- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

Arkansas High School Students Learn New Art Skills at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Summer artWAYS Program

John Hill — Thu, 21 Jul 2022 13:19:07 +0000

More than 60 students from across Arkansas spent the week of June 20-24 learning new art skills during a free residential summer intensive program for juniors and seniors at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The artWAYS 2022 camp was provided at no cost thanks to a generous grant from the Windgate Foundation. This included all art materials, meals, housing costs, and evening activities. During the program, students took the following sessions: Drawing the Dynamic Figure with Robert Bean, drawing instructor; Lensless Photography with Joli Livaudais, associate professor of photography; From Start to Finish: Learn to Make Your Own Jewelry with Lydia Martin, artist-in-residence of metals; and Typographic Sculptures with Kevin Cates, professor of graphic design. “It was a great experience,” Livaudais said. “The students did some amazing work, and it was a lot of fun. We had them doing primitive photographic techniques, like taking photos with cardboard cameras. They also worked in the darkroom using historic photographic processes like cyanotype.” In Cates’ class, students designed layouts and created 3D typographic sculptures based on quotes. The sculptures included a 3D guitar sculpture that held up displayed quotes about the American rock band Weezer. All the students in the program signed the guitar, which Cates plans to display in his office. “My favorite part was seeing the sculptures in the lobby for everyone to see,” Cates said. “Attending the program really helped get the creative juices flowing and helped students get excited about what they can do in college.” Students also enjoyed evening activities including tie dying t-shirts, movie night, water wars, a campus tour, open art studio, and indoor and outdoor games.

High school students from around Arkansas participate in the weeklong immersive visual arts summer program artWAYS in the Windgate Center for Art and Design at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. Photos by Ben Krain

The 62 Arkansas students who attended the program include: Alleyah Evans, Alexa Whisenhunt, Alexandro Vazquez, Alice Neely, Allyson Ramsey, Anna Johnson, Anna Reber, Ariana Langley, Aubree Wright, Bella Garbett, Kim Bitna, Brooke Weinzimer, Cailey Stover, Carla Servin, Dawn Phillips, Deliliah Duguld, Destiny Montogomery, Eliot Spann, Emily Flores-Ayala, Emma Herbold, Evelyn Flores, Hanna Pruitt, Jadon Parks, Jenna Phillips, Jessalyn Cotton, Jillian Thorpe, Josslyn McCall, Judson Ogle, K’lari Collins, Karrington Bost, Kennedi Green, Kennedy Lucas, Kevin Rivera, Kimberly Bright, Kloe Jackson, Lani McClure, Lillith McAfee, Macy McLaughlin, Marisela Morales, Maryn Asbury, McHarvey Morrison, Mikka Reid, Nhi Le, Niko Maxey, Noelia Borkowski, Olivia George, Paley Honeysuckle, Paris Enriquez, Rebecca Worthington, Samantha Smith, Sidnye Nealy, Sofia Theodore, Sophia Bozeman, Sydnie Maxwell, Tarini Eswaran, Tristan Johnson, Vaida Stacy, Ximenia Gonzalez, Yessenia Gonzalez, Zach Miller, Zenobia Kelley, and Zoe Tarbille. “The program is super good,” Noelia Borkowski, a student at Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School. “I felt like I was interested in all the classes and learned a lot from them. I would highly recommend it to everyone who is interested in art.” Kennedy Lucas, a student at Joe T. Robinson High School, said she attended the artWAYS program because she was interested in learning new kinds of art. “I’ve been doing art for years. It’s always been my favorite class in school,” Lucas said. “My favorite artWAYS class was jewelry making. I got to do something different, and we got to learn different metalworking techniques to make jewelry. I also learned a lot about figure drawing that I will use in the future. It was a really good experience. I’ll probably apply again next year.”

