The statue of Johnny Cash was lowered into position early Tuesday at the atg Pavilion in North Little Rock. All photos: Michael Hibblen
Before dawn Tuesday, a crane lifted an 8-foot-tall bronze statue of Johnny Cash — an exact replica of the one representing Arkansas in the U.S. Capitol — onto a pedestal at a newly constructed pavilion in North Little Rock.
After working with a crew to adjust its position, sculptor Kevin Kresse got on his knees to help bolt the statue in place. Among those assisting were several people who have spent years working to make the project a reality.
As the sun began to rise, the group applauded the completion of a key part of the project ahead of Friday’s grand opening of the atg Pavilion at the plaza being renamed the Argenta Music Complex.
The Cash statue will serve as an anchor on the west side of the pavilion, facing Main Street. Eventually, the pavilion will house 21 sculptures honoring 20 musicians and music industry executive Al Bell. Their work helped shape American music across genres including classical, blues, gospel, country, soul and rock.
Standing behind the statue, which features a guitar slung across Cash’s back, Kresse was asked how the setting compared with the U.S. Capitol, where the original was unveiled in September 2024.
“It’s outside, it’s in my hometown. In the Capitol, he’s up against a column, so this is actually one of my favorite views, from behind — such an iconic Johnny Cash view here. And then I love that the moon’s up above with the sunrise,” Kresse said, looking toward the sky. “This is special. Incredibly special.”
The six busts installed Tuesday were first arranged on the floor with a diagram showing how each would be secured to its pedestal.
Workers then brought out six wrapped bronze busts Kresse created of Glen Campbell, Al Green, Levon Helm, Louis Jordan, Florence Price and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, which were placed atop their pedestals. Etched on the back of each bust are the musician’s name, birth and death years, and an outline of Arkansas with a star marking the person’s hometown.
Plaques identifying the honorees are also being installed, providing visitors with information about the musicians, including those whose sculptures are not part of the first group being unveiled.
Eventually, likenesses of Big Bill Broonzy, Albert King, Jimmy Driftwood, Lefty Frizzell, Ronnie Hawkins, Scott Joplin, Charlie Rich, Granny Almeda Riddle, Pharoah Sanders, William Grant Still, Conway Twitty, Sonny Boy Williamson and Howlin’ Wolf will be added.
John Gaudin, the project’s campaign chair, said the pavilion will be an important addition to the neighborhood where he has lived and worked for years.
“I see it as a real gem in the crown in the arts district,” Gaudin said. “From an economic and tourism development perspective, that was a big deal for me to get involved in it.”
His friendship with Kresse and admiration for his work also played a role.
“I think he’s one of the top sculptors in the country, and to be able to have the ability to showcase some of his work, it was just hard to kind of pass up for me to not get involved,” Gaudin said.
At one point Tuesday, Kresse’s wife, Bridget, noted that it was Gaudin’s birthday, prompting the group to sing “Happy Birthday” to him.
John Gaudin and Greg Spradlin examine the bust of drummer and singer Levon Helm after it was placed on a pedestal Tuesday. Born in Elaine, Arkansas, Helm became best known as a member of The Band.
Kevin Kresse adjusts the placement of his bust of Louis Jordan, who was born in Brinkley and became a popular jazz and jump blues saxophonist, singer and bandleader from the 1930s through the 1950s.
Kresse traces the origins of the project to 2018, when he unveiled a bust of Helm in Marvell. That experience led him to consider how many other influential Arkansas musicians had received relatively little recognition in their home communities.
Working with musician Greg Spradlin and radio host Stephen Koch, Kresse began developing a broader effort to honor the state’s musical heritage.
An important component of the project is a plan to create duplicate bronze busts for installation in the musicians’ hometowns or communities closely associated with them.
Cash grew up in Dyess, Helm was from Marvell, Campbell was born in Billstown near Delight, and Tharpe was born in Cotton Plant. Other communities with connections to the honorees include Brinkley, Pine Bluff, Forrest City, Helena, El Dorado, Mountain View and Texarkana.
Gaudin said the first communities expected to receive sculptures are Pine Bluff and Brinkley, potentially next spring.
Spradlin said he was pleased to see this phase of the project nearing completion after years of discussions.
