WORKS - Year in Review - Fall 2020

YEAR IN REVIEW
ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER FALL 2020

Dear Member,
With construction moving quickly on the new Arkansas Arts Center, we have been
very focused on the future lately. But with this special issue of Works Magazine,
which is also our annual Year in Review, we pause to consider all the things we
have accomplished in this unusual year. Our fiscal year began in July with a longplanned
move to the temporary space in Riverdale and the groundbreaking on the
MacArthur Park site in October. As construction continued on the new Arkansas
Arts Center, we hosted a series of innovative programs with community partners
throughout the city – and across the state.
Then in March, COVID-19 hit. We quickly pivoted to online art experiences,
launching Arkansas Arts Center Amplified – and what started as a Facebook group
quickly became a robust slate of online programming – virtual exhibitions and
programs, online classes, and digital events. Through virtual programming this
spring and summer, we’ve been able to not only expand our statewide outreach, but
extend our reach across the country.
Over the past year, we have seen works from the Arkansas Arts Center Foundation
Collection travel to Paris, Washington, D.C., and Cleveland – not to mention all the
works that are on view in museums and libraries closer to home. We have created
new learning opportunities for students young and young-at-heart in the studios
and in virtual spaces. And we have launched our very first virtual exhibitions.
This past year has been filled with remarkable learning opportunities. As we look
toward opening the new Arkansas Arts Center in 2022, we are reflecting on the
work we have done in the past to chart our course into the future.
Of course, none of this would have been possible without your ongoing support.
Our community of supporters and members make everything we do possible.
We know this past year has brought challenges for all of you, just as it’s brought
challenges for the Arkansas Arts Center. From everyone at the AAC: Thank you.
In this issue of Works, we also take a closer look at the economic impact of
our building project, highlight a few notable works in the Arkansas Arts Center
Foundation Collection, explore the award winning works of the 62nd Annual Delta
Exhibition, and go behind the scenes to see the making of Blueberry’s Clubhouse,
an original series for young viewers created in partnership with Arkansas PBS.
Thank you again for your support. Stay well – we hope to see you all very soon.
Dr. Victoria Ramirez
Executive Director
Cover: Aaron Bleidt’s Drawn to the Moon is featured in the 62nd Annual Delta Exhibition.
COVER: Entrance from the South: Daytime view of the new south entrance to the Arkansas Arts Center from
Aaron Bleidt, Drawn to the Moon, 2019, freehand digital drawing and archival pigment ink
print MacArthur on paper, Park. 36 A x new 24 inches restaurant with outdoor shaded seating overlooks the park and connects to a new
network of walking paths and stormwater-fed gardens designed by SCAPE. Image courtesy of Studio Gang
and SCAPE. TOP: Jeanne Gang, Victoria Ramirez, and Harriet Stephens at the October 2019 groundbreaking.
FY 20-21 TRUSTEES
Van Tilbury – President
Stan Hastings – Vice-President
Robert Burnett – Treasurer
Amanda Denton – Secretary
Merritt Dyke – Chairman
Dr. Laurence Alexander
Isabel Anthony
Dr. Loren Bartole
John Bethel
Del Boyette
Gary Cooper
Maribeth Frazer
Marion Fulk
Diane Gilleland
Kaki Hockersmith
Jim Hugg
Diane Jonsson
Patrick O’Sullivan
Paul Parnell
Dale Ronnel
Gordon Silaski
Terri Snowden
LaRand Thomas
Patricia Wilson
HONORARY TRUSTEE
Jeane Hamilton
EX-OFFICIO TRUSTEES
Frank D. Scott, Jr., Mayor
City of Little Rock
Joe Smith, Mayor
City of North Little Rock
Kenya Eddings
Junior League of Little Rock
Shantea Nelson
Junior League of North Little Rock
Melanie Buchanan
Contemporaries
Donnell Williams
Friends of Contemporary Craft
Paul Bash
Docents
**As of August 2020
FY 20-21 FOUNDATION DIRECTORS
Warren Stephens – Chair
Ben Hussman – Vice-Chair
George O’Connor – Treasurer
Victoria Ramirez – Secretary
John Ed Anthony
Claiborne P. Deming
Terri Erwin
Michael Mayton
Robert W. Tucker
Director Emeritus:
James T. Dyke
Special Director:
Van Tilbury – AAC Board of Trustees
President
Arkansas Arts Center programs are
supported in part by: Arkansas Arts Center
Foundation; Arkansas Arts Center Board of
Trustees; City of Little Rock; City of North
Little Rock; Little Rock Convention and
Visitors Bureau; and the Arkansas Arts
Council, a division of Arkansas Heritage,
and the National Endowment for the Arts.

YEAR IN REVIEW
2019 – 2020
The Arkansas Arts Center’s fiscal year ends in June, and each summer, as we look forward
to the year ahead, we reflect on the accomplishments and milestones reached during the
past year. This year has been unlike any other in the Arts Center’s history – we moved out
of the old MacArthur Park building before welcoming a new executive director and breaking
ground on the reimagined Arkansas Arts Center. When COVID-19 remade our plans for this
spring and summer, we launched Arkansas Arts Center Amplified to host online classes, digital
exhibitions, and virtual events. As we look forward to the opening of the new Arkansas Arts
Center in 2022, we pause to take stock of this year’s accomplishments.
ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER FINDS A
TEMPORARY HOME IN RIVERDALE
After seven months of planning, the Arkansas Arts Center moved out of the old MacArthur Park
building – the oldest parts of which had been inhabited for more than 80 years – relocating to the
Riverdale Shopping Center for two years while the new Arkansas Arts Center is under construction.
The temporary location – about three miles from MacArthur Park – was renovated to include studio
space for art classes, design and rehearsal space for performing arts, and a fully-stocked shop, as
well as flexible spaces for staff, facilities storage, and educational programs.
ABOVE: The Arkansas Arts Center moved to a temporary home at 2510 Cantrell Road in the Riverdale Shopping Center.
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105 works from the
Arkansas Arts Center's
extensive contemporary craft collection
are on view at 15 Central
Arkansas Library System
branch locations
While moving to Riverdale, the Arkansas Arts Center invested
in partnerships with cultural organizations throughout the
community. The Arkansas Arts Center partnered with the Central
Arkansas Library System, building deeper connections between
the two Central Arkansas cultural institutions. More than 100
works from the Arkansas Arts Center’s extensive collection of
contemporary craft objects were on view at 15 CALS locations,
with each installation carefully curated to the environment, history,
and mission of each library branch. Educational programs – for
young people and adults – were hosted at neighborhood libraries.
Works from the Arkansas Arts Center Foundation Collection were
loaned to museums and arts institutions around the world – from
Paris, France to Washington, D.C., Cleveland, Ohio to Columbia,
S.C., and Jonesboro to Pine Bluff, Ark.
The Arkansas Arts Center partnered with Historic Arkansas
Museum in downtown Little Rock and Thea Foundation, ACANSA
Gallery, and the Argenta Branch of the William F. Laman Library
in the Argenta Arts District in North Little Rock to host the 62nd
Annual Delta Exhibition. Expanding the Delta Exhibition into the
community was part of the Arts Center’s commitment to remaining
vibrant, accessible, and community-oriented while the MacArthur
Park building is under construction.
1,696 students
took art classes in
the Riverdale studios
Back in the 15,000 square-foot Museum School studios in the
Arkansas Arts Center’s temporary Riverdale location, more than
1,500 students took classes in painting, drawing, ceramics,
printmaking, metals, glass, jewelry, woodworking, and
performing arts.
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TOP IMAGE: Dos Mujeres by Diego Rivera, a favorite of the AAC Foundation Collection, as seen on
view in the permanent collection galleries at the Cleveland Museum of Art in Cleveland, Ohio. Image
courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

