Reaching Out for the Arts

Just as streets and other infrastructure need to expand and improve to meet growth, so do the arts.

A strategic plan to enhance cultural arts opportunities in Northwest Arkansas is being developed with the help of a Cultural Development Plan Committee created by the Walton Arts Center and made up of community, business and education leaders. The North Group, a New York consulting firm, also is assisting in the process.

Anita Scism, executive director of the Walton Arts Center, said the committee came up with six ideas for the future and divided into six task forces to consider those ideas.

“It’s incredible the amount of ideas and feelings we got from the CDPC,” Scism said, adding that input also came from University of Arkansas leaders and the Northwest Arkansas Council.

Billie Starr, a member of the CDPC and supporter of the Walton Arts Center, said members of the council were “very supportive” of the idea of enhancing the area’s art offerings. A strong cultural arts program helps recruit business and employees, she said.

Reed Greenwood, another member of the CDPC, said the plan is “very important in two ways: one, by bringing a careful planning process to the table to look at the entire region and then, secondly, as a result of this, we’re going to be able to bring in more exciting, innovative events and maybe some sort of blockbuster kinds of things.”

Strong cultural arts programs can do a lot to enhance a local economy and way of life, said Greenwood, who is also dean of the UA’s College of Education.

The CDPC came up with 10 priorities for local arts. They include the following: develop a regional arts council, establish a cultural district, present more prominent shows and renowned artists, build a new performing arts facility, create a package of centralized regional services and operational assistance, address relationship and space needs with University of Arkansas, build an art museum, augment and enrich educational programming, present more prominent visual arts exhibitions and establish resident companies.

Finding funding is among the steps listed in a draft of the committee’s action plan. Starr said that although it may take 10-15 years to accomplish the goals, “many of these are not only possible, they will happen.”

The first priority of developing a regional arts council is one Scism and Starr strongly support. The Walton Arts Center has become a sort of de facto regional arts authority, providing information on programming and other arts issues.

“That’s quite a task for the Walton Arts Center to take on,” Scism said, explaining that a regional council could pull from a variety of local arts organizations to benefit cultural arts programs throughout the region.

Starr explained that small arts programs, such as the “writers colony” at Dairy Hollow House in Eureka Springs, would benefit from the support of a regional arts council. Local art programs also could be better coordinated through a regional arts calendar.

“It’s all about what we can do that is of the highest quality and best for Northwest Arkansas, not just Fayetteville and Springdale,” Scism said.

Studies have shown that 56 percent of Walton Arts Center patrons come from Washington County, 28 percent are from Benton County, 14 from other Arkansas counties and 2 percent from out of state. In addition to programs to attract more patrons from throughout the region, Scism said the committee agreed more should be done to attract younger patrons.

The committee also agreed that the area needs a designated cultural district that likely would include an arts museum. Scism believes it should also include retail and restaurants developed to provide an evening’s or day’s activities that culminate in a cultural arts experience.

“They felt there should be a site-specific area that included the arts and be an exciting place to go relax,” she said. “Art is hard to sell if there’s not an enrichment of the experience.”