“It’s amazing. It’s finally happening, you know, something that Kevin’s been talking about for a long time, and we’ve been talking about for a long time,” Spradlin said. “I don’t think it could be more perfect than it is where it is right now, and that it’s finally happening. It’s a dream come true.”
Kevin Kresse positions his bust of Forrest City native Al Green on a pedestal Tuesday. Green became one of the most successful soul singers of the 1970s, writing and recording a string of hits.
Born in Little Rock, Florence Price became a pioneering classical composer and the first Black woman to have a composition performed by a major American symphony orchestra.
Spradlin said working with Kresse on the Helm memorial inspired them to find ways to honor additional legendary Arkansas musicians.
“I’ve been crawling around graveyards since I was 16 years old, following the music and the musicians, and think that Arkansas has never really acknowledged the icons that we’ve produced for the world,” Spradlin said. “The fact that they’re getting a home here, it’s tremendous.”
The approximately $3 million project broke ground May 11 and was developed through a partnership involving North Little Rock Tourism, the nonprofit Argenta Arts Foundation and private supporters.
Scott and Ruth Landers, owners of Applied Technology Group, are among the principal backers, and the pavilion is named for their company. North Little Rock Tourism funded construction of the pavilion, while private donations are paying for the sculptures.
Construction has progressed rapidly in recent months, with workers assembling an elaborate steel structure that required welding during the hottest part of the summer, when temperatures were hovering around 100 degrees.
Workers assemble the steel framework of the pavilion Sept. 6.
With the temperature around 100 degrees, a worker welds steel beams together during construction of the pavilion Sept. 6.
Kresse said his original vision for the pavilion was considerably different from the structure now standing. He initially suggested something resembling a barn to reflect the humble beginnings of many of the musicians being honored.
As the design evolved, the pavilion took on what he described as the appearance of a church or temple, with the sculptures elevated above ground level.
“To me, it’s almost a perfect metaphor for their lives, starting off very simply, humbly, in so many of these small towns in Arkansas, and [they] went out and influenced the world,” Kresse said. “And then you see their influence in so many of the musicians coming behind them.”
The structure, he said, is a fitting tribute to artists whose accomplishments have not always received the recognition they deserve in their home state.
“To put these artists on a pedestal, metaphorically, and know that they really deserve this type of honor,” Kresse said.
One mistake was discovered on the pedestal where the Cash statue was placed Tuesday. The pedestal is identical to the one in the U.S. Capitol, featuring lyrics from the song “Man in Black” on one side and a quotation on the other, but Cash’s birth year was incorrectly listed as 1935. He was born in 1932.
It’s unclear how the mistake occurred, but Kresse was unfazed, saying such errors happen.
“It will get fixed, so I’m not worried about it. Those are small potatoes in the big scheme of things,” Kresse said. “That’s fixable and, you know, it’s not like the bronze and he’s missing a hand or anything like that.”
Organizers said the error likely will not be corrected in time for Friday’s ceremony.
Kresse said initial plans called for unveiling subsequent busts in groups once a year, but they now may be installed in pairs as he completes them.
“We’ll keep adding to the menu, and then word of mouth can spread about this really cool thing that’s happening in Argenta,” Kresse said.
Duplicate castings of the initial busts have already been made for hometown installations, he said, although a second Florence Price bust is not being produced during the first round.
Kevin Kresse marks where the bust of Pike County native Glen Campbell will be secured to its pedestal. An identical bust is planned for the Delight Branch Library in Campbell’s hometown.
A bust of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who grew up in Cotton Plant and became a pioneering gospel singer and guitarist whose music helped shape rock ‘n’ roll. An identical bust is planned for Cotton Plant.
Sculptures of Big Bill Broonzy and Albert King are at the foundry Kresse uses to cast his work, he said, while he is about halfway through creating the clay model of Howlin’ Wolf.
Kresse hopes the hometown installations will encourage communities to develop additional attractions celebrating their musical connections.
“Hopefully that’s not gonna be, you know, the end-all, be-all,” he said. “It’ll hopefully just be a catalyst for more things to happen in the towns.”
He said the arrival of tourists could encourage communities to expand beyond the sculptures.
“It’s like anything, you gotta take a first step, and then I think if they see tourists coming, they’ll want to do more to accommodate that and build up.”
Organizers also envision expanding the educational aspects of the North Little Rock pavilion, potentially including programs for children and a museum devoted to Arkansas music.