GROUNDBREAKING CELEBRATES
BEGINNING OF CONSTRUCTION ON
NEW ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER
On October 1, 2019 – Executive
Director Victoria Ramirez’s first
day on the job – the Arkansas
Arts Center broke ground on
the reimagined Arkansas Arts
Center, designed by Studio Gang
and SCAPE. At the event, Capital
Campaign co-chairs Harriet and
Warren Stephens announced that
the campaign had raised more than
$122.7 million of its $128 million
The groundbreaking on the new Arkansas Arts Center marked the beginning of
goal. Studio Gang Founder and
construction in MacArthur Park.
Principal Jeanne Gang and SCAPE
Founder and Principal Kate Orff spoke at the event, along with AAC Board of Trustees President
Merritt Dyke, and Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott, Jr.
Terri Erwin and Harriet and Warren
Stephens celebrate the milestone.
With construction officially underway on the new building, the
Arts Center launched '22&You, a special membership program
for those committed to maintaining their memberships through
the opening of the new Arkansas Arts Center in 2022. More
than a third of Arkansas Arts Center members enrolled in
the program – and benefits include '22&You member events,
a membership card featuring the reimagined Arkansas Arts
Center, and a '22&You email newsletter (sent on the 22nd of
every month) with exclusive updates on the building project
and Arts Center happenings.
1958
ABOVE: Entrance from the South: Daytime view of the new south entrance to the Arkansas Arts Center from MacArthur Park. A new restaurant with
outdoor shaded seating overlooks the park and connects to a new network of walking paths and stormwater-fed gardens designed by SCAPE. Image
courtesy of Studio Gang and SCAPE.
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AMID A PANDEMIC, THE
ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER
AMPLIFIES ART
In total, 83,513 people were
reached through Arkansas Arts Center
Amplified virtual programs
745 students participated in
online classes in the 2020
spring and summer sessions
The virtual Young Arkansas Artists
Exhibition was viewed by visitors
from 71 cities and towns
throughout Arkansas
As COVID-19 swept through the country in
mid-March, the Arkansas Arts Center swiftly
remade all their plans to keep the community
connected to the arts, offering creative and
engaging arts experiences online. “Arkansas
Arts Center Amplified” began as a Facebook
group to feature artist demonstrations,
highlights of artworks from the Arkansas Arts
Center Foundation Collection, Children’s
Theatre performances, and episodes of “Our
Work Continues,” an original web series
developed by the center. Within a few weeks,
more than 1,000 people joined the group
– and Arkansas Arts Center Amplified grew
to encompass an innovative slate of virtual
programming, including digital exhibitions,
online classes, and virtual events.
In the Museum School, a team of creative
artists and instructors reinvented their
classes to be taught via Zoom. The virtual
art-making and learning opportunities they
created included the business of art, color
theory, found-object sculpture, figure drawing,
art and social justice, ceramics, theatre for
youth and adults, and more. Virtual classes
opened new learning opportunities for
students – instructors were able to use works
from the Arkansas Arts Center Foundation
Collection, explore new digital communities
for students, and illustrate new
artistic techniques.
Online classes also made an impact outside
of Central Arkansas – students joined classes
from all over the country to learn from the
expertise and experience of Arkansas Arts
Center instructors. Students from California,
Colorado, Louisiana, Massachusetts,
Mississippi, Tennessee, and Washington
participated in online Museum School classes
this spring and summer.
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BACKGROUND IMAGE, LEFT: Museum School student Kay Reed
created a pattern inspired by Fauvism as an assignment for a virtual
class, Composition in the 20th Century, with Robert Bean.
The Arkansas Arts Center developed and hosted
two virtual exhibitions, expanding access to some of
the Arts Center’s most popular exhibitions. The 59th
Young Arkansas Artists Exhibition showcased 65
artworks by elementary and secondary students from
across Arkansas.
Elevating artistic voices from the American South and
beyond, the 62nd Annual Delta Exhibition featured 63
artworks addressing identity, place, history, heritage,
and power. The Delta was organized by the Arkansas
Arts Center in collaboration with Historic Arkansas
Museum, Thea Foundation, ACANSA Gallery, and the
Argenta Branch of the William F. Laman Library. Partner
organizations were able to curate a selection of works
from the exhibition exploring a theme related to the
mission of their institution.
Events around the Delta also allowed the Arts Center to
expand its reach. Virtual gallery talks and studio tours
featured artists living and working across the country –
from New York to North Carolina to Arkansas.
Visitors from 40 states and Washington, D.C. – as well as
16 countries around the world – viewed the virtual
62nd Annual Delta Exhibition
340 new members joined the Arkansas Arts Center
and experienced special member-only events, like a
virtual town hall with Spencer Jansen and Dr. Victoria
Ramirez to discuss progress on the building project
Through Arkansas Arts Center
Amplified, the Arkansas Arts Center
reached new audiences – and as
Amplified programs continue this
fall, we continue to reach out to new
communities, finding unexpected
opportunities in virtual programming.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
The Arkansas Arts Center spent $2,034,092
on exhibitions, programs, and outreach and
employed 36 full-time and 68 part-time staff.
The Arkansas Arts Center is in a state
of change – and we will take these
new ideas, audiences, and goals
forward to the new Arkansas Arts
Center as preparations begin for the
2022 Grand Opening. As Manager of
Member Experience Spencer Jansen
wrote earlier this year in an exclusive
'22&You membership email: “If we are
doing all of this now, can you imagine
what it will be like in 2022?”
Government
15%
REVENUE
Earned
11%
Donor Contributions
28%
Arkansas Arts
Center Foundation
46%
Museum Shop
2%
Marketing
7%
Fundraising
10%
Facilities & Security
19%
EXPENSES
Exhibitions & Programs
39%
Administrative
23%
5

OUR YEAR IN HEADLINES
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1
2
3 4
5 6
7
A MOSAIC OF 2019 – 2020: 1. Dr. Victoria Ramirez | 2.
George Brandt Bridgman, American (Bing, Ontario, Canada,
1864 - 1949, New York, New York), Male Torso, circa 1920,
charcoal on paper, 40 1/2 x 16 1/2 inches, Arkansas Arts
Center Foundation Collection: Gift of Joel Rosenkranz.
| 3. Just Pretending is installed at the Hillary Rodham Clinton
Children's Library and Learning Center | 4. Artworks on view
across the community | 5. A student participates in AAC youth
programming | 6. Party-goers attend a pre-show event before
A Christmas Carol | 7. Ceramics instructors meet on Zoom
Getting last good look at Arts Center’s Exhibits
– Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, July 2019
Victoria Ramirez named executive director of
Arkansas Arts Center
– Arkansas Business, August 2019
Arkansas Arts Center appoints Victoria Ramirez
executive director
– Artforum, August 2019
Arkansas Arts Center kicks off fall classes in Riverdale
– Little Rock Family, August 2019
El Arkansas Arts Center en Little Rock tuvo una gran
fiesta de despedida antes de mudarse a su nuevo edificio
– Univision Arkansas, August 2019
Incoming chief praises Arts Center’s influence
– Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, September 2019
Arts Center Groundbreaking brings news of
$122 million raised
– Arkansas Times, October 2019
Charting the future, Arkansas Arts Center breaks ground
on expansion
– Arkansas Business, October 2019
Studio Gang breaks ground on new Arkansas Arts Center
– ArchDaily, October 2019
Harriet and Warren Stephens looking for “wow factor” with
Arkansas Arts Center overhaul
– Talk Business & Politics, October 2019
Arkansas Arts Center program connects kids with books, art
– Little Rock Family, October 2019
A twin-city ‘Delta Exhibition’ for 2020
– Arkansas Times, November 2019
Victoria Ramirez foresees new Arts Center drawing a crowd
– Arkansas Business, December 2019
Arkansas Arts Center Project earns Best of Design Award
– Arkansas Business, December 2019
2019 Best of Design Award winners for Unbuilt – Cultural
– The Architect’s Newspaper, December 2019
At the helm of Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre:
A Q&A with Katie Campbell
– Arkansas Times, February 2020
Arkansas Arts Center director says ‘reimagined’ campus
will open up new options for visual arts
– Talk Business & Politics, March 2020
Arkansas Arts Center offering free Facebook
classes, activities
– Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, March 2020
Arkansas Arts Center offers free art lessons and inspiration
– Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, April 2020
Innovation in Arkansas shouldn’t be overlooked
– The Architect’s Newspaper, April 2020
Arkansas Arts Center creates connection during quarantine
– Little Rock Soiree, April 2020
2020 Delta Exhibition moves to digital format
– AY Magazine, April 2020
Arkansas Arts Center pivots to digital during
coronavirus pandemic
– KUAR, May 2020
Arkansas Arts Center Delta Exhibition goes digital
– ArtDaily, May 2020
Arkansas Arts Center goes virtual; says construction for
new facility still on track
– THV11, May 2020
Area students show works digitally in virtual Young
Arkansas Artists exhibit
– Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, May 2020
Arts Center will use ‘sacrifices, tough decisions’ to end
year with balanced budget
– Arkansas Times, May 2020
Arkansas Arts Center: Campaign for Our Cultural Future
– Inviting Arkansas, June 2020
Studio Gang’s Arkansas Arts Center under construction
– ArchDaily, June 2020

