Street Style
Local photographer John David Pittman teamed up with the Downtown Little Rock Partnership to create a public art installation honoring late civil rights icon Congressman John Lewis. Pittman photographed Lewis in 2018 and recently worked with the DLRP to share the portrait on Main Street alongside photos of locals Norel McAdoo and Victory Jackson and quotes from Lewis.
Under One Roof
Women & Children First, one of the state’s largest domestic violence shelters, is inching closer to opening its own Family Peace Center in Little Rock. The center will bring together police officers, prosecutors, advocates, therapists, civil attorneys, community volunteers, survivors and other resources for victims of family violence in one location.
The Family Peace Center, operated by Alliance for HOPE International, is a national initiative designed to improve response to victims, and whose tactics have been identified as best practice in the field of domestic violence intervention and prevention by the U.S. Department of Justice.
UAMS Health is also getting into the one-stop shop game with its new Women’s Center in midtown. The center combines all women’s health services previously provided at UAMS Health’s Financial Center Parkway, Freeway Medical Tower and Eighth and Cedar clinics. Patients can now find everything from care for routine and high-risk pregnancies to behavioral health services, menopause treatment and genetic and nutritional counseling in one location.
“In women’s health, we’re lucky to get to work closely with our patients from birth to the teen years, middle age, menopause and beyond,” says Dr. Nirvana Manning, clinical director for women’s health services at UAMS Health. “From routine exams to the most complex illnesses, we cover it all.”
Great Gifts
The Arkansas Arts Center received a $203,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to support stewardship of the center’s 14,000 works of international art.
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock is celebrating its highest fundraising year to date with donations hitting a record-breaking $47.9 million during fiscal year 2020.
The Baptist Health Foundation recently received an ERBEJET 2, the first hydrosurgery technology of its kind in the state, donated by Donna Terrell’s Yoga Warriors Fighting Colon Cancer.
Big Moves
Nonprofits across the state are updating their boards of directors. Here are some of the local additions:
Arkansas Urban Forestry Council: Colbie Jones
Habitat for Humanity: Caleb Garcia, Raymond Long and Ron Morris
Arkansas Community Foundation: Holly Dunsworth, Walter Smiley III, Scott Van Horn and Sharon Wilson
Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care Inc.: Josh Dilley, Glen Fenter, Chris Hardin, Debby Nye and Angie Walker
Ballet Reimagined
The coming months look different for everyone thanks to COVID-19, and that goes extra for performance-based groups like Ballet Arkansas.
The professional dance troupe recently announced a “reimagined” 2020-21 season, one that forgoes the holiday favorite “Nutcracker Spectacular” production in order to prioritize the health and safety of nearly 500 dancers, musicians, singers, volunteers and crew, as well as an audience of approximately 10,000.
The new schedule also sees October’s “Jekyll & Hyde” rescheduled to 2021 with hopes of regular performances picking back up in spring. According to associate artistic director Catherine Fothergill, the troupe will also soon announce outdoor and online programming and new ways to celebrate the holiday season with Ballet Arkansas.
Here’s the latest on the spring lineup:
• “Coppelia” – Feb. 18-21
• “The White Room” – March 2021
• “Extremes” – April 23-25
• 10th Annual Turning Pointe Gala 2021 – TBA
“Access to the performing arts has never been more vital,” Fothergill says. “We, like others, are changing course, however we aren’t going to stop moving. We’ll evolve with the times; after all, being creative is what we’re good at.”
(Send your nonprofit news to info@littlerocksoiree.com)