“I’m just dreaming again, you know, but have a museum for Arkansas music,” Kresse said. “Really expand upon this cultural gold mine that we’ve been sitting with.”
Gaudin said fundraising continues for the pavilion, the hometown installations and the broader Arkansas Music Trail.
For Kresse, the project has grown far beyond what he initially imagined.
“It’s just so much bigger than what I was originally dreaming of,” he said. “That’s what really can catch me off guard and kind of take my breath away sometimes.”
The grand opening will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. Friday and will also mark the reopening of the Argenta Music Complex. North Little Rock Tourism says the celebration will include live music, food trucks, family-friendly activities and interactive exhibits.
This story was written for Talk Business & Politics and other newspapers owned by Newsroom Ventures.
Veteran reporter, editor and manager at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
A few times a year, I sit in for my pal Flap Jones hosting Not Necessarily Nashville on Little Rock Public Radio’s KUAR 89.1. It always reminds me how good it feels to just play my favorite music on the radio. There are no firm rules about what I play, though I do try to keep it along the lines of what Flap’s incredibly loyal listeners expect: country and Americana mixed with whatever else feels good to me at the moment.
A health concern prompted Rosanne Cash to cancel her annual Sunken Lands Songwriting Circle fundraiser last month, which benefits Johnny Cash’s boyhood home in Dyess, Arkansas. She later released a statement on Sept. 24 saying she was doing better.
“I had a health scare a few weeks ago but with some rest and serious downtime I’m happy to report that all is well,” Cash wrote.
At age 80, Neil Young released his latest album last month, Second Song, and it’s quite good. He’s sounding raspy and as holy as ever. It’s great hearing new material from him.
I’ve also recently been listening to a lot of full albums by Tom T. Hall, which led me to a couple from the 1990s that I’d never heard. From Home Grown, his final studio release, I pulled one song to open the show.
AUDIO: Not Necessarily Nashville, Oct. 10, 2026 on Little Rock Public Radio’s KUAR-FM 89.1.
Not Necessarily Nashville playlist, Oct. 10, 2026
Steve Earle with the Fairfield Four — “Telephone Road” (El Corazón) Rosanne Cash — “Seventh Avenue” (The Wheel) Neil Young & the Chrome Hearts — “The Foggy Edge of Time” (Second Song) Billy Strings — “Leaning on a Travelin’ Song” (Highway Prayers) B.B. King featuring Willie Nelson — “Night Life” (Deuces Wild) Mary Gauthier — “Mercy Now” (Mercy Now) Johnny Cash — “The L&N Don’t Stop Here Anymore” (Unearthed) Bill Withers — “Grandma’s Hands” (Just as I Am) Jim Mize — “Delta Land” (Release It to the Sky) The Band — “Atlantic City” (Jericho)
Veteran reporter, editor and manager at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
An amazing project to honor many Arkansas musicians who were influential across a broad range of genres is being planned for North Little Rock. Artist Kevin Kresse, best known for sculpting an eight-foot-tall bronze statue of Johnny Cash that was unveiled last year in the U.S. Capitol, is planning to make busts of 19 additional musicians, along with one of industry executive Al Bell.
The busts, which are scheduled to be completed in 2029, will be displayed in the ATG Pavilion in Argenta Plaza. They will be anchored by a full-size replica of the Cash statue, to be made using the same mold that created the statue for the Capitol. I discussed what’s being planned with Kresse and project Campaign Chair John Gaudin on “Arkansas Week,” which aired Friday, August 29 on Arkansas PBS.
In addition to the busts being placed in the pavilion, replica busts will be provided to the hometowns of each musician. Fans travel from around the world to see the places where Cash, Levon Helm, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and others grew up. This will help those communities honor their legacies.
