On my way to see the “Small Works on Paper” exhibit, I got a glimpse of women who have had additional challenges to making a home out of a house ─ on foreign land.  “Nosotras: Portraits of Latinas” features Mexican immigrant women where they spend the most time ─ in their home. Particularly you’ll see a lot of kitchen shots, which is generally the hub of most households.

These snapshots are from the series: “From Inside the Home: A Portrait of Mexican Immigrant Women,” 2001. A reaction to the striking photos is to ponder about each of the women’s stories and how they adapt at blending two cultures. They are trying to create a sense of comfort in an unfamiliar place in order to provide opportunity for their children. The photographs capture their inner strength.

The exhibit, running in Gallery I through the end of November, also features a 1994 family celebration.

Complementing the dynamic black-and-white photography is colorful, updated fall landscaping you’ll see while coming and going from the Fine Arts building.

When you hear the word “slavery,” you probably think about a dark period in American history. But would you believe it’s still happening in nearly every country in the world? The Office of Campus Life will be presenting a two-day event, Oct. 26 & 27, to help us better understand modern-day slavery (more commonly referred to as human trafficking) and the consequences of ignoring it.

The Not For Sale organization’s campaign, “Stop Paying for Slavery,” is a multimedia experience that reveals the hidden connections we may have to today’s slave trade. You might even be contributing to the problem inadvertently by buying certain products at the store. Now’s your chance to find out what you can do to bring about social justice— become an abolitionist in your own backyard or in someone else’s.

Faces of Slavery from David Hepburn on Vimeo.

Here’s a list of events on campus:

• October 26 at noon, DSC Ledbetter-A
  Slavery Mapping 101: In addition to gaining in-depth knowledge about the many types of human trafficking, attendees will also learn how to research existing cases of modern-day slavery.
• October 26 at 6:30 p.m., DSC Ledbetter-A
  Headline Event: This 90-minute event implements fast-paced multimedia, video, live songs, stories and reports from around the globe.
• October 27 at noon, DSC Leadership Lounge
  Supply Chain Responsibility: A dynamic presentation, called Free2Work, will introduce the next generation of business leaders to supply chain monitoring programs and the power of social entrepreneurship in the fight against human trafficking.

Read more about the Not For Sale campaign stop at UALR.

While I’m not artistic, I do appreciate those who are, so I checked out the Arkansas Arts Council’s “Small Works on Paper” exhibit in UALR Gallery III last week to admire local talent and discovered so much more.

“Lilypads Petit Jean Mt”

Lynn Bell’s “Summer Saturday”

Friend Mindy Lacefield’s “Lunar Perch”

Co-worker Ted Grimmett’s “Below the Dam”

Also by the  upstairs gallery was a display from a Painting I class — Still Life Color Studies. A little visual escape and color can brighten your day.

You have a few more days to see the Small Works tour stop at UALR. Look for a follow-up post on other gallery discoveries.

Tip spotted while in the Fine Arts building: the Clay Guild mug sale is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 26 and 27.

If you’ve entered the campus from Asher Avenue in the last few weeks, you’ve noticed the winding walkway, the gushing sprinklers and the increase in green in UALR’s Trail of Tears Park. The park, which is the first section of the plan to create a greenway from UALR to War Memorial Park, is on track for substantial completion by the end of this month.

As the 4.5 acre haven emerges with life and energy, it’s hard to believe its asphalt and cinderblock-filled past.

Long before it was a home to concrete, the area was a trekking ground for American Indians on their force migration to Indian territory. A part of the Old Southwest Trail, one might imagine that the displaced tribes could get a cool drink from the creek and a much needed rest on the land. The Trail of Tears park is rich with history.

UALR Vice Chancellor of Facilities Management David Millay and planners of the Coleman Creek Greenway Project are working to capture that history and rejuvenate the natural beauty for a new generation of trekkers. The park includes a 1,000-foot walking, biking or running trail that will soon be marked with interpretive signs and plaques describing the area’s significance. The “Circle of Life” segment, a nod to the American Indian culture, can already be seen to the right of the campus’s gated south entrance.

As part of the eyesore-to-eye candy makeover, the park is being restored with native plants, rocks, trees and grasses, with the help of some industrial sprinklers.

Grow, baby, grow!

But a field of green isn’t the end of the enhancement for UALR. The Coleman Creek Greenway Project hopes to extend the trail through campus to 32nd street.