Arkansas Arts Center project
boosts Little Rock economy
MacArthur Park construction work includes more than 50 Arkansas companies
Construction on the new Arkansas Arts Center in
MacArthur Park continues on schedule, despite the
challenges posed by a global pandemic, boosting the
Central Arkansas economy in a challenging time.
“During these uncertain and challenging times, this
construction project is a remarkable success story for
our community and our state. Due to the support of the
City of Little Rock and private donors, we are spending
approximately $4.5 million a month at the jobsite,” said
Warren Stephens, AAC Foundation Chair and Capital
Campaign Co-Chair. “We are making every effort to
involve local companies and suppliers in this remarkable
project. This Arts Center is for the community and built
by the community, and we’re committed to constructing
this new facility with the talents and expertise of
Arkansas workers and companies.”
At the downtown Little Rock jobsite, which is managed
by Arkansas construction companies Nabholz and
Doyne along with Chicago-based Pepper Construction,
nearly 150 people are working daily in various aspects
of construction. The project is also currently employing
the expertise of more than 50 Arkansas companies
ABOVE: Daytime view from Crescent Drive of the Arkansas Arts Center’s new north entrance featuring the 1937 Museum of Fine Arts Façade and,
above, a gathering space with views of downtown Little Rock. Image courtesy of Studio Gang and SCAPE.
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in subcontracted services – from concrete and
foundations to elevators, doors, and flooring, as well
on-site office and storage space provided by Little
Rock-based Hugg & Hall Mobile Storage and fencing by
Little Rock-based Fence World.
“This expansion of the Arkansas Arts Center is one
of the most significant construction projects currently
underway in the state of
Arkansas,” Nabholz president
Jake Nabholz said. “A project of
this magnitude helps stabilize the
state’s construction community,
especially during these uncertain
times. Close to 90% of the
subcontractors and suppliers
involved in this expansion are
Arkansas-based, meaning that the
majority of building funds from
this project will be poured back
into the state’s economy.”
Arkansas companies are integrated into every aspect
of the construction. Demolition and excavation on the
site was completed earlier this year by Rogers & Dillon
Demolition & Excavating, based in Mayflower, Ark.
Construction on the steel structure for the two-story
gallery and collections space is underway with steel
sourced by WW/AFCO, based in Little Rock, and C & F
“This expansion of the
Arkansas Arts Center is
one of the most significant
construction projects currently
underway in the state
of Arkansas”
– Nabholz Construction
President Jake Nabholz
Steel Erectors, based in Benton, Ark. The original 1937
façade of the Museum of Fine Arts has been revealed
as the new north entrance, and restoration work on
the limestone façade will begin this fall. Inside the 1937
building, a new sleek glass balcony marries the historic
building into the contemporary design of the new
spaces. Glass for these balconies – as well as for the
glass-enclosed gathering space at the north entrance
– will be sourced by Mabelvale,
Ark.-based Glass Erectors, Inc.
The concrete blossom roofline –
a key element of the building’s
architecture – will create a
connective axis through the
building. To create this complex
and innovative feature, each
unique piece of the blossom’s
geometry is poured and cured in a
custom mold. At the end of June,
2,700 cubic yards of concrete had
been poured for the building – much of it provided by
Little Rock-based Bass Commercial Concrete.
At the south end of the site, structural modifications in
the art school are also underway to expand the number
of studios and include a gallery for displaying student
artwork. New elevator shafts are being placed by Little
Rock-based Otis Elevator Company. Significant updates
VIEW OF THE NEW ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER UNDER CONSTRUCTION: An axis through the building connects new spaces for viewing, making, and
experiencing the visual and performing arts.
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to the theater will improve its efficiency
while also bringing state-of-the-art
features into the space to allow for a
wide variety of performing
arts ventures.
ARKANSAS
Mechanical improvements by Barling,
Ark.-based Action Mechanical and
Bryant, Ark.-based Middleton Heat &
Air throughout the building will result in
significantly greater energy efficiency.
These improvements will also provide
appropriate, stable atmospheric
conditions to house the Arkansas Arts
Center Foundation Collection, which
includes 14,000 works of art from
around the world.
“The Arkansas Arts Center is one of
the largest and most complex projects
I’ve directed due to the integration
of a one-of-a-kind custom addition
as well as extensive renovations of
the existing buildings and integrating
new mechanical systems throughout
the facility,” Pepper Project Executive
Anthony Alleman said. “Our team
shares the Arkansas Arts Center’s
commitment to hire local contractors
to complete this historic project. Along
with having an immediate impact on
the local economy, the monumental
project will attract people from
throughout the region to visit the
Arkansas Arts Center and Little Rock
for decades to come.”
As construction continues, more
Arkansas-based subcontractors will
be employed on the project: Custom
Millwork; Covington Roofing; Roberts-
McNutt; Royal Overhead Door; PC
Hardware; Oaks Brothers, Inc.; White
River Flooring; McCormick Industrial
Abatement Services; and
Smith Underground.
6 acres of landscaping
The Arkansas Arts Center project
is being realized through a publicprivate
partnership, with a $31 million
commitment from the City of Little
Rock, funded through a hotel-tax
revenue bond. Contributions from
generous private donors have more
than tripled the public commitment
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– and fundraising is ongoing. The campaign will
provide transition and opening support, while also
strengthening the Arkansas Arts Center Foundation
endowment, yielding support for operations,
exhibitions, acquisitions, and education and outreach
programming in the new building – meaning that the
boost to the Central Arkansas economy from the Arts
Center’s project will continue far beyond the end of
construction on the physical building.
BELOW: Aerial view showing how the reimagined Arkansas Arts Center
creates new pathways and connections to MacArthur Park. The design
includes a new restaurant with outdoor shaded seating, walking paths,
and a great lawn. Over time, a tree canopy will develop, creating a true
“Arts Center in a Park.” Image courtesy of Studio Gang and SCAPE.
ABOVE: View toward MacArthur Park from the atrium, which connects
the Arkansas Arts Center’s galleries to the art school, lecture hall,
theater, restaurant, and park. Image courtesy of Studio Gang.
“With every decision we make about this project,
we’re considering two critical things: First, what is the
optimum environment for looking, making, and enjoying
art? Second, how do we create the most inspiring
spaces for all visitors?” Executive Director Victoria
Ramirez said. “With careful planning and employing
the expertise of so many Arkansas companies, the
Arkansas Arts Center that opens in 2022 will celebrate
the arts and celebrate our community in a space that’s
welcoming, inclusive, and inspiring.”
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INNOVATING THROUGH ARCHITECTURE
Studio Gang’s design for the Arkansas Arts Center is set to put Little Rock
on the architectural map
Studio Gang’s design for the reimagined Arkansas
Arts Center lends a distinct new architectural identity
to the center, creating space for making, viewing and
experiencing art that is, in itself, a work of art.
The new MacArthur Park museum and performing
arts center, designed by acclaimed architectural
practice Studio Gang, will establish the Arkansas
Arts Center as a significant architectural landmark
for the region and the country. Studio Gang is led by
MacArthur Fellow Jeanne Gang. The distinction from
the MacArthur Foundation aims to recognize
"extraordinary originality and dedication in their
creative pursuits." Gang was awarded the fellowship
in 2011.
With an award-winning body of work, Studio Gang’s
unique design process is based in research and
exploration specifically designed to help institutions,
like the Arkansas Arts Center, reach their full potential
through architecture.
“What makes the work of Studio Gang distinct is the
continually renewed search for the logic of each
building, the process of unraveling the contingent
circumstances of each project, delving into them
for inspiration,” architect Mohsen Mostafavi wrote
of Studio Gang’s work in the recently released
monograph on the firm’s work, Studio Gang:
Architecture (Phaidon, June 2020). Mostafavi is the
Alexander and Victoria Wiley Professor of Design
and former dean of the Harvard Graduate School of
Design, where Gang is a Professor in Practice.
Studio Gang began by studying the existing center to
find opportunities to create a new, visible
architectural identity for the building while
reorganizing the space for more efficient function.
“Each project is carefully considered in relation to
its program, but what is more important is the way in
which the architect’s imagination has sought to
provide unexpected responses and solutions to the task
at hand,” Mostafavi wrote in the recent monograph.
Built in eight different additions beginning in 1937, the
former MacArthur Park building’s disjointed galleries and
programming spaces were enclosed in a fortress-like
brick structure. Studio Gang conceived of a central stem
that blossoms from the city entrance at the north to the
park entrance at the south, creating a central axis that
both clarifies circulation and makes visible the various
programs inside the center. Studio Gang’s design for
the Arkansas Arts Center also marries the institution’s
history with its vision for the future. At the north, the
1937 art deco façade of the Museum of Fine Arts, the
precursor to the Arkansas Arts Center – which had been
buried inside the building’s galleries since 1982 – is
revealed as the new north entrance from 9th Street.
Major new visitor amenities anchor the addition – at
the north end, a glass-enclosed Cultural Living Room
overlooks the city and the newly-visible original 1937
façade. To the south, a light-filled atrium extends into the
revitalized MacArthur Park featuring native and
sustainable plantings, pathways, and sculptures.
The significance of the design for the new Arkansas Arts
Center extends beyond solving the problems of the old
building and park to create a space that invites
community engagement and builds relationships
between people. The building opens itself up to both
the city and a revitalized park to make visible the things
inside, ultimately serving as a beacon for the arts in
Little Rock.
“From the outset, the goal of this project has been to
bring the very best of art and architecture to Little Rock,”
Arkansas Arts Center Executive Director Ramirez said.
“In working with Studio Gang and SCAPE, we are
striving to bring the very best in contemporary
architecture to Arkansas to create a place that is a work
of art in and of itself.”
For more information on the project and campaign, visit
reimagining.arkansasartscenter.org
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Capital Campaign Donors
These donors support the building of the stunning new Arkansas Arts Center
Windgate Foundation
City of Little Rock
Harriet and Warren Stephens
Winthrop Rockefeller Charitable Trust
State of Arkansas
Terri and Chuck Erwin
The Brown Foundation, Inc., of Houston
Mandy and Bill Dillard
Ben and Walter Hussman and Hussman Foundation
The Tyson Family in honor of Terri and Chuck Erwin
Stella Boyle Smith Trust
Chucki and Curt Bradbury
Anne and Merritt Dyke
in honor of Helen L. Porter and James T. Dyke
21 ST CENTURY FOUNDERS
LEADERSHIP DONORS
Helen Porter and Jim Dyke
Dede and Scott Ford and Jo Ellen and Joe Ford
Robyn and John Horn
Keller Family Foundation: Julie Keller and
Christoph Keller III;
Laura Porter Keller and Thomas Christoph Keller;
Mary Olive Keller Stephens and John
Calhoun Stephens
Lynn and George O’Connor
Barbara Tyson
Anonymous (2)
The Family of H. Tyndall and Carrie R. Dickinson
Jackye and Curtis Finch Jr
Lisenne Rockefeller
Belinda Shults
Dianne and Bobby Tucker
Trinity Foundation
Sandra and Robert C. Connor
Donna and Mack McLarty
Judy and Randy Wilbourn
Patti and Jim Womble
The Middleton Family
Boots and Alan Warrick
Sunderland Foundation
Pam and Rick Blank
Kathleen and Robert S. Brown
Virginia Stuart Cobb
Laura and Mark Doramus
Robert and Cynthia East
Kelly and Brad Eichler
Cindy and Greg Feltus
Judy W. Fletcher in memory of John R. Fletcher
June and Edmond W. Freeman
Linda and Rush Harding
Rosalyn and Harry Hastings Family
Barbara Rogers Hoover
Mimi M. and Joseph B. Hurst, Jr.
W. W. and Anne Jones Charitable Trust
The Philip R. Jonsson Foundation
Jeanne and Harold Joyner
in honor of Harriet and Warren Stephens
Ginanne Graves Long
Randall and Karen Mourot
Kay and Bill Patton
in honor of George R. O’Connor from the
Morin M. Scott Family
in honor of Morin M. Scott, Jr. from the
Morin M. Scott Family
Cindy and Warren Simpson
Roy & Christine Sturgis Charitable Trust
Sherry Worthen in memory of George Worthen
Anonymous in honor of Merritt Dyke
Anonymous (5)
The Clinton Family Foundation
Charles M. & Joan R. Taylor Foundation
Centennial Bank
Nancy Eakin Dickins
Mary and Dr. Dean Kumpuris
Nancy and Andrew Kumpuris
Katherine Ann Kumpuris Trotter
Bill Brierley
Lally and Dr. Winston Brown
General (Ret.) and Mrs. Wesley K. Clark
Cathy and Kevin Crass
Mary Lou and William L. Cravens
Irene and George Davis
Marion W. Fulk
Helen and Fred Harrison
Mr. Jay F. Hill & Congressman and Mrs. French Hill,
in honor of Mrs. James K. Hamilton
MAJOR DONORS
Mimi and Jim Hugg
Stephen F. Kemp M.D. PhD, Sharon Lee Kemp, Christian Adcock
to honor Ann Prentice Wagner PhD
Carolyn and George McLeod
Kaki and Max Mehlburger
BJ and Jimmy Moses
Dr. Joyce Redetzki
Rebecca and Gary Smith
Gina and Philip Tappan
Marti and Henry Thomas
Elizabeth & Van Tilbury, East Harding Construction
Becky and Rett Tucker in honor of Bobby Tucker
Cappy and Charlie Whiteside
R. E. Lee Wilson Trust Foundation
in honor of Patricia P. Wilson
12
To learn more about this fundraising campaign, visit reimagining.arkansasartscenter.org

