Community Events

UCA’s Division of International Engagement Hosts Candlelight Gathering

The University of Central Arkansas Division of International Engagement sponsored a Candlelight Gathering to provide students, faculty, staff and community members an opportunity to offer friendship and support to those impacted by Hurricane Matthew.

UCA enrolls 65 international students from the Caribbean, where the hurricane is creating a path of devastation. In addition, many students, faculty, staff and community members have friends and family in coastal areas of the U.S., who are also preparing for this storm.

The Candlelight Gathering was held outside Ferguson Chapel, near the Student Center, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., October 6th . The event was open to all.

SLH Association Hosts “The Way We Talk” Film Screening At UCA

In honor of International Stuttering Awareness Month, the UCA Chapter of the National Student Speech-Language-Hearing Association hosted a film screening that depicts a personal journey with stuttering and “how hard it is to say what’s in your heart.”

The title of the documentary is “The Way We Talk.” The event was held on Thursday, October 6, 2016 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Ida Waldran Auditorium on the University of Central Arkansas Campus.

UCA has the state’s only specialized stuttering clinic, which allows faculty not only to train graduate students, but also to provide services to children and adults who stutter, as well as their families.

UCA Hosts Second Annual Day of Mindfulness

October 4, 2016 was UCA’s second annual Day of Mindfulness.

The goal of UCA’s Day of Mindfulness is to de-stress, relax, and deal with the anxiety, stress, and depression that hinder living in the moment.

Because national studies cite anxiety, stress, and depression as some of the greatest obstacles to college student success, the Day of Mindfulness is intended to introduce students, as well as staff and faculty, to the benefits of purposeful practices such as yoga, art therapy, and meditation.

Activities throughout the week included walking meditation, zazen (sitting meditation), bubble and dog therapy, chalk mandalas, yoga on the lawn, a laybrinth walk, and a nature reserve walk.

UCA HPER Center Announces Trick or Trot 2016

Trick or Trot 2016 will be Thursday, October 27th. T-shirt pick-up is at 7:15 p.m. and the race starts at 8:00 p.m.

Trick or Trot is an approximately 1.5 mile fun walk/run around campus that takes place at night. The race begins and ends at Estes Stadium, and costs $10 to enter, which includes the prices of the t-shirt.

Students must be registered by October 20th to guarantee a t-shirt size, and registration forms can be picked up at the HPER Center Check-in Desk.

Thre will be prizes for Top Three females/males, and everyone is encouraged to wear their coolest Halloween costumes!
Friends and family are welcome, but no pets are allowed.

Conway Symphony Orchestra Presents Puppet Theatre: “The Halloween Tree”

The Conway Symphony Orchestra, in collaboration with the University of Central Arkansas Schedler Honors College and El Zócalo Immigrant Resource Center will present a puppet theatre adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s “The Halloween Tree.”

Directed by Honors College faculty Adam Frank and with a live orchestra ensemble led by Israel Getzov, “The Halloween Tree” uses shadow puppetry and three-dimensional puppets to tell the story of three children trying to save their friend on Halloween night.

As the children chase Pip through time to ancient Egypt, Stonehenge, Notre Dame, and Mexico, they learn about the ways we understand the borderland between life and death throughout history. The performance includes original compositions by Paul Dickinson (UCA), Karen Griebling (Hendrix College), Michael Pagan, and Cory Winters. “The Halloween Tree” is suitable for children 8 and up and will appeal to both adult and young audiences.

Performances will run Friday, October 7th and Saturday, October 8th in Conway and Thursday, October 27th in Little Rock.

The Conway performances begin at 8:00 pm at UCA’s newly renovated McCastlain Hall Ballroom, located just west of the university’s main entrance on Donaghey Avenue.

Ticket prices are $10 for students and $15 for the general public and are available for advance purchase through Reynolds Performance Hall box office, (501) 450-3265 (in Conway area), toll free 1(866)810-0012, or online. Tickets will also be available for purchase at the door.

Seating is general admission and limited, so advance purchase is strongly recommended.

A pay-what-you-can performance will be held on Thursday, October 27, 7:30 pm at the Central Arkansas Library System’s Ron Robinson Theatre, 100 River Market Avenue. A $10 donation is suggested. Proceeds from the October 27 performance will go to El Zócalo to support developing educational, entrepreneurial and support services for immigrants.

To celebrate the beginning of holiday season, a crafts marketplace will precede the October 27th performance starting at 6:30 pm. The marketplace will feature handmade crafts and clothing items created by independent, Central Arkansas immigrant artisans.

Supported by grants from the UCA Foundation, the Arkansas Arts Council, and the Mid-America Arts Alliance, as well as support from the UCA College of Fine Arts and Communication and the Schedler Honors College, “The Halloween Tree” project will also include a series of puppetry workshops. Led by Puppeteers of America president Jan Wolfe and Jim Henson Fellowship winner Katie Campbell, college students at University of Arkansas at Little Rock and at University of Central Arkansas will be trained to share puppetry and storytelling skills with underserved communities in Central Arkansas. For more information on the puppetry workshops, contact El Zócalo Executive Director Kelsey Lam at LRImmigrantCenter@gmail.com.

According to producing artistic director Adam Frank, “’The Halloween Tree’ has provided a unique opportunity for UCA to collaborate with two very community-oriented organizations: Conway Symphony and El Zócalo Immigrant Resource Center. From the introduction of the story, to the creation of the music and puppetry, to the organization of the puppetry workshops, this has been a truly collaborative effort and a great way to connect arts with underserved communities in Arkansas. Our hope is that the project will involve those communities both as audience members and, through the puppetry workshops, as art makers.”

For further information about “The Halloween Tree” and to arrange press interviews, please contact Producing Director Adam Frank at afrank@uca.edu, (501) 908-9990, or CSO General Manager Vicki Crockett at symphony@conwaycorp.net or (501) 269-1066.

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