheeler, for John Steinmetz’s Suite from an “Imaginary Opera.” The program will conclude with Lowell Liebermann’s “Sonata for Flute and Piano,” featuring guest artist Diane McVinney of the ASO.

An active soloist and chamber musician, Holzer has delivered performances in 29 states, including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in New York, the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, and New York Public Radio Station WNYC-FM.

She has performed at Qingdao University in mainland China, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and the Palffy Palace in Bratislava, Slovakia. An advocate for contemporary music, Holzer has participated in numerous premieres, and her concert recordings have been broadcast internationally.

She has served as chair of the Committee on the Pedagogy Student for the 2007 and 2009 National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy in Chicago and is an active member of the Network of Music Career Development Officers.

She is a founding member of the duo Mariposa with violinist Sandra McDonald, assistant concertmaster of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. Holzer was also named College Teacher of the Year by the Arkansas State Music Teachers Association in 2001.

Holzer is a native of Chicago and holds degrees in piano performance from Northwestern University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Florida State University.

Discover Mystery and History along the SCOTLAND ROAD at UALR Play

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ScotRoad1000UALR’s third theatre production of the 2014-15 season opens tonight and runs through February 15.  Jeffrey Hatcher’s Scotland Road plays at 8pm tonight through Saturday and 2:30pm on Sunday in the University Theatre on the UALR campus.

Mystery, history, and human obsession plot the course of Scotland Road.  Reality is called into question when a simply dressed young woman is rescued from a small iceberg in the North Atlantic. All evidence, including her one word to the rescuers, “Titanic,” points to her being a survivor of the world’s worst sea disaster 80 years before.

The play navigates its way through several unexpected twists and turns as the woman is questioned by John Jacob Astor V, great-grandson of one of the Titanic’s most celebrated victims and a man preoccupied with every aspect of the event. Each meeting both unravels and deepens the mystery, and forces Astor to embark on his own voyage of soul searching.

Highly stylized and rich with imagery, the play examines the depths of who we are and brings to the surface the realization that few things, and fewer people, are what they seem.

The show’s director is Dr. Jay E. Raphael, professor and chair of UALR Department of Theatre and Dance.  The cast features Keaton Duersch, Ashley Mahan, Heidee Alsdorf and Stacy Pendergraft.  The creative team includes William Marshall (scenery and lighting), Yslan Hicks (costumes), Jim Spencer (sound) and Karen Harris (props).

Ticket prices are $10 for the general public and $5 for UALR students, faculty, staff, and seniors.  For more information, tickets, and reservations call 501.569.3456.

Tonight at Arkansas Rep – UALR History Professor Carl Moneyhon will discuss the South at the end of the Civil War

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Carl_Moneyhon_smIn conjunction with the current production of The Whipping Man, UALR History Professor Dr. Carl Moneyhon will be speaking at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre this evening. His remarks are entitled “The World Turned Upside Down: The South at The End.”

Dr. Moneyhon is a specialist in the history of the American Civil War and the South and is widely published in his field. He is faculty liaison with the University History Institute, an organization that develops closer ties between the department and the community. He serves on editorial boards of the Arkansas Historical Quarterly & the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture. He has won the UALR Faculty Excellence Award for Research and the UALR Faculty Excellence Award for Teaching.

The program is at 6:00 tonight in Foster’s at the Arkansas Rep.  The doors open at 5:30; a cash bar will be available.  Admission is free for members of the Rep and $10 for non-members.  Registration is required and can be made by calling the Rep Box Office at 501-378-0405.