About An Evening WITH...
“An Evening With…” fuses magnetic talent to an intimate space. This monthly artists series is a revolutionary platform that features poetry, performance, live music, opera, hip hop, theatre, and beyond. Hosted at the majestic Mercer Brooks-Brown Stone, nestled between Dunbar Historic Neighborhood and Little Rock Central High School, the celebrated home serves as the inviting backdrop for audience members to have an evening with… their favorite star. Built in 1930, it is now… Show more an artistic hub for local and national talent.
ABOUT APOLLO
Who is Marquese “A.P.O.L.L.O.” McFerguson? With a Bachelors of Arts degree in Studio Art and a Masters of Arts degree in Interpersonal and Organizational Communication, on stage, Marquese is an artist who blends his visual arts and communications background together to paint verbal pictures, using the English language as his paintbrush and the ears and minds of listeners as his canvas. Marquese is an accomplished poet, but when it comes to writing poetry, he wasn’t a child prodigy. He didn’t start writing poetry until he was 21. It was the loss of his mother that prompted Marquese to begin writing. On December 31, 2006, as others around him celebrated the arrival of a new year, Marquese was focused on the fact 2007 would be the first year he would live without either one of his parents. Parentless due to cancer and filled with anger and frustration, Marquese turned to writing to deal with his emotions. He created the stage name A.P.O.L.L.O. (A Person Only Lives Life Once) as a reminder that life is short and often unpredictable, but we are to make the best of whatever comes our way. Since A.P.O.L.L.O. began penning verses, poetry has served as a tool to positively channel his feelings and thoughts through and a platform to share his talents with the world. In 2009 A.P.O.L.L.O. was named the Arkansas Spoken Word Live champion and finished 3 rd at the “Southern Fried Poetry Slam Festival (the second largest poetry event in the nation).” In 2011 Marquese helped found the Foreign Tongues Fine Art & Literacy Organization. In 2014 the Foreign Tongues organization finished 2nd as a team at the “Southern Fried Poetry Slam Festival.” In the years since he first started writing and performing, Marquese has gone on to help create the Creative Arts and Literacy Movement non-profit organization, complete two poetry albums (This Little Light of Mine & Something Beautiful), open up for Grammy award winning and platinum artists Donald Lawrence and Erykah Badu, and perform his poetry in 10 different states. Who is Marquese “A.P.O.L.L.O.” McFerguson? He is a college professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He is an award winning slam poet. He is a person that loves sharing his gifts with the world.
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