A Shared Legacy

Full Story: https://invitingarkansas.com/profile/a-shared-legacy/

It is a story of creative collaboration; the arts flourish when access points are readily available and leaders offer undeniable enthusiasm. A philosophy that brings people together for extraordinary experiences begins from an organization’s cultural roots.

Whether it’s a century of service or decades of building a dream …Why do we matter? remains at the heart of most mission fulfillment work.

Arkansas Festival Ballet and Dreamland Ballroom come together with a vision of preservation + celebration. Kerry McCoy and Trent Montgomery will welcome friends to Dreamland Ballroom for an afternoon of lively libations, live entertainment and lots of excitement for the new season. This partnership represents a deep devotion to a shared legacy: community.

The McCoy family business, Arkansas Flag & Banner, moved to Dreamland Ballroom and Taborian Hall in 1990. Kerry remembers “love at first sight” and finding a way into the dilapidated building to discover the ballroom. “It was captivating. But it wasn’t until after we moved in that the whole story began to unfold.” Taborian Hall was established in 1918 as a beacon in the African-American community. As the building came back to life, people stopped by the storefront and shared memories with Kerry – all the music and dancing at this cultural center. “That’s when I realized I had been entrusted with an important part of Little Rock history.”

Kerry was introduced to Arkansas Festival Ballet through a deep devotion to classical ballet. She’s always been involved with dance and admits tenacity led her to AFB for adult classes under the instruction of Rebecca Stalcup. The connection was instant. “Like me, she has the heart of a teacher and loves to laugh. We support each other. To join our love of ballet, serve our community and grow friendships is a dream come true for both of us.”

Arkansas Festival Ballet showcases the art of classical ballet training and the next generation of accomplished dancers. Trent Montgomery returns to AFB and joins Artistic Director Rebecca Miller-Stalcup in this pursuit. His tenure with Les Ballets Trockadero De Monte Carlo offers a unique perspective. “Trockadero has always been innovative – providing dancers who did not fit the ’stereotypical’ ballet mold with opportunities for a fulfilling career.” Trockadero De Monte Carlo presents a playful, entertaining twist to classical ballet; the parody is the all-male dance troupe.

Virtuosity aside, the joyful nature of every production adds an element of surprise. “It’s a little-tongue-in-cheek, but we exist to bring more people into the world of ballet and everyone seems to love it.” The 50-year history is a colorful, international tale with a finite purpose. “Dance is a universal language. I’m excited to share what I’ve learned with our students.”

As both organizations plan for a future that honors the past, Kerry realizes strategic partnerships create new opportunities to invite + include more constituents into the conversation of how the arts transform communities. “Dreamland Ballroom was considered the temple of dreams when it welcomed the artists Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, BB King. The dream lives on … And we’re ready to share it.”

Ballet in the Ballroom

Sunday, August 9 | Dreamland Ballroom

arkansasfestivalballet.org/reveal-party

Photography:

Sarah Oden

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Location:

Dreamland Ballroom

Juneteenth 2025 in Little Rock!

Arkansas Democrat Gazette: https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2025/jun/18/juneteenth-events/

PINE BLUFF -- The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff's "Juneteenth in the Bluff: Arts & Culture Festival" on Friday from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. in Pine Bluff's downtown Delta Rhythm and Bayous Cultural District, 3rd & Main streets. Grammy-nominated R&B singer Lenny Williams is the headliner, with opening acts by SINGA B and R&B and Soul artist Terry Wright.

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra performance from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday at the ASO Stella Boyle Smith Music Center, 1101 E. Third St., in downtown Little Rock. The event will honor the legacy of African American emancipation through the music of Black jazz composers, featuring a quartet of ASO musicians performing works by Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, John Coltrane and others. The public may bring lawn chairs, blankets and picnic items.

Mosaic Templars Cultural Center's "Juneteenth in Da Rock" event in Downtown Little Rock on West 9th St. on Saturday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The day starts with the annual Juneteenth in Da Rock 5K and wraps up with performances by local and national artists, including Elle Varner, October London and the Big John Miller Band, among others. The Mosaic Templars Cultural Center is at 501 W. 9th St., Little Rock.

An Open House at Doc's Poolhall on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., located on the ground floor of historic Taborian Hall, on State Street, facing the Juneteenth in Da Rock festivities. Live music by Steve Travis and friends. Refreshments available. Guided tours of Taborian Hall and the Dreamland Ballroom will be offered at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Each tour lasts 45–60 minutes and is led by Executive Director Matthew McCoy, who will share the building's history, from its roots with the Knights of Tabor to its military and musical legacy, and its restoration.

NW Arkansas Democrat Gazette: https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2025/jun/18/entertainment-juneteenth-in-da-rock-set-for-west/

DANCING ON AIR: Dreamland Ballroom benefit to help restore the historic building

https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2025/mar/02/dancing-on-air/

Carissa and Josue De Leon were Judges' Award winners -- and Hayley Mitchell and Mackenzie Mears captured the People's Choice trophy -- at the 2025 edition of Dancing Into Dreamland, presented by Friends of Dreamland Ballroom on Feb 16 in the historic Little Rock venue.

Guests began the evening mingling, perusing silent-auction items and enjoying drinks from a donations bar and performances by members of Arkansas Circus Arts. Attendees later dined on boxed bites with a Mediterranean flare. Dessert was passed tiramisu.

Will Trice served as master of ceremonies. Evelyn Pittman, Dreamland founder Kerry McCoy and executive director Matthew McCoy gave opening remarks to start off the evening's contest, which featured exhibition dances by the Hot Springs Dance Troupe, 2024 Judges' Choice winners; and Drs. Arushi Devgan and Kurt Messer, 2022 Judges' Choice winners.