Windgate Foundation Awards ��Vlog��ý Little Rock More Than $3 Million in Grants for Art Outreach, Art Acquisition, and Children International Education and Outreach Efforts

John Hill — Thu, 02 Sep 2021 16:25:59 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock has received more than $3 million in grants from the to support art education at the university, acquisition of art from working artists for ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s permanent art collection, and support of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Children International’s education and outreach programs. “These three grants from the Windgate Foundation will go a long way to support art education and outreach programs in our community,” said Chancellor Christina Drale. “We are thankful to the Windgate Foundation for their continued dedication to artists, art educators, and students across the state.” Windgate’s first grant will provide $1.56 million for ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Children International, which serves approximately 2,100 children and youth in central Arkansas. The first $1.5 million will create an endowed fund to cover operational expenses. Children International will receive $60,000 as a bridge grant to use in the next year. “We are impressed by the efforts of the hard-working staff of Children International to provide education and outreach activities for children in the Little Rock School District,” said Pat Forgy, executive director of the Windgate Foundation. “I’d encourage others to consider supporting their work to help children become healthy, educated, and self-reliant. There is so much more Children International could accomplish with additional help from the community.” Now in its 27th year, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Children International offers a variety of school- and community-based programs, including after-school and summer programming, cooking classes, emergency food assistance, and college preparation and career training. “We’re grateful for the continued support of the Windgate Foundation,” said Ryan Davis, director of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Children International. “This endowed fund will allow us to plan further, dig deeper, and reach higher in our work with children and youth in central Arkansas” The second grant provides $1 million to create an endowed art acquisition fund. The funding will be divided equally, with $500,000 going to acquire contemporary craft art from living artists and the other $500,000 to acquire art from living artists. “The Windgate Foundation has been a champion of the gallery program for 10 years,” said Brad Cushman, director of the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Gallery Program. “Their financial support of exhibition programming and acquisitions began in 2011. The Windgate Foundation has granted acquisition funding to major museums and art institutions across the country. They have certainly put the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Gallery Program and Permanent Collection in prestigious company.” With this grant, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock will acquire more art for the university’s permanent art collection, which holds over 1,700 items, and provide a broader range of exhibits for the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Gallery Program. “Windgate’s support has allowed us to bring more contemporary craft into the collection,” Cushman said. “Their support has also helped us to diversify the voices represented in the collection to include more women, Black, Hispanic/Latino, LGBTQ, and other artists.” Additionally, Windgate has awarded ��Vlog��ý Little Rock a multi-year additional support grant for the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Art Outreach Program. Windgate originally awarded ��Vlog��ý Little Rock a grant of more than $750,000 in November 2018 to establish a series of educational art workshops for Arkansas high school students and art teachers.

Woodworking Professor Peter Scheidt assists visiting art educator Loni Rainey as she builds a small Shaker table during the artWAYS furniture and woodworking program in the Windgate Center of Art and Design. Photo by Ben Krain.

The additional $470,713 grant will continue to support art education outreach efforts for high school students and art teachers in Arkansas through December 2024. The final payment for 2023 is contingent upon an increase of students in ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Art and Design Department. “We appreciate the opportunity that the Windgate Foundation has given the department,” said Tom Clifton, chair of the Department of Art and Design. “Sharing our expertise with the community of art teachers has been an incredibly fulfilling experience for the department faculty. We’re looking forward to providing more programming and meeting new participants in the future.” ��Vlog��ý Little Rock was unable to hold the high school student visits and workshops for K-12 art educators during summer 2020 due to the pandemic. With social distancing procedures in place, the Department of Art and Design continued programming this summer with seven week-long workshops for art educators from across the state. Faculty members Kevin Cates, Jeremy Couch, Joli Livaudais, and Peter Scheidt taught workshops on drawing, graphic design, painting, photography, and woodworking. Art Outreach Specialist Andrea Tompkins reports more than 50 teachers from 33 Arkansas schools attended the workshops and earned 30 hours of professional development credit each. In summer 2022, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock plans to offer two camps for art educators and one camp for highly motivated high school students who are considering majoring in the visual arts. The workshops are free to high school students and art teachers. The Windgate grant will cover on-campus housing, meals, supplies, and instructional materials. In the upper photo, a group of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Children International students display their denim artwork during an Art in Action Camp taught by Lorria Eubanks of A Different Stroke of Art.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock honored for exhibit preserving history of Robinson Center

