Tag Archives: White House

Arkansas Heritage Month – Townsend Wolfe of the Arkansas Arts Center

Posted on by

wolfe

Continuing with a focus on Little Rock recipients of the Governor’s Arts Awards, today’s focus is Townsend Wolfe, who led the Arkansas Arts Center for 34 years.

Though not the founding director of the Arkansas Arts Center, Townsend Wolfe was the director for well over half of the institution’s 53 year history. Hired in 1968 at the age of 32 (making him one of the youngest art museum directors in the US at the time), he retired in 2002.  That year he was honored with the Governor’s Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Arkansas Arts Council.

A native of South Carolina, Wolfe holds a bachelor’s degree from the Atlanta Art Institute and a master’s degree from the Cranbrook Academy of Art. He also received a certificate from the Harvard Institute of Arts Administration, and honorary doctoral degrees from two other institutions.  He was recruited to the Arkansas Arts Center by Governor and Mrs. Winthrop Rockefeller.

During his tenure at the Arts Center, he first was responsible for creating financial stability. After drastic cost-cutting measures, he refocused programming which led to the creation of the current Museum School, a focus of works on paper for the collection, cultivating a thriving collectors group, establishment of a children’s theatre, expansion of statewide services, and several additions to the physical plant.

In addition to serving on the National Council of the Arts, Wolfe was a member of the National Museum Services Board and the board of the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts in New York. He was curator for an exhibition in the First Ladies’ Sculpture Garden at the White House in 1995, and was the recipient of the 1997 Distinguished Service Award (outside the profession) by the National Art Educators Association.

Over the years, Wolfe has served in a variety of capacities for the Association of American Museums, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Noon today – Grammy winner Sharon Isbin speaks at Clinton School; performs with ASO this weekend

Posted on by

isbin_sony_soho_11This weekend, Grammy winning guitarist Sharon Isbin will be performing with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.  Prior to those performances, she is speaking today at noon at the Clinton School.

Isbin is a Grammy Award-winning classical guitarist and the founder of the Guitar department at the Juilliard School in New York City. She is the author of “Classical Guitar Answer Book” and the director of the guitar department at the Aspen Music Festival. She is also the winner of the Guitar Player magazine’s Best Classical Guitarist award, First Prize winner of the Toronto Guitar 75 competition, and has received numerous other awards. Isbin has appeared as a soloist with over 170 orchestras and has commissioned more concerti than any other guitarist.

She is a multi-Grammy Award-winning artist and has performed for the memorial tribute at Ground Zero, was featured on the soundtrack of Martin Scorsese’s film “The Departed,” and has performed at the White House by invitation of President Obama and the First Lady. Isbin will speak and perform with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra

LR Cultural Touchstone: Kaki Hockersmith

Posted on by

KakiKaki Hockersmith creates art as a designer. In addition, she promotes arts and heritage through her tireless efforts on behalf of numerous cultural institutions.

In 2010, she was appointed to the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts for The Kennedy Center.  In that capacity, she serves as a national ambassador for The Kennedy Center. She has also brought programs from The Kennedy Center to Arkansas to help established and emerging arts organizations. She also serves as a commissioner on the cultural committee of UNESCO – the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

In 1993, she redesigned the interior of The White House during the Clinton Administration. She was also appointed a member of the Committee for the Preservation of The White House.  Her work on this American landmark was featured in Hillary Clinton’s book An Invitation to the White House: In Celebration of American Culture.

Locally, she serves on the Board of Trustees for the Arkansas Arts Center and the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion Association. She is an active supporter of many cultural organizations in Little Rock.  She and her husband Max Mehlburger open their home to host receptions and fundraisers for numerous cultural institutions and organizations.  Earlier this year she was recognized for this support at Ballet Arkansas’ Turning Pointe gala.

Professionally, she has been honored by the national ASID organization as well as the Washington D.C. chapter. Her projects have won 16 regional ASID awards, including seven gold awards.

Exhibit at Clinton Library pays tribute to March on Washington

Posted on by
(Copyright Estate of Stanley Tretick LLC)

(Copyright Estate of Stanley Tretick LLC)

The William J. Clinton Presidential Library opened a new exhibit last month in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington.

Entitled, “And Freedom for All: The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom,” this exhibit pays tribute to the 50th anniversary of The March on Washington. The March took place in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963.  It was attended by approximately 250,000 people, it was the largest demonstration ever seen in the nation’s capital.

Stanley Tretick was assigned by LOOK magazine to cover the march behind-the-scenes with organizers and program speakers.  The exhibit features his pictures and videos of speeches by Daisy Bates, John Lewis and a performance by Mahaila Jackson.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech is also featured in the exhibit.  President Clinton declared it to be “the clearest clarion call to the more perfect union of America in the 21 century.”

Stanley Tretick was an American photojournalist who worked for United Press International, Look and People (where he was a founding photo editor). He covered every president from Harry S. Truman through George H. W. Bush. For UPI, he followed the Kennedy presidential candidacy.  He resigned when UPI would not assign him to the White House once JFK took office.  The President promised his broad access which prompted Look to hire him.  His photos of the Kennedys helped form the collective iconic images for which the family is now remembered.

The exhibit runs through November 17.

Sculpture Vulture: Bill Clinton

Posted on by

Tomorrow is not President’s Day, it is Washington’s Birthday.  But in honor of the only Arkansan to succeed Washington as President, today’s Sculpture Vulture highlights the bust of William Jefferson Clinton which is on the grounds of the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion.

The bust was commissioned in 1994 by the Little Rock Advertising and Promotion Commission.  It had originally been intended as more of a plaque featuring Clinton’s face. But sculptor Jan Woods, who had been selected to create the art, suggested turning it into a bust.  A bust does look more statesman-like and appropriate for the intention of honoring the only resident of the Governor’s Mansion who has also lived in the White House.

Woods created a very life-like, realistic depiction of Bill Clinton.  She captures the slight smile and intense gaze of his face which is part of what creates the feeling of empathy and personal connection even his harshest critics agree he possesses.  Unlike the JFK bust in the Kennedy Center which is abstract or the lifeless gazes so often found in busts and statues of earlier presidents, this bust captures the essence of the man.

The bust sits on the front lawn of the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion to the west of the main gate.  Even when the grounds are closed, it is visible to the public through the fence.