15
____
16
Walton Arts & Ideas Series
| Clarksville, Arkansas
Nov. 12
Sleepy La
B
eef
The
IDENTITYof the
SOUTH
Feb. 17
Lightin’ W
e
lls
Mar. 3
Rick Brag
g
Oct. 12-13
Aj Smith &
Marjorie Williams-Smith
Apr. 7
Peter Gura
lnick
The
IDENTITYof the
SOUTH
What makes the South Southern? From its tumultuous Civil Rights history,
to its notable and colorful brand of politics, food, art, music, and literature,
to today’s conflicts over the Confederate flag, the South has distinguished
itself as a compelling, influential and unique region. In the 2015-16 edition
of the Walton Arts & Ideas Series, University of the Ozarks explores this
region’s intriguing blend of history, literature, music and pop culture with
several engaging and enlightening events. The 2015-16 Walton series
includes eight diverse concerts, lectures, performances and presentations.
There is no charge for general admission. We invite you to join us this year
on the University of the Ozarks campus for this exciting lineup of culturally
enriching events.
The Walton Arts & Ideas Series is made possible through an endowment by the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation.
Walton Arts & Ideas Series
At A Glance
| 2015-16 Schedule of Events
DR. ANGIE MAXWELL, Associate Professor of Southern Studies, University of Arkansas
WED, SEPT 16 | 7 P.M. | SEAY STUDENT CENTER, ROGERS CONFERENCE CENTER
Presentation: The South vs... Everything: The Evolution of Southern Identity
LECIA BROOKS, Outreach Director for Southern Poverty Law Center
TUE, OCT 6 | 7 P.M. | SEAY STUDENT CENTER, ROGERS CONFERENCE CENTER
Presentation: The State of Hate & Extremism in the U.S.
AJ SMITH & MARJORIE WILLIAMS-SMITH, Artists
MON, OCT 12 | 7 P.M. | WALTON FINE ARTS CENTER, STEPHENS GALLERY
Exhibition & Reception: The Artists’ Perspectives
TUE, OCT 13 | 7 P.M. | SEAY STUDENT CENTER, ROGERS CONFERENCE CENTER
Presentation: Faces of the Delta/Places of the Delta
SLEEPY LaBEEF, Singer/Musician
THUR, NOV 12 | 7 P.M. | WALTON FINE ARTS CENTER, ROWNTREE HALL
Presentation: American Roots Music, “Rockabilly” Concert
MATT McCLURE, Executive Chef of The Hive at 21c Museum Hotel
WED, DEC 2 | 7 P.M. | SEAY STUDENT CENTER, ROGERS CONFERENCE CENTER
Presentation: Foods of the South & Cooking Demonstration
LIGHTNIN’ WELLS, Singer/Musician
WED, FEB 17 | 7 P.M. | WALTON FINE ARTS CENTER, ROWNTREE HALL
Presentation: Acoustic Folk Blues Concert
RICK BRAGG, Author
THUR, MAR 3 | 7 P.M. | WALTON FINE ARTS CENTER, ROWNTREE HALL
Presentation: An Evening with Rick Bragg
PETER GURALNICK, Author
THUR, APR 7 | 7 P.M. | WALTON FINE ARTS CENTER, ROWNTREE HALL
Presentation: An Evening with Peter Guralnick
Go to www.ozarks.edu for more information
on these and other events throughout the year.
Sept. 16 | 7 p.m.
Seay Student Center
—Rogers Conference Center
DR. ANGIE MAXWELL
Assoc. Professor of Southern Studies, University of Arkansas
Presentation: The South Vs ... Everything: The Evolution of
Southern Identity
A
ngie Maxwell is the Diane D. Blair Professor
of Southern Studies and an assistant
professor of Political Science at the
University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. She received
her Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of
Texas, Austin. Maxwell is the author of “The Indicted
South: Public Criticism, Southern Inferiority, and the
Politics of Whiteness,” which was nominated for the
Lillian Smith Book Award. She is also the co-editor
of “Unlocking V. O. Key, Jr.: Southern Politics for the
Twenty-first Century,” and “The Ongoing Burden of
Southern History: Politics and Identity in the Twentyfirst Century South.” She also served as editor
of the new edition of Ralph McGill’s “A Church,
A School.” Maxwell’s articles have appeared in
Southern Cultures, Presidential Studies Quarterly,
the Journal of Black Studies, American Behavioral
Scientist, Race and Social Problems, Social Science
Quarterly, and The Southern Quarterly. She is
currently working on a new book, entitled “The Long
Southern Strategy,” for Oxford University Press.
Oct. 6 | 7 p.m.
