The 3W Podcast
From the people that bring you 3W Magazine, welcome to the 3W Podcast! We aim to serve our community by promoting awareness of Northwest Arkansas’ thriving philanthropic movement; To provide a guide of dates to help coordinate events so every nonprofit gets the coverage they need and deserve; To give financially to local charities each year.
The 3W Podcast
3W Magazine Podcast: Anne Jackson
What fuels the unwavering spirit of a community arts organization as it evolves through decades of change? Join us as we sit down with Anne Jackson from Arts One Presents to trace the captivating journey of this Northwest Arkansas gem, formerly known as the Arts Center of the Ozarks. Anne opens up about the thoughtful rebranding process, significant name changes and the transformative initiatives that have shaped its legacy. From Anne's extensive career in the nonprofit sector to the organization's rich history dating back to 1964, you will discover the profound impact of community engagement and dynamic networking in the local arts scene.
Our conversation takes a passionate dive into the world of community theater, celebrating productions like "Mamma Mia" and "Beauty and the Beast." We explore the collaborative efforts behind these captivating performances and the educational partnerships that help volunteers grow into professional roles. The resilience of the arts community is highlighted, particularly how they’ve adapted to challenges such as natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic. We'll share heartwarming stories of how local arts continue to thrive and bring joy to the community, even in the face of adversity.
Delight in the behind-the-scenes magic of public art installations, including the viral 14-foot-tall crocheted mushroom sculpture that has become a symbol of joy and resilience. Learn about its creation, from the initial concept inspired by childhood memories in the Redwood forest to the intricate collaboration with local metalworkers and the innovative solutions to weather durability. Celebrate the vibrant nonprofit and arts scene in Northwest Arkansas, where creativity knows no bounds and community pride runs deep. This episode is a testament to the power of community, creativity and the enduring legacy of the arts in our lives.
Hey everybody, welcome to the 3W Podcast home of the who, what, where I have my girlfriend with me today, anne Jackson. Anne say hi, hi, everybody Anne is with. Tell us who you're with. I'm with.
Speaker 1:Arts One Presents, yes, lots of different names. We have had lots of different names, formerly ACO. Yes, arts Center of the Ozarks was our kind of most you know recent moniker. But the Arts Center of the Ozarks actually started as the Springdale Music Club in the 60s, yes, and kind of over time changed names and took on some other kinds of programming and arts and music and different things, acquired buildings over time, became the Arts center of the Ozarks that everyone knew and loved since the 70s. I know I have this on my notes, we're going to dive further into it, but I'm like, yes, because I am a huge fan of the old ACO logo. This organization's actually the oldest arts nonprofit in Northwest Arkansas. Oh, stop, that's amazing and really ongoing. Since then, you know, took on like different names and changed different names ever since. But even you know, every year you have to as a nonprofit, you have to file with the state of Arkansas for your like, you know, federal employment number or something. Every year you do every you have to like reapply or something. Every year you do every you have to like reapply or something. Okay, anyway, yeah, um, but ours has been the same since, like 1967, yes, you know, and it's just stayed the same. The name updated, but, like our, you know, federal ein has stayed the same for a really long time. What? What a blessing. Yes, can you imagine? That's been really nice. In 2021, we officially became Arts One Presents and that kind of all happened out of the sale of the building itself that was the Art Center of the Ozarks. It's now called the Medium in Springdale. Yes, now called the medium in Springdale. Yes, and we kind of decided to rebrand a little bit and take on some larger public visual arts initiatives as well. So we still do community theater, yes, and then we still do public art works with visual artists.
Speaker 1:I want to touch on that. I want to touch on, like the, not the museum, the mushroom. We're going to touch on the, not the museum, the mushroom. We're going to touch on the mushroom. The mushroom, yes, the fungus that goes viral, humongi, or what are we? Humongous fungus, humongous fungus, thank you. I'm like, yes, we're going to touch on all those things, yes, but let's start with how did you and I meet? It's been a long time. How did you and I meet? It's been a long time. It has been a long time You've been in the nonprofit world when I met you yeah, I mean, I know you still are, but a different nonprofit yeah, it's been about. I think I've been in our nonprofit sector now for going on 20 years.