John Hill — Mon, 09 Mar 2020 15:29:50 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Center for Arkansas History and Culture has been recognized for its efforts to showcase the history of the Robinson Center. Preserve Arkansas awarded the center an honorable mention in the Outstanding Achievement in Preservation Education category for the mural/timeline exhibit at Robinson Memorial Auditorium. The Arkansas Preservation Awards, held annually in January, recognizes preservation efforts across the state. These achievements range from outstanding examples of rehabilitated structures, revitalized neighborhoods, and commercial districts. The “Timeline of Historic Robinson Center” was unveiled Nov. 9, 2019, in the Robinson Center. The exhibit was a collaboration between ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Center for Arkansas History and Culture, Department of Art and Design, Department of History, and the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau. The timeline stretches more than 50 feet along the interior wall, detailing the history of the center from the 1930s to the present. At one end of the timeline is a 10-foot-tall photograph of Joseph Taylor Robinson, the former Arkansas governor and U.S. senator for whom Robinson Auditorium was named. At the other end is a reproduction painting of the newly remodeled building that re-opened Nov. 10, 2016, following a 28-month, $70-million restoration, renovation, an expansion led by the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau. Shannon Lausch, an archivist at the Center for Arkansas History and Culture, was the lead researcher and wrote the primary text panels for the exhibit. Charles Romney, associate professor of history, and Vincent Vinikas, professor of history, also contributed to the research. Kevin Cates and Thomas Clifton, professors in ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Department of Art and Design, oversaw the exhibit design. “I coordinated the research and writing for the Robinson Center exhibit,” Lausch said. “The exhibit’s success came from the collaboration among many people with different talents. I enjoyed working with my colleagues and getting to know people outside of my department. Many of the historic images used in the exhibit were taken by a Little Rock architectural photographer, whose collection I was working on at the time. It was gratifying to see his photographs used to illustrate the exhibit.” The Robinson Center was constructed during the Great Depression as a building project under President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal legislation. At the groundbreaking ceremony on Dec. 14, 1937, city officials dedicated the building to Sen. Robinson, who had died six months earlier. The city saw it as a fitting tribute to name the structure after Robinson, whose work in supporting the New Deal had enabled projects like the Robinson Auditorium. Over the years, Robinson has hosted theater, music, dance, lectures, sports, and civic events. When it opened, it became the first auditorium in the South with air conditioning. Conventions, theatrical shows, and numerous musical acts all came to Little Rock. In fact, the first recording of Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog” was made on Robinson’s stage. “Remembering the connections between past and present allows us to build a brighter future,” Vinikas said.

Arkansas teachers learn new skills at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock graphic design workshop

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 10 Jul 2019 13:24:20 +0000

Stacy Owens, an art teacher at Pinnacle View Middle School, found the opportunity to take a free graphic design workshop for teachers at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock this summer serendipitous, considering she will begin teaching graphic design again this fall after many years of not teaching the course. “I was a graphic designer for 10 years before I was a teacher,” Owens said. “I decided this was a kismet (destiny or fate) thing that right before I was supposed to teach design again, this workshop became available.” Kevin Cates, associate professor of graphic design at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, taught a free week-long graphic design teacher workshop in June in ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Windgate Center of Art and Design. Participants learned principles and practices that are helpful in building a foundation for innovative graphic design trends. The workshops are funded by a $754,108 gift from the Windgate Foundation in January 2019 that enabled the university’s Department of Art and Design to establish a series of free educational art workshops for art teachers and high school students in Arkansas and surrounding states. “These sessions will be designed not only to instruct or train participants in a particular technique or process, but also to introduce them to our highly skilled Department of Art and Design faculty and the up-to-date equipment and facilities of the Windgate Center of Art and Design,” said Thomas Clifton, chair of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Department of Art and Design. Owens found the workshop a good way to reboot her skills and to come up with some lessons for her students in the fall. “It’s been the reboot I’ve needed,” she said. “Sometimes, it’s good to get a clean start and see what others are doing in the field before you get too comfortable. I’ve really enjoyed the program, and I’m making sure I’m first on the list for next year when the new classes and workshops are posted. I’m going to modify the exercises we’ve learned to a middle school concept for my students.” In the upper right photo, art educators from around the state participate in a free professional development summer workshop for graphic design at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. Photo by Ben Krain.

