As Gov. Asa Hutchinson looked out on the room filled with artists and patrons of the arts, he wondered what life might be like without art.
He recalled listening to music by Roseanne Cash; reading words by his favorite author, Henry van Dyke; admiring an old print of a famous painting, Enter the Law, by Edmund F. Ward, that hung in the home of Hutchinson’s Depression-era parents and that still hangs today in his law office in Rogers.
He recalled walking through the halls of the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion, filled with works of art by Arkansas artists. He recalled looking out his office window at the state Capitol, seeing the John Deering sculpture of the Little Rock Nine, Testament.
“What would life be without art?” he asked with a smile.
Hutchinson was the guest speaker at the 2016 Governor’s Arts Awards recognition ceremony March 10 at the Governor’s Mansion. He was there to congratulate the recipients of the various awards, which are sponsored annually by the Arkansas Arts Council. He was also there to assist Joy Pennington, executive director of the Arts Council, in presenting the awards, which were pieces of raku pottery created by Kelly Edwards of North Little Rock.
Among the recipients are artists from the Three Rivers Edition coverage area — Sonny Burgess and The Legendary Pacers, the rockabilly band that was formed in Newport, who received the Folklife Award; and RB McGrath of Jacksonville, who received the Individual Artist Award.
Folklife Award
The rockabilly band — Sonny Burgess and The Legendary Pacers — was formed in Newport in 1955 by Burgess and friends.
Today the band includes original members Burgess, who still lives in Newport, on guitar and vocals, and Kern K. Kennedy, who now lives in Cabot, on piano. Bobby Crafford of Maumelle, a member since 1957, plays drums and vocals. Jim Aldridge of Conway, who joined the group in 1961, is featured on saxophone, harp and vocals. Fred Douglas of Heber Springs, who joined in 1962, plays bass and provides vocals.
“It’s wonderful being honored here,” said Burgess, who will be 87 in April. “I grew up country, playing guitar with two of my uncles at country dances around Newport.”
Burgess said the Pacers later “tried rock ’n’ roll. “We ended up somewhere in between,” he said.
Burgess said the band’s greatest hit was “Red Headed Woman,” which was the flip side of “We Wanna Boogie,” recorded first on the Sun Records label in Memphis.
“I wrote them both,” he said. “I wrote a lot of songs back then.”
Crafford, who handles the bookings for the band, said the group “is very honored” to receive the Folklife Award.
“We have not gotten many awards from the state,” Crafford said. “Everywhere we go, we say we are from Arkansas. We try our best to publicize the state.
“We’re still playing quite a bit. We’re going to England the first of May to play at the Hemsby Rock ’n’ Roll Weekender festival (May 6-7) in Hemsby, [Norfolk], which is about three hours outside London. It’s a big festival — two or three groups from the States will be in the lineup, including W.S. ‘Fluke’ Holland of Jackson, Tennessee, who played drums for Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins.”
Crafford said the group’s upcoming local appearances include May 20 at the Ron Robinson Theater in Little Rock, where Charlie Rich Jr. is also scheduled to play; May 21 at the Osceola Heritage Festival in Osceola; July 2 at The Bay Festival in Fairfield Bay; and Aug. 13 at the Cave City Watermelon Festival.
“Of course, we always play the Elvis Presley Festival in Tupelo, Mississippi, which will be June 3 this year,” Crafford said, noting that The Pacers traveled and performed with Presley in the early days and recorded at the same studio (Sun Records) where he cut this first records.
Kennedy lived in Tuckerman when he met Burgess.
“I’d run into him playing music here and there,” Kennedy said. “We played some of the same clubs.
“I’m thrilled to get this award. It’s a real honor.”
Douglas was born in Smithville and met Burgess after Douglas’ family moved to Walnut Ridge in the 1950s.
“I played around with Teddy Riedel and joined Sonny for a year in 1959. Then I came back in 1962,” Douglas said.
“This is an honor for us all,” Douglas said of the Governor’s Arts Award.
Aldridge, who grew up in North Little Rock, said the Folklife Award “is a real tribute for us.”
Aldridge learned to play saxophone at 11 and had his own band — first, a jazz band, then a rock ’n’ roll band — for many years.
“I’ve played for three presidents — Nixon, Reagan, Clinton — that other saxophone player from Arkansas,” Aldridge said with a laugh.
Aldridge joined The Pacers in 1961 and played with them through 1966, reuniting with the band in 1997.
For 60 years, The Pacers have been entertaining audiences with their American roots music all over the world. The band is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Europe; the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in Jackson, Tennessee; the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame in Pine Bluff; and the Arkansas Walk of Fame in Hot Springs. The band members were recognized as ambassadors of Arkansas with an Arkansas Traveler’s Award.
Individual Artist Award
Born in Newfoundland, Canada, RB McGrath is a self-taught artist. She moved to Jacksonville in 1965 when her father was assigned to the Little Rock Air Force Base.
She is a portrait, still life and landscape painter with an eclectic style.
“RB is my first name … no periods,” she quickly told an interviewer.
“RB is pronounced ‘Arby,’ … but I don’t serve sandwiches, and I don’t provide the meat,” she said with a laugh.
“Oh, man, … to receive the Governor’s Arts Award is the highest honor in the arts in Arkansas,” McGrath said. “There is nothing bigger than that.
“I am very humbled. It’s nice to be recognized for the mark you’ve left on history. It took me quite by surprise. I am still having trouble getting my head around it.”
Spanning the disciplines of realism, contemporary impressionism and abstract art, McGrath works primarily with oil on canvas and is well-known for her portraits.
“My subject dictates the way I paint,” McGrath said, adding that she knew she wanted to
become an artist at an early age.
“I remember when I was 3 years old and was coloring,” she said in a short video shown during the awards ceremony. “I was eating the crayons, and my mother took them away. I cried. … I knew from that day forward I was going to be a painter.”
McGrath said she works in the style of “the old masters,” who worked by candlelight or natural light.
“Using low light, dark tones, I go into another world,” she said. “I am inspired by artists like Caravaggio and Leonardo.”
Her Portrait of President William Jefferson Clinton, in Profile is included in the Clinton Foundation Collection at the William J. Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, and her Portrait of Gov. Mike Beebe is part of the Governor’s Mansion’s permanent collection. Other notable works of McGrath’s include portraits of former Gov. Mike Huckabee, Jacksonville Mayor Gary Fletcher and numerous portraits of current, well-known visual, theatrical and musical artists throughout the United States and Europe.
McGrath’s paintings are featured in public, private and corporate collections in the United States, Canada and Europe. In 2012, a collection of the artist’s city landscapes was installed in a permanent exhibit at City Hall in Jacksonville. In 2013, the city of Jacksonville unveiled McGrath’s first public art design project — The Fallen Heroes Memorial Garden and Monument, located on the grounds of the new fire and police facility.
When she is not painting, McGrath also plays violin and cello.
“Again, I am self-taught,” she said. “I was in a five-piece ensemble until recently — the Little Rock Community Ensemble. I also played with the Jacksonville String Ensemble, which is also now defunct.”
McGrath is also a beautician and the owner of Roberta-Salon in Jacksonville.
“I work at the salon all day long and paint at night,” she said. “I play the cello when I am not working at the salon during the day.
“I’ve been cutting hair for 45 years,” she said. “I had to provide for myself. … I put myself through beauty college … to support my art habit.
“I have to have something that pays the bills,” she said with a laugh.”