Q&A WITH DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
Lisa Jones Black
The Arkansas Arts Center’s new Development Director, Lisa Jones Black, comes to the Arts Center with
more than 20 years of experience in strategic planning, philanthropy, market research, and community
collaboration. At the Arts Center, Black will lead fundraising efforts with corporations, foundations, members, and
individual donors to support the annual fund. She will also work with Campaign Co-Chairs Harriet and Warren
Stephens on the Arkansas Arts Center’s $128 million special fundraising campaign to realize the new Arkansas
Arts Center.
Why are you excited to join the Arkansas Arts Center
at this time?
A quick drive to the Arkansas Arts Center’s 9th
& Commerce Street address will tell you that
something big is happening. And it’s not just that
the AAC footprint is growing, but your first sight of
the raised and extended roofline that wraps through
the whole structure clearly says something new and
transformative is underway for Little Rock and the
region. From that first glance, you will know this will be a
place for creative minds to gather, children to learn, and
families to celebrate.
Is there anything you have learned working in
education and public health that will provide insight
as you begin your work at the Arts Center?
I have been blessed to learn and work with a diverse
group of education, health, philanthropic, and economic
development leaders who understand how incredibly
interwoven our cultural and educational opportunities
are. As the Arkansas Arts Center grows, we will look
to fund new partnerships and cultural opportunities for
students and the broader community. As I start down
that path, I will not hesitate to reach out to Dr. Ramirez,
our incredible AAC Board, and many of those same
community leaders that I have been lucky to work with
for their continued insight.
Why are the arts important for our community?
Community is far more than place. It sounds cliché to
say that “art enriches all of our lives” – be it hearing
a song, viewing a painting, or seeing a theater
performance – but we all know that statement to be
true. Being exposed to art in its many forms provides
a time for expression and engagement that will follow
students, both young and old, for the rest of their lives.
What are you most looking forward to in the
reimagined Arkansas Arts Center?
The transformation of the Arkansas Arts Center is
a tremendous commitment to building a state and
region that nurtures and embraces the arts. Because
so many community leaders are committed to making
this new and transformed Arts Center possible, we will
see the faces of many children, families, couples, and
community groups enter the Arkansas Arts Center for
the first time. I look forward to seeing those
“first-time” faces.
13

While our MacArthur Park building is under construction, the Central Arkansas Library System is hosting
105 contemporary craft works from the Arkansas Arts Center Foundation Collection, along with a variety of
educational programs and events, in their 15 branch locations. Here our partners at CALS tell us a little bit
about what they’re most excited to see in the reimagined Arkansas Arts Center.
TAMEKA LEE
Communications Director
Central Arkansas Library System
Over the years, I’ve enjoyed visiting
the Arkansas Arts Center because
of its versatility. My children and I
enjoy the live shows at the theater,
and my husband, friends, and I have
attended poetry slams and artists
talks, and viewed exhibitions that
are as thought provoking as they are
diverse. The “Cultural Living Room”
seems especially significant now,
during a time when we are looking
for ways to feel connected and find
commonalities. I also appreciate the
kinship between the Arts Center
and CALS as cultural institutions
that encourage people to explore
their potential, and I look forward to
where our partnership will take us.
NATE COULTER
Executive Director
Central Arkansas Library System
The Arkansas Arts Center and CALS
share a similar mission to bring our
community together in all kinds of
ways, both physical and virtual, in
learning and in recreation. With this
mission in mind, I’m delighted to see
the innovative spaces that will be
part of the new center. Indoors, the
“Cultural Living Room” will host a
wide variety of events, and outdoor
pathways and open spaces will add
even more gathering options in the
landscaped park. Our partnership
to install AAC artworks at our library
branches will continue to invite
patrons to enjoy art every day and
to explore these spectacular new
communal spaces.
NATHAN JAMES
Deputy Executive Director of
Technology & Collection Innovation
Central Arkansas Library System
"Unity" is the first word that comes to
mind when I think about the beautiful
new building and renovations that
will transform, revitalize, and connect
the Arkansas Arts Center’s museum
school, theater, and galleries.
The structure will provide visual
harmony, helping visitors discover the
connections that were always there,
even if they went unnoticed. There is
synergy between CALS and the Arts
Center. We’re both reimagining what
it means to be a cultural institution by
embracing what we’ve always been:
hubs for learning, entertainment,
and expression. Building upon our
connections enables us to nurture a
stronger and more vibrant community.
14

WHY ART MATTERS
In this ongoing series, we’re exploring the ways art reflects the world in which it is made and the people
who make it – through works from the Arkansas Arts Center Foundation Collection.
Art plays a lot of different roles – it’s beautiful, yes, but it can also serve as a historical record or a political tool. It
can be used to uphold power – or to question it. It can capture an emotion or a moment. Or it can do all of those
things at once. Art, as we know, often contains multitudes.
Throughout history, artists have used their work as a tool to shine a light on the experiences of people of color. In
these works from the Arkansas Arts Center Foundation Collection, contemporary artists explore the roles issues
of race have played in their lives, from the personal – like the narratives of the self explored in Joyce J. Scott’s Jar
Woman VI – to the ancestral – Whitfield Lovell’s Hand II – and the historical and political – as framed in Wendy
Maruyama’s The Tag Project. As our societal reckoning with issues of race continues, we look to the works of these
artists to inform our understanding of the world around us.
Wendy Maruyama, Rohwer and Jerome (from The Tag Project), 2011
With Rohwer and Jerome, two of 10 total works that
make up The Tag Project, artist Wendy Maruyama
addresses the harmful and discriminatory policies
toward Japanese Americans implemented during
World War II. Each of the sculptures represents one
of the 10 Japanese American Relocation Centers that
were operated across the country between 1942 and
1945. Two of the camps, Rohwer and Jerome, for which
these works are named, were located in southeast
Arkansas. To create The Tag Project, Maruyama and
her team methodically recreated the identification
LEFT: Wendy Maruyama, American (La Junta, Colorado, 1952 - ), Rohwer (The
Tag Project), 2011, tea- and coffee-stained cut paper, ink, string, thread, and
metal, 144 x 24 inches, Arkansas Arts Center Foundation Collection: Gift of
the artist.
RIGHT: Wendy Maruyama, American (La Junta, Colorado, 1952 - ), Jerome (The
Tag Project), 2011, tea- and coffee-stained cut paper, ink, string, thread, and
metal, 144 x 24 x 24 inches, Arkansas Arts Center Foundation Collection: Gift of
the artist.
tags given to nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans who
were interned during World War II. Using the rosters of
internees housed in the archives of the War Relocation
Authority, they handwrote the name of each internee,
their unique identifying number, and the name of the
camp to which they were sent. The team artificially
aged the appearance of the tags before tying them to a
metal frame. In Maruyama’s words, “each group hovers
or levitates on its own. They all look like large, looming
ghost-like figures and they slowly rotate or move with
the slightest breeze.” Perhaps also evocative of a grove
of trees or a group of people, the sculptures rustle
or murmur as they rotate, returning a voice to a once
voiceless populace.
ON VIEW AT CALS ROBERTS LIBRARY
401 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock, AR 72201
Rohwer and Jerome, from Wendy Maruyama’s The Tag
Project, are currently on view at the Central Arkansas
Library System’s Roberts Library of Arkansas History & Art
15

