You may be familiar with TED Talks, perhaps through tuning into the TED Radio Hour on KUAR.
TED Talks showcase speakers presenting ideas that aim to challenge our beliefs and perspectives in various disciplines. Throughout the country, cities are hosting their own, independent TED events featuring speakers from their community, known as TEDx events.
The second annual TEDx conference in Little Rock – TEDxMarkhamStreet - will be held on September 30, 2016.
Leading up to the event, we revisit last year's talks and follow up with the speakers.
Guests:
Chris James
Chris James is a professional spoken word artist, playwright, author and teaching artist. He has been involved in Arts in Education since 2009.
He is affiliated with organizations such as Thea Foundation, Wildwood Parks for the Arts, Arkansas Learning Through the Arts, Pulaski County Youth Services and others.
James has worked with hundreds of students throughout Arkansas. He has orchestrated school-wide and district-wide poetry slams and stage plays with schools and organizations. Chris is the Executive Director of two programs: Poetry Saves Lives and The Roots Art Connection. He is also a member of nationally known poetry slam team, Foreign Tongues that ranked second place in the world's second largest poetry slam in 2014.
Reese Rowland
Rowland’s dedication to crafting meaningful spaces through innovative, sustainable architecture has been rewarded with over sixty national, regional and state design awards. His Heifer International World Headquarters design received the nation’s highest honor for architecture, the 2008 AIA National Institute Honor Award, one of 13 awarded.
He designed the Arkansas Studies Institute, the Hillary Rodham Clinton Children's Library, the Psychiatric Research Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Arkansas's 9/11 Memorial in El Dorado.
Arkansas Business named him to its prestigious list of “25 Entrepreneurs & Innovators of the last 25 years”, crediting his work with helping to transform downtown Little Rock through modern architecture.
His designs also include Acxiom’s River Market Tower Headquarters, The Bank of the Ozarks Headquarters, the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce, and the Murphy Oil Corporation Headquarters. He continues to develop his design philosophy of allowing natural light to enliven space and spirit, while reducing our dependence on generated energy.
P. Allen Smith
P. Allen Smith is an author, television host, entrepreneur and conservationist.
He uses his Arkansas home, Moss Mountain Farm, as an epicenter for promoting the local food movement, organic gardening and the preservation of heritage poultry breeds.
Smith created his farm to serve as a place of inspiration, education and conservation and provides visitors from around the country locally sourced meals to introduce them to an expression of the regional cuisine.
In 2009, Smith founded the Heritage Poultry Conservancy, which is dedicated to the preservation and support of threatened breeds and strains of domestic poultry. In addition, he strives to educate future generations through his work with Kids Plant It Earth. The curriculum he developed for the program teaches students about being good stewards of the planet through gardening.
Smith studied garden history and design at the University of Manchester in England.
