What We Do

Education

Every semester, UA Little Rock Downtown hosts UA Little Rock courses that reflect the interdisciplinary character of the University. Various departments and programs, including History, Rhetoric, Real Estate, Finance, and Public Administration, have recently offered their courses at UA Little Rock Downtown. In accordance with our mission, we encourage all faculty teaching courses with a community engagement component to make the most of our space and its central location in the city of Little Rock.

Community partners reserve the space for educational and service-focused programming. For more information about reserving the main event room and the mural room, please see our policies and rates.

UA Little Rock Downtown welcomes educators and school groups to explore the mural The Struggle In The South by Joe Jones. We offer age-appropriate tours and social studies and/or visual arts activities inspired by the mural. We also welcome teachers to collaborate with us on creating discussion surrounding the mural that will best align with their teaching goals.

Educators and school groups interested in visiting the Joe Jones mural, please contact us at downtown@ualr.edu for more information on how we can accommodate your group!

*The Struggle In The South contains images of violence and thus suggested appropriate for students 13 years of age or older.

Arts & Culture

UA Little Rock Downtown hosts art, public history, and other exhibits. While we often showcase the work of UA Little Rock faculty, archivists, students, and graduates, we also invite community organizations seeking an appropriate exhibit space to partner with us.

UA Little Rock Downtown is a sister organization of the Center for Arkansas History and Culture (CAHC), also located in the River Market District as a part of UA Little Rock’s downtown campus. CAHC, housed in the Bobby L. Roberts Library, is home to vast archival collections that document the history and culture of Arkansas. UA Little Rock Downtown highlights and promotes archival materials from the CAHC collection and the two organizations work closely on a daily basis.

Public Programming

UA Little Rock Downtown is home to the 1935 mural The Struggle in the South by Joe Jones. Jones, who turned to social protest art at the time of the Great Depression, captured some of the most pressing problems and challenges that ordinary Arkansans faced in the 1930s, including racial violence, labor unrest, and the plight of sharecroppers.

We are currently in the process of developing regular public programming around the mural. We invite events, projects, and initiatives that correspond with the message of The Struggle in the South and encourage civic engagement central to our mission and vision.

Business

UA Little Rock Downtown coordinates with UA Little Rock’s School of Business to connect with Central Arkansas businesses. Elizabeth Small, the primary instructor for the Real Estate program at the School of Business, serves as the Director of Business Networks at UA Little Rock Downtown. The Business Networks program expands education opportunities and promotes the work of University faculty, students, and graduates. UA Little Rock Downtown is also a member of the Downtown Little Rock Partnership, a 501(c)3 non-profit whose mission is to accelerate the success of Downtown Little Rock through leadership, partnership and initiative, and sustaining and growing the city’s central district.