Titus Kaphar, The Jerome Project
(Asphalt and Chalk) VII, 2014
Throughout his work, artist Titus Kaphar strives to
make space for Black Americans in places and
moments where they have historically been
excluded. In The Jerome Project, begun in 2004,
Kaphar explores the vulnerability and humanity of
incarcerated Black men. Throughout the series, he
depicts men who happen to have the same first name
as his father – Jerome. In this drawing, Jerome’s face
is defined by outlines in white chalk on a background of
asphalt.
RIGHT: Titus Kaphar, American (Kalamazoo, Michigan, 1976 - ), The Jerome
Project (Asphalt and Chalk) VII, 2014, chalk on asphalt paper, Arkansas Arts
Center Foundation Collection: Purchase.
Joyce J. Scott, Jar Woman VI, 1997
Beads, which, for centuries, played an important role
in cultural exchange, have lost their status, becoming
trivialized as something for diversion or decoration, lacking
the monetary, artistic, and cultural significance they once
had. Artist Joyce J. Scott resurrects the power of beads as
a cultural and artistic force to address racism and gender
equality. In Jar Woman VI, Scott blends African American,
African, and Native American storytelling traditions into a
personal narrative. A clear-glass jar contains crab legs and
claws – a reference to her native home in Baltimore and to
the talisman-like power animal parts possess in traditional
African and Caribbean religions. The black leather doll
holding a child recalls her mother, who worked as a
housekeeper and nanny caring for the children of white
families – a familiar mode of employment for many African
American women of the 1950s and 1960s – and by whom
her mother would be abused as those same children aged,
growing into adults who could hurl stinging, racist insults.
ABOVE: Joyce J. Scott, American (Baltimore, Maryland, 1948 - ), Jar Woman VI, 1992-1997, leather, beads, glass jar, crab legs and claws, bones,
threads, wire, and fabric, 14 x 14 x 10 inches, Arkansas Arts Center Foundation Collection: Purchased with funds from the Herbert Blair Trust.
16

Bisa Butler, Basin Street Blues, 2013
Fiber artist Bisa Butler makes quilts, she says, because the
fabrics allow her to tell stories. "I started quilting while
losing my grandmother and have been doing it ever since.
Quilts are comforting; they keep us warm and make our
beds soft.” Made from denim and indigo-dyed cotton from her
father’s native Ghana, Basin Street Blues – an homage to jazz
musician Louis Armstrong – is composed of textiles gathered from
her grandfather, father, brother, and husband. Each piece of cloth is
worked and washed until it becomes soft. Butler wanted the cloth
to communicate “that they worked, and continue to work, very hard.
Their work wasn’t always easy, but it was honest and honorable…I
want the man’s gaze to communicate that he is strong and proud.
I put the man in a suit because African American men historically
like to look good. When they go out they are clean and dapper, that
is also why the man is wearing a hat. He may not be wearing fine
clothing, but he has the demeanor of a king.”
LEFT: Bisa Butler, American (Orange, New Jersey, 1975 - ), Basin Street Blues, 2013, quilted
and appliquéd cotton denim, 68 x 42 inches, Arkansas Arts Center Foundation Collection:
Purchased with a gift from Jackye and Curtis Finch, Jr.
Whitfield Lovell, Hand II, 1994
“The importance of home, family, ancestry feeds
my work entirely,” says artist Whitfield Lovell.
“African Americans generally were not aware of
who their ancestors were, since slaves were sold
from plantation to plantation and families were
split up.” Drawings like this one of a dignified
lady in a fur-trimmed coat are based on early
20th-century studio portrait photographs. The
artist lovingly collects these images of people
who are actually strangers to him and cherishes
them. Lovell says, “Any time I pick up one of
these old vintage photographs, I have the feeling
that this could be one of my ancestors. These
images are stand-ins for the people
I don’t know about.”
RIGHT: Whitfield Lovell, American (New York, New York,
1959 - ), Hand II, 1994, oil stick, charcoal on paper,
54 1/4 x 40 1/4 inches, Collection of Jackye
and Curtis Finch, Jr.
17

ILLUSIONS
IN FORM
Artist Wendell Castle’s masterful approach to
sculptural furniture is on display in Table with
Fruit and Books
Throughout his 50-year career, Wendell Castle
has sought to create an ongoing connection
between furniture and sculpture, which he often
views as being interchangeable. In the process,
his work has challenged public perceptions toward
furniture as a metaphor of everyday life and the
paradoxical relationship of form and function.
Whether carved, laminated, manufactured,
fabricated, or assembled, his designs reveal an
incisive command of form and content, combined
with a highly sophisticated and diverse use of
materials and processes.
Throughout his childhood, Castle struggled with
dyslexia – but found a creative outlet in art. “I was
not good at anything,” Castle said, “But I was very
good at daydreaming. I think that was a good thing
because what daydreaming does – and I think it
is important in any field – is you picture yourself
achieving certain things…I actually imagined myself
being good at something and then I was good at it…
that was art.”
By 1965, Castle’s work and influence positioned
him at the forefront of the growing Craft Furniture
Movement, which was at the time sweeping the
nation. He was a standout among a group of artists
who became known for making furniture by a skilled
hand, emphasizing individual design and beauty
and propelling it into a new category: art. For this,
Castle is often acknowledged as the “father of the
art furniture movement.”
Upon graduating from college, Castle moved first
to New York City and then to Rochester, N.Y., where
he became an instructor in furniture design at the
School for American Craftsmen. While there, he
began to explore the use of “stack-lamination,” in
ABOVE: Wendell Castle, American (Emporia, Kansas, 1932 - 2018, Scottsville, New York), Table with Fruit and Books, 1978, mahogany, stacklaminated
and carved, 40 x 41 x 23 inches, Arkansas Arts Center Foundation Collection: Purchase, Tabriz Fund and with a gift from John and
Robyn Horn.
18

which multiple pieces of wood are glued together and
then carved and sculpted into a form, much like an artist
would carve marble or other stone. “You do two things
when you are sculpting: you either add or subtract…
That’s the good thing about lamination. Basically you
add first, then subtract; if you subtract too much, you
can always add some more back on. It’s perfect. It’s
forgiving.” His experimentation resulted in the definitive
book on the subject, The Wendell Castle Book of
Lamination, published in 1980.
Castle’s furniture achieved national and international
recognition when he was among the artists included in
the landmark exhibition Objects: USA, which appeared
at the Arkansas Arts Center in 1970. The exhibition was
organized by the Johnson
Wax Company of Racine,
Wis. Following its tour, the
company donated hundreds of
works of art to the various host
institutions. The Arkansas Arts
Center received five works in a
variety of media, establishing
the Arts Center’s focus on
collecting contemporary craftbased
artwork.
Departing from the fluid lines
of his early organic pieces,
by the mid-1970s and lasting
into the early 1980s, Castle
further pushed the dialogue
of “furniture as sculpture”
by producing a number of
trompe l’oeil (“fool the eye”)
sculptural forms such as
Table with Fruit and Books.
Completed in 1978, the table
made its debut in Castle’s
solo exhibition of trompe l’oeil
sculptures, Illusions, at the Carl
Solway Gallery. It was purchased from the exhibition by
a private collector, where it remained until 2016, when
it was acquired by the Arkansas Arts Center through a
generous matching gift from John and Robyn Horn.
In his interview in the book Handmade in America,
Castle explains how these trompe l’oeil works came to
be and how – despite their superficial incongruity and
radical departure from his organic designs – are in fact
a further exploration of his artistic philosophy:
When Objects: USA opened at the Smithsonian American Art
Museum in 1969, it was the most ambitious craft show ever
presented at a major American art museum. The exhibition
traveled to museums throughout the United States and Europe,
including the Arkansas Arts Center, in 1970.
As a sculptor I’d done figures and various other things
that were more abstract in nature. But then I decided to
do sculpture that would be a trompe l’oeil sort of thing
associated with furniture. The idea would be to render
soft objects in a hard material that would appear soft, as
a sort of challenge. It turned out not to be any challenge
at all; it’s very easy to fool people. You don’t even have
to be a good carver to fool people, though of course we
are good carvers. And we still do some pieces, trying
for an image in which an ordinary object is placed on
a piece of furniture in a casual way–like a hat and a
briefcase on a table. Then we carve the objects to make
people think that it is a real hat and a real briefcase.”
In Table with Fruit and Books, a graduated stack
of three books and a
reticulated basket filled with
assorted fruits – apples,
oranges, bananas, and
others – rest atop a table.
Upon closer inspection, one
notices the gentle folds of
a tablecloth at each corner,
heightening the illusionary
effect. The legs of the table
are in the French manner,
with gentle, curving lines,
a Castle characteristic. As
a whole, the table is a rich
cacophony of contrasting
textures, lines, and forms.
“I wasn’t interested in
reproducing pieces of
antique furniture,” Castle
said, “but the craft of
antique furniture entered
into it in a much bigger
way. It became obvious
to me that workmanship
on an extraordinarily high
level could become an art in itself, once you got into
these more complex pieces. The workmanship was
just as important a part of the whole as anything else.
And, always being one who takes things to an extreme,
I decided to make furniture that would be extreme in
nature – take it all away, no stops. Very fancy! And other
factors enter into it here that had been going through
my mind for ten years, a problem always discussed
among art historians: Is it art or is it craft? It’s a very
confusing issue.”
“[T]here is an interim group of work that came after 1975.
Actually, we’re still doing a little of it. It came about when
I decided I would do some carving of a realistic nature.
– Brian J. Lang, Chief Curator and Windgate Foundation
Curator of Contemporary Craft
19