A Call to Ministry: Lauren Humphrey uses graphic design skills to illustrate Bible for African children

Janea Snyder — Thu, 02 May 2019 19:14:06 +0000

Lauren Humphrey came to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock on a Chancellor’s Leadership Corps scholarship to study graphic design. During her time on campus, she discovered another passion: a desire to work in ministry. “I felt called, but not specifically,” she said. “I know that I want to go into ministry, and I would love to do international missions. I always say I’d pack up now and leave if I could.” Humphrey, 22, of Fort Smith, Arkansas, will graduate on May 11 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in graphic design, but she won’t be gone from campus too long. She will return this fall to begin a 10-month internship with Christian Ministry, which hosts weekly worship gatherings, discipleship groups, retreats, and mission trips for ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students. Chi Alpha staff are full-time missionaries who disciple students on campus. Humphrey’s internship is through the Assembly of God and will help her earn credentials to be appointed as an Assembly of God minister. Humphrey will work with students and then lead an international mission trip in summer 2020. “After, I will ask the Lord if He will have me to serve in the States or in Africa,” she said. Humphrey fell in love with international mission work on a Chi Alpha mission trip. Each summer, Chi Alpha takes teams of 15 to 20 students to Africa or Asia for a month. Humphrey traveled to Zambia one summer and to Sri Lanka and Thailand another. Upon returning from Asia, she got a tattoo of the world’s continents on her forearm. It’s a visual reminder that “the Lord is reminding me that I’m unlimited, that He is everywhere.” Humphrey’s campus pastor, Cody Griggs, suggested she go on her own for a longer period of time if she was considering full-time international missions. “It was a test of calling – seeing if I could manage a budget, find ministry opportunities, enjoy living among a different culture, and feel a calling from the Lord to go back long term,” she said. “I got a calling to devote my life to ministry. I would love to go back to Africa. It’s my dream, but I want to be in the Lord’s will. I want to be where the Lord would have me.” Last summer, Humphrey spent three months in Zambia, working with two ministries: , a Christian nonprofit that establishes churches in the region, and , which serves homeless and orphaned children. The Zambia Project also provides medical services, builds water wells, and translates Bibles into other village languages. Humphrey stayed in Mongu, which has a school, a hospital, a center where caretakers learn how to care for malnourished children, and a therapy department that helps children with physical and mental disabilities. “While I was there, I was talking to one of the physical therapists who said it would be really good if they had a Bible for kids,” she said. “The only printed Bible in Mongu is like the King James that uses old English type language that is very hard for children to understand, and it’s not illustrated,” she said. Humphrey heard similar sentiments from other missionaries in the area and decided to use her graphic art skills to create an illustrated Bible for African children. The project was part of her Bachelor of Fine Arts thesis project that she presented in April. Although English is the official language of Zambia, the Lozi dialect is more commonly used in Mongu. Humphrey found an online New International Version of the Lozi Bible which she used. Illustrating the entire Bible would be difficult to accomplish in a year, so she started with the Book of Luke, one of the Gospels in the New Testament. “The book is aimed at the second-grade level,” she said. “Those are kids who can read and want to know more about Jesus, but they also need illustrations and bright colors to stay captivated. With the help of an adult reader, it could also be read to little children, and they would also enjoy the illustrations.” Humphrey selected stories to illustrate and Bible verses to highlight. She needed to test prototypes and experiment with book binding when she learned about ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Signature Experience Awards program, which provides funding for undergraduate students to work on research or creative works with a professor. With the grant, she purchased a thermal binding machine, paper, and ink. Her finished project was a 72-page, full-color book she displayed at the Student Research and Creative Works Expo on April 18. Her mentor was Kevin Cates, associate professor of graphic design. “These probably won’t be sent to Zambia since it would be much more economical for them to be printed in South Africa,” she said of the publication. However, Humphrey hopes to start a nonprofit called Translation Hope so she can raise funds to pay for Bible printing and distribution. In addition to being a student leader in Chi Alpha, Humphrey has worked on The Forum student newspaper as a designer, section editor, editor, and then executive editor. She also has interned in the Chancellor’s Office. Off campus, she works part-time for the after-school program at Lakewood United Methodist Church in North Little Rock and volunteers with the children and youth ministries at Otter Creek Assembly of God in Little Rock. Humphrey is the daughter of Anthony and Kim Humphrey of Fort Smith. Top right photo: Lauren Humphrey exhibits her illustrated children’s Bible at the Student Research and Creative Works Expo on April 18 in the Jack Stephens Center. Above photo: Lauren Humphrey binds pages together in a Bible she illustrated for children in Zambia. The project was part of her BFA in graphic design thesis project. Photos by Benjamin Krain

