Oxley Art

05/25/2026

The North Little Rock History Commission is proud to announce that we will soon be opening our new permanent exhibit, "Stories from the North Side," in the Heritage Center, 506 Main St., right next door to the Argenta Plaza, in downtown North Little Rock. We are right in the heart of the Argenta Historic District and the Argenta Arts District.

We plan to open late Summer 2026 and we are in need of volunteers. Would you like to help us out? It'll be both fun and educational! If you would like to be one of our volunteers, please apply in one of these three ways. Or, you can always call the Heritage Center at (501) 371-0755 and ask for Kelli. She will help direct you on how to apply.

We need you!!

05/19/2026

Here’s the last of the renderings we did for the Delta Cultural Center (DCC) in Helena, Arkansas' "Arkansas in Song" exhibit now showing till November. We love the early rock’n roll energy of it!

"Ronnie Hawkins was born at Huntsville (Madison County) and moved with his family when he was 10 to Fayetteville (Washington County). The young man thrived in the college town, forming his first band in high school and honing his act as a physical education major at the University of Arkansas. Doing the camel walk three decades before Michael Jackson’s moonwalk and executing multiple back flips, Hawkins worked hard for his audiences, earning him multiple nicknames – “Rompin’ Ronnie,” “Mr. Dynamo,” and “The Hawk.””

– Exhibit except from "Rockin’ in the Shadow of the Sun", Thomas Shell Jacques, acting director, DCC

05/19/2026

It's great to see a "baby" of ours STILL doing duty. Talkin' about the wonderful graphic we created back in the 80's... The Oyster Bar in Little Rock's logographic. Some of our favorite memories are of working with the previous owner Virginia Boyd, seeing a photo of the logo as a flag flying over the tallest peaks in the Himalayas (was it K2? or Everest?), and instructing a young Brandon Oxley in the finer points of the Freehand application in the 90s when he recreated the logo as a vector file. Keep on rockin'!

Tonight! Live at The Oyster Bar!

05/15/2026

One of the renderings we did for the Delta Cultural Center (DCC) in Helena, Arkansas' "Arkansas in Song" exhibit now showing til November.

This one kinda hit home for us a bit. We were fortunate to attend the appearance of Levon and The Band when they played at Commanders in the S.O.B. (Shrimp, Oysters & Beerhaus) Restaurant on 2nd Street in Little Rock back in the late 80’s (or was it the early 90s?). Anyone remember that?

"In the late ‘50s, [Ronnie] Hawkins moved to Helena and formed a new band, The Hawks, including young drummer Levon Helm, born at Elaine, raised at Turkey Scratch, and fresh out of Marvell High School. Receiving word from Conway Twitty that Canadian audiences would love his act, Hawkins packed up his Delta musicians and headed for the Great White North. Most members, too homesick or too cold, quickly headed back to Arkansas. Helm remained the longest, greeting the Canadians hired as replacements – Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson, Garth Hudson, and Rick Danko. Bob Dylan later christened them as The Band. Departing from Hawkins, The Band released its classic debut, “Music From Big Pink,” in 1968."

– Exhibit except from "Rockin’ in the Shadow of the Sun", Thomas Shell Jacques, acting director, DCC

05/13/2026

Well. Guess this is going to happen :)

05/11/2026

Another rendering we did for the Delta Cultural Center (DCC) in Helena, Arkansas' "Arkansas in Song" exhibit now showing til November.

The Reverend.

"It would be difficult to overstate the artistic and commercial impact made in early 1970s soul music by Al Green of Forrest City (St. Francis County). Hits like “Tired of Being Alone,” “Let’s Stay Together,” “Love and Happiness,” and “Take Me to the River” lifted the expectations of the soul. Green’s departure into gospel music in the late ‘70s left a hole in the ozone. Among his honors are: Induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; 11 Grammy Awards, the Kennedy Center Honors; and recognition by Rolling Stone magazine as the 10th greatest singer on its “200 Greatest Singers of All Time” list."

– Exhibit except from "The Romancers", Thomas Shell Jacques, acting director, DCC

05/06/2026

Presenting this rendering we did for the Delta Cultural Center (DCC) in Helena, Arkansas' "Arkansas in Song" exhibit now showing till November, with a quiz. This gentleman eventually changed his name to become part of one of the South’s premier blue’s radio shows.

"Into this mix of guitarists came Mississippi harmonica man Aleck “Rice” Miller, a gifted musician and ambitious self-promoter. Like Lockwood and Frazier, Miller was in an orbit of performers who had played with Delta legend Robert Johnson prior to his untimely 1938 death. Like Johnson, their fortunes depended each night on the size of audience they drew to their performances. Learning that a new radio station, KFFA, was to launch at Helena, Miller grabbed Lockwood and arranged for an audition. If they could land a daily radio show, Miller told Lockwood, they could promote their upcoming shows.”

Who did Aleck Miller become?

– Exhibit except from "Butter My Biscuit!", Thomas Shell Jacques, acting director, DCC

05/02/2026

We love this rendering! Reminds us of the boss on the weekend :) One we did for the Delta Cultural Center (DCC) in Helena, Arkansas' "Arkansas in Song" exhibit now showing til November. This guy is a blast to watch!

"Alto saxophonist Louis Jordan of Brinkley (Monroe County) was crowned in the 1940s as “King of the Jukeboxes,” a title that recognized his supremacy on the swinging R&B and pop charts with hits “Caldonia,” “Choo Choo Ch’Boogie,” “Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t (My Baby),” and “Saturday Night Fish Fry.””

– Exhibit except from "The King of the Jukeboxes", Thomas Shell Jacques, acting director, DCC

04/29/2026

Another rendering we did for the Delta Cultural Center (DCC) in Helena, Arkansas' "Arkansas in Song" exhibit now showing til November. Turns out, this woman influenced the likes of Chuck Berry to Jimmy Page. More recently her music was featured in the 2022 feature film “Death on the Nile”.

"One of Arkansas’ earliest gospel stars was Sister Rosetta Tharpe of Cotton Plant (Woodruff County), a guitar prodigy introduced at around age six to life in a traveling evangelical troupe by her missionary mother, Katie Bell Nubin. By 1938, she had married, divorced, and headed for New York with her mother in tow. Like many of Arkansas’ larger than life musical figures, Tharpe created a career and persona outside the expected norms.”

– Exhibit excepts from "The Good Sister", Thomas Shell Jacques, acting director, DCC