The newlywed De Leons wowed the judges -- Christen Pitts, Brian Earles and Judge Morgan "Chip" Welch -- with their lead-and-follow salsa routine. The aerial dance by Mitchell and Mears (known by their duo name The Illusion of Aerial) garnered the most audience votes. Other contestant teams: the Cabot Dance Academy, ballet; Jenna Johnson and Payton Crowne, American tango; Kim Maslin and Tim Acosta, "West Coast(ish)" swing; Fuego 27, mambo; and Rachel Sweningson and Ethan Shoe, cha-cha.

Event proceeds are earmarked toward continuing restoration of the Dreamland Ballroom, housed on the third floor of the building originally known as Taborian Temple and which served as a concert venue for the Black community on Little Rock's historic West Ninth Street corridor. Friends of Dreamland Ballroom was formed in 2012 to raise funds for its restoration.

-- Story and photos by Helaine R. Williams

OPINION | PAPER TRAILS: Edwin Brewer paintings to be the centerpiece for restoration work at Taborian Hall June 2, 2024 at 3:39 a.m. by Sean Clancy

https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2024/jun/02/paper-trails-edwin-brewer-paintings-to-be-the/

The artist Edwin Brewer was best known for his landscapes and still lifes painted in watercolor or oils. Art was a family pursuit: He and and his twin brother, Adrian, who were born Jan. 9, 1927, in Little Rock, and were the sons of Adrian Sr., and grandsons of Nicholas Richard Brewer, were both renowned artists.

Along with being a working artist, Edwin taught art at Little Rock University, now known as the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and other schools.

He was the first curator of the Arkansas Arts Center Artmobile and a founding member of the Mid-Southern Watercolorists, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas. He and his wife moved to Santa Barbara, Calif., in the late 1970s to be near their daughters, and Edwin was an active member of the art community there. He died of heart failure on Dec. 14, 2002.

Fifteen years later, eight Edwin Brewer paintings that were inspired by his visits to a Santa Barbara jazz club were donated to the nonprofit Friends of Dreamland, who hope to preserve those works along with the pencil-drawn blueprints of the 1940s restoration of Taborian Hall, the historic 1918 building at 800 W. Ninth St., in Little Rock that houses Dreamland Ballroom and Arkansas Flag and Banner.

Four of the paintings have been framed, and the Dreamland group is raising funds to pay for framing the rest. The project also aims to raise money for sealing the building -- which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 -- and installing a heating and air system in the third-floor ballroom, both measures that would allow the display of the paintings, blueprints, artifacts and other exhibits.

The paintings, which vary in size and show musicians like Louis Armstrong, are different from Edwin's usual subjects, says Matthew McCoy, director of Friends of Dreamland.

"It was only late in life that he did figure paintings. This was one of his first, if not very first, series involving people ... you can see his journey in figuring out (figurative paintings)."

The vibrant works, which were donated by Brewer's son-in-law, Don Wood, go well with the colors of Dreamland, McCoy notes, and will be framed in simple, wooden frames.

"These paintings are so colorful, we don't feel like they need anything really fancy," he says.

In 2018, Friends of Dreamland was awarded a $499,668 African American Civil Rights Preservation grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior and National Park Service to work on the restoration of the building, which should be open in the fall, McCoy says.

"That became our big focus, and now we are getting our attention back to the Edwin Brewer paintings and some other artifacts we've gotten."

Email: sclancy@adgnewsroom.com

National Park Service awards over $15 million to help preserve African American Civil Rights history

The National Park Service today announced $15,035,000 million to 53 projects in 20 states that will preserve sites and history related to the African American struggle for equality.  

 

“Through these grants to our public and private partners, these projects will help to preserve an often-untold story of our nation’s diverse history,” said NPS Deputy Director Shawn Benge. “The African American Civil Rights grants program supports our state, local, and nonprofit partners in physical preservation of historic sites and history projects related to the African American struggle for equality.”

 

This years’ grants include preserving Harriet Beecher Stowe’s house in Ohio, All Star Bowling Lanes in South Carolina, a Civil Rights interpretive trail in Louisiana, and research into the case of Gilbert v. Board.

Full Annoucement

Friends of Dreamland awarded preservation grant from the National Parks Service.

The National Parks Service (NPS) has awarded $14 million in African American Civil Right Historic Preservation Funds granted to worthy causes all over the United States. In December, Friends of Dreamland (FOD) applied for these funds and earlier this month, we were awarded $499,723.00 to continue the access project to the Dreamland Ballroom started in 2017. This time, FOD will be able to complete the installation of the elevator inside the recently construction addition, install HVAC system, repair and replace windows, and add an ADA compliant bathroom to the third floor ballroom. This will complete the Dreamland Ballroom Public Access Project. Making the 101 year old ballroom accessible to everyone and usable year round.

Read the full press release from the NPS here, contain all the locations awarded funding this year: https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1207/04-06-2020-nps-announces-african-american-civil-rights-grants.htm

Read the press release by one of FOD’s biggest supporters, Congressmen French Hill: https://hill.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=6927

Friends of Dreamland director, Matthew McCoy, interviewed on THV11’s “R&B Week”

Director of the Friends of Dreamland and curator for the Dreamland Ballroom, Matthew McCoy spoke to the host of THV11s The Vine, Ashley King, in January 2020. McCoy speaks on the musical legacy of the Dreamland Ballroom and, by extension, the West Ninth Street, historically black, business district in downtown Little Rock, AR.

View the segment with Matthew, as well as links to other interviews in THV11’s R&B Week here: https://www.thv11.com/article/entertainment/music/the-dreamland-ballroom-black-history/91-0fd47e55-cfa0-44d7-9b4f-7b47af81e13e