Everything's coming up red in downtown for Valentine's Day!
Main Street Creative Corridor
February 10-26:  Sister  Act, Arkansas Repertory Theatre .  Raise your voice with The Holy Order of the Little Sisters of Our Mother of Perpetual Faith in this rapturous new musical based on the 1992 hit movie starring Whoopi Goldberg!  Learn more.

F ebruary 26: Barkus on Main--Come on out for Barkus on Main, a Mardi Gras-themed dog parade in the Main Street Creative Corridor, presented by Hounds Lounge Pet Resort and Spa. There will be prizes for 8 different categories, food and beverages for sale, along with live entertainment by the Big John Miller Band! For more information or to register link here, or call Downtown Little Rock Partnership at 501-375-0121.
River Market District
February 10: Kevin & Gus Kerby, Christ Episcopal Church in The Undercroft. $10.
February 10-12: Arkansas RV Show, Statehouse Convention Center.
February 11: Casablanca screening, CALS Ron Robinson Theater, $5. Learn more.
February 11:   Beatles Movie Marathon,  Clinton Presidential Center.  Screenings of The Beatles: Eight Days a Week, 11 a.m., and A Hard Day's Night at 2 p.m. Free. From February 9-19, guests can register to win a Beatles prize pack worth $150. Register at the admissions desk, at the Clinton Museum Store or Forty Two.

February 12: Inaugural Fusion--Arts +Humanities Arkansas, Clinton Presidential Center, 5 p.m. Featuring the Quapaw Tribe in Arkansas with remarks by John Berrey, Chairman of the Quapaw Tribe commentary from subject-matter expert and author, Judge Morris S. "Buzz" Arnold, and a dance demonstration from members of the Quapaw Tribe. Free and open to the public; however, reservations are required. Link here.
February 15: Beyond the Blues, a conversation with Adia Victoria, Clinton School of Public Service, Sturgis Hall, 5:30 p.m. In partnership with Oxford American. Blues master featured in OA's acclaimed annual Southern Music issue & CD. Learn more.
February 15: The Ernest Green Story screening, Ron Robinson Theater, 6 p.m. Follows the story of the Little Rock Nine, a group of African-American students who were the first black students to attend Central High School in Little Rock. Free. 
February 16: Covering the South with NPR's Southern Bureau Chief Russell Lewis, CALS  Darragh Center, 6 p.m. Presented by Clinton School of Public Service in partnership with Arkansas Public Media.  Learn more.
February 22: ADA Lawsuits Bring Wesites Under Fire Webinar presented by Cross Gunter Witherspoon & Galchus, (500 President Clinton Avenue, Suite 200), 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. How to take appropriate preventative measure to mitigate the risk of a costly ADA lawsuit with CGWG Attorney Abtin Mehdizadegan. Cost $65.  Learn more.
February 23: 2016 Oscars Nominated Live Action Short Films, Ron Robinson Theater, 6 p.m. $5. Learn more.
February 24: 2016 Oscars Nominated Animation Short Films, Ron Robinson Theater, 6 p.m. $5. Learn more.
March 3: World Day of Prayer, Christ Episcopal Church, 504 Scott Street. Celebrated by Church Women United Central Arkansas South. Registration, 9:30 a.m.; program, 10 a.m. Open to the community.
SoMa
South Main Street area
Ongoing: Reflections--Images and Objects from African American Women, 1891-1987, Esse Purse Museum, 1510 Main Street, in collaboration with Mosaic Templars Cultural Center.  Thru April 30.
February 11-12: Cocoa Belle Chocolates owner Carmen Portillo, The Green Corner Store, noon-2 p.m.
February 25: 2 017 South Main Mardi Gras Parade, 12 noon. Call for entries--floats, bands, costumes. Entry deadline February 23! For more information contact Hillis Schold 412-3768 or email. Forms available at The Green Corner Store, Moxy Mercantile, South Main Creative and Sweet Home Furnishings. Prizes!
Argenta Arts District
In Downtown North Little Rock. For more information link here.
Ongoing: North Little Rock Restaurant Month. Learn more.
February 10-March 5: The Secret Garden, Argenta Community theater. Learn more.
February 10-March 25: Naked People with their Clothes On, The Joint's cabaret theater and coffeehouse. 301 Main Street. Learn more.
February 15: Digital Marketing for Creatives-Engaging and Building to Grow Your Biz, Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub. Workshop with art expert Susan Mumford, 6 p.m. Free. Registration required. Learn more.
Verizon Arena
In Downtown North Little Rock,
1 Verizon Arena Way. For ticket information link here (Verizon Arena) or here (Ticketmaster).
February 20 Charlie Wilson 
February 23 Toby Mac
March 3 Twenty One Pilots
March 8 Green Day, Revolution Radio Tour
March 10 Professional Bull Riders
March 19 Winter Jam
March 31 Blink-182 with special guest The Naked and Famous
April 21 Brantley Gilberts with special guests Tom Beathard, Luke Combs & Brian Davis
April 22 Red Hot Chili Peppers
April 28-29 Monster Jam Triple Threat Series
May 4-7 Disney On Ice presents Worlds of Enchantment