History on display

Janea Snyder — Fri, 09 Nov 2018 22:12:06 +0000

Little Rock’s Robinson Center unveiled a new permanent exhibit on Friday, Nov. 9, that is the result of research and creative work by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Collections and Archives and the Department of Art and Design.�� The “Timeline of Historic Robinson Center” was unveiled Nov. 9 at a ceremony in the second-floor Historic Lobby on the east side of the Robinson Center. The exhibit’s opening coincided with the second anniversary of Robinson’s 2016 reopening following an extensive renovation. The timelines stretches more than 50 feet along the interior wall, detailing the history of the center from the 1930s to the present. At one end of the timeline is a 10-foot-tall photograph of Joseph Taylor Robinson, the former Arkansas governor and U.S. senator for whom Robinson Auditorium was named. At the other end is a reproduction painting of the newly remodeled building that re-opened Nov. 10, 2016, following a 28-month, $70-million restoration, renovation, and expansion led by the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Anyone who has spent time in central Arkansas has a personal story of Robinson Center,” said Gretchen Hall, president and CEO of the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau. “The facility has touched so many within our community. Maybe you experienced your first symphony concert or Broadway production there; graduated or performed on the stage; or attended a wrestling, boxing, or basketball game in the original basement. The facility has long been a prominent landmark for performing arts and cultural entertainment in Little Rock.” The exhibit was a collaboration between ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Archives and Special Collections, Center for Arkansas History and Culture, Department of Art and Design, Department of History, and the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Our archivists and historians did the research and writing for the historical pieces, and the artists created the visuals and design,” said Deborah Baldwin, associate provost of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Collections and Archives. “It’s been a nice match of skills.” Shannon Lausch, an archivist at the Center for Arkansas History and Culture, was the lead researcher and wrote the primary text panels for the exhibit. Charles Romney, associate professor of history, and Vincent Vinikas, professor of history, also contributed to the research. Kevin Cates and Thomas Clifton, professors in ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Department of Art and Design, oversaw the exhibit design. Cates, who teaches graphic arts, oversaw the on-site installation on Oct. 22. He also used the exhibit as a teaching moment for students in his Print Production class, who toured the exhibit. Cates explained the installation process and the inevitable troubleshooting required on a large public exhibit to his class, which includes mainly art and graphic design majors. Cates also pointed out subtle design elements – the type font, color choices, and repeating art motifs – that mimic the art deco vibe of Robinson Center’s original design. Planning and design of the project has been in the works for about a year. ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Collections and Archives hold the archival items used in the exhibit and proposed the permanent exhibit as a way to feature this material about the Robinson Center’s history. The exhibit details the historical significance of the Robinson Center and the many functions that it has served for nearly a century. The center was born out of the desperate need for work for the jobless in the Great Depression, which struck hard in Arkansas. Little Rock also needed a municipal auditorium. Construction of Robinson Auditorium was one of several building projects made possible under President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal legislation. At the groundbreaking ceremony on Dec. 14, 1937, city officials dedicated the building to Sen. Robinson, who had died six months earlier. The city saw it as a fitting tribute to name the structure after Robinson, whose work in supporting the New Deal had enabled projects like the Robinson Auditorium. Over the years, Robinson has hosted theater, music, dance, lectures, sports, and civic events. When it opened, it became the first auditorium in the South with air conditioning. Conventions, theatrical shows, and numerous musical acts all came to Little Rock. In fact, the first recording of Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog” was made on Robinson’s stage. Robinson also provided a platform for figures of national significance. In 1947, Dwight Eisenhower shared his experiences as supreme commander of the allied forces in World War II. Pres. Harry Truman also spoke and attended a ball at Robinson on June 10, 1949. During their presidencies, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush chose Robinson Center to speak with audiences in Little Rock. The Robinson Center exhibit is the second permanent exhibit that the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Center for Arkansas History and Culture has completed recently in downtown Little Rock. In 2014, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock completed an exhibit for the lobby of the city’s Arcade Building. The exhibit intersperses images of early construction scenes, blueprints, and photographs of the Arcade Building with historical facts about its founders and architects. ��Vlog��ý Little Rock professor Kevin Cates explains some of the design elements of the new “History of Robinson” timeline in Robinson Center to some of his students. Photo by Benjamin Krain