Below is a complete list of the Arkansans being honored and the towns that will receive busts:
Johnny Cash — Kingsland
Louis Jordan — Brinkley
Al Green — Forrest City
Levon Helm — Marvell
Glen Campbell — Delight
Florence Price — Little Rock
Pharoah Sanders — North Little Rock
Lefty Frizzell — El Dorado
William Grant Still — Little Rock
Charlie Rich — Colt
Sonny Boy Williamson — Helena
Scott Joplin — Texarkana
Big Bill Broonzy — Pine Bluff
Jimmy Driftwood — Mountain View
Conway Twitty — Helena
Sister Rosetta Tharpe — Cotton Plant
Granny Almeda Riddle — Heber Springs
Al Bell — North Little Rock
Albert King — Osceola
Ronnie Hawkins — Fayetteville
Howlin Wolf — West Memphis
In the second segment of the program, I talked with Dr. Pearl McElfish, director of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Institute for Community Health Innovation about efforts to improve maternal health. She provided an assessment of postpartum care, which is especially dire in rural areas. The institute is working to reach new mothers through a combination of telemedicine, mobile clinics and remote monitoring, she said.
Veteran reporter, editor and manager at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
Nathan Willis films as Benjamin Victor works on his clay model of Daisy Bates. Photo: Arkansas PBS
On this state holiday honoring civil rights pioneer Daisy Gatson Bates, people can register for free tickets to a screening next month of an Arkansas PBS original documentary that tells the story of placing statues of Bates and singer-songwriter Johnny Cash in the U.S. Capitol. While working for Little Rock Public Radio’s KUAR in previous years, I reported on each step of the process — often alongside filmmaker Nathan Willis — and know people will enjoy watching the fascinating details of the legislative debate, selection of the sculptors, the physical work of making the statues, then getting the needed approvals to place them in the Capitol.
The screening will be Wednesday, March 19, 7 p.m. at Robinson Center in Little Rock. You can register for free tickets here. There will first be a panel discussion, followed by the documentary. It will make its broadcast premiere the following night, Thursday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m.
UPDATE: After the two nights of showings, the entire film can now be watched on the PBS app and YouTube. I’ve replaced the promo clip that was below with the full film. Enjoy!
Veteran reporter, editor and manager at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
I had the most fun I’ve ever had during a pledge drive on Wednesday, Dec. 11 as Arkansas PBS featured an evening airing Willie Nelson’s 90 Birthday Celebration, followed by a 1990 concert with country supergroup the Highwaymen, which was made up of Nelson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson.
I’ve long been a huge fan of Willie and have seen him in concert more than any other performer — maybe a dozen times since 1990. I spoke about being introduced to Willie’s music at a young age in the 1970s when my mom would play his 8-tracks Red Headed Stranger and Stardust on practically every family trip to see my grandparents. I didn’t enjoy Willie then, but over the years, watching him perform during the first Farm Aid concert in 1985 and many times on Austin City Limits helped me begin building an appreciation. Eventually seeing him in concert, I realized what an amazing performer he was.
So it was a joy to talk about Willie as we were showing a couple of his concerts. Joining me on the air was singer-songwriter Ryan Harmon, who, despite his young age, has an encyclopedic knowledge of country music. Years earlier he had worked in the marketing department at Arkansas PBS, but after being selected for an audition with ABC’s American Idol, took the encouragement he received from judges and is now focused on building his career as a musician.
If you watch the video below, you’ll see we had a great time on the air. The video only features highlights from our local breaks with none of the concerts we were showing to avoid copyright infringements by posting this to YouTube.
Among the things I spoke about during the pledge drive was my one experience interviewing Willie for a half-hour in South Florida in 2005. I was working for the Miami Herald, which had a partnership providing local news to PBS/NPR station WLRN. You can hear the interview and read a transcript here.
During breaks in the Highwaymen show at Nassau Coliseum, we also talked about the unveiling of the Johnny Cash statue earlier that year in the U.S. Capitol, which I was excited to attend. His statue and one of civil rights pioneer Daisy Bates, unveiled earlier in the year, now represent Arkansas. Each state is allowed two statues, and Bates and Cash were selected by the Arkansas General Assembly in 2019.
Interviewing Willie Nelson in Plantation, Florida on May 26, 2005. Photo: Candace West/Miami Herald
I also discussed covering the restoration years earlier of Cash’s boyhood home in Dyess, which began when Arkansas State University bought the dilapidated farmhouse as part of its Arkansas Heritage Sites program. Fundraising for the project began with a 2011 with a concert in Jonesboro, which included Kris Kristofferson. Willie would perform the second year, with a dedication ceremony of the home eventually held in 2014.
The preservation of the Cash home and placing a statue of he and Bates in Washington are, by far, my favorite stories to have covered during my long career.