Downtown Update  
February 10, 2017
Sign up for our weekly email newsletter! All the latest Downtown Little Rock news, events and happenings sent to your inbox.  Email us here.  Please share with a colleague or friend!
Downtown Notes                  
Ten Thousand Villages in the River Market District announced this week that it will be closing on April 4. 
     From Clinton School Dean Skip Rutherford: 
Ten Thousand Villages came to Little Rock around the opening of the Clinton Presidential Library and in conjunction with all the national and international travel media coverage. To have a unique national retail store of this quality located in the River Market area was especially significant at the time. But times change.  Ten Thousand Villages has served our community and our convention and meeting visitors well. and I am most appreciative and grateful.
      From Leslie Reynolds, Ten Thousand Villages Store Manager: 
Thank you so much for your support of our mission over the years. Your purchases have made a difference in the lives of artisans worldwide. Our entire store is discounted from now until closing. Stock up on jewelry, baskets, soap, fair trade coffee, scarves, home décor... Artisans have already been paid in full.
Thanks again for your support. We have loved being a member of this community! 

Little Rock Soiree suggests some ways to do Valentine's Day in Little Rock.  Learn more. We'd like to add Southern Gourmasian and Bella Vita Jewelry to the mix!  Happy Valentine's Day!

Terraforma LLC of Maumelle recently announced that it has purchased 5.6 acres along the Arkansas River at the foot of the under-contruction Broadway Bridge from the city of North Little Rock for $2.6 million. Learn more. (Arkansas Business)

Central Arkansas Library System (CALS)  has a new online service, Universal Class, which offers over 500 courses in more than 30 subject areas, many offering continuing education units. And it's all free. Learn more.

The Arkansas Civil Rights Heritage Trail recently honored ten individuals for strides in economic advancement during times of many obstacles.  During the event, a 12-inch bronze marker was placed on the trail for each honoree. The trail begins in front of the Old State House Convention Center on Markham Street and will eventually extend to the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park and other points throughout the downtown corridor. Learn more.

The Little Rock Technology Park  Authority Board learned this week that it will be asked to approve a conversion of the fourth floor at 417 Main St. to meet increased demand from smaller operations for short-term leases and furnished space. The Tech Park is scheduled to open March 1. Learn more. (Arkansas Business)


Inuvo Inc. of Little Rock announced this week that it has closed on the acquisition of NetSeer Inc. of Sunnyvale, California, a provider of visual monetization services for advertisers and publishers. Learn more. (Arkansas Business)

Heather Baker, the former publisher of the auto-buying guide Drive Arkansas and several Arkansas Times publications, is the new publisher at Vowell Media in Little Rock, owned by Vicki Vowell. She  will serve as publisher of AY Magazine, Arkansas Money & Politics and Mental Health Guide of Arkansas, as well as special publications for the Arkansas Hospital Association and Northwest Arkansas Medical Center.

For photos of the 2016 Arkansas Preservation Awards at the Albert Pike Memorial Temple link here.

Rock Region METRO launched two new wheelchair securement systems on two different fleet buses for a six-month trial this week. The systems, produced by Q-Straint, are called the QUANTUM and QPOD wheelchair securement systems. Both offer streamlined securements that improve safety and customer convenience and reduce boarding times. The QUANTUM wheelchair securement system is the world's first and only automated wheelchair securement system - riders can independently secure their wheelchairs upon boarding a bus that offers this system.

Entergy's latest tech effort: $215 million in smart meters. Learn more. ( Arkansas Business)

