2020.08.20 Pulaski Heights School Alumnus Subject of World-wide Touring Exhibition
Pulaski Heights School Alumnus
Subject of World-wide Touring Exhibition
Dr. Nancy Hendricks describes the lives of 100 ‘trailblazing‘ women with Arkansas ties, in her book,
“Notable Women of Arkansas. ” Her list includes Maya Angelou, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Daisy Bates,
Alice Walton and the subject of this column, Charlotte Moorman. Moorman was remembered by her early
friends at Pulaski Heights Junior High School, as the tiny girl who dragged a very large musical instrument
through the school hallways. She developed a love of the cello at ten, and by the age of 12 was playing in
the Arkansas State Symphony.
After graduating from Central High in 1951, she began her pursuit of a classical music
education, which culminated at the prestigious Juilliard School in New York City. Charlotte
began to play in well-established east coast symphonies and her future looked bright as a
mainstream classical cellist. Her Arkansas family, who lived in a Craftsman bungalow just
on the edge of Hillcrest, was proud of her successes in the symphony world. (Picture attached)
And then, it all changed. She went from a face in the symphony to a world famous
avant-garde phenomenon.
Some say it all began when she roomed with a young Japanese woman named Yoko Ono,
who would become world famous herself as a multi-media artist and the wife and collaborator
of John Lennon. The influence of Ono and others such as the experimentalist musician John
Cage, set Moorman on a path of exploring the limits of experiential art and music. Her unusual
performances included playing a cello carved from ice until the ice melted into a puddle. She also
played the cello while suspended from helium balloons, underwater, and with tiny television sets
attached to her body. She gained notoriety after being arrested at a Times Square theater while
playing her cello in the nude as part of an arts festival. (Sorry, don't have any of those pictures!! LOL)
While these may sound like stunts, they were carefully scripted, and performed to large crowds of
devoted and serious art patrons. Moorman’s work is considered to hold a place in world art and music history.
Charlotte gave back to the Little Rock community in the 1970's ,when she returned
to play the cello from a hot air balloon in a downtown festival. She died in 1991 after
a lifetime packed with associations with the most innovative minds in international arts,
as well as those in elite levels of the entertainment industry. She collaborated several
times with John Lennon, performed on the Johnny Carson and Merv Griffin television
shows, and led a legendary annual event in New York called the Avant-Garde Arts Festival.
An international traveling exhibit documenting Charlotte Moorman’s lifetime work began in
Chicago in 2017, and moved to New York, Austria and beyond. Her lengthy biography,
"Topless Cellist", was published in 2005. Yoko Ono wrote the forward. Ms Moorman’s work
has never been featured in an Arkansas art museum.
The Rosetta Street Moorman home, just off the edge of Hillcrest, has been
carefully preserved and contributes to the beauty of the extended Hillcrest streetscape.
(YOU CAN ENLARGE THESE PICTURE BY DOUBLE-CLICKING)
Class News
Lynn Hansen was recently hospitalized. Fortunately she only had to stay overnight after successfully receiving
a stent for an Aortic Aneurysm. This happened the same week she moved into a wonderful duplex at Parkway Village.
Strong lady!
Janet Spears needs your prayers.
Since many of us know so many others from other Classes near ours, Hawkins Millers ('54) and
Tommy McKellar ('55) recently passed away.
Carolyn Giles ('55) is at home with hospice care. Kidney failure.
Walt Winters and Joe Crow at the 2002 World Series - LA Angels won
WALT, WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE YOU?????????????????????
ML