Fort Smith arts school hits first fundraising goal

FORT SMITH — The Community School of the Arts announced Wednesday it reached its $7.5 million initial capital fundraising goal to build a facility on the riverfront.

This was the result of a $750,000 “challenge” grant the Texas-based Mabee Foundation awarded for the project, according to a news release from the school. The school will receive the money in the spring after the building’s foundation is finished for the Center for the Creative Arts, which will be north of the U.S. Marshals Museum at 789 Riverfront Drive.

“The Mabee Foundation is proud to support the Community School of the Arts and its mission to integrate arts education with leadership training for kids who often have no access to either,” Michael Goeke, executive director of the Mabee Foundation, said in the release. “We expect this new facility to expand CSA’s influence throughout Arkansas and Oklahoma for many years to come.”

Rosilee Russell, founder and executive director of the Community School of the Arts, said the school was awarded the grant after raising $3.7 million over the course of 2021. The school raised 40% of its $7.5 million goal prior to that point.

“We are so grateful and blessed to have received the Mabee grant and thankful to friends and supporters in this community for helping us reach this goal,” Russell said in the release. “As we move forward, we hope many more will join us on this journey to help us complete our fundraising as we build a facility for many future generations.”

Russell said the Community School of the Arts will be housed in the 40,000-squarefoot Center for the Creative Arts after it’s finished. The school is currently on the campus of St. Boniface Catholic Church in Fort Smith. It has an enrollment of about 700-800 students per semester between its onsite and offsite programs.

Construction is scheduled to begin this month and be completed in the summer of 2023, according to the news release.

Russell said in 2021 the project was “moving forward” to allow teachers and administration to move into the

facility by the end of this year. Russell said Wednesday this had been delayed primarily due to the covid-19 pandemic and supply chain issues.

The facility will hold arts programs for young children through high school students, as well as adults, the release states. This includes after-school programs and the school’s Institute for the Creative Arts, the latter of which will offer specialized programs for ninth- through 12th-grade students.

“The institute will operate daily as students attend for half of their school day from potentially 39 regional school districts and will receive high school credits at their participating school,” the release states.

The institute’s six major program areas include cinematic arts, culinary arts, music, dance, dramatic arts, and art and design, the release states. The facility’s features will include “high-tech” classrooms, teaching and dance studios, art galleries, a recording studio, film and digital animation labs, culinary labs, a black box theater, and a 350-seat theater and performance hall.

Phillip Russell, director of development for the school’s Inspiring Excellence campaign, said in the release the campaign will move toward raising the money needed to complete the new facility.