Lakeport Legacies to Present Look at Arkansas Delta Architecture
06/16/2016
JONESBORO — Architecture is the topic of Lakeport Legacies' monthly history talk, Thursday, June 23, in the dining room of the Lakeport Plantation house, 601 Highway 142, in Lake Village. Mason Toms of the Arkansas Historic Preservation program will present "Clean Lines and Open Fields: A Look at Mid-Century Modern Architecture in the Arkansas Delta.“
Toms will explore the region's most interesting modern architecture. Structures like the old Dermott State Bank (now Simmons) and St. Luke's Lutheran Church in DeWitt exemplify the optimism and booming economy of the decades after World War II. Today, modernist architecture is gaining the appreciation of both historians and architecture buffs for its clean lines, functional planning and futuristic detailing.
Toms currently serves as the Main Street Arkansas exterior design consultant and preservation specialist. As such, he works with building owners in historic downtowns to preserve facades and storefronts, while still making them visually appealing to a younger generation of consumers.
He also works closely with the National Register Department to research and survey mid-century modern architecture around the state. Through these surveys, as well as social media efforts, lectures and tours, Toms hopes to raise awareness of the unique and innovative Mid-Century architecture that Arkansas possesses. He is a graduate of the Fay Jones School of Architecture at the University of Arkansas with a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies, a minor in history, and concentration in architectural history.
To RSVP for this free event or for more information, contact Dr. Blake Wintory at (870) 265-6031 or through e-mail at bwintory@AState.edu. To view the 2016 Lakeport Legacies schedule, visit http://lakeport.astate.edu/2016/03/02/lakeport-legacies-schedule-for-2016/.
Lakeport Legacies is a monthly history talk held on one of the last Thursdays at the Lakeport Plantation during the spring and summer. Each month a topic from the Delta region is featured. The event is free and open to the public. The Lakeport Plantation is an Arkansas State University Heritage Site. Constructed around 1859, Lakeport is one of Arkansas's premier historic structures and still retains many of its original finishes and architectural details.
Open to the public since 2007, Lakeport researches and interprets the people and cultures that shaped plantation life in the Mississippi River Delta, focusing on the Antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction periods. Arkansas Heritage Sites at Arkansas State University develops and operates historic properties of regional and national significance in the Arkansas Delta. A-State's Heritage Sites include the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center, Southern Tenant Farmers Museum, Lakeport Plantation, the Historic Dyess Colony: Boyhood Home of Johnny Cash, and the Arkansas State University Museum.
