Just a small article and study to hopefully sway some of those thinking that bike lanes are not needed in the great city of Little Rock!
http://www.good.is/posts/turns-out-bike-lanes-are-really-good-for-local-business
Little Rock has a large community of Bicycle Advocates and Bike Nerds.
Here is one of the big ones:
http://www.bicycleadvocacy.com/index.html
Plans are in the works to re-invent certain parts of town, such as our own South Main Street area!
Here is link to a news article about the resurfacing of South Main to include bike lanes.
http://arkansasmatters.com/fulltext?nxd_id=665032
We won’t name names but there are a few in the city, who could use a change of heart when it comes to the idea of adding bike lanes to our city streets.
It is getting sunnier outside and the days are longer for rides- grab your two wheels and do some good for your heart!
Going with our theme of Urban Renewal- here is a lovely article from the New York Times about how a community in Brooklyn was revitalized with a plaza.
This article hits on a familiar note… POP-UP Project 2013 is coming soon! Are you excited about some DIY in the city?
The gallery space is going to be taken over by Art Students!
UALR Applied Design Students will be exhibiting new furniture works for the month of June! Stop by for our Second Friday Art Night Opening, June 14th from 5 until 8pm to view these wonderful sculptural creations.
Way to go UALR Students! What was once vacant and desolate lot on the edge of campus is now a flourishing garden! A great use of space! Eco-nerds rejoice!
“The UALR Campus Garden is a collaborative partnership between the UALR Sustainability Committee, Anthropology Department, the Central Arkansas New Agrarian Society (CANAS), and University District neighborhood.”
The garden is mostly native plants and tomatoes that serves as an outdoor classroom setting for Biology, Botany, Physics, and Anthropology. The garden is run by volunteers and sustained by grants and donations.
For more information about the garden:
Watch the news story:
http://www.katv.com/story/22452106/ualr-students-turn-vacant-lot-into-community-garden
Visit and befriend their Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/UALR-Campus-Garden/567663993257823
OR you can be your own guerilla gardener with Seed Bombs!
Wouldn’t it be nice to have more green areas in a city of concrete!
For the Month of June, Green Corner Store and Loblolly Creamery are offering Preservation Praline Ice Cream! Purchase a scoop and part of the proceeds will be donated to the Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas. “A sweet cream with whiskey caramel sauce and praline pecans.” Sounds so good! Stop by the store and have a scoop for a really great nonprofit. 
Visit the store and soda fountain on South Main Street! You can also friend them on Facebook to keep updated with them!
Don’t forget tonight’s free lecture and panel discussion!
5:00-6:00 - Short lectures
- Dr. Goodstein-Murphree - Architecture
- Dr. Martin - Culture/Art
- Prof. Hall - Furniture
6:00-7:00 - Break for drinks and Gallery viewing of Bauhaus twenty-21: An Ongoing Legacy - Photographs by Gordon Watkinson
7:00-8:00 - Panel Discussion (Moderated by Ethel)
If you have a free evening or are looking for a great date outing- Come join us for some art, good design, clean architecture, and fascinating conversation!
See you tonight! Be there or be a Gropius square!
“The Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas began Arkansas’s Most Endangered Places program in 1999 to raise awareness of the importance of Arkansas’s historic properties and the dangers they face through neglect, encroaching development, and loss of integrity. The list is updated each year and serves to generate discussion and support for saving the state’s endangered historic places. Previous places listed include the Johnny Cash Boyhood Home and the Dyess Colony Administration Building in Dyess, Bluff Shelter Archaeological Sites in Northwest Arkansas, Rohwer and Jerome Japanese-American Relocation Camps in Desha County, the William Woodruff House in Little Rock, Magnolia Manor in Arkadelphia, Centennial Baptist Church in Helena, the Donaghey Buildings in Little Rock, the Saenger Theatre in Pine Bluff, the twentieth century African American Rosenwald Schools throughout the state, the Mountainaire Apartments in Hot Springs, Forest Fire Lookouts statewide, the Historic Dunbar Neighborhood in Little Rock, Carleson Terrace in Fayetteville, the Woodmen on Union Building in Hot Springs.
Properties are nominated by individuals, communities, and organizations interested in preserving these places for future Arkansans. Criteria for inclusion in the list includes a property’s listing or eligibility for listing in the Arkansas or National Register of Historic Places; the degree of a property’s local, state or national significance; and the imminence and degree of the threat to the property.
The Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas was founded in 1981 and is the only statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving Arkansas’s architectural and cultural heritage. The mission of the Alliance is to educate, advocate, and assist historic preservation in Arkansas.”
This year, seven buildings have been nominated:
Arkansas’s Most Endangered Places 2013
Willkommen zurück in die Schule!!
You are invited to attend a special lecture/panel event injunction with studioMain and Arkansas Arts Center’s Bauhaus exhibitions.
Friday, May 24th at 5pm at the Arkansas Arts Center lecture hall, a wise and knowledgeable group of presenters will be lecturing on the Bauhaus (school, culture, architecture, furniture, etc).
This event is FREE and open to the public. Grab a date, come have some wine, and enjoy a scholarly talk about some dead germans, functional design, and good clean architecture!
See the following press release from the Arkansas Arts Center about this great event!
Special Bauhaus movement lecture to be held at
Arkansas Arts Center
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – 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.
This Friday, May 24th, studioMAIN will be partnering with the Arkansas Arts Center to host the “From the Bauhaus to Our House” Lecture and Panel Discussion as part of their opening event for their Bauhaus 21 exhibit!
We’ll kick things off at 5pm with a series of 3 brief lectures discussing the history and influence of the Bauhaus movement. There will then be an hour break for viewing the exhibit and refreshments, which will be followed by a 7pm discussion between our panel of experts in the design fields.
Moderator: Dr. Ethel Goodstein-Murphree (UA Fay Jones School of Architecture)
Art/Cultural History: Dr. Floyd Martin (UALR, Art History)
Preservation Expert: John Greer (WER Architects & Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas)
Furniture and Craft: Mia Hall (UALR, Applied Design)
Schedule:
5:00-6:00 - Short lectures
- Dr. Goodstein-Murphree - Architecture
- Dr. Martin - Culture/Art
- Prof. Hall - Furniture
6:00-7:00 - Break for drinks and Gallery viewing
7:00-8:00 - Panel Discussion (Moderated by Ethel)
We are so excited to be able to offer this event to our friends and members of the Arkansas Arts Center. Stay Tuned for Further Information!
Don’t forget the Architecture & Design Network lecture series event tomorrow! Reese Rowland and Bobby Roberts will there to discuss the new Children’s Library & Learning Center in Little Rock. The 6:00pm lecture will be held at the new library, which is located along Jonesboro Avenue inbetween I-630 and 12th Street. It is going to be a great evening, hope to see you there!