Artwork Adds a Splash of Color to the I30 Bridge

Before the Clinton library was built on Markham Street, the underside of the I30 bridge was more or less decorated with graffiti and litter. The city put good money to use by cleaning up the area, even patching the sidewalks and adding sculptures and artwork. The artwork adds a better splash of color than the graffiti.

In November 2004, over 3,500 hand painted tiles, made by surrounding Little Rock students, were placed on the underside of the I30 bridge, receiving positive attention to the many tourist that frequent that area. I myself had to get a closer look. One specific tile grabbed my attention as it represented Autism, something that I am quite familiar with.

Harriet Tubman Statue in Little Rock

Last night I went to a Archeological Society meeting in Little Rock, down from the Clinton Presidential Center. I had a few minutes before I met up with some other college students attending the same meeting, so I took this opportunity to take a stroll.

I had parked under the I30 bridge, on the opposite side of the Clinton Library, on E. Markham St. On the back side of E. Markham street is the Ottenheimer Plaza and the Arkansas River Trail. Along the Arkansas River trail you would find many sculptures, adorned with plaques on who donated the sculpture and what the sculpture is called.

I didn’t walk the entire trail as it is quite extensive and it was a very hot day, but I stopped and snapped a few pictures of the Clinton library and some of the sculptures and artwork in the area I was in.

It reads: “Children if you’re tired, keep going. If you’re hungry, keep going. If you’re scared, keep going. If you want the taste of freedom, keep going.”

One sculpture in particular caught my eye. It is of a woman holding the hand of a little child. Me being a mother of a three year old and quite used to holding my daughter’s hand as I walk, thought oh what a cute sculpture. I snapped a picture, then read the plaque to see what it was called and who the artist was. The Plaque said it is Harriet Tubman. Being a person who loves History my first reaction was, oh how cool is this!

I wasn’t able to research why there was a Harriet Tubman sculpture near the Clinton library until today when I found another wordpress blog explaining more about it.

Click this link to find out more about the sculpture: http://lrculturevulture.com/2012/02/12/sculpture-vulture-harriet-tubman/