For now, the campus community awaits the soon-approaching day when the sprinklers can rest, the abundant green is freckled with reds and yellows, and we can rejuvenate our weary minds right in our own backyard.

For more information on the complete enhancement, visit the Coleman Creek Greenway Project website.

Some time ago, I was roving around campus taking photos, when I had an unsettling feeling that I was being watched. I turned around to find these alien-looking creatures staring down at me from a window in the Fine Arts building.

Given their location, I assumed that they were part of a classroom exercise. What I didn’t know was that they were products of “Fabulous Friday,” an annual event that lets area high school students experience a series of short classes from a variety of art forms, all in one day. They get exposed to advanced topics –fiber arts, furniture design, photography, printmaking, etc.

The creatures in the photo came from a ceramics session in which groups are tasked with recreating a character they’re given. Assistant Professor Kevin Cates says it’s a highlight. “The kids have a BLAST with it, that’s for sure.”

The next Fabulous Friday is coming up October 15. Find out more information on the Department of Art website. Send us photos if you come across any other alien forces. The truth is out there.

It was a great morning to get out of class. Fourth and fifth graders Kevon Cooper, Elyse Settles, Faith Carthon, and Anthony Johnson were plucked out of their Stephens Elementary School classrooms Tuesday, Sept. 28, to help hold a sign at a news conference.

The kids said they didn’t know what all the hubbub was about. They just knew it was a pretty day and the grownups seems to be extremely excited about something.

Kevon says math is his favorite subject. What is he going to be when he grows up? “I think a police officer,” he said. Elyse and Faith, who say their favorite subject is science, want to be hairdressers when they grow up. Anthony, also a fan of math, didn’t hesitate knowing what his future holds: he is going to play NBA basketball.

What they didn’t know is their lives had just taken a turn for the better. They live in a central Little Rock neighborhood that being targeted by a consortium of institutions partnering together to make sure Kevon, Elyse, Faith, Anthony, and all the other children in their neighborhood will get support they need to go to college and find a career that will open up a world that they now barely know exists.

UALR and five other partners — the city of Little Rock, Little Rock School District, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, New Futures, and Central Arkansas Library System — are committing their institutions to do “whatever it takes” to prepare each child in the central Little Rock neighborhood for college and a promising career.

Julie Hall, the Harvard-educated director of UALR’s University District Educational Network, wrote the planning grant, one of only 20 the Obama administration picked to replicate the success of the Harlem Children’s Zone. No one — not parents, nor teachers, nor the children — will have an excuse to fail. The kids will get the best instruction, world-class health care, mentoring, tutoring, after-school enrichment “from cradle to college.”

For Kevon, Elyse, Faith, and Anthony, and all the other kids living in the central Little Rock neighborhood, it was a life-changing day — and more are on the way.

Have you noticed the library lately? It’s getting a dramatic face-lift these days courtesy of the Ottenheimer Brothers Foundation. First on the list is an overdue power wash of the building’s exterior.

I don’t know about you, but I didn’t realize just how desperate this building was for a bath until I saw these photos.

One of our Twitter followers says:

The library cleanup is moving along nicely.. who knew it was so white under there!?? Fribourgh and Physics hall nxtplz?

The power wash is just one phase of the exterior improvements funded by the Ottenheimer Brothers Foundation gift. Read more about these planned upgrades.

Special thanks to Aaron Baker for sharing these photos with us.

Alumna Angela Parker and her husband, Dr. David Sink, who is on the UALR faculty kicked off promoting Taste of New Orleans, a fundraiser they are chairing in March 2011 to benefit the Alumni Association Scholarship Fund. They passed out maroon Mardi Gras beads with a Taste of New Orleans save-the-date reminder attached to those attending the Association’s Burgers at Bailey event kicking off the new school year.

The chairs had their first committee meeting last week with talk of scrumptious New Orleans cuisine and jazz music ─ all the elements of a fun event. To get involved with the Taste event, call the Association office at 501-683-7208.

Today’s THV did a moving story last week profiling 8-year-old foster child Tamiyah. Her dreams of playing basketball have been sidelined, but on this day, she experienced something she won’t likely forget— playing hoops with UALR basketball stars Shanika Butler, Asriel Rolfe, and Britteni Williams.

It was a good reminder that not all children are fortunate to have the means or opportunity to play team sports or to experience a parent watching them from the sidelines with pride.

There are more than 500 children here in our state in need of a forever family. Many of them are older children, just like 8-year-old Tamiyah.

Read the full story on todaysthv.com.