Seay Student Center
—Rogers Conference Center
LECIA BROOKS
Outreach Director for Southern Poverty Law Center
Presentation: The State of Hate & Extremism in the U.S.
L
ecia Brooks is the outreach director for the
Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a
Montgomery, Alabama, based civil rights
advocacy organization dedicated to fighting hate
and bigotry, and seeking justice for the most
vulnerable members of society. As outreach
director, Brooks leads the organization’s efforts
on key initiatives and social justice issues. She
frequently gives presentations around the country
to promote tolerance and diversity. She also serves
as director of the Civil Rights Memorial Center in
Montgomery, an interpretive center designed to
provide visitors to the Civil Rights Memorial with a
deeper understanding of the civil rights movement.
She joined the SPLC staff in 2004 as director of Mix
It Up at Lunch Day, a Teaching Tolerance program
designed to help break down racial, cultural and
social barriers in schools. Previously, she worked
for 12 years in a number of capacities for the
National Conference for Community and Justice in
its Los Angeles office. She is a graduate of Loyola
Marymount University in Los Angeles.
Oct. 12-13 | 7 p.m.
Walton Fine Arts Center —Stephens Gallery (Oct. 12)
Seay Student Center —Rogers Conference Center (Oct. 13)
AJ SMITH & MARJORIE
WILLIAMS-SMITH
Artists
Exhibition & Reception: The Artists’ Perspectives
Presentation: Faces of the Delta/Places of the Delta
A
Artwork by: Aj Smith
Maxx in Sunlight, 2007 | 9”x6”
Cover Artwork by: Marjorie Williams-Smith
Trio, 1988
Silverpoint, copperpoint, & goldpoint with
steelwool on gesso | 28½” x 12”
ccomplished artists Aj Smith and Marjorie
Williams-Smith are professors of art at the
University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Aj, who
earned a master of fine arts degree from Queens
College in New York, is also a master printer in fine
art printmaking. Marjorie earned a master’s degree
from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y. Their artwork has
been featured in exhibits and galleries throughout the
United States. Faces of the Delta/Place of the Delta
is an on-going project to record cultural vignettes and
visual motifs of a particular segment of the American
lifestyle. Both Aj and Marjorie use silverpoint, largescale graphite pencil, and watercolor drawings. Aj’s
artwork captures particular individuals considered to
be “ordinary folk who represent the salt-of-the-earth.”
Subjects of his drawings live in relatively remote rural
locations in the Arkansas and Mississippi Delta regions.
Marjorie’s artwork primarily focuses on flowers in their
dry state. “The flower is fragile in its dried state but I am
able to clearly see this form as if frozen in time. It also
becomes a metaphor for spiritual reflection.”
Nov. 12 | 7 p.m.
Walton Fine Arts Center
—Rowntree Hall
SLEEPY LaBEEF
Singer/Musician
Presentation: American Roots Music, “Rockabilly” Concert
S
leepy LaBeef is the ultimate rockabilly survivor.
As he approaches his eighth decade as a
musician, his live performances still retain
the same power they had in the years when he was
among the music’s pioneers. Born Thomas Paulsey
LaBeff in Smackover, Ark., the 6-foot-7 singer has
heavily lidded eyes which make him appear halfasleep, hence his nickname. He was raised on a
melon farm and grew up listening to both country
and blues music. LaBeef moved to Houston at age
18, working at several odd jobs before beginning to
sing gospel music on local radio shows. Soon he was
working with a band of his own at local bars, and he
appeared on the Houston Jamboree and Louisiana
Hayride radio programs. The new rockabilly style fit
his blazing voice perfectly, and in the late 1950s he
recorded about a dozen sides in that style for various
labels. His first single, “I’m Through,” was released in
1957 on the Starday label. LaBeef moved to Nashville
in 1964 and soon was signed to Columbia Records. In
the 1960s he recorded mostly straight country music,
before reconnecting with his rockabilly roots in the
1970s. With his booming vocals and slashing guitar,
LaBeef has been a favorite among country, blues and
rockabilly fans for more than 50 years.
Dec. 2 | 7 p.m.
Seay Student Center
—Rogers Conference Center
MATT McCLURE
Executive Chef of The Hive at 21c Museum Hotel
Presentation: Foods of the South and Cooking Demonstration
M
att McClure, the executive chef at The Hive
restaurant in Bentonville, Ark., was born and
raised in Little Rock, where hunting, fishing
and his grandmother’s cooking ignited his passion
for food. After studying at the New England Culinary
Institute in Vermont, he settled in Boston working at a
number of restaurants including Troquet, Harvest and
No. 9 Park under the direction of Barbara Lynch. After
years in Boston, McClure was eager to get back to
his home state to reconnect with the ingredients and
foodways of his childhood. He returned to Little Rock
where he worked under Lee Richardson at Ashley’s
at the Capital Hotel, developing strong relationships
with local farmers and producers and rediscovering
the agricultural resources of his home state. In 2012,
McClure joined the opening team of The Hive, located
at the 21c Museum Hotel in Bentonville. At The
Hive, Matt showcases the refined, country cuisine
of the High South, focusing on the local ingredients
of Northwest Arkansas and the region’s traditional
methods of cooking. Matt was a James Beard Award
semi-finalist for the “Best Chef: South” award in both
2014 and 2015, and was awarded Food & Wine
Magazine’s “The People’s Best New Chef” award for
the Midwest in 2015.
FEB. 17 | 7 p.m.
Walton Fine Arts Center
—Rowntree Hall
LIGHTNIN’ WELLS
Singer/Musician
Presentation: Acoustic Folk Blues
M
ike “Lightnin’” Wells breathes new life into the
vintage tunes of the 1920s and Depression
era America by employing various appropriate
stringed instruments in a dynamic style which he
has developed in more than 30 years of performing
experience. Raised in eastern North Carolina, Wells
learned to play harmonica as a young child and taught
himself to play the guitar as he developed a strong
interest in traditional blues and folk music. His many
years of public performance began in Chapel Hill, N.C.
in the early 1970s. During the following decades he
has presented his brand of acoustic blues throughout
North Carolina, the United States and Europe. With his
experience, knowledge and well-honed performance
skills, Lightnin’ Wells has established himself at the
forefront of the traditional blues revival. His musical
style is personal and energetic yet remains true to the
original root form. His goal is to entertain and educate
using a variety of sources, influences and techniques
to express his dedication, respect and pleasure in
presenting this unique American art form. Wrote one
recent reviewer: “Whether you look to performers for
inspiration, education, virtuosity, or sheer entertainment,
Lightnin’ Wells delivers all the above, every single time.”
Mar. 3 | 7 p.m.
Walton Fine Arts Center
—Rowntree Hall
RICK BRAGG
Author
Presentation: An Evening with Rick Bragg
R
ick Bragg is the author of several critically
acclaimed and best-selling books, including,
“All Over but the Shoutin’,” “Ava’s Man,”
“The Prince of Frogtown, ” and “Jerry Lee Lewis:
His Own Story.” A native Alabamian, Bragg says he
learned to tell stories by listening to the masters,
the people of the foothills of the Appalachians. “All
Over but the Shoutin,’ ” was Bragg’s first book, the
story of his mother who devoted her life to making
a better life for her three sons. Bragg’s books have
become anthems in his native South, honoring
the poor and working people, and have struck a
chord with readers everywhere. During his career,
Bragg worked at several newspapers, including
the Anniston Star, the Birmingham News and the
St. Petersburg Times, before joining The New York
Times in 1994. As a national correspondent for the
Times, Bragg won the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Feature
Writing, for which the committee cited his elegantly
written stories about contemporary America. Bragg’s
2009 book, “The Most They Ever Had,” is an
eloquent tale of an Alabama cotton mill community,
which led The New York Times Book Review to
state, “It is hard to think of a writer who reminds us
more forcefully and wonderfully of what people and
families are all about.”
Apr. 7 | 7 p.m.
Walton Fine Arts Center
—Rowntree Hall
PETER GURALNICK
Author
Presentation: An Evening with Peter Guralnick
P
eter Guralnick has been called “a national
resource” by critic Nat Hentoff for work that
has argued passionately and persuasively
for the vitality of this country’s intertwined black and
white musical traditions. His books include the prizewinning two-volume biography of Elvis Presley,
“Last Train to Memphis” and “Careless Love.” He
won a Grammy for his liner notes for “Sam Cooke
Live at the Harlem Square Club,” and wrote and
co-produced the documentary “Sam Phillips: The
Man Who Invented Rock ‘n’ Roll,” as well as writing
the scripts for the Grammy-winning documentary
“Sam Cooke/Legend” and Martin Scorsese’s blues
documentary “Feel Like Going Home.” He teaches
Creative Writing at Vanderbilt, where he is Writer
in Residence, and is a recent inductee in the Blues
Hall of Fame. His most recently published book,
“Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke,” was
hailed as “monumental, panoramic, an epic tale
told against a backdrop of brilliant, shimmering
music, intense personal melodrama, and vast social
changes.” His comprehensive and long-awaited
biography of Sam Phillips, “Sam Phillips: The Man
Who Invented Rock ‘n’ Roll,” will be published in
November of this year.
Walton Arts & Ideas Series
2015-16
415 N. College Ave.
Clarksville, AR 72830