Mike Abb's schedule rarely contains an opening. And for the native Arkansan who returned to the state after several years in Austin, Texas, it's the best kind of problem to have.
He left for Texas to seek music and entertainment options. But weird and wonderful as Austin can be, it's also large -- at about 1.25 million people in the region -- more than twice that of Northwest Arkansas. And the city is sometimes stiflingly slow, Abb said.
Kevin Kinder can be reached by email at kkinder@nwadg.com or on Twitter @NWAKevin.
So Abb -- now creative lead at RopeSwing, a boutique hospitality group based in Bentonville -- returned in 2013 knowing the kind of event-filled atmosphere he sought in Austin had popped up closer to home.
"Not only have we caught up, but we're doing it at a rapid rate," he said.
Austin's notoriously packed endeavors helped earn it the name "the velvet rut," said Abb, and it's a place where "you can spin your wheels in style."
The scope of Northwest Arkansas' entertainment amenities measured against its size is impressive, Abb said.
"It's hard to beat the per-capita benefit," he said.
Still, organizations like Abb's and the major cultural institutions in the area are trying to do just that.
New Big Things
National media outlets have picked up on the growing cultural scene. Online news magazine Huffington Post in November named Bentonville on its "5 Up-and-Coming U.S. Tourism Cities," citing Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the 21c Museum Hotel as must-see attractions.
Similarly, CNN added Crystal Bridges to its list of "America's Best Small Town Museums," which published in September.
Abb knows of 20 or 30 cultural amenities such as a restaurants and live music spaces in the works for the region. Those fall on top of some recently opened.
Chief among them is the Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion, an outdoor music space in Rogers that accommodates thousands of fans for a yearly summer slate of concerts. The most-requested amenity in a Walton Family Foundation study released in April 2013 was a large amphitheater, with 67 percent of respondents saying it was their No. 1 quality-of-life request.
The Walton Arts Center, which bought the amphitheater's venue before its 2012 summer season, had been looking for a permanent home. Those plans manifested as a new, $11 million dollar facility in Rogers.
The crowds immediately followed to the venue's June 2014 opening. Nearly 80,000 people attended shows or events at the pavilion last year. Peter Lane, Walton Arts Center president and chief executive officer, said it is too early to tell where the facility ranks in the national conversation, but the venue has already become an attractive stop for nationally respected artists.
Two of the concerts in the 2015 season are already sold out, with tickets for shows by Dave Matthews Band and Kenny Chesney disappearing minutes after their release.
Lane cautioned the area remains a third tier market for many acts. Growth and demand will change that attitude.
"We are growing faster than most areas. ... I think we're growing smarter," he said.
Lane said innovation will expand the area's art scene. The Walton Arts Center is rare among peers in that it also produces events and owns a dedicated live music facility.
"We are a bit of a pioneer in our field," Lane said.
Regional Respect
Innovation is also critical to the mission of Crystal Bridges, the art museum that opened just north of the downtown Bentonville square in November 2011.
"We are focused on being a national leader in what we do," said Rod Bigelow, the museum's executive director. That led the museum to present the much-discussed "State of the Art" exhibit, a look at contemporary art that quickly earned attention from publications around the world.
The Wall Street Journal and the Huffington Post both reviewed the 102-work exhibit that debuted in September and continued through January. Both reviews simultaneously admired and criticized the exhibit, but the Huffington Post would later name it one of the 15 Best Art Exhibits of 2014.
Important metrics for the museum relate to involvement. Aside from the 8,000 members of the museum, the kind of patron Bigelow calls a "super-user," are the thousands who pass through for various reasons. Some visit for the architecture alone. The trails that weave through the museum grounds were used an estimated 240,000 times in 2014, according to an analysis by the museum.
Crystal Bridges also partnered with other organizations to host a regional display of art held by local museums and a current exhibit of regional pottery.
"We're introducing Bentonville to a community that is coming in for 2-3 days," Bigelow said.
The Walton Arts Center during Lane's tenure has forged official resident relationships with four local arts entities: TheatreSquared for professional theater, Trike Theater for youth, the Community Creative Center for hands-on arts education and the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas for orchestral music.
The center also creates arts opportunities, Lane said.
The VoiceJam, an a capella music festival, will debut in early April and attract teams from throughout the mid-South. And the center's Artosphere Festival features nearly a month of programming, culminating with a performance by the Artosphere Festival Orchestra. That group has several times been featured on the national "Performance Today" classical music radio program.
Growth Guesses
Among events coming to the area is the inaugural Bentonville Film Festival, scheduled for a May 5-9 run at various venues. Few details about the film festival have been released. The event, hosted by Academy Award winning actress Geena Davis, promises to be a champion for women and diversity in film.
That can only further help the already growing region by exposing it to those unfamiliar with the area, Abb said.
"I couldn't be more excited for more eyes and ears," he said.
The festival will use many available places in Bentonville, including downtown spaces and locations such as Old High Middle School.
Lane hears often that the region needs more venues. The Walton Arts Center continues to explore building a 2,000-seat theater in Bentonville, but not until about $23 million in renovations are completed at the existing center in Fayetteville.
He also hears clamor for a ballet company, an opera company and chamber music.
Troy Gittings hears the call for a dedicated comedy venue. He monitors the scene as a founder of Comedians NWA. Performers the group booked in past years such as Doug Stanhope and Robert Kelly know they have an audience here, but not a venue. Comedy shows in the area are patchwork affairs, taking place at bars and restaurant at infrequent intervals.
"People are scratching. There's no lack of talent or size of the community," Gittings said.
Projections show rapid rates of population growth in the area. By 2020, there may be as many as 750,000 Northwest Arkansas residents, Abb said. The more people who plant themselves in the region, the higher the demand for the arts, from music to comedy to food.
"They'll demand that kind of talent exists here," Abb said.
Kevin Kidner can be reached by email at kkinder@nwadg.com or on Twitter @NWAWhatsup.
NW News on 03/29/2015