Speaker 1:Okay, in Northwest Arkansas and I started actually at Big big sisters of Northwest Arkansas and you were not with them when I. I was probably a single parent scholarship so I was with big brothers, big sisters, for about four to four and a half years. I was with single parent scholarship fund for a hundred, about a hundred, yeah, um, cause that's where I yeah, it was a long time we were. You know it was was really fun. I worked with Jody Dillday and we rebranded a lot of the events, um, and and the organization through that time too. So that was super fun and really kind of was my introduction into branding right and branding an organization, branding events, and I just had Tyler Clark on, yes, so I'm like small world, a dear friend of mine who runs that organization and the you know merger that ended up happening. Those conversations were started when, you know, jodi and I were there so a long time ago and actually, um, when I left single parent scholarship fund, I went to work at crystal bridges for almost six years and so and we worked together on BFF, we did film festival. Yeah, I've kind of had my hands and feet in a lot of different things over the years and it always revolves around our amazing nonprofit sector here.
Speaker 1:Right, it's bananas. Yeah, like without it I wouldn't have a job, you wouldn't have a job, I wouldn't have a social life. That is so true. That is how 3W was born. That's right. It's because, yeah, it's because it just everybody was planning on top of each other and somebody needed to form some safe space, essentially like where nonprofits could bring their events, because we didn't have a giant social life outside of Razorbacks when I moved here in 2006. And I'm like, what's a gala? We didn't call them galas back where I was from, and so I was like I thought of hoop skirts and gone with the wind, and I didn't know. A gala meant everything from cowboy boots to formals and everyone had a gala and that was the social life, no trails.
Speaker 1:Honestly, my introduction to the nonprofit world in general was when I did my internship in college. I went to college here at the University of Arkansas and I was a public relations major and I did my internship at Clear Channel Radio and promotions and I worked with Rhonda Brammell, who is still in this area, and I still know her and love her, and we did promotions together for about a year for all of the Clear Channel radio stations and I got to go to all the events, but one of the things that the radio station sponsored was the American Cancer Society Cattle Barons Ball and I got to help. Was that the fancy one where they would bring in the crazy designers? No, I don't think so. I'm making something completely up. Well, at least when I was um involved on the committee that you know one year this was early 2000s, okay, um, there were lots of cowboy boots, um, and it was outdoors, and so I'm not really remembering too much fanciness, but it was a big event, okay, silent auction and that kind of thing, and so that was really my big introduction into this is a nonprofit. This is kind of how they, you know, function a little bit. These are the events that they have and then, of course, you know, working for another national nonprofit and Big Brothers, big Sisters, you know, got another taste of the kind of events that they do.
Speaker 1:I was in charge of bowl for kids sake, so got to know all of the Northwest Arkansas bowling alleys really well for a few years and that was great. But you know like you just meet so many people in so many different sectors of our community by being in the nonprofit world. So I would say, like your networks are just so broad that, yes, and you want to go to other people's events and support them because they're your colleagues and friends Absolutely, and then because there's also causes near and dear to your heart that you might not work for but you want to go and support, it's like the nonprofit is half a bacon, it is. That's totally true. That's totally true. Yeah, oh, my gosh, I love that.
Speaker 1:So then, okay, after Crystal Bridges after Crystal Bridges was Bentonville Film Festival, and so, um, I worked uh on on that project for a couple of years. Um, and then was this uh, opportunity to work with the board of what at the time was the art center of the Ozarks, to kind of help them reimagine what the organization could look like without owning their own building and theater, but still doing theater, and they fell in love with you and begged you. You know, sometimes you just talk yourself into a job without actually meaning to oh sorry, but then you know you're like man, well, I am already invested in this and it's been a few months and OK. So, yeah, you know, I think I actually said to a couple of board members like, ok, I will, I will help, for I'll do this for a year, you know, and three years later I was just going to say is it three years plus OK, actually, yes, I've been involved with them in some capacity for three and a half years now, coming off the heels of the 2020 intermission that we're going to talk about. Yeah, yeah, exactly, because this was in 2021.
Speaker 1:And then we did a very quick rebrand, worked with a local designer who was awesome to work with Brittany Phillips, and rebranded this, you know, organization with a lot of thoughtfulness about where the organization had been, where the organization was going and how the community really was impacted and could continue to be impacted by it. And what would? You know, what would be another brand that could withstand the test of time? You know, like the ACO did as well, because I want to dive into that. I want to dive into, like, where Arts One came from. So it's 1964 and we have the Springdale Music Club.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and the Springdale Music Club and I want to touch on this after I read this a citywide summer music festival which offered piano teachers, their students, writers and visual artists opportunities to display their talents in a variety of venues during the week-long event. Like they were holding a music festival. Before music festivals were cool, the original Bonner, just kidding, but yeah, something like that Springdale man. Springdale really was a pioneer and it has been in a lot of ways because it's been the home of this organization, right, since its inception, right, you know, and since all the different forms that it has taken over the years. But, yeah, it always has kind of very involved in education and continues to be, and we can talk about that too with our partnership with Springdale school still, um, and and and how we work with them now, um, but yeah, so it's interesting to me to go back and read the history too, about, you know, their, the teacher involvement, music teacher involvement. Yeah, I'm like this is so great and your dad was extremely involved.
