There's so much going on between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. tonight downtown that you'll need to fleet of foot or ask the trolley driver to speed. There are new exhibits in the Butler Center Galleries, the Historic Arkansas Museum, Hearne Fine Art, StudioMain, the Courtyard Marriott and Gallery 221. There will be live music at several venues, including the Bernice Sculpture Garden just down from StudioMain, part of SOMA's PopUp event that runs through Saturday. Food, including barbecue at HAM and s'mores at the Old State House. Drink (including a ginger-apple-pie concoction from Rock Town Distilleries at OSH). Are you psyched yet?
Here's the art part of 2nd Friday Art Night: The Butler Center has gone to its permanent collection for a diverse "From the Vault" show, including historical paintings by Donald Draper, works on paper by visionary artist Arthur Grain, sculpture by Mary Cockrill and more. The ArtGroupMaumelle brings "Art to Remember" to the Marriott, and highlights work by Lori Pilkington Weeks.
Works on paper are at Gallery 221 and Hearne Fine Art has two exhibits: “American Spring: A Cause For Justice,” quilts designed around societal issues, and “And the Band Played On,” work by Kevin Cole.
At HAM, “Beyond the Expected: Norwood Creech, Paulette Palmer and Edward Wade Jr.” features multimedia landscapes (Creech), sculpture (Palmer) and watercolors (Wade), and "Mini Faces" features caricatures by Jared Hogue. HAM will also have music by John Cook, barbecue from Jones Bar-B-Q Diner, and booksignings by Kat Robinson and Edmond Davis.
There's s'mores at the Old State House — and kettle corn, hot cider, the aforementioned Rocktown libations and music by the Good Times Ramblers. StudioMain will feature information on the PopUp street design and an exhibition of the AIA 2012 Arkansas design award winners.
On your mark ...