38-photo exhibition marks 60th year since school crisis
“Will Counts: The Central High School Photographs,” a collection of 38 prints made from the original black-andwhite negatives Counts shot during the integration of Little Rock Central High School in 1957-1959 while a photographer and editor at the Arkansas Democrat, opens Tuesday at the Arkansas Arts Center in MacArthur Park, 503 E. Ninth St., Little Rock.
The exhibition, on display through Oct. 22, marks the 60th anniversary of the integration of Central High School. Counts (1931-2001) documented more than two years of events surrounding the integration. He donated the prints to the Arkansas Arts Center in 1997.
Sponsor is Bank of America. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free. Call (501) 372-4000 or visit ArkansasArtsCenter.org.
AMP-ing up
This week at the Walmart AMP, 5079 W. Northgate Road, Rogers — call (479) 443-5600 or visit amptickets. com (all tickets plus fees):
Postmodern Jukebox and Straight No Chaser co-headline, 7:30 p.m. today. Gates open at 6. Tickets are $39.95$79.95.
Matchbox Twenty and Counting Crows perform at 6:45 p.m. Thursday, part of the 2017 Cox Concert Series. Gates open at 5. Tickets are $35-$125.
General interest
E.C. “Curt” Fields portrays Gen. U.S. Grant — based on quotes from Grant’s memoirs, articles and letters that Grant wrote, statements from interviews with him and first-person accounts from people who knew him or witnessed him during events — as part of the Delta Cultural Center’s Civil War Roundtable of the Delta, 6-7 p.m. Monday at Beth El Heritage Hall, 406 Perry St., Helena-West Helena. Admission is free. Call (870) 338-4350 or (800) 358-0972 or visit deltaculturalcenter.com.
Concert honors parks
The Hot Springs Concert Band will perform at 6 p.m. Monday in Whittington Park, 374 Whittington Ave., Hot Springs. Craig Hamilton will conduct a program celebrating America’s national parks, including Hot Springs. Weyerhaeuser Corp. is a partial sponsor. Admission is free, but the band will accept donations. Take lawn chairs and picnic suppers. In case of rain or excessive heat, the concert could move indoors. Visit hotspringsband.org.
History walk
The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program will visit the Siloam Springs Downtown Historic District at 11 a.m. Saturday for its August “Walks Through History” tour. The tour is co-sponsored by Main Street Siloam Springs. Admission is free. Call (501) 324-9880, email info@arkansaspreservtion.org or visit arkansaspreservation.org.
Chicks concert film
Dixie Chicks — DCX MMXVI — In Concert, from the Dixie Chicks’ recent tour, hits nearly 450 movie theaters nationwide, including the Breckenridge 12 and Colonel Glenn 18 in Little Rock, the Conway 12 in Conway, the Razorback Cinema in Fayetteville and the Malco Fort Smith Cinema in Fort Smith, 7 p.m. Monday. The tour brought the trio to North Little Rock’s Verizon Arena in September 2016. Ticket information is available at FathomEvents.com.
Theater preservation
Preserve Arkansas, in partnership with the Department of Arkansas Heritage, the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program and the Arkansas Arts Council, will hold the Historic Theaters Conference, Thursday-Friday at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute atop Petit Jean Mountain, 1 Rockefeller Drive, Morrilton.
The conference will include sessions on programming, fundraising, marketing, and renovation and maintenance of historic structures. It will also offer networking opportunities, continuing education credits for architects and interior designers and the chance for theaters to join the League of Historic American Theaters for one year, courtesy of the Mid-America Arts Alliance.
Conference fee is $75, including four meals, two networking receptions and one overnight stay on the institute campus.
More information and online registration is available at rockefellerinstitute.org/institute-programs/historic-theaters. Call (501) 372-4757 or visit PreserveArkansas.org.
Meanwhile, Aug. 31 is the deadline to submit nominations for Preserve Arkansas’ 2017 Arkansas Preservation Awards for eligible projects in these categories: Outstanding Service in Neighborhood Preservation, Outstanding Work by a Craftsman, Excellence in Preservation through Rehabilitation, Excellence in Preservation through Restoration, Excellence in Personal Preservation Projects, Outstanding Achievement in Preservation Advocacy, Outstanding New Construction in a Historic Setting, Outstanding Preservation Reporting in the Media, the Ned Shank Award for Outstanding Preservation Publication, Outstanding Achievement in Preservation Education, Excellence in Heritage Preservation and the Parker Westbrook Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Nomination forms are available online at PreserveArkansas.org; call (501) 372-4757 or email info@preservearkansas.org. A Jan. 19 ceremony and dinner in Little Rock will honor the winners.
UALR stage season
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock theater arts and dance department will open its 2017-2018 season with The All Night Strut, a musical revue conceived by Fran Charnas, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 11-14, 2:30 p.m. Oct. 15 in the University Theatre, Center for the Performing Arts, UALR, 2801 S. University Ave., Little Rock. Director Stephen K. Stone and musical director Michael Heavner are putting together a cast of 14 singers and dancers who will perform classic tunes from the 1930s and ’40s.
The rest of the lineup (except as noted, all performances 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday, University Theatre):
Nov. 16-19: Dance Harvest 2017, featuring modern, jazz and ballet choreography by faculty members past and present — Stone, Samantha Johnson, Rhythm McCarthy, Robin Neveu Brown and Stephanie Thibeault.
Feb. 21-25: An Octoroon by Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins, based on the 1859 play The Octoroon by Dion Boucicault, Haislip Theatre.
April 19-22: BodyWorks 2018, spring dance concert.
Tickets are $10, $5 for faculty, staff, students, military and senior citizens. Call (501) 569-3456 or visit ualr.edu/theatre.