��Vlog��ý Little Rock game creators raise more than $27K to manufacture game

Ajani Oyindamola — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 19:38:52 +0000

A group of University of Arkansas at Little Rock employees, students, and alumni who created a space-western storytelling card game – dubbed Galactic Scoundrels – have reached their online fundraising goal to raise enough money to have the game manufactured, breaking their fundraising goal by more than $10,000.�� The creators of Galactic Scoundrels include Joseph Williams, associate professor in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing, Tanner Marshall and Olivia Dunlap, graduate students in the Department of Computer Science; Brad Sims, instructional designer and media specialist for the College of Education and Health Professions; and Robbie Hunt, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock alumnus. Kevin Cates, associate professor of graphic design, joined the team and created all of the art for the game. Williams and crew, who co-founded the Little Rock Game Designers group in 2014 and last year formed a company called Little Rock Games, started a to raise enough money to have the game manufactured. The game creators set a goal of $17,000. By the end of the campaign on July 25, a total of 666 backers donated $27,430 to turn the game into a reality. “The campaign went really well, and we were blown away. In the last 48 hours of the campaign, we raised almost $4,000, and everyone was feeling a lot of joy,” Williams said. “We were so thrilled. At the beginning of the process, I was worried we wouldn’t even get funded. This is the first time any of us have tried anything like this. To have it this successful the first time around is really amazing for all of us.” Galactic Scoundrels is inspired by beloved fictional scoundrels like Han Solo from “Star Wars” and Malcolm Reynolds from “Firefly.” Players gamble and bluff each other to win a job and then tell the shared story of that job by playing cards. Each job is a mini-adventure lasting 15-20 minutes with spaceships, crew, cargo, strange and wonderful characters, and exciting twists. The game has simple rules, which can be learned in about 10 minutes. This allows players to emphasize storytelling, negotiation, and social interaction.

Galactic Scoundrels

Their Kickstarter backers reached two stretch goals – a funding target set by the project creator beyond the original Kickstarter goal – meaning that gamers will receive a thank-you gift from the Galactic Scoundrels creators in the form of 10 additional game cards that will create extra twists and turns in the game. Williams said they are planning an initial run of about 800 games that should be delivered to their Kickstarter backers in January 2019. Meanwhile, the developers are already working on their next game. Dunlap and Marshall came up with the idea for a video game called To The Rescue, where players learn how to run an animal shelter and help real-world shelters by supporting the game. “People can make it a charity experience for themselves,” Williams said. “We believe that games can be more than entertainment, that they can used to do something meaningful in the world. This is a game that definitely fits that category.” In the upper right photo, the creators of Galactic Scoundrels include: (L to R) Tanner Marshall, Brad Sims, Olivia Dunlap, Joe Williams, and Robbie Hunt. Photo by Ben Krain/��Vlog��ý Little Rock Communications and Marketing.��

��Vlog��ý Little Rock game designers start Kickstarter campaign to manufacture new space-western game

Ajani Oyindamola — Thu, 28 Jun 2018 20:37:18 +0000

A group of University of Arkansas at Little Rock employees, students, and alumni have joined forces to create a game to bring out the space scoundrels in all of us.

The space-western storytelling card game – dubbed Galactic Scoundrels – is inspired by beloved fictional scoundrels like Han Solo from “Star Wars” and Malcolm Reynolds from “Firefly.” The game is designed for 3-5 players to play for 90-120 minutes.

“It started out with an idea of telling space scoundrel stories. When I was a kid, I wanted to be Han Solo,” said Joe Williams, associate professor in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing and lead designer of Galactic Scoundrels.