Speaker 1:My uncle, I'm so sorry. Oh, it's my dad's brother. Oh, I'm so sorry, that's okay, I got it all wrong. No, no, it's okay. A family member, a family member. They actually look very similar, okay, and my dad actually did get to travel with my uncle some.
Speaker 1:But yes, michael was a professional musician, okay, trumpet. Uh, wayne jackson of the memphis horns, yeah, like way fancy um played with like literally every one. That was a classic in the you know 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s. You know um from elvis to like every time I'm like this is the coolest history ever. Yeah, again, kevin bacon, I'm like, yeah, so cool. Then that can definitely be done with wayne jackson for sure. Um, I kind of laugh because every song that I hear, no matter where I am, I'm like, oh, there's uncle wayne. You can always tell he has very distinct sound. But he's also on every classic that came through from, you know, aretha franklin to sam and dave, to neil diamond with sweet caroline, so bananas, so like.
Speaker 1:I feel like this was meant to, this was like meant to be that you would be there, that music's in your family, yes, and that you would be at an organization that started out as the Springdale Music and, ironically, too, community theater was in my family, in my immediate family. I didn't know that part. I did my first community theater show when I was six years old in West Memphis, arkansas, okay, and my dad was in it. It was South Pacific. My dad was in it, my brother was in it, my sister was in it, the whole family and, of course, me being the smallest, I was like I obviously have to be in it. I'm not sure that I had an official role, but I know I was an island girl and I got to wear makeup and it was fantastic, life changing.
Speaker 1:Yes, so I, that was really my first kind of introduction on the stage. And did you love it or were you shy? Both, okay, which is still my personality. Okay, um, and I did theater, um, for a few more years in community theater and then I did theater through high school and I also did music in like junior high. So I was always like musically and arts yeah, it really is.
Speaker 1:I didn't have much knowledge and introduction of visual arts until Crystal Bridges and then that's what I call a different world, like my crash course. Yeah, yeah, it was like next level, yeah, for sure. Um, so, but yeah, I, I got my taste of, I love community theater. Um, you won't get me on stage anymore barely to introduce anyone, um, because that's just not where I, uh, am comfortable. Um, I like to. I to, as I say, I'm not an artist, but I like to make art happen. Oh, I like it. So I like for other people to be on stage and me just being behind the scenes. I love that. Yeah, you're making dreams come true. That's great. I love that. I do love community theater, so I'm not super knowledgeable in that world. I saw Mamma Mia at the old ACM, sure, yeah, and then most recently, into the Woods at Arkansas Public Theater, absolutely, yeah, they do some great shows.
Speaker 1:I'm just mesmerized that you can take a giant production, shrink it down onto a stage the size of this paper and make magic and I'm like, wow, yeah, it's just mesmerizing. To me it is. The storytelling in theater, and especially musical theater, is very important because it does. You know, I like art that starts conversations and, in different ways, can like help people understand a concept or gain a little bit more insight into something or other people's, you know, thoughts on things, and theater just does that so beautifully and really also is a melting pot of various crafts. A melting pot of various crafts, and so you have actors, you have lighting technicians, sound technicians, set builders, set painters, set designers, costumers, you know hair and makeup. It's like any occupation you need is kind of right there.
Speaker 1:Production is like that you can have a number of skills and work in the production field in some way, and those skills are going to be very, very relevant. From just project management and not have having you know any really kind of concept of what the art actually is, yes, but if you can project manage well, oh, that's huge too. Yeah, because you got to reign in artists, oh that's a lot of. There's a lot of herding cats, as we say sometimes.