ENIGMATIC
CREATURES
Arkansas artist and 62nd Annual Delta
Exhibition Grand Award winner Aaron Calvert’s
ceramic figures are decorated with symbols of
the things he can’t shake from his mind
Artist Aaron Calvert’s brightly decorated ceramic figures sit
on a shelf in his studio. The wild animals – bears, rabbits, ducks,
fish, squirrels – are tucked tightly together.
“Because of the color and the imagery,” Calvert said, “they flatten
out and you lose track of where one begins and the next one – and
the last one ends.”
They’re all part of Calvert’s Brain Rattles series. “Brain Rattles
– meaning something that enters my consciousness and that I
can’t really get rid of,” Calvert said. “They just gnaw on me, and I
eventually put them on there. And for some reason, once I get them
on there, I feel like they’re kind of gone. It leaves me for a bit. I don't
have to keep thinking about it.”
ABOVE: Aaron Calvert, American (Medina, Ohio, 1973
There are about 20 ceramic animals in the series – including Rocket
- ), Always Facing South Bear, 2017, glazed stoneware,
Rabbit, which is featured in the 62nd Annual Delta Exhibition. Like all
40 x 23 x 13 inches, Arkansas Arts Center Foundation
Collection: Purchase, General Acquisition Fund. the Brain Rattles, the hand-built ceramic rabbit is brushed with bright
underglaze patterns, symbols and doodles. The exhibition’s guest
juror, Stefanie Fedor, selected Rocket Rabbit as the $2,500 Grand Award winning work. An earlier Brain Rattle,
Always Facing South Bear, was shown in the 60th Annual Delta Exhibition in 2018 before being acquired into the
Arkansas Arts Center Foundation Collection.
Calvert’s simplified animal forms are impeccable – but it’s the bright colors of the surface decoration that catch the
eye. Calvert sketches on paper – he has stacks of pages and pages of drawings – before transferring them onto
clay surfaces. The doodles come from everywhere – headlines or stories or moments of life will spark curiosity
about the visual manifestation of an idea.
“Sometimes they’re just mundane things,” he said. “On the Always Facing South Bear, there’s a frying pan with
some bacon in it. It really means nothing – besides a frying pan with bacon in it.”
There are patterns and constellations and morse code. There’s political commentary and images ripped from
headlines. But on the same work, a viewer will find deeply personal things – a beach ball in memory of his late
cousin and a drawing of a model rocket built with his daughter.
The 62nd Annual Delta Exhibition is organized by the Arkansas Arts Center in collaboration with Historic Arkansas Museum, Thea Foundation, ACANSA Gallery, and
the Argenta Branch of the William F. Laman Library. The exhibition is supported by Mrs. Lisenne Rockefeller; Terri and Chuck Erwin; Judy Fletcher, In Memory of John
R. Fletcher; Friday, Eldredge & Clark, LLP; JC Thompson Trust; Dianne and Bobby Tucker; AAC Contemporaries; Bank OZK; Phyllis and Michael Barrier; East Harding
Construction; Marion W. Fulk; Barbara House; Don Tilton; and the Andre Simon Memorial Trust in memory of everyone who has died of acquired immune deficiency
syndrome (AIDS). The Grand Award is supported by The John William Linn Endowment Fund.
20

“I’ll just mash it all together,”
he said.
The chaotic exteriors of these
works are unknowable. They are
packed with signs and symbols –
and Calvert doesn’t always like to
explain what he meant with every
individual detail. It’s often best, he
says, to let viewers puzzle their way
through the decoration on
their own.
But the colorful drawings on the
exterior of the clay surfaces aren’t
the only enigmatic element of the
Brain Rattles. To create eyes for
his animals, Calvert carves holes –
perfectly round – in the clay skin of
the figure.
“Clay usually isn't something that
we look through,” he said. “It’s
usually just solid – or appears to
be solid.”
Rocket Rabbit and Always Facing
South Bear’s eyes draw the viewer
into the figure’s dark interior. If the
eyes are the window to the soul,
the souls of Calvert’s works are
infinitely more unknowable than
their deliriously patterned exteriors.
The skin of Calvert’s
Brain Rattles are
confounding in their
cacophony of symbols
and patterns and
color and noise.
But it’s in the
unknowable
depths behind
their eyes that we,
as viewers, find a
true mystery.
– Maria Davison,
Communications
Manager
Delta Awarded
Elevating artistic voices from the American South and beyond, the 62nd
Annual Delta Exhibition addresses identity, place, history, heritage, and
power. The exhibition’s guest juror, Stefanie Fedor, Executive Director of the
Visual Arts Center of Richmond, selected the 63 artworks featured in the
exhibition. From the selected works, Fedor also named the Grand Award
winner – Aaron Calvert’s Rocket Rabbit – and two Delta Award winners.
A Contemporaries Award winner was selected by the Contemporaries, an
auxiliary membership group of the Arkansas Arts Center.
DELTA AWARD
Fayetteville artist Leah Grant’s Notice won
one of two Delta Awards. “As time passes
and environments shift, relationships are
left behind but the one relationship we
are left with is with ourselves,” Grant says.
Notice explores her identity as a Black
woman and her relationships with those
around her. Through layers and texture
created using distinct, technical processes,
Grant creates a sense of memory, longing,
and hope.
DELTA AWARD
Texas artist Anton Hoeger’s Woman with
Red Shoes also won a Delta Award. In
this painting, Hoeger’s layered approach
produces a realism that, according to the
artist, “tends less to represent reality than to
establish reality, rejects any emphasis and
any dramatic sensation or satirical intention
in a work of art.”
CONTEMPORARIES AWARD
Arkansas artist Chris Hynes won the
Contemporaries Award for his work
Spirit. Hynes' sculpture is composed of
ceramic and metal scraps often found
in junkyards, which, according to the
artist, "juxtaposes the 'organic' to
inorganic by transitioning the form
from natural ‘flesh’ to the cold
harshness of
man-made metal."
TOP: Leah Grant, Notice, 2019, cyanotype and screenprint on BFK printmaking
paper, 30 x 22 inches
MIDDLE: Anton Hoeger, Woman with Red Shoes, 2019, oil on canvas, 43 1/3 x 43
1/3 inches
BOTTOM: Chris Hynes, Spirit, 2020, found objects and clay, 24 x 18 x 6 inches
LEFT, 62nd Annual Delta Exhibition Grand Award Winner: Aaron Calvert, Rocket
Rabbit, 2020, stoneware clay, underglaze, and gold ceramic enamel,
19 x 12 x 9 inches
21

Contemporary
British Studio
Ceramics
from the Arkansas Arts Center Foundation Collection
Windgate Center of Art + Design
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
The Arkansas Arts Center Foundation
Collection is home to a rich and diverse
collection of works from the British studio
pottery movement. From functional works –
bowls and teapots – to purely sculptural works,
these clay objects represent the breadth of the
resurgence of interest in traditional ceramic
throughout the United Kingdom in the
20th Century.
LEFT: Angus Suttie, British (Tealing, Scotland, 1946 - 1993,
London, England), Bottle, 1985, glazed and slip-decorated
whiteware, 21 1/2 x 11 x 9 inches, Arkansas Arts Center
Foundation Collection: Gift from the Diane and Sandy
Besser Collection.
22

TOP: Gordon Cooke, British (Timperley, Manchester, England, 1949 - ),
Untitled, 1985, hand-built, slab construction, oxides, stains, unglazed
porcelain, 7 3/4 x 3 x 3/4 inches, Arkansas Arts Center Foundation
Collection: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Sanford M. Besser.
BOTTOM: Joanna Constantinidis, British (York, England, 1927 – 2000,
Chelmsford, England), Vessel, 1974, glazed porcelain, 5 x 4 1/8 x 4 1/8
inches, Arkansas Arts Center Foundation Collection: Gift from the Diane
and Sandy Besser Collection.
This exhibition illustrates a rich variety of
ceramic technique, styles, and forms, ranging
from slab-building, hand-building, and wheel
throwing, to neriage and nerikomi – traditional
Japanese methods using "marbleized" clay – to
the 17th- and 18th-century "agatewares"
of England.
While the Arkansas Arts Center’s MacArthur
Park building is under construction, the
Windgate Center is borrowing this collection
of ceramic works – making two exhibitions to
show in their space. The selection currently on
view is only half of the works on loan to the
Windgate Center – this is the second exhibition
to feature British Studio Ceramics from the
Arkansas Arts Center Foundation Collection –
the first was on view last spring.
This exhibition also presents a learning
opportunity for students. The Windgate Center
of Art + Design at the University of Arkansas
at Little Rock is a “teaching museum” – a
resource for art students and the
community alike.
VIEW THE VIRTUAL
EXHIBITION
artexhibitionsualr.org/
aac-british-studio-ceramics
THE BESSER COLLECTION Many of the works on view this fall at the Windgate Center were gifts to
the Arkansas Arts Center from Diane and Sandy Besser. The Bessers, who lived in Little Rock for many years, were avid art collectors –
particularly of folk art, ceramics, and figurative drawings. They had a simple collecting philosophy: “I will only buy a better piece than
what I already have. I always trade up, not down.” The Bessers collected more than 10,000 works of art – many of which they went on to
donate to museums throughout the country, including the Arkansas Arts Center, the de Young Museum in San Francisco, and the Museum of
International Folk Art in Santa Fe.
23

