Arts and Heritage
Arts & Heritage Committee
The Leslie Arts & Heritage Committee is comprised of local citizens who volunteer their time and efforts for the preservation of local heritage. They were a recipient of the 2009 Heritage Month Grant through the Department of Arkansas Heritage to produce the ‘Stewards of the Earth Festival’ and since then have added many accomplishments to the list! They established the Ozark Mountain Market, a bi-monthly produce and crafts market with live fiddling from April – October, sponsored a Fishing Derby, Christmas Fair, created the Leslie, Arkansas Facebook page (facebook.com/lesliearkansas) to preserve the historic photos and writings of the town while sharing it with locals, those with family roots, as well as passer-bys. They held a benefit for the Ozark Heritage Arts Center after the loss of their endowment to help raise funds to cover operating costs, produced postcards of historic town photos so that anyone can take these special photos with them, compiled a list of the Nationally Registered Historic Buildings and Homes for distribution, began the ‘…For Old Times Sake’ newsletter, as well as many other community projects. They are a non-profit group that operates entirely from donations and anyone with a passion for the Ozark and Leslie heritage is welcome to join. Contact them at lesliearts@yahoo.com.
Ozark Heritage Arts Center & Museum
Housed in a historic Depression-era building constructed of native stone, the Ozark Heritage Arts Center and Museum in Leslie collects and exhibits the rich musical, cultural, and historical heritage of the Ozark Mountain region.
During the Depression, the citizens of Leslie approached the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to construct a gymnasium to complement the school built in 1910 during the city’s boom years. The native-stone building was completed and opened in 1938; it was used by the school system for the next forty-eight years, until 1986, when the system constructed new facilities nearby.
School superintendent Ed Bradberry is generally given credit for the idea to convert the empty gymnasium into an arts center, and retired local merchants Rex and Daphne Killebrew are credited with spearheading the fundraising efforts to make that happen. The Killebrews donated $200,000 (about eighty percent of the total needed) for the renovation efforts, which took nearly four years. After the Ozark Heritage Arts Center and Museum opened in August 1990, the Killebrews donated another $300,000 in stocks as an endowment for the non-profit organization. The center houses an acoustically impressive 300-seat theater that takes up most of the old gymnasium area, as well as an art gallery on the first floor and a museum on a second floor.
In previous years each June since 1997, the signature event for the Killebrew Theater has been an annual fiddle contest. One of just three in the state, the contest offers three divisions for fiddlers, all of whom must be Arkansas residents. However, since the Center has lost it’s endowment, future contests are pending. In addition, musical performances are presented the second Saturday of each month throughout the year. The theater is equipped with screening facilities as well.
The heritage museum houses four rooms of items and artifacts from the area, from an 1820s loom to typing-class typewriters, cheerleader outfits, and a dentist office from the mid-twentieth century. Each of the rooms has a general theme, from life in the 1800s to the boom years of Leslie, as well as life in the outlying communities and the tools and implements for farm life. Railroads and the timber industry were vital to the development of the area, and each is explored through materials from the period. Also included are photos of whittlers and a selection of their knives, given that Colliers magazine proclaimed Leslie the whittling capital of America in 1955, a statement echoed by the New York Times in 1988.
The collection also includes items such as a fiddle used by local resident Abbie Morrison (who, with his twin brother, Apsie, performed in fiddling contests in Arkansas and Missouri, and had a recording session with their string band in Memphis in 1930); an apple press from the former 30,000-tree fruit orchard east of the city; a number of carvings such as a stagecoach and team and dress canes from the whittlers; a time-stamp machine from the local Missouri and North Arkansas (M&NA) railroad office; postal scales and ledgers reflecting births, deaths, and taxes during the town’s boom years; and photos of past residents as they lived and created the heritage of the area.
Information courtesy of Guy Lancaster from the Encyclopedia of Arkansas Website (http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=3228)
Leslie Homecoming
Every year, the third weekend of June since 1954 the City of Leslie has celebrated it’s heritage. The Leslie Homecoming always begins with the Homecoming Queen Pageant on the third Tuesday. The remaining events kick off on Thursday evening with a Rodeo Queen Contest, Pie Auction and Street Dance. Thursday through church services Sunday morning the town celebrates it’s heritage and is alive with festivities! Dances, rodeos, turtle races, beans & cornbread and family reunions abound! Be sure not to miss it!