Veteran reporter, editor and manager at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
A fundraiser was held in northeast Arkansas on Saturday, August 12, to benefit Johnny Cash’s boyhood home. Rosanne Cash, Rodney Crowell and Sarah Jarosz performed in the first annual “Sunken Lands Songwriting Circle,” held in a theater on the Arkansas State University campus. It featured a new format compared to previous concerts over the past 12 years and replaced the Johnny Cash Heritage Festival, with the last in-person event taking place in 2019 before being put on hold by the pandemic.
John Leventhal and Rosanne Cash open Saturday’s concert with the song “The Sunken Lands.” All Photos: Michael Hibblen
For three years, the annual show had been held in a field next to the small Cash family farmhouse. But Dr. Ruth Hawkins, former director of the university’s Arkansas Heritage Sites program, which oversaw the restoration of the home and nearby Dyess colony, told me there were challenges in holding the event there without the needed infrastructure for the crowd it attracted. A virtual event was held in 2021 with Rosanne and husband John Leventhal hosting an intimate performance with just the two inside the boyhood home.
This year’s concert featured Rosanne, Rodney and Sarah rotating songs, singing several of their own, as well as a few Johnny Cash songs. They played acoustic guitars in front of a crowd of several hundred, including many people who had been key in preserving the house more than a decade ago when the dilapidated structure seemed almost like a lost cause.
Most songs were introduced with poignant stories. While one singer would perform, the other two sat and listened. Each was accompanied on guitar by Leventhal, who was referred to as their band. After the show, Rosanne told me, “Tonight’s concert was such a beautiful, moving event for me. I felt like I was in the audience part of the time and it warms my heart to see how many people are supporting the boyhood home project.”
I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing her a few times over the years since the university acquired the home and held its first fundraising concert in 2011. If you would like to learn more about the background of this amazing project, you can find links to some of my previous reports at the bottom.
Rosanne Cash spoke briefly during a reception before Saturday’s show. She said snacks provided were prepared using her grandmother Carrie Cash’s recipes. “I had a friend run out here and grab me a banana pudding before it disappeared,” Cash told the crowd.
In the audience Saturday was Kevin Kresse, the sculptor selected by a state committee to make a statue of Johnny Cash that will soon represent Arkansas in the U.S. Capitol along with one of Little Rock civil rights leader Daisy Bates. Kresse told me he was at the foundry last week, which is casting the bronze statue using his clay model and is really pleased with how it’s coming along.
Each state has two statues on display in the Capitol, with Arkansas’ current statues being more than a century old featuring attorney Uriah Rose and former governor and U.S. Senator James P. Clark. When then-Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed legislation in 2019 to replace them with Cash and Bates, he said he hoped to have unveiling ceremonies before the end of his term in January. But the process of getting the needed federal approvals has taken longer than originally hoped. It’s now expected that separate ceremonies for each of the new statues can take place this fall or next spring.
Rosanne Cash spoke about the statue of her dad at one point during the concert, praising Kresse for his work. On display in the lobby of the theater were a bust of the Cash statue and a three-foot maquette of the full figure. She encouraged audience members to take a good look at them. There had been hesitation about having a sculptor make the statue, Rosanne later told me, but said she’s extremely pleased with how the project is coming along.
“My family was nervous about how it would turn out. Would Kevin really be able to see the subtleties of my dad’s bone structure and his demeanor and his dignity? Kevin got all of it,” she said. “It was really remarkable and deeply moving that he really took in who my dad was and that comes through in the sculpture, the statue — it’s beautiful — I’m really proud.”
John Leventhal, Rosanne Cash, Sarah Jarosz and Rodney Crowell got a rousing ovation at the conclusion of Saturday’s concert.
After the concert, all four of the performers took part in a meet-and-greet with the crowd. A long line snaked outside of a room to the side of the auditorium with the musicians talking at length with people, signing autographs and posting for photos.
It really was a great event and Rosanne said, “I’ll be back next year.” I’m looking forward to it!
MY PREVIOUS REPORTS ON THE BOYHOOD HOME AND STATUE:
Thousands Attend Fundraiser To Restore Johnny Cash Home
August 5, 2011, KUAR News
The project to restore the boyhood home got a strong start with this first concert featuring four generations of the Cash family, including daughter Rosanne Cash, son-in-law Rodney Crowell and son John Carter Cash, as well as longtime friends Kris Kristofferson and George Jones.