Williams started designing the game with Tanner Marshall and Olivia Dunlap, graduate students in the Department of Computer Science; Brad Sims, instructional designer and media specialist for the College of Education and Health Professions; and Robbie Hunt, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock alumnus. Kevin Cates, associate professor of graphic design, joined the team and created all of the art for the game.

“I’m older now, but my friends and I still want to tell great stories when we get together for game night, but we don’t have time to generate those stories over weeks, or months, or years. Usually, all we have is an hour or two. It lets us tell the crazy, quirky, sideways tales we love.”

Players gamble and bluff each other to win a job and then tell the shared story of that job by playing cards. Each job is a mini-adventure lasting 15-20 minutes with spaceships, crew, cargo, strange and wonderful characters, and exciting twists.

The game has simple rules, which can be learned in about 10 minutes. This allows players to emphasize storytelling, negotiation, and social interaction. A full game lasts 90 minutes or so, but players often just play as many stories as they feel inspired to tell.

Galactic Scoundrels

Williams and crew, who co-founded the Little Rock Game Designers group in 2014 and last year formed a company called Little Rock Games, have started a to raise money to have the game manufactured. They have already raised nearly $11,500 from 271 backers by June 28, so odds seem favorable that they will reach their $17,000 goal by July 25.

Backers can pledge $5 to get a print and play PDF version of the game, $25 for one copy of Galactic Scoundrels, and $40 for the game plus an expanded universe card pack. Those who pledge $75 or more get the extra honor of designing a card for the expanded universe card pack.

If the Kickstarter campaign is successful, Little Rock Games plans to produce an initial launch of 500 games that they will sell to online and brick and mortar retailers. Williams said two local game stores have already ordered advance copies of the game.

Williams will be interviewed on the radio show “,” which broadcasts on 101.1 FM at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 30. The show will be, and listeners can call in during the show at 501-823-0965 or tweet @ShanePlays.

“I think we are just really excited,” Williams said. “None of this would have been possible without us connecting at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. We love that the university provides a creative place to generate ideas like this and let them grow.”

In the upper right photo, the creators of Galactic Scoundrels (L to R) include Brad Sims, Robbie Hunt, Joe Williams, Tanner Marshall, and Olivia Dunlap.

CRE8 event showcases new Windgate Center, raises scholarship money

Janea Snyder — Tue, 20 Feb 2018 21:04:34 +0000

Hundreds of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock supporters got a first look inside the Windgate Center of Art + Design on Feb. 16 at the signature event CRE8, honoring the Windgate Charitable Foundation for its gift that made the center possible. The Windgate Foundation gave $20.3 million to build the center, which houses all of the university’s art and design programs. More recently, the foundation gave an additional $603,000 of which $425,000 will be used to endow the Windgate Professorship in Art and Design, a permanent, tenure track position. Of the remaining money, $103,000 will support a visiting artist-in-residence for two years in contemporary crafts, and $75,000 is dedicated for gallery program and support. CRE8, presented by , drew more than 350 people and raised more than $92,000 with proceeds earmarked for scholarships for art and design students. “This gift is not just a building.��It is an opportunity for us to make a huge difference in the lives of our students,” Tom Clifton, interim dean of the College of Arts, Letters, and Sciences told the crowd. “It is a chance to give them pathways they wouldn’t otherwise have and change their lives and their futures.” CRE8 also showcased the many types of creative work taking place daily in the center, from ceramics and 3D design to furniture design. In the yard foundry, Sculpture Art Professor Michael Warrick demonstrated a bronze pour twice during the evening. Visitors saw woodworking, metalsmithing, blacksmithing, jewelry making and ceramics, while other faculty conducted demonstrations in photography, portrait lighting, 3D prints and laser, character animation, graphic design and painting. Visitors explored the center’s two galleries that house works from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Permanent Collection and the visiting exhibit “.” While most visitors expected to see lots of art, they didn’t expect to take home a piece of art. ��Vlog��ý Little Rock sculpture art professor Michael Warrick and other art faculty and students created more than 200 “spirit houses” for their guests.

Michael Warrick individually numbers the wooden “spirit houses” for CRE8.

The wooden houses came boxed with a simple explanation: “Each unique house is given as an expression of appreciation for the special and kind gesture of supporting the creative spirit.” Warrick has made hundreds of the houses over the past 20 years to give friends and family as a thank-you of sorts. The project started when his wife had serious complications during childbirth. To thank the many friends and family who helped them, he gave a simple wooden house he crafted. He thought the spirit houses would be a perfect way to say thanks to the university supporters who attended Friday night’s ticketed event. Using scraps of hardwood, faculty members Peter Scheidt and Julia Baugh helped Warrick cut, sand, and glue the wood pieces. Graphic design professor Kevin Cates designed the Windgate Center for Art + Design logo. Andy Huss, a local sculptor, volunteered time sanding and clear coating the pieces. Graphic design student Chassidy Siratt laser-cut a Windgate Center logo on the bottom of each house, and Warrick individually numbered the houses – like art collector pieces. In photo top right: Former and current chairs of the Department of Art from the past 30 years attended CRE8 on Feb. 16 to celebrate the Windgate Center for Design + Art. From left: Don Van Horn (1988-93), Floyd Martin (1994-95), Jane Brown (1996-98), Win Bruhl (1998-2013), Tom Clifton (2013-2016), Mia Hall (2016-2017), and Carey Roberson (2017-present).

From the classroom to the creamery: ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students work with local business

Jenny Lambert — Mon, 15 May 2017 14:10:09 +0000

University of Arkansas at Little Rock graphic design students recently flexed their creative muscles, completing a real-world, hands-on project for a local ice cream parlor. Kevin Cates, associate professor and graphic design coordinator for the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Department of Art and Design, wanted to give students taking his package design course a unique experience. While volunteering for an event at in Little Rock, Cates made the acquaintance of Sally Mengel, co-founder and co-owner of Loblolly Creamery. , located in the South Main district, is known for its handmade ice cream and extensive community outreach. Many of the organic ingredients used to create the business’s delectable frozen treats are either grown or sold in Arkansas. “I started talking to Sally and I told her I loved her product,” Cates said. “I jokingly said to her, ‘Man, I’d love to work on your stuff. You guys are a local business, so I’d do it pro bono.’ She said, ‘Yeah let’s do it. You’d get free ice cream.’” Following his conversation with Mengel, Cates wasted no time reaching out to Elizabeth Strandberg, an employee of Loblolly and former student of the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock design program. His goal was to work with Strandberg to construct a plan that would not only benefit the business, but also the students. After careful consideration, Cates proposed the idea of his students designing ice cream containers and packages for Loblolly. Hoping to add some variety to the sea of black and white that are incorporated in Loblolly’s logo and brand, Mengel was more than excited to hear of the design idea. “Our only requirements were that we should be able to tell the flavor of the ice cream, and students should have fun doing the project,” Mengel said. Because Loblolly was already working with a company on rebranding, Cates students could not sell their package designs to the creamery once completed. Still, they got the experience of working with a real business. “I want to start bringing a lot of local businesses into the classroom for subject matter,” Cates said. “This way, students aren’t just creating arbitrary things, but they’re actually creating something for something that exists.” Once Cates got the green light for the idea, he presented the project to his students. They were to design a pint for three of Loblolly’s signature flavors and one seasonal flavor. Because Loblolly had no packages for its hot cocoa mix and macarons, the students were encouraged to use their creativity to construct those package designs. After the students received the information they needed to begin their assignment, Strandberg presented them ice cream pints that would become their canvas. With free creative reign, the design students spent three weeks going above and beyond what Mengel or Strandberg anticipated. Each completed design was unique and brought a different approach to Loblolly’s original concept. “These are amazing,” Strandberg said after seeing the students’ finished products. “I thought it was just going to be like, ‘Oh. Play with that design and add some color in it.’ I did not expect this.” For their final presentation, the students presented their work to Mendel and Strandberg at the Loblolly location. While there, they received free ice cream, as promised. With the glow of a proud parent watching his students succeed, Cates said he plans to conduct similar projects in the future. For more information, contact Cates at klcates@ualr.edu or visit

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