ART
CLASS
GOES
VIRTUAL
ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER MUSEUM SCHOOL
INSTRUCTORS EMBRACE THE CHALLENGES
AND OPPORTUNITIES OF TEACHING ONLINE
ART CLASSES
The Arkansas Arts Center Museum
School’s team of innovative art instructors
have found new ways to offer art-making
opportunities for an online learning
environment. The classes they’ve created
since the Museum School went online in
March are both experimental
and imaginative.
ABOVE: Museum school student
Kim Gold's assignment from a
virtual class on composition.
“We knew it was essential for us to find
a way to continue being a place for our
community to come together – even
virtually – to have new experiences or
hone new skills.” – Rana Edgar, Director
of Education
Some classes translate almost seamlessly
to an online format – drawing fundamentals,
for instance – while other things – take
ceramics – require wheels
and clay and glazes and
kilns. Despite not being
able to meet in person,
instructors have found ways
to offer a sampling of the
mediums normally taught
in the studios – ceramics,
painting, drawing, color theory, sculpture,
collage, performing arts, and more – online.
“In uncertain times, the arts are vital – the
artists and instructors in the Museum
School are very conscious of that,” said
Rana Edgar, Director of Education and
Programs. “We knew it was essential for us
to find a way to continue being a place for
our community to come together – even
virtually – to have new experiences or hone
new skills.”
In creating online classes, there are
logistics to consider. “How will my
24

demonstration come across being viewed on a
computer screen?” painting instructor Joel Boyd said.
“Is my lighting for my demonstration bright enough?
Is my camera close enough to my work to be clear?”
Beyond managing logistics, the nature of the online
visual experiences creates new opportunities.
Painting and Drawing Department Chair Robert
Bean is able to integrate images into his instruction
in new ways. “I realized that anything that focused
on foundational skills, like understanding light and
shadow, color theory, or composition, for example,
would translate quite well, and might even come
across as a stronger experience online than in the
studio, as it would be easy to share images of existing
artworks through a computer screen and diagram
over them using a tool like Photoshop.”
Working in the studio with other artists fosters
a sense of community – and maintaining that
community can be challenging in online spaces.
“I do miss the experience of being together in
person,” Boyd said, “but we can still have great
discussion. I feel that with a close-up view of my
table-top, students have a better experience than
viewing my work from across a room.”
In his classes, Bean is embracing new platforms –
like Google Classroom – to allow students to share
their progress, show off their work, and bounce ideas
off each other. “It’s really fostering a great sense of
community inside the classroom,” Bean said. “It’s
keeping them connected in between live
class sessions.”
For some instructors, moving to an online format also
allows time and space to dig into elements of art that
sometimes get overlooked in the studio – like
art history.
“Teaching online has allowed me to do a little more
in terms of art history and lecture than I was doing
in the studios before,” Bean said, “and it’s an aspect
that I intend to keep even after we’re back inside the
teaching studios and meeting in person.”
Without access to clay, wheels and kilns, Beth
Lambert, associate director of the Museum School,
turned to the history of ceramics.
“Ceramics has a rich, fascinating history that
stretches back 100,000 years,” Lambert said, “and
recent discoveries are causing it to change all the
time. I love being able to share this more fully. I try to
work as much history as I can into my studio classes,
but it’s been nice to focus on it.”
“I do really believe that when we return to in person
classes,” Lambert said, “having the knowledge and
exposure to ceramics from cultures they may not have
known before will be very beneficial.”
FALL ART CLASSES
Online classes are continuing at the Arkansas
Arts Center this fall with more innovative and
experimental classes. Learn more about all the
online class offerings on our website.
VISIT
arkansasartscenter.org/how-to-register
The Museum School is supported by The Dorothea Lawrence
Gilbert Fund for Art Enrichment and Outreach, Union Pacific
Foundation, and Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation.
This project is supported in part by a grant from the Arkansas
Humanities Council and the National Endowment for
the Humanities.
25

THE MAKING OF
The Arkansas Arts Center team took their
talents from stage to screen this summer to
create “Blueberry’s Clubhouse” in collaboration
with Arkansas PBS
Creating puppets and sets for television is a little
bit different than building those same things for
the stage – where we usually work. But creating
puppets and props, building sets, and working on
costumes has been an incredibly fun challenge for us.
Puppet designer Erin Larkin, who created Blueberry,
says that one of her favorite parts of the show was
exploring the difference between designing for stage
and camera.
"My favorite part of working on this series is the
challenge of figuring out how our designs look on
camera versus on stage,” Larkin said. “Figuring out
those answers has been the exciting challenge of
turning the AAC costume shop into a creature shop
for TV.”
Blueberry was originally created for an Arkansas
AMI lesson last spring. But as Blueberry got ready to
go to summer camp, Larkin gave her an updated look.
Larkin wanted to make Blueberry's fur a natural dusty
blue – the kind you would find on blueberries. So, she
went back to her sketch pad, dying vats, and sewing
machines and gave Blueberry a makeover. With new
fur, feathers, eyes, and re-engineered hand and arm
functions, Blueberry was ready to jump into summer
fun at Camp AR PBS.
26
ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER
COLLABORATES WITH ARKANSAS PBS
Blueberry’s Clubhouse, an original series for young viewers, offers adventures through the
Natural State without leaving home
The Arkansas Arts Center partnered with Arkansas
PBS to create Blueberry’s Clubhouse, an original
series for young viewers and families. Blueberry,
the host, is a curious puppet guide to engaging and
insightful activities for students. Throughout the show,
Blueberry and friends explore the stories, animals, and
laughs found in the Natural State.
“Blueberry’s Clubhouse is part of the Arkansas Arts
Center’s ongoing commitment to reaching across our
community to offer artistic experiences that speak
to young people and families,” said Katie Campbell,
Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre and
Performing Arts Director. “Families will find that the
challenges Blueberry and her friends face throughout
the series reflect some of their own experiences. The
show can help young viewers navigate the uncertainty
and disappointment we all face during this time – and
learn to be adaptable regardless of what comes next.”
Throughout the show’s four episodes, Blueberry finds
her plans changing – storm clouds threaten an outdoor
birthday party, her pet caterpillar goes missing, and
she embarks on an adventure into the great outdoors
only to be thwarted by her camp counselor. In the final
episode, Blueberry hosts a talent show featuring young
people across the state.

Technical Director Frank Mott worked with the Arkansas
PBS creative team to design and build the interior
of the camp cabin. Although it is not much different
from designing and building a stage set, there were
new challenges when creating a set for puppeteering.
The most important part of creating a puppet stage is
making room for your puppeteers while still allowing the
human cast to interact in a believable way.
To meet the challenge, Mott made movable raised
flooring platforms for Blueberry’s cabin. This allows the
puppeteers to work eight inches lower than the rest of
the cast, and the flooring can be moved wherever is
needed for each scene.
fort,” Kuperman said. “Blueberry reaches far outside the
Clubhouse walls, and everyone is so excited to bring
this world to life."
– Liz McMath, Stage Manager
Production Stage Manager Rivka Kuperman is the voice
of Blueberry and the lead puppeteer. Lighting Designer
Mike Stacks is Kuperman's right-hand man. He literally
puppets Blueberry's right hand as well as other puppets
throughout the series. "I've had to stretch myself
physically and mentally like I haven't had to in years, it's
inspiring and invigorating," Stacks said. He is also
the go-to puppeteer for the more difficult moves.
“Mike is so good at the trick shots,” Kuperman said.
Watch Blueberry’s Clubhouse!
myarkansasapbs.org
"We have had such fun working with Arkansas
PBS to expand Blueberry's world beyond the quilt
The Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre is supported by Arkansas BlueCross BlueShield; The Shubert Foundation; Centennial Bank;
Arvest Bank; Cindy and Greg Feltus; Target; U.S. Bank Foundation and Weyerhaeuser Giving Fund. Children’s Theatre on Tour at Arkansas
Children’s Hospital is supported by The Johnny Heflin Memorial Endowment Fund for Children.
27