Speaker 1:This show that we're doing right now, beauty and the Beast, um, has a cast of 50 people. That sounds like a lot. It's a lot. Okay, I'm like a large cat. I'm just judging it onto the end of the woods that I saw a couple of months ago and I'm like that. And when, when we say cast, we're talking, I'm doing the things on the stage, correct, right, we're not talking behind the scenes or whatever. So, like, 50 sounds like a lot, 50 is a lot, and that does not include the live orchestra that we have. So I believe we have 20 people in the orchestra on this show too, so you've got 70 people on the stage, and that does not include any of the directors or the crew or anybody working behind the scenes. So with this one show alone, there's going to be about 125 members of our community, plus, plus, plus, involved in making these eight performances come to life. It's awesome. Yeah, I mean it's amazing. It really is cool and it's cool to see because these are community members and community theater.
Speaker 1:You know, I do get asked sometimes, like, well, what makes something community theater versus professional theater? And it's as simple as it may be archaic, but it's as simple as community theater. Actors do not get paid. Oh, okay, I was thinking it's just a volunteer situation, it is for the actors. I like to go do it. So I'm going to go do it. Yeah, like our friend Alison McElroy, correct, okay, yes, she does it because she's obsessed and loves it so much, um, and it brings her joy and community and friendships, and that's why people do it, because it is such a sense of family for people that get involved in community theater.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, when you're, you know, singing in the choir, in a show or in the ensemble or in a cast, you know, lead principal role that you're not being paid to do that Right, that is usually that. There could be attorneys on that stage who this is their passion and they still want to be involved in something like this, and there's people that have all kinds of vocations. I love it, yeah, it's really cool. And then, of course, you know, we do get to work with some professional musicians who are in the orchestra and then we also incorporate student orchestra members from, you know, springdale public schools or just any. It can be pretty much any school, a lot from Springdale public schools because we do this. We have been the past three years performing this show at the Don Tyson School of Innovations Performing Arts Center, so we have a great relationship with that school and the overarching Springdale public schools. But we do have people on this show specifically with Bentonville High School, fayetteville High School, roger, you know there's pretty much every other entity as well is represented. This is so great, yeah. And the University of Arkansas. We've got a lot of like university students who will be, you know, maybe getting their Master's of art or something, who are involved in our shows as well and take it on and be like fancy sag or whatever, and they got their start with you. Yeah, we can say we knew them when, we knew them when yeah, I love that.
Speaker 1:Okay, so that was Springdale Music Club and then, for one year, springdale Fine Arts Council. Yeah, and I, you know, I'm not really sure how some of those things transpired over the years. It could just knowing the non-profit community in the non-profit world it's every year you kind of find your your niche and like how it was a quick niche though it was, that was a quick, it was only one year. I was like I think we need to jump Do something else. The same thing, but a different word. Sure, we go to Springdale Fine Arts Association. Yes, so we've dropped music and now we're the arts. Yes, now we're not a club anymore, we're a council, we are an association. And I think because the Springdale Chamber got involved and civic leaders and that's how the council was established and then the council evolved into an association in 1968.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm sure it's a lot of semantics of who was involved, right, and how things just transpired and how boards maybe evolved over the years too, as things do. So, yeah, I think for the longest time it was the Art Center of the Ozarks when it finally became that. Oh well, that is so years away, because then we went to the Springdale Fine Arts Center. So we've gone from council, association and then center and the center was with the church, yes, specifically Springdale. The center came with purchasing the historic Church in downtown Springdale in 72.
Speaker 1:Yes, and they did a lot of performances when they bought the church. They still did a lot of performances, like outside in the parking lot, like outdoor stage, and it's still like, was that the ACO building? Was that the church it turned into that? Okay, that was the church that turned into the ACO building that we've sent sold, correct, okay, correct, that's where I saw Mama. There was like it was a church building upon, building on, building on. So cause, I was like I don't know, was there another church when things got torn down? Okay, that I'm a little fuzzy on. Um, I'm sure that that history well, I know that history does exist. We have a lot of archives from those days. Still, that kind of slowly, the Shiloh Museum of Ozark history is acquiring from us to be the keepers of that story.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, that would be, you know, really like 50 years in that building, long time, like that's a long time, very long time, yeah, and it's an awesome space and it was like 50 years in that building, long time, like that's a long time, very long time, yeah, and it's an awesome space and it's a space that still gets used for the arts and so it makes me With cash yeah, right, with the medium and cash to operate it. Okay. So the medium is physically inside, because I get really Sure Bogged down of like I'm confused. I get cash emails and I'm like is this and no, this is not. And I know and I was reading and we're gonna come upon the 2020 intermission, but I'm like that's kind of where everything went dark and things sold and names changed and right, and I will know, I will give kind of my my elevator not to speak on behalf of cash or the medium, but they're dear friends of mine and they are kind of separate entities. So the medium is the building, the medium is just the building, the medium is the building and the medium does have its own staff that operate the building. Okay, but those staff that operate the building are also under the umbrella of cash. Okay, and cash is its own 501c3. Right, so they do. They are kind of one in the same in some ways, but the medium is the building. I feel like they're cash and very physical art like Crystal Bridge is even not physical. Yeah, performance, it doesn't seem performance basedbased like not as much. So some yes, not as much in the in the performing art space, but they do a lot with music. Um, they have like some programs like ground waves that are super cool and, um, so they have a lot of kind of groundbreaking okay uh, music things that happen in that space too. Other organizations can rent the space and perform there.
