REX NELSON: A focus on the arts

It was noon on a Wednesday, and the weekly testing of the sirens was taking place in Little Rock. Dr. Dean Kumpuris, a longtime Little Rock city director, didn't seem to notice. On this hot day, he was busy showing off his pride and joy, the Vogel-Schwartz Sculpture Garden overlooking the Arkansas River downtown.

Each Saturday, Kumpuris can be found working in the sculpture garden, doing everything from pulling weeds to picking up trash as if it were his front yard. Asked how many hours he works on a typical Saturday, he said: "I'm here until the work gets done."

There are now dozens of works of public art worth millions of dollars spread across Little Rock. Private contributions paid for most of that art. Jane Rogers of Little Rock was with us that day and noted, "Public art makes people feel welcome. Many of the pieces that we now have in Little Rock put a smile on my face as I pass by." Rogers and her husband Jay make quite a pair for the city, with Jane focusing on the arts and Jay focusing on the restoration of Lamar Porter Field, the historic baseball park that has been featured in movies and documentaries through the years.

A nonprofit group known as Sculpture at the River Market has raised money for a decade through its annual show and sale. Each spring, hundreds of visitors show up downtown to view and purchase works of art. Those attending a preview party are allowed to vote on a piece of public art to be purchased by the organization.

Joining us to tour the sculpture garden was Little Rock businessman Bill Rector, who had walked over from an event at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre. New artistic director John Miller-Stephany had been introduced to theater supporters that morning.

As he admired the sculpture garden, Rector said: "People in the theater business in New York recognize the Arkansas Repertory Theatre for the quality of its work. I'm afraid a lot of people in Arkansas just take it for granted or don't know about it at all." Here we were in a very good sculpture garden talking about a very good repertory theater. It dawned on me that Little Rock has become a city of the arts with leading citizens such as Dean Kumpuris and Jane Rogers devoting their time, talent and financial resources.

How far we've come since Winthrop and Jeannette Rockefeller were urged by city leaders in 1959 to help launch a statewide capital campaign to enlarge what was then the Museum of Fine Arts in Little Rock's MacArthur Park and is now the Arkansas Arts Center. That campaign, in cooperation with the city of Little Rock, the Little Rock Junior League and the Fine Arts Club, also was designed to expand programming in an arts-deprived state.

Winthrop Rockefeller came to Arkansas from New York in 1953. He quickly fell in love with the state's natural beauty and its people, but was struck by the poverty, lack of cultural amenities and outmigration. He married Jeannette in June 1956. After their honeymoon, the couple settled at the Rockefeller Ranch atop Petit Jean Mountain. Jeannette became interested in promoting the arts and urged her husband to assist her.

Earlier this year, Little Rock voters approved a two-cent increase in the city's hotel tax to fund a $37 million bond issue, most of which will go for improvements to the Arkansas Arts Center. Meanwhile, the $68 million renovation of the Robinson Center in downtown Little Rock nears its completion, giving the capital city a premier facility for the performing arts. The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra returns to its former home Nov. 19-20, and the Broadway Theater Series returns Nov. 26. Once the Arts Center renovation is complete, more than $100 million will have been spent on the two facilities.

From Sept. 21-25, the ACANSA Arts Festival will take place. The festival is the brainchild of Charlotte Gadberry, who was visiting Charleston, S.C., in the spring of 2012 and was amazed by the energy she sensed in the city. People were walking the streets until late at night, and restaurants and hotels were full. When she asked what was going on, she learned about Spoleto Festival USA, which uses the historic theaters and churches in Charleston for 17 days each spring for live performances of chamber music, opera, jazz, choral music, theater, dance and more. Gadberry couldn't help but think how nice it would be to have a similar festival in Arkansas. Two years ago, the first ACANSA Arts Festival was held after Gadberry pulled together a group of more than 100 volunteers and 15 working committees. The festival's name comes from a Quapaw word meaning "Southern place."

This year's festival will include everything from an opening performance by Ballet Arkansas at the Junior League of Little Rock's Woman's City Club to performances of the one-man show Murrow at The Rep. The festival will close at 11 a.m. on Sept. 25, with a gospel brunch at Wildwood Park for the Arts. The choir from Saint Mark Baptist Church in Little Rock will perform. Other venues include the Argenta Community Theater and Pulaski Technical College's Center for Humanities and Arts in North Little Rock.

ACANSA started small but has grown each year. It took Spoleto decades to become one of the leading performing arts festivals in the world. There's a long way to go, but consider how far the arts have come since the Rockefellers began their fundraising efforts in 1959.

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Freelance columnist Rex Nelson is the director of corporate community relations for Simmons First National Corp. He's also the author of the Southern Fried blog at rexnelsonsouthernfried.com.

Editorial on 09/14/2016

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