The restoration of Johnny Cash’s Boyhood Home
February 29, 2012, Arkansas Times
On what would have been Cash’s 80th birthday, family members and university officials joined fans and residents in Dyess to formally mark the beginning of work to restore the home. Ray and Carrie Cash moved with their children to the community in 1935, which was created as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Depression-era New Deal program.
Johnny Cash’s Boyhood Home Tells The Story Of A Town
Dec. 29, 2012, NPR News In a story that aired nationally on NPR’s Weekend Edition, I reported how nearly a decade after Cash’s death, fans still traveled from around the world to see the place he described as key to his development. Plans called for turning the house into a museum — serving not only as a tribute to Cash, but also to tell the unique history of the town.
Rosanne Cash Reflects As Opening Of Johnny Cash Boyhood Home Nears
Nov. 25, 2013, KUAR News
Ms. Cash performed in Little Rock in advance of the release of her album The River & The Thread, with songs focused on the southern region of the country. Some of the songs were set in Arkansas and inspired, she said, by her experiences watching the restoration of the home and community where her father was raised.
Hundreds Turn Out For Dedication Of Johnny Cash Boyhood Home
August 17, 2014, KUAR News
After years of restoration work, a grand opening ceremony was held for the Cash house. The original wooden walls and flooring were restored and furnishings inside were identical to how the home looked when Cash grew up there, said his surviving brother and sister.
Legislation to place statues of Johnny Cash, Daisy Bates in U.S. Capitol signed into law
KUAR News, April 11, 2019
Statues of singer Johnny Cash and Little Rock civil rights leader Daisy Bates will eventually represent Arkansas in the U.S. Capitol. Gov. Hutchinson was joined by members of the Cash family and the goddaughter of Bates for a bill signing ceremony at the state Capitol.
Final modifications being made for Arkansas’ statues of Daisy Bates and Johnny Cash
Sept. 11, 2021, KUAR News
Sculptors creating the statues were finalizing designs before being submitted to federal officials for approval. During a committee meeting, the artists discussed subtle changes that had been made or were being considered to make the statues more accurate.
Sculptor discusses inspiration in making Johnny Cash statue for U.S. Capitol
June 28, 2021, KUAR News
Artist Kevin Kresse, who was selected by the state to create the statue of Cash, spoke with me on KUAR’s Not Necessarily Nashville about his appreciation for the musician and what inspired him in this project.
Rosanne Cash honored by ASU, meets sculptor of Johnny Cash statue for U.S. Capitol
May 7, 2022, KUAR News
Ms. Cash received an honorary doctoral degree from Arkansas State University for her work on the project to restore her dad’s boyhood home. She also met with the sculptor making the statue of Johnny Cash and was interviewed by me while getting her first look at a bust of the statue.
Work advances on statues of Daisy Bates, Johnny Cash for U.S. Capitol
Oct. 27, 2022, KUAR News
The architect of the U.S. Capitol notified the state that approval had been granted for a bronze statue of Bates to be cast. Meanwhile, the sculptor of the Cash statue said he had completed work on a clay model and was preparing to submit a packet of material for approval.
Veteran reporter, editor and manager at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
About Me
This is the online home of Michael Hibblen, managing editor of Newsroom Ventures, which publishes six Arkansas newspapers. I've worked as a reporter, editor and manager for newspapers, radio and TV stations for more than three decades, with this website telling the story of my career. Also featured are outside interests I've researched. The views expressed here are my own and might not reflect those of my employers.
Released by Arcadia Publishing in 2017, Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas delves into the history of the railroad, which once had a huge footprint in Arkansas. The book features historic photos and tells the story of the Rock Island, which was shut down in March 1980. READ MORE ABOUT MY BOOK.
Preserving Rock Island Depot at Perry
Since 2017, I've been part of a group working to preserve the former Rock Island Depot at Perry, Arkansas. To keep it from being demolished, we raised money to move the depot to an adjacent lot, still alongside the tracks, which is now owned by the city. The building has since been listed on the National Register of Historic Places and our group has become a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. LEARN MORE.
For 13 years, from May 2009 to December 2022, I worked for NPR station KUAR-FM 89.1 at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. That included 10 years as News Director while continuing to anchor and report. You can read and hear reports from that time on Little Rock Public Radio's website.
