FUN
The 2024 Build It! Tour, featuring work by LEGO artists from around the country, takes over Little Rock's Statehouse Convention Center, Markham and Main streets, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 1-3:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Attendees can meet professional artists and try their hand at building their own masterpieces. The Brick Market will offer collectors and enthusiasts a selection of rare and new sets, mini-figures "and much more." Tickets are $14.99 in advance, $20 at the door. Visit brickuniverseusa.com or tinyurl.com/2zz93w4k.
BrickUniverse artist Rocco Buttliere created his own LEGO version of ancient Rome. The 2024 Build it! Tour this weekend at Little Rock's Statehouse Convention Center features similar creations by LEGO artists from around the world. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)
Anime Fest
Celebrity guests, panels involving professional cosplayers and artists, costume contests, gaming and photo ops are on tap for the Little Rock Anime Fest, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday at the Statehouse Convention Center. Vendors and artists from across the country will attend and sell their wares. Local fan groups will set up exhibits and provide performances. A list of guests and a full schedule is available at littlerockanimefest.com. Tickets are $25 per day or $40 for the weekend in advance (higher at the door), with discounts available for members of the military. Kids 10 and younger attend free with paid adult admission. Visit tinyurl.com/m5562xud.
MUSIC/FILM
'"Batman" in Concert'
The Conway Symphony Orchestra and conductor Israel Getzov will perform Danny Elfman's score to the 1989 Warner Bros. motion picture "Batman," live-to-screen, for "'Batman' in Concert," 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Reynolds Performance Hall, University of Central Arkansas, 201 Donaghey Ave., Conway. Tickets are $30-$50, $10 for children and students. Call (501) 450-3265 or (866) 810-0012 or visit uca.edu/reynolds.
ART
'Innocence Unveiled'
"Innocence Unveiled," linocut prints exploring the world of childhood by Perrion Hurd, go on display with a reception, 5:30-8:30 p.m. today at Thea Foundation, 401 Main St., North Little Rock. Admission, $10 at the door, covers drinks and bites; all proceeds benefit foundation programming. All of the prints will be for sale; Hurd will be present to discuss his work and inspirations. Attendees will be eligible to enter a drawing for a chance to win a print. The exhibition remains up through February; it's the first installment of the foundation's 2024 Art Department, a quarterly exhibition series presented by Delta Dental of Arkansas. Visit theafoundation.org.
Small Works relocate
The 2024 Small Works on Paper touring exhibition moves to Arkadelphia, opening at 9 a.m. Monday at the Rosemary Gossett Adams Department of Art & Design. Moses-Provine Hall, Ouachita Baptist University, 410 Ouachita St. It'll be on display there, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday, through Feb. 23. Admission is free. Call (501) 324-9767 or email cheri.leffew@arkansas.gov.
Spa City gallery
Prints by Dustyn Bork, paintings by Susan Baker Chambers and drawings by Steven Schneider are among the works on display through Feb. 29, starting with the monthly Spa City Gallery Walk, 5-9 p.m. Friday at Justus Fine Art Gallery, 827A Central Ave., Hot Springs. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and by appointment. Admission to the gallery and the reception are free. Call (501) 321-2335 or visit justusfineart.com.
"Urban Sanctuary" by Susan Baker Chambers, "Buffalo Sky" by Steven Schneider and "Structure No. 3" by Dustyn Bork are on display through February at Justus Fine Art Gallery in Hot Springs. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)
Rescheduled reception
The opening reception, delayed by inclement weather, for the photography exhibition "Field Notes" by Gary Cawood takes place 5-7 p.m. Friday in the Loft Gallery at The ARTSpace on Main, 623 S. Main St. The exhibition is on display through April 24. Call (870) 536-3375 or visit artx3.org.
ETC.
Historic sandwiches
The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program opens its 2024 "Sandwiching in History" schedule at noon Friday with a tour of the Isaac Homard House, 1217 W. Third St., Little Rock. The house is "[o]ne of the best examples of Neo-Classical styles of architecture in the city and thought to have been designed by the prolific architect Charles L. Thompson," according to a news release. Admission is free.
The rest of the lineup (all tours start at noon and admission is free):
◼️ March 1: Parkin Archeological State Park, 60 Arkansas 184 in Parkin, "believed to be the most intact Native American village from its time remaining in Northeast Arkansas."
◼️ May 3: Palarm Battle Site (Brooks-Baxter War), 950 Arkansas 365 near Mayflower, in conjunction with the Division of Arkansas Heritage's program commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Brooks-Baxter war, "which ultimately led to the drafting of our current state constitution."
◼️ June 7: Choctaw Route Station (Sturgis Hall, Clinton School of Public Service), 1200 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock, constructed in 1899 to serve the passengers of the Choctaw, Oklahoma, and Gulf Railroad, now home to the Clinton School of Public Service.
◼️ Sept. 6: Over-the-Jumps Carousel (Herschell-Spillman Carousel), 1 Zoo Drive, Little Rock, marking a century since its debut in 1924.
◼️ Nov. 1: Museum of Automobiles, 8 Jones Lane on Petit Jean Mountain, Morrilton. Antique and rare vehicles, including the only two Arkansas-made Climber cars still in existence, are on display. The building's architecture is an early example of tensile-cable construction in Arkansas, listed in the National Register of Historic Places with statewide significance in 2019.