When I was a wee undergraduate studying voice performance at the University of Arkansas (and no, we were not trained to sing bluegrass) in Fayetteville, I remember attending Wednesday afternoon student recital hour in the School of Music's Recital Hall.
The Recital Hall was designed in the 1950s by Edward Durell Stone, a Fayetteville native and award-winning architect. Stone was also a good friend of J. William Fulbright, former Senator of Arkansas and the legislator who advanced The Fulbright Program, an international scholarship program from which my partner and I have benefited. In fact, some of my most prized possessions are pieces of correspondence I had with Sen. Fulbright while I was studying as a Fulbright Scholar in Amsterdam. But that's another story.
In addition to Senator Fulbright, Stone was also friends with Alexander Calder. The Recital Hall housed a number of original Alexander Calder mobiles, and I recall looking up and admiring them intensely while tuba and violin majors plied their aural wares on stage. Some years later, after Calder had achieved enormous notoriety, the mobiles were removed from the Recital Hall and relocated to a place where they could be more closely protected.
Ever since those days in Fayetteville, I have regarded Calder very highly. I may get in trouble for this, but below is my favorite New Yorker cartoon to date. Anyone who knows me well, will understand why it resonates so strongly.