Speaker 1:I was going to say, can anyone use the medium? Yes, it's a rentable space Because APT is going to use the medium to pivot from rent. Yes, I'm so excited that they're going to be able to do that Because, yes, if people don't know, our most recent kind of round of storms and tornadoes that came through damaged a lot of downtown Rogers and the Victory Theater did take a little bit of a hit. That's going to have to have some. Just went through an amazing renovation yes, an amazing renovation, have some repairs done to it, and so they were just about to open a show, open rent, and so, thankfully, they are going to get to do a weekend of shows at the medium coming up. I think it's in August. In August it is because we have, I think, three people in Beauty and the Beast who cross over with the rent show as well, two cast members and then the choreographer. Okay, oh, the choreographer yeah, just a small feat, no big deal, all important, yeah, okay.
Speaker 1:And then 2020, when the world shut down. I love that they call it on your website, they call it intermission, because I'm like that is so true and that's, you know where the building was sold, the cash and all the things stepped in, stepped in, and that's when you all became arts. One percent, yeah. And I will say you know, covid, um, the pandemic, anything you know like that. It won't, it doesn't, it won't be just COVID. Something else will probably happen that will still, you know, again, one day that will affect, um, the arts and the performing arts especially. Anytime you have to have a live audience to really see and appreciate what this art is.
Speaker 1:You know, some of this the public visual arts were a little easier to do during that time, but the, the getting a lot of people together in a cast I mean, think about this cast of 50 people and 20 people in an orchestra, then you're, you're interacting and you're next to each other, or 25, 150, all in yeah, yeah, yeah. And so, you know, those things really just took a complete stop, you know, came to a complete halt, what they call it the ghost light or the, were you like a theater goes dark, but one light stays on? Yeah, one light stays on? Yeah, exactly. And so that's kind of what happened and it was like nope, you know, as you remember, nobody knew how long it was going to be. Two weeks, three weeks.
Speaker 1:You know, yes, leslie and I recorded some video. We're like we'll see you in two weeks, just kidding, I know. So weird, we were all very hopeful. When those videos pop up, I'm like this is and I'm sorry to even say this word, I know, because it's in itself cringe. Cringe is cringe and those videos are cringe, yeah, it it. That time was interesting for sure. I remember it well.
Speaker 1:But yeah, the and you know that building is not small and it takes a lot to run and you know, community theater is not breaking in. It's pretty shoestring as it it is, it's very shoestring and so it's. You know, it's hard to kind of keep going if you don't have your normal revenue generating events happening. It's a niche audience of supporters, sure, not the show itself, but donors, yes, I think yeah, and you know we we have some great donors, um, in this area who really kind of worked with the board at the time in 2020 to talk about what were some options perhaps.
Speaker 1:And the Tyson Family Foundation did purchase the building from the Art Center of the Ozarks and wanted to kind of keep it in the arts arena and available to other arts organizations as well. So not just, you know, one organization would be kind of always performing on that stage, but there are multiple, you know, individuals and organizations based Really community and it is, and other people would utilize the ACO when the ACO was there too, and utilize the space when the ACO was there. But, for sure, this kind of broadened that scope and so, yes, the building was sold and the organization kind of went under a rebrand of the building itself was very much became the ACO and 100%. So the ACO was an organization, is an organization. The ACO was a building, yes, and had an address Like that's ACO, yes, and so, you know, when the name of the building changed to, we also knew that we were going to need to probably help that become a little clearer as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's where I got like way lost in the weeds. Yeah, um, and and understandably too, because when all of our rebranding happened, there was so much happening in the news and, um, you know the story was out there. But if you you caught it like good luck, because, right, there's just so much big things happening at that time, cash arts was so much ACO Tyson family. You're like, oh, my gosh, like what is going on with just that one building? Right, it was a lot Um, so, yeah, so we, you know, we did a lot of um question questions with the community and and some studies to to kind of really get down to, um, the two lanes that we are in, which are performing arts and visual arts, and how we um, uh, really focus on, uh, local artists um, and empower local artists um, in in both of those lanes.