Around Downtown
Ongoing: Blue and You Fitness Challenge Signup (for March 1-May 3) sponsored by  Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield   and the Arkansas Department of Health . Learn more.
Ongoing: True Faith, True Light,  Old State House Museum.
The Devotional Art of Ed Stilley. On exhibit. Learn more.
Ongoing: The Arts @ Christ Church presents The Watercolor Series of Kuhl Brown. Thru March 31. Hillcrest landscape artist and award-winning watercolorist.
February 10: 2nd Friday Art Night, 
5- 8 p.m. After-hours gallery walk at participating 
downtown Little Rock venues. Free Art Night shuffle sponsored by Arkansas-Times:
Arkansas Capital Corporation Group, 200 River Market Avenue, Suite 400. Exhibition by Susan Chambers and Sofia Gonzalez, Subtle and Bold, curated by Robert Bean. Demonstrations at 6:30 and 6:45 by Sofia Gonzalez about creating the dyes for her artwork.
Bella Vita Jewelry, 523 S. Louisiana inside the Lafayette Building. Shop Brandy McNair's beautiful one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces and cocoa Belle Chocolates.
Butler Center Galleries,  401 President Clinton Avenue. Opening exhibition--Bruce Jackson, Cummins Prison Farm. Featured musicians, DJ Harlem James.
Cox Creative Center,  120 River Market Avenue, Third Floor Art Gallery. Arkansas Pastel Society (thru February 26).
Copper Grill,  300 East Third. Restaurant sponsor.
Historic Arkansas Museum, 200 E. Third.  Opening reception for Modern Mythology, Luke Amram Knox & Grace Mikell Ramsey.
08 W. 6th. Collection of drawings paintings and sculpture from some of the country's leading artists.
Old State House, 300 W. Markham. Romantic Movie Night. Also, n exhibit  True Faith, True Light--The Devotional Art of Ed Stilley.
February 10: New Gallery I Exhibition Henri Linton, Sr. Opening Reception, Hearne Fine Art, 1001 Wright Avenue, 5:30 p.m. Recent works on paper & canvas. Exhibition thru March 11. 372-6822
February 11: Artist Talk with Henri Linton, Sr., Hearne Fine Art, 1001 Wright Avenue, 2 p.m. 372-6822
February 11: Coalition of Greater Little Rock Neighborhoods "Saving Neighborhoods" Workshop, Willie L. Hinton Neighborhood Resource Center, 3805 W. 12th, 8:30-12:30. 
February 16: Arkansas Business 29th Annual Business of the Year Awards, presented by Centennial Bank. Statehouse Convention Center. Learn more.
February 18: Arts@Christ Church presents The Midwest Winds, woodwind quintet from the USAF Band of Mid-America, 7 p.m. Free and open to the public. 
February 20: Little Rock Entrepreneurial Training Course. Mondays for 10 weeks, Willie Hinton Neighborhood Resource Center, 6-9 p.m. Learn more.
February 24-26: Arkansas Flower and Garden Show, Statehouse Convention Center. Learn more.
March 4-5: Little Rock Marathon. Learn more!
Save the Dates:
April 8, 4th Annual Downtown Dash--10K/5K, Junior League of Little Rock event. Learn more.
Nearby:
February 23: UA Little Rock welcomes Grammy award-winning Parker Quartet, 2017 Artspree Concert Series, Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall. Call 569-3294.
Ongoing: UA Little Rock, Ottenheimer Library, exhibit "War Comes Home--The Legacy" featuring letters between American soldiers and their loved ones, from Civil War era to World War II to more current combat in the Middle East. Thru March 10. Call 569-8018.

Little Rock (LRCVB) event listings also posted here.
MacArthur Park Historic District
Ongoing: Herman Maril, The Strong Forms of Our Experience opens at  Arkansas Arts Center . Mid-Atlantic modernist from Maryland for his first solo exhibition in Arkansas. Thru April 16.  Learn more.
Ongoing: Ansel Adams: Early Works opens at  Arkansas Arts Center. American landscape photographer, 41 original prints made from 1920s into 1950s. Thru April 16. Learn more.
Ongoing: Mid-Southern Watercolorists--47th Annual Juried Exhibition
at Arkansas Arts Center. Thru April 16. Learn more.
Ongoing: #BetterWithBeerFreeMovieSeries,  Stone's Throw Brewing, 402 E. Ninth. Wednesdays: February 8--Rear Window; February 15--Psycho; February 22--The Birds. 244-9154
Ongoing: #ArkiePubTrivia, 
Stone's Throw Brewing, 
402 E. Ninth. Thursdays: February 9--hosted by Arkansas Public Media; February 16--hosted by Historic Arkansas Museum; February 23: hosted by Science after Dark at the Museum of Discovery.
February 10-19: The Laughable Legend of Fancybeard the Bully Pirate, Arkansas Arts Center Children's Theatre. Learn more.
February 28: Community Conversation with Studio Gang, Arkansas Arts Center, 501 E. Ninth,  Lower Lobby Lecture Hall, 12 noon. Studio Gang, the design architect selected for the Arkansas Arts Center's upcoming building project will discuss their firm's approach to design. Patrons may ask question as well as participate in information-gathering for the upcoming design process. 372-4000.
March 9: Korto Momolu in special screening of AETN's Men and Women of Distinction, Arkansas Arts Center.  A wine reception at 5:30 p.m. will precede the screening at 6 p.m. followed by question and answer session and fashion show. The event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited, and reservations are required. Learn more or call 372-4000.
Robinson Center
For tickets, unless noted otherwise, link here.
February 11-12: Rock On! Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. Learn more.
February 18: Legends of Southern Hip Hop
March 8-19: Phantom of the Opera
March 28: Brain Candy Live
March 31: Ballet Arkansas's Turning Pointe Gala, honoring Mayor Mark Stodola. Learn more.
April 3: Gladys Knight. 
April 10: The Price Is Right Live