Looking for Arkansas events? Check out the Historic Arkansas Museum’s calendar of events, including gallery openings, special events and more.
If you have a specific date in mind to visit, try our calendar below.
Toys, Playthings and Amusements of Yesteryear
January 17 through November 2, 2008
Playthings and Amusements of Yesteryear: Toys from the Permanent Collection draws from the museum’s extensive collection of Arkansas-made and used objects to offer a peek into the playtime activities of children living in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Alongside the toys are photographs of children, some pictured with their toys, taken during the same time period. Toys on display include rocking horses, games (such as Tiddledy Winks), various types of dolls, miniature porcelain dishes and doll house furniture, and toy soldiers and weapons. Some toys should be familiar to present-day children while others are indicative of their period, such as a child-sized toy spinning wheel. Modern day toys like plastic tool sets are seen as wooden tools with objects like slide planes (missing from today’s collection of hammers and “electric” drills).
Sitting Pretty, Sitting Plain: Seating Furniture from the Permanent Collection
April 3 through March 29, 2009
No other furniture form is more prevalent than the chair. And no other country has created more diverse styles of seating furniture than America, thanks to Chippendale, Sheraton, Phyfe and others. From the gracious rococo style of 18th century Philadelphia, to the functional “common” or ladderback chairs of the rural Arkansas chairmaker, this country’s chairs, benches and sofas have a rich and varied legacy.
Mid-Southern Watercolorist Annual Exhibition
May 8 through August 10, 2008
This annual exhibit is the principal, juried exhibit for active and associate members of the Mid-Southern Watercolorists. The organization was formed to elevate the stature of watercolor and educate the public to the significance of watercolor as an important creative, permanent painting medium.
On Second Thought: The Robert and Angie Boury Collection of Corrected American Music Manuscripts
May 15 through November 6, 2008
Ever wonder how a composer’s mind works while creating great pieces of original music? Bob Boury’s incredible collection of original manuscripts offers a glimpse into this creative process. Many of the signed pieces include marks and notations reflecting the changing mind of the composer. Bob Boury is the Composer in Residence at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Sulac Collaborations: To and Fro
June 10 through August 3, 2008
This exhibit features work by Sulac as well as his collaborations with other local artists, such as Kathy Strause, David Jukes and Kevin Kerby. Sulac is a local artist with a compulsion to be creative. He doesn’t limit his work in subject matter, material, concept, or inspiration. Often using markers, crayons, string, cardboard or any and every medium that is most readily on hand, his images are foremost whimsical, charming and haphazard scenes of humanity and nature. By using these materials, Sulac’s work challenges the norms of the art world and makes works of art accessible to the masses.
Frontier Fourth of July
July 4, 2008
2 pm - 4 pm
Fun family event celebrating the nation’s birthday with Living History performances.
Step Back Saturdays: Storytelling
Step Back Saturdays are every Saturday, March thru October
See how they did it in pioneer days. Saturdays March through October bring pioneer life ways to the historic grounds, showing you the how and the why of 1800s living. Each month presents a different theme. The theme for July is “Storytelling.” The half-hour presentations are open to the public free of charge, or can be seen as part of a historic house tour at no additional cost. Times: 10:45, 11:45, 1:45, 2:45, 3:45.
John Kushmaul: Downtown Nonfiction
August 7 through October 6, 2008
John Kushmaul was born on a military base in Selma, Alabama in 1972. He minored in Art at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, graduating in December of 1993. He also worked in local television for four and a half years. He has been working and painting in Little Rock for the past 14 years, and his works are largely based on photographs he has taken of the city. “Little Rock serves as a convenient subject because the varieties of architecture document the role of history in a modern day Arkansas. The historic architecture viewed in conjunction with the street’s power poles, wires and satellite dishes show both the historic legacy and the progression of technology in Little Rock,” says the artist. The light of the seasons is another frequent subject in his works, and Kushmaul is currently working on a series of paintings depicting downtown Little Rock.
2nd Friday Art Night
Friday, July 11, 2008
5 pm - 8 pm
Enjoy a great night of art and history on the second Friday of each month. Historic Arkansas Museum is one of several downtown locations that will keep its doors open to the public until 8 p.m. for an evening of culture, entertainment and shopping. Visitors can start at Historic Arkansas where there is plenty of free parking, and later catch the trolley to visit other participating venues. The Museum Store, featuring the best of Arkansas-made arts and crafts, will be open.