Speaker 1:And so we wanted to Is it beyond Springdale? It's beyond Springdale. So we're Northwest Arkansas, we're regional. We still have our home base in Springdale because that is still the root of this organization. It was the Springdale Music Club. There's no lease at Springdale. We love Springdale and we love having our home base there and that still being our backyard and very much are proud of that areas of the community and support artists, you know, all throughout the region, um, and bring people from all throughout the region to see, you know, some of these great shows and some of these amazing installations, um, and you know we, we love to be able to kind of launch something in Springdale and then let it travel, um, which brings us to a mushroom, a mushroom traveling, yes, the most famous mushroom. Yeah, ever, yes, ever, uh, one of the first projects that we worked on as arts one presents.
Speaker 1:You know, we were still really um in in the kind of the thick, the middle of of covid days, of the of the heavy days, um, but we started, uh, having some outdoor meetings with some artists and local artists, totally masks, on six feet apart, outside, um, and talking and dreaming big a little bit and um, so one thing, you know, we, we met with the local fiber artist, um, extraordinaire, gina Galena, and I said you know what? What would be something, a project that you would want to work on, what would be something and what are your barriers to doing that? What did you call her? Fiber? She's a fiber artist, yeah, because she's a crochet artist. So fibers, she works with fibers, that's what that means. Yeah, so fiber artists can also. Then you can call her a crochet artist, but that's what I was thinking Specific fiber that she works with, or her specific, um, I guess, sector of the being a fiber artist.
Speaker 1:But fiber artists can also, I guess, you know, do other things, because I am not a fiber artist but I can. I. I'm friends with them. Um, yeah, I sure am, so I, but I'm taking my papers, that's right. That's right.
Speaker 1:Um, you know, gina is the one of the most incredibly talented uh people that I've ever met and I had this thought and she was like you know, people who kind of do some of the stuff that she does, they need a larger scope, they need space. Is she local? She is local. She um uh lives in Fayetteville now, but she lived in Eureka Springs for a long time, so those were kind of her, her two area homes here, um, but, yeah, and she's done some cool stuff. Like years ago she um uh had some helpers but they yarn, bombed maxine's and what, yeah, they did like all over within the last, yeah, 16 years. Yes, oh for sure. Okay, I'm like I can remember seeing this and actually, yeah, and so she's made some just really cool stuff connected to her. That's her, yeah, I think she led that charge. But then there's also things I would never even dream artist brains if I could spend an hour in them. Yes, well, everything is the canvas, everything, um, and so, especially to her, she's you-bombed bicycles that hung in press room. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yes, that was her too. Oh, it was in the original press room, correct? Yes, yeah. So I mean, yeah, she's, you know, been around a long time. She's a musician as well, of course she is. Yeah, because it's like Vertical, so many talents and that just go from one to the next place, instruments, there's really nothing she can't do. So super cool. I don't have any of those skill sets. I have the patience to keep going with one. Yeah, I think I taught myself how to crochet years ago. I made a couple of scarves and never learned correctly how to tie them off, and then they just all unraveled and so 100% yeah, that was cool, yeah, but yeah, nagina is just amazing and she's so fast at it.
Speaker 1:Did she just drain this mushroom up from the COVID meetings? She was. She said, you know, she had a um, as she was like traveling and driving through like the Redwood forest. Um, as a child she was like, wouldn't it be cool, like it's? You know, you're this small thing and this is this massive thing If you could just go straight through it? Um, and she said, I've always wanted to do some big structure, how would I do this? But then I want it to be so interactive that you just don't go around it or beside it, that you can go through it. And so she did.
Speaker 1:She had the concept, she sketched it out. She is friends with another local artist named Eugene Sargent, who works with metals and steel, and he was able to fabricate, you know, the actual structure of the mushroom out of steel and it is in three parts pieces. So the stem is one piece, um, and the cap are two pieces, okay, and so no one would have thought, yeah, and, and it's incredible to see how it like all comes together. And then it took her six months. Um, we say like one woman, one hook is. I'm going to get this wrong, but my brain today on numbers, but it's that I know that the opening that you walk through is at least six feet tall. So when you think about like it's a 14 foot mushroom, you know, and it has a large wingspan. I mean, it's like a shade tree, right, essentially, but the inside is crocheted as well and it has a large wingspan. I mean, it's like a shade tree, right, essentially, but the inside is crocheted as well. So it's a true experience walking through it. Is it still on display in bentonville? Is okay, it is. It'll be the all sign ready center.
Speaker 1:Okay, but it started in what's the square called in springdale, so it was, um, um, shallow square, walter Turnbow park. Okay, um, there. So that's where we, we really kind of envisioned it. We had the meeting right out there, um, and she and I was like, you know what about this space? And there really wasn't anything like it, right and um. So I remember let's be real, not just downtown Springdale, but probably, yeah, and literally. So this was summer of 2021. So we're just talking three years ago. Did it not launch last year? No, two years ago, it. This is its third location. So, oh, in 2014, it was only at second hold. I'm so sorry, hold on. Am I lying? No, no, no, You're lying, I'm lying. We started the conversation with her in 21, and it was installed in the spring of 2022.
Speaker 1:Okay, in Springdale, okay, in downtown Springdale, and it stayed there all through the summer and that was a little bit of an experiment for us and for Gina, and we kind of just did it together and collaborated on this. Does it fade, does it weather? And so that was the biggest question. It was like so, where does this go at night? And we're like no, it stays. Where does it go when it rains? No, it stays.
Speaker 1:Okay, she uses acrylic yarn, which is essentially plastic, and so it is so durable that it just dries. So it's fine, excepting a fiber artist would only only a fiber artist would know. Yes, and she, as she built pieces of it, as she built the flowers that go around it, she was doing that at her home, and so these flowers were outside during the winter, they were snowed on and they were fine. Oh, they just dry.
Speaker 1:Um, really, the thing that we learned was not only how durable it is, um, how the, the, the, the elements didn't really do anything to it other than the sun, and you will have fading of colors, and so the cap of the mushroom that was this very bold. You know, cherry red, um did turn orangish throughout the summer and we just kind of went with that story of you know, this is as nature does. Nature changes throughout, throughout. You know the seasons, um, and but she, we took that as an opportunity to once the mushroom was, uh, de-installed that fall. And what does that mean? Like, does it stay crocheted, is it so? You said it's in three pieces, yeah, but, um, we take the crochet off the cap, okay, yes, and the cap gets taken apart in two pieces, okay, and stored, okay, off the cap, okay, yes, and the cap gets taken apart in two pieces, okay, and stored. The stem, um, really has not had anything that it needed to have done to it so much because it was shaded, because, yeah, shade tray, correct, yeah, and so, um, she's added some stuff to it over time, a little bit, but, um, it it pretty much stays intact with the crochet on it and can get stored with the crochet on it. The cap she took, and she was like you know what I bet, if I take the crochet off and flip it over, the other side is going to be red, and sure enough, it was Not what I would have thought. I don't think that way. I'm just like, oh, get some spray paint? Yeah, well, spray paint didn't enter the picture because she said you know, I wonder what happens when you spray paint acrylic yarn? Probably not, I don't know. And she was like you know what, I think I'm going to try that with the flowers and try to bring back some of the vibrancy of the flower colors too, without re-crocheting it Right. So she did and practiced with some spray paint, and then we also kind of did some weather guarding on all of it as well, and that really helped it sustain.
Speaker 1:So the second year we got a call from Walton Art Center. That was like you know, we have Artisphere coming up and we think that this would really be cool outside of Nading Bomb Studios and the Community Creative Center. And so we were like absolutely so we're going to help figure out how to get it there during Artisphere, plus plus, plus. It stayed for a lot longer. And so she did. I don't know what we did To where I didn't realize it had already been available, it's already been available, yeah. Where I didn't realize it had already been available, it had already been available, yeah. So it was there last summer in 23,. And it was there all during Artisphere and then some, but I guess the Art of Wine last year was also an Alice in Wonderland theme, and so they thought— oh right, yes, perfect. They called and they were like, can we move it inside the Walton Arts Center? And I am one that always, like, tries to find the yes, I'm not a no man if at all possible. And so I'm like, yes, we're going to see how that can. Yes, how can we do that? And so the Walton Arts Center team incredible. Their facilities team, incredible Tom, thank you, they really helped, really helped. They helped install on install day.
