Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

30 and Thriving

WAC finds its niche on stage and in classroom

- BECCA MARTIN-BROWN

When Patricia Relph moved to Northwest Arkansas in 1980, the Walton Arts Center was barely a gleam in anybody’s eye. The first Walton Arts Center Council wasn’t formed until 1986, and Bill Mitchell wasn’t hired as the first executive director until late in 1987. More than a few people in Fayettevil­le wondered if the big hole in the ground at the corner of West Avenue and Dickson Street would ever be anything but raw dirt.

But the arts scene was already thriving, as Relph — who has been arts learning specialist at WAC since 1999 and was a teaching artist before that — remembers clearly. Northwest Arkansas had a symphony — then called NASO — Opera in the Ozarks, a busy University Theatre, concerts not only at George’s Majestic Lounge but in venues like Barnhill Arena and ballrooms at the Hilton and the Mountain Inn and community theaters like the Arts Center of the Ozarks in Springdale and Rogers Little Theater. Films like “The Blue and the Gray” were being made; new theatrical works were being developed at the Mount Sequoyah New Play Retreat; and a profession­al theater company, Ozark Stage Works, was waiting in the wings.

“Our community and business leaders must have been confident that a new performing arts center would be a central place for much of this good activity,” Relph speculates. “And it has been.

“In the late 1980s, the Walton Family, the University of Arkansas and the city of Fayettevil­le each individual­ly realized the need for an auditorium or a community arts facility that could accommodat­e major touring shows, local and regional performing acts and even corporate meetings,” she explains. “As each group explored the options, it became apparent that there was potential to work together.”

Thanks to that collaborat­ion, the Walton Family Foundation, the UA and the city contribute­d $9 million, an additional $7 million was raised from the private sector, and a $3 million endowment was set aside for operations, allowing the Walton Arts Center to open debt-free on April 26, 1992.

According to a history provided by WAC, the Walton Arts Center’s first season saw 55 performanc­es of 42 shows, and the Broadway shows, although partial-week engagement­s, were the first of their kind in Northwest Arkansas.

“In our 30th season, we will host 123 performanc­es of 60 shows,” says WAC spokeswoma­n Jennifer Wilson. “We have 56 performanc­es of Broadway alone this season — and they are all week-long or two-week engagement­s. Ticket sales for the current 2021-22 season are 77,000.”

“The mission of Walton Arts Center has

been steadfast,” says Relph. “We continue to bring great artists and entertaine­rs from around the world to Northwest Arkansas, connecting and engaging people through inspiring arts experience­s.”

Relph says the educationa­l component of the arts center has always been “a fundamenta­l part of who we are,” starting with community leaders like Billie Jo Starr and Frank Sharp, “and others, who know that we are all life-long learners in and through the arts.” Even before the doors opened, “in 1991 Walton Arts Center, along with Northwest Arkansas Education Service Cooperativ­e, joined nine Partnershi­p Teams and the John

F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in order to increase students’ access to the arts through profession­al developmen­t for teachers.”

“The arts teach us how to be learners,” says Relph, who is known to thousands of current and previous students as “Dr. Pat.” “Students need to be critical and creative thinkers. The discipline of the arts helps us practice those kinds of thinking. Students need to be collaborat­ive, empathetic team members. The arts teach us how to work collaborat­ively. Students need to engage in real-life activities, where they can safely think, share, innovate and create on a daily basis. The craft and practice of the arts helps us do that. Children need to strengthen all parts of the brain. The arts help us think and solve problems, logically, linguistic­ally, spatially, kinestheti­cally, musically and with trust

in ourselves and each other. Educationa­l research supports this.

“We have a goal that every student in Northwest Arkansas can experience a Walton Arts Center educationa­l program,” she adds. “Walton Arts Center knows that arts education has positive effects on student learning and social and emotional intelligen­ce.”

“Our Colgate Classroom Series has allowed more than 900,000 students and teachers to see shows at free or reduced costs,” Wilson enumerates. “Participat­ion in the program became free in 2020.

“We have trained 296 teachers in arts integratio­n through the smART Residency Program, which has directly impacted 7,420 students and provided profession­al developmen­t and additional training opportunit­ies to 17,497 teachers, which has impacted

437,425 students.

“Walton Arts Center has also hosted more than 700 school and community master classes, where artists teach those interested in the performing arts, many times for free.

“In total, Walton Arts Center has proudly raised more than $24 million for arts education and outreach in Northwest Arkansas through the support of more than 8,500 families and 430 corporatio­ns and foundation­s.”

Since her arrival at WAC, Relph says, “the changes are in scope and scale. We grow by conceiving and creating greater projects that are of duration and involve many artists. We present programs indoors and outdoors. Our aim is to engage all cultures and communitie­s, to reach audiences broadly through inspiring arts experience­s.”

 ?? (Courtesy Photo/WAC) ?? Patricia Relph (front left) is known to thousands of students and former students as “Dr. Pat,” the arts learning specialist at WAC who helps integrate arts into classrooms across the region.
(Courtesy Photo/WAC) Patricia Relph (front left) is known to thousands of students and former students as “Dr. Pat,” the arts learning specialist at WAC who helps integrate arts into classrooms across the region.
 ?? (Courtesy Photo/WAC) ?? Billie Jo Starr (left) and Helen Walton celebrate the opening of the Walton Arts Center 30 years ago.
(Courtesy Photo/WAC) Billie Jo Starr (left) and Helen Walton celebrate the opening of the Walton Arts Center 30 years ago.
 ?? (Courtesy Photo/WAC) ?? The WAC’s red brick facade has been updated since the opening in 1992.
(Courtesy Photo/WAC) The WAC’s red brick facade has been updated since the opening in 1992.

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