2019 – 2020 Annual Gifts
The Arkansas Arts Center wishes to thank all those who supported the AAC this past year with an exemplary commitment to the arts.
Generous annual contributions ensure that learning, inspiration and creative expression in the arts flourish throughout Arkansas, for
people of all ages and backgrounds.
$50,000 and Above
Robyn and John Horn
Alice L. Walton Foundation
Windgate Foundation
$25,000 - $49,999
Isabel and John Ed Anthony
The Brown Foundation, Inc.,
of Houston
Anne and Merritt Dyke
Ces and Drew Kelso
Lisenne Rockefeller
Harriet and Warren
Stephens, Stephens Inc.
$10,000 - $24,999
Arkansas Humanities Council
Arvest Foundation
Bank of America
Bank OZK
Dr. Loren Bartole,
Family Foot Care
Herbert Blair Trust
Chucki and Curt Bradbury
Centennial Bank
Elaine and Claiborne Deming
Helen Porter and Jim Dyke
East Harding Construction
Entergy Arkansas, Inc.
Terri and Chuck Erwin
Jackye and Curtis Finch
Judy Fletcher
Maribeth and John Frazer
Friday, Eldredge & Clark, LLP
Marion Fulk and Jeff
Rosenzweig
Diane Suitt Gilleland
HoganTaylor LLP
Barbara House
Mimi and Jim Hugg
Ben and Walter Hussman /
Hussman Family Foundation
The Philip R. Jonsson
Foundation
Julie and The Very Reverend
Christoph Keller
Landmark PLC, Certified Public
Accountants
Ginanne Graves Long
Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates
& Woodyard, P.L.L.C.
Moon Distributors Inc.
Dale and Lee Ronnel
The Shubert Foundation
Terri and David Snowden
Harriet and Warren Stephens
Charles M. & Joan R. Taylor
Foundation, Inc.
LaRand Thomas
JC Thompson Trust
Trinity Foundation
Dianne and Bobby Tucker
Union Pacific Foundation
Pat Wilson
$5,000 - $9,999
Veronica and Dr. Laurence
Alexander
Arkansas Arts Center
Contemporaries
Arkansas Children's Hospital
Phyllis and Michael Barrier
Del Boyette
Boyette Strategic Advisors, LLC
Central Arkansas Library
System
Christie's, Inc.
Sandra and Bob Connor
Electric Cooperatives of
Arkansas
Cindy and Greg Feltus
First Security Bank
June and Edmond Freeman
Stan Hastings
W. W. and Anne Jones
Charitable Trust
Rhonda and Tim Jordan
Kum & Go
Donna and Mack McLarty
Nucor Steel, Inc.
Sarah and Walter Nunnelly
Rebsamen Fund
Riggs Benevolent Fund
Rose Law Firm
Ellen and Shep Russell
The Schmieding Foundation
Belinda Shults
Martha and Warren Stephenson
Don Tilton
VCC, LLC
Sherry Worthen
$1,000 - $4,999
Lee Abel and Eleanor Kennedy
Gaye and Dr. Bob Anderson
Elizabeth Andreoli and
Joseph Goellner
Anonymous
Arkansas Business
Publishing Group
Arkansas Farm Bureau
Federation
Arvest Bank
B.Barnett
Bailey Foundation
Patti Bailey
Paul Bash and Tony Owens
Maritza and Terry Bean
BKD, LLP
Lisa and David Black
Gloria and Gary Blakney
Pam and Rick Blank
Buff Blass
Kyle Boswell and
Dr. Jon Mourot
Mary Ellen Irons and
Dr. Scott Bowen
Bill Brierley
Kim and Mark Brockinton
Nancy Brusenhan
Vicki and Robert Burnett
Jeanie and Greg Burton
Heather and Sam Carter
Drs. Maria and Charles Castro
Catfish Farmers of Arkansas
Roxanne and Leon Catlett
Meredith and Graham Catlett
Donna and Dr. Donald Cave
CenterPoint Energy
Nancy Childress
Christy and William Clark
Gert and General Wesley
Clark, Ret.
Ralph Cloar
Stuart Cobb
Jennie and Dr. Chuck Cole
Susan Conley, M.D.
Mary and Ralph Cotham
George Cotton, Sr.
Cathy and Kevin Crass
Mary Lou and Bill Cravens
Crow-Burlingame/Bumper
to Bumper
Datamax Office Systems
Irene and George Davis
Maggie and Dick Dearnley
Mickey and Larry Drennan
Nan Ellen and Jack East
Dr. Martin Eisele
Susan Elliott
Olivia Farrell
Joyce and Jim Faulkner
Fifth Generation Inc.
Kelly and Dr. Shannon Fleming
Charlotte and Jim Gadberry
GardaWorld
Priscilla Green
Judy Grundfest
Dr. Margaret and Arthur Hall
Laine Harber
Laura Harden and Lon Clark
Linda and David Hargis
Harrison Energy Partners
Helen and Fred Harrison
Sarah Henry
Mary Ann and Andrew Hiegel
Kim Hillis
Zelda Hoaglan
Kaki Hockersmith and
Max Mehlburger
Barbara Rogers Hoover
Stacy and Howard Hurst
Mimi and Joe Hurst
Innerplan Office Interiors
Lucy and Dorsey Jackson
The Janet Jones Company
Dr. Gerald Johnson
Kathy and Jim Johnson
Judy and Kelley Johnson
Junior League of Little Rock
Sharon Kemp
Judy Lansky and Ken Gould
Ann and Gene Lewis
Lexicon, Inc.
Lauriann Lines
Dr. Daniel Littlefield
Martha Logue
Sabrina and Paul Mangum
Gail Reede Jones, MD and
Jesse Mason
Cathy and Mike Mayton
Michelle and Hugh McDonald
Mary Ann and Bob McKuin
Carolyn and George McLeod
Susan and Andrew Meadors
Drs. Carol and Fred Meadors
Larry Middleton
28
*This list does not include gifts designated for special event tickets, auction items, art donations, honorariums, memorials, acquisitions, capital campaign or gifts made
to the endowment of the Arkansas Arts Center Foundation

Mid-Southern Watercolorists
Carl Miller
Dr. David Miller
Stephanie and Virgil Miller
Brenda Mize
Susie and Charles Morgan
Morris Foundation, Inc.
Anne Bradford Mourning
Karen and Randy Mourot
Barbara and Don Munro
Munro Foundation
Cindy and Chip Murphy
Allison and Dr. Gary Nash
Debbie and Stewart Noland
Lynn and George O'Connor
Robin Orsi
Eileen and Patrick O'Sullivan
Nikki and Paul Parnell
Valerie Pearsall and Rich Roy
Peckham + Smith
Architects, Inc.
Janice and Dr. Phillip Peters
Anna Louise Phillips
Sandy Phillips
Nancy and Tad Phillips
Poe Travel
Tina Poe
Polk Stanley Wilcox
Mary and Dr. Robert Powers
Stephen Ragland and
Kent Armstrong
Regions Bank
Carol and Dr. Porter Rodgers
Scallions
Sissy's Log Cabin
Rebecca Slaven
The Smith Holloway
Patton Foundation
Rebecca and Gary Smith
Martha and Bob Snider
Sol Alman Company
Southern Arkansas University
Martha Sowell
Judi and Gray Standridge
Grace and John Steuri
Stone Ward
Lenka Horakova and
Trip Strauss
Target
Sarah and Jeff Teague
Betty Terry
Marti and Dr. Henry Thomas
Jane and John Thompson
Virgil Trotter
Becky and Rett Tucker
U.S. Bank
Betty Jo Ward
Weyerhaeuser Giving Fund
Cappy and Charlie Whiteside
Gladys and Haynes Whitney
Jolene and Louis Wilson
Laura and Kyle Winning
Mary and Jim Wohlleb
Alison and Dr. Terry Yamauchi
Jan Zimmerman
.
Exhibition, Program and Special Event Supporters
EXHIBITIONS
Isabel and John Ed Anthony
Arkansas Arts Center Contemporaries
Arkansas Arts Center Board of Trustees
Arkansas Arts Center Foundation
Arkansas Children's Hospital
Bank OZK
Phyllis and Michael Barrier
Catfish Farmers of Arkansas
East Harding Construction
Terri and Chuck Erwin
Judy Fletcher
Friday, Eldredge & Clark, LLP
Marion W. Fulk
Barbara House
Ces and Drew Kelso
The John William Linn Endowment Fund
Dr. Daniel F. Littlefield
Mid-Southern Watercolorists
Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard, P.L.L.C.
Lisenne Rockefeller
Dale and Lee Ronnel
Andre Simon Memorial Trust
JC Thompson Trust
Don Tilton
Trinity Foundation
Dianne and Bobby Tucker
Pat Wilson
MUSEUM SCHOOL, EDUCATION &
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
Arkansas Business Publishing Group
Arkansas Humanities Council
Arvest Foundation
Central Arkansas Library System
First Community Bank
First Security Bank
The Dorothea Lawrence Gilbert Fund for Art Enrichment
and Outreach
Ruth Kretchmar Neighborhood Arts Program
Nucor Divisions – Arkansas
Rebsamen Fund
The Schmieding Foundation
Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor
Foundation, Inc.
LaRand Thomas
CHILDREN’S THEATRE
Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield
Arvest Bank
Bank of America
Dr. Loren Bartole, ‘Family Foot Care’
Centennial Bank
Cindy and Greg Feltus
Diane Suitt Gilleland
The Johnny Heflin Memorial Endowment Fund
for Children
Junior League of Little Rock
Morris Foundation, Inc.
The Shubert Foundation
CHILDREN’S THEATRE, CONT'D
Target
U.S. Bank Foundation
Weyerhaeuser Giving Fund
ARTMOBILE
Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation
Bank of America
The Brown Foundation, Inc., of Houston
Entergy Arkansas, Inc.
HoganTaylor LLP
Kum & Go
Ginanne Graves Long
Union Pacific Foundation
IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS
Jeanie Berna
Bylites, Inc.
Christie’s, Inc.
CWP Productions
Al Harris
Garbo and Dr. Archie Hearne
Landmark PLC, Certified Public Accountants
Moon Distributors Inc.
Ajit Roy
Cissy and Steve Rucker
Scallions
Southern Arkansas University
Tipton & Hurst
FOUNTAIN FEST SUPPORTERS
Melanie and Matt Buchanan
Cantrell Gallery
CenterPoint Energy
John Crow
Datamax
Amanda and Tyler Denton
HoganTaylor LLP
Sara Lynn
Jessie and Robert McLarty
Peckham + Smith Architects, Inc.
Elizabeth Sellars
Tito’s Handmade Vodka (Fifth
Generation, Inc.)
Heather and Brian Wardle
FOUNTAIN FEST IN-KIND
107 Liquor
Argenta Downtown Council
Back Forty Beer Company
CWP Productions
Flyway Brewing
Moon Distributors Inc.
O’Connor Distributing
Roxor Gin
Stone’s Throw Brewing
Tito’s Handmade Vodka
UAPTC – Culinary Arts and Hospitality
Management Institute
Arkansas Arts Center programs are supported in part by: Arkansas Arts Center Foundation;
Arkansas Arts Center Board of Trustees; City of Little Rock; City of North Little Rock; Little Rock
Convention and Visitors Bureau; and the Arkansas Arts Council, a division of Arkansas Heritage,
and the National Endowment for the Arts.
29

‘22&YOU
CONNECTED:
STAY
‘22&You is the best way to stay connected with the
Arkansas Arts Center – and keep your membership
current – throughout our building progress. Don’t miss a
beat! Commit to renew your membership through 2022,
and receive special ‘22&You-only perks.
It’s easy! Monthly payments? Yes! Auto drafts? Yes!
’22&YOU OFFERS ALL OF THE MEMBER BENEFITS
YOU ALREADY LOVE – AND MORE!
These benefits include:
• The satisfaction of helping the AAC remain vibrant
during the building process
• The ability to maintain your member rate
through 2022
• A special ’22&You membership card
• An exclusive ’22&You e-newsletter with updates
on the transforming AAC building
• Exclusive pre-sale access to Arts Center events
• ’22&You member-only events
MEMBER
‘22&You | (501) 372-4000 | arkansasartscenter.org
Join ’22&You today and help build the Arkansas Arts Center’s future!
Visit arkansasartscenter.org/become-a-member or call (501) 396-0337 to learn more.
2510 Cantrell Road
Little Rock, AR 72202