Speaker 1:Um, where did it live? Like in the, the, with the hanging and the staircase, and they, I think they put it on the stage for the event, um, and she and gina also, but it was only for that night. They moved it back outside gotcha, so it was for one of the dinners, it was for the event, yeah and so. But gina was like, um, they asked her if she could make some other kind of element to go with it for the alice in wonderland theme. So they commissioned her to make another element of it and she made the big um, caterpillar, uh-huh, and that then sat at a top of the of the mushroom, um, to really give that Alison in Wonderland story that it was kind of a part it became a part of at that point.
Speaker 1:Um, and then, yeah, it went back outside, um, for for the rest of the time it was like right near the trail got a lot of great foot traffic, um, the colors super held up well, um, we were very happy with happy with how it did there. And then it went back, kind of goes back into storage and takes a little nap for the winter. And then we were like, okay, where's it going to go next? And we were super happy to hear that the city of Bentonville wanted to take it on. How did that come about? Because you would think Crystal Bridges would be the next obvious place, right, but it pops up at Bentonville Community Center. Yeah, the city of Bentonville, which is so accessible for families, it sure is, and the city of Bentonville is great about kind of looking at opportunities to have that.
Speaker 1:Did she do the giant apple? She did, okay, I'm like, hold on, I'm putting all the pieces together. She did the strawberry for Fayetteville that was like at the experience Fayetteville and the visitor center. And um, the big apple, she did um for Bentonville. But yeah, they, and they had commissioned her to do that before the mushroom, um, but, yeah, already familiar with. So we worked with them. Visit Bentonville, sponsored, um, kind of the, the movement and the transportation and all of that of getting it there.
Speaker 1:The artist has to be involved every time it's installed because she has a very important part of crocheting it all back together. Yes, I mean that's important. Yes, um, and then how, how the flowers work and all of that. So, um, it's really, it's really cool to also, every time there's another iteration of it at a new location, the artist is, you know, is once again included in the process, paid for that part of the process too. It's like a child's birthday. Yeah, right, it's on its third birthday. Gina would say it's our baby. Yes, we've all had this baby mushroom together, um, and so, yeah, it's, it lives in like this. It was almost like it was a canvas, open canvas for this gorgeous mushroom installation and all these beautiful colorful flowers.
Speaker 1:Um, right, when you uh, turn into the, the community center on I Street there in Bentonville, and of course we install it, and a tornado happens Only 10. Only 7 to 10. And I live in downtown Bentonville and so I was kind of also in the thick of that night of storms and waking up to, um, I have to go outside and see what damage. I'm off ice street, I'm just down from the community. You are, I'm, I'm literally down. I'm like four blocks from the square. Oh, you're fancier than me, I got you. No, no, I've just lived there a long time. I don't care, that's awesome, that's a long um, but yeah.
Speaker 1:So we had a lot of trees down, actually went outside. That totally it was like massacre, insane. And so there were a huge tree fell between my house and there was. You know, neighbors were out, everybody was out, chainsaws happening and the minute that I kind of like bleary. I looked around and assessed my situation and, knock on wood, I was extremely lucky and nothing to complain about. But my immediate thought was, oh my gosh, the art. And when you're a person who has installed two we have two outdoor art installations in Bentonville, in the path of where all of this was I was like, oh my gosh, what I have to, how do we get to the art? You're like hold on, let me drive around all these trees.
Speaker 1:I immediately Gina and I were texting and she woke up and immediately was like the mushroom. We've got to figure out how to get up there. So, you know, she and her husband drove from Fayetteville to try to like, which was probably a much easier drive than from downtown Bend. Honestly, yes, let's be real fair, I couldn't get off my street. Okay, yeah, our friends were trapped, and I say trapped only because the driveway was trapped, Right, but their house was fine, they could physically walk outside, but they could not leave their home or neighborhood. Yeah, no, I couldn't get off my street, um, and really my driveway either, because of how much debris there was for hours. But, uh, luckily, gina and her husband were like, we're going to start driving and just see how far we can get, and if we can get there, we, we will let you know.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, um, it was in perfect tact. I'm not surprised. Perfect tact, I, I, really, I, I laugh and and knock on wood, but that I 100 expected to hear that this somebody found this 14-foot-tall mushroom in their backyard and I was just like, please, that would have been awful. Yeah, also, so funny, I know, because where else would that happen? Right, exactly, like I would never wish that on y'all, or