Summer Art at CALS: Events and News

We are deep into summer, and with it comes chances for some fun (and free!) art experiences at CALS!

Upcoming Workshops and Activities

Colorful Creative Corner with CALS
Tuesday, July 14, and Tuesday July 21, 2-4 p.m.
UA Little Rock Downtown, entrance at the corner of President Clinton Ave. and Rock St.   

All ages are welcome to this free Summer @ CALS program for coloring, collaging, and creating whatever you want! All supplies provided. Come hang out and create in a relaxed (air-conditioned!) atmosphere.

Bring a friend or make a new one!  

Parking is available in the CALS surface lot (accessible from 2nd St.) and the CALS parking deck (accessible from Rock Street). Parking will be validated. 

Made possible by generous funding from the CALS Foundation and the Windgate Foundation. 

Beginning Watercolor Painting, with artist Judy Redditt
Tuesday, August 18, 2-4 p.m.
CALS Roberts Library, Room 204  

Judy Redditt’s goals for teaching beginning watercolor students are to focus on several important concepts. 

First, teach students the value of breathing and music with a focus on their thoughts and emotions positively, which will be reflected in their work.   

Second, emphasize the value of painting with a brush-only technique, eliminating the drawing aspect evident in creating floral watercolors. 

Three, make it clear that our emotions and thoughts are the driving force in the creative process, allowing our hand and brush to create watercolors. Artists can reduce anxiety, quiet the inner critic, and foster a more intuitive connection to their work. Self-value is important in the watercolor journey. 

Finally, make students aware of other applications of breathing and music in sports, music, and the performing arts. 

Limited to 12 attendees, adults only. Free, with all supplies provided.

Made possible by generous funding from the Windgate Foundation. 

Parking is available in the CALS surface lot (accessible from 2nd St.) and the CALS parking deck (accessible from Rock Street). Parking will be validated.  

2nd Friday Art Night (2FAN)

2nd Friday Art Night
July 10, 5-8 p.m. 
CALS Main Library, 1st Floor 

Artist Chris Massingill will be taking FREE dada/nonsense art instant photos, with costumes provided. And you can display your photo on a mini clip holder that you decorate yourself! 

At our monthly 2FAN event, attendees will be greeted in the Main Library’s first-floor Shaylea Harding Lobby with local artists selling their work, art demonstrations, a craft table, a DJ or performer playing music, and light refreshments and libations. Arkansas artists will be selling ornaments, paintings, jewelry, greeting cards, clothing, photography, totes, prints, purses, treats, chocolates, pottery, wood, magnets, stickers, and more. You just never know what unique gift you will find! 

PLUS: 2nd Friday Knit Night (part of 2FAN). Bring your WIP (work in progress) and hang out for an evening of social knitting. Don’t know how to knit? We’ll teach you. Supplies provided.    

(Note: Library services other than self-check will not be available after the library closes at 6:00.) 

Boulevard Bread Company’s location inside the library will also be open with a limited menu, so you can purchase your favorite snack, treat, or coffee.  

Made possible by generous funding from the CALS Foundation and the Windgate Foundation. 

For more information about all downtown 2FAN activities, visit the 2nd Friday Art Night Facebook page.

 Exhibitions on View

People and Places in Arkansas: Historical Photographs from the Butler Center Archives
On view throughout summer 2026
CALS Main Library, 5th Floor   

These scenes of people and places from throughout Arkansas’s history were selected from the collections of the CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies.  

To explore more Arkansas history, visit the CALS Bobby L. Roberts Library of Arkansas History & Art’s Research Room (which holds materials from the Butler Center and the UA Little Rock Center for Arkansas History and Culture) or RobertsLibrary.org. 

2026 Arkansas Art Educators State Youth Art Show
On view through August 22, 2026
CALS Hillary Rodham Clinton Children’s Library & Learning Center 

The Arkansas Art Educators State Youth Art Show 2026 exhibits the Best of Show winners from art competitions held in seven regions of the state: Northwest, Northeast, Central, East, Southwest, Southeast, and West.

The artwork was created by talented students from kindergarten through twelfth grade.

The Arkansas Art Educators is an organization made up of art teachers from all over the state who work with the Arkansas Department of Education to provide teachers with high-quality in-service training and to promote student art in the state. CALS is proud to support Arkansas’s teachers and its artists of all ages.

From the Vault: Contemporary Crafts from the CALS Art Collection
On view August 14 through the end of fall
CALS Roberts Library, Underground Gallery  

As part of our From the Vault series featuring works from the permanent collection of the Central Arkansas Library System, the exhibition Contemporary Crafts from the CALS Art Collection will focus on Arkansas artists who exemplify the creative ability to move artistic traditions in new directions. 

Among many other works, the exhibition will feature examples of woodworking by Gene Sparling and Shep Miers, ceramic arts by Helen Phillips and Barbara Satterfield, basketry by Leon Niehues, and fabric arts by Deborah Kuster and Louise Halsey. 

The CALS Permanent Collection holds more than 1,500 works of art and incorporates a wide range of media, including paintings, sculpture, works on paper, photographs, and decorative arts. Works are added to the collection regularly through purchases and donations. More art from the CALS collection can be seen throughout all of our library locations.  

Other Art Happenings

There are more than 2,000 memorials, including over 700 monuments, dedicated to the Confederate States of America scattered across the southern United States. Although the Confederacy lost the Civil War, its legacy has endured for generations, in part due to these monuments. Overshadowed, if not completely obscured, is the role that African Americans from the South had in defeating the Confederacy. To help rectify that, the Central Arkansas Library System initiated a project to develop a monument to honor the African Americans who served in the United States military during the Civil War. Spearheaded by Bobby Roberts, the retired longtime director of the library system, the effort was launched in 2023 when a committee of local citizens, historians, and library staff was formed to undertake the endeavor.

Following a Legacies & Lunch presentation on June 3 featuring historian Ronnie Nichols and sculptor Vinnie Bagwell discussing the history of the U.S. Colored Troops in Arkansas, the new monument that had been commissioned by CALS was unveiled and dedicated in Library Square. The monument honors those soldiers and commemorates their service. 

Read more about the history of the U.S. Colored Troops in Arkansas, the process of creating the sculpture, and the meanings behind the symbolism on the sculpture.

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Visit the CALS website (opens in new window) for Roberts Library visiting information (opens in new window). For questions about art events, classes, and workshops, contact art programmer Shannon Holmes at sholmes@cals.org or 501-320-5792.

All abilities are welcome at all programs. To request ASL interpretation or other accommodations, call 501.918.3069 or email hzbinden@cals.org seven business weekdays before a program.  

 Art events and workshops are made possible by generous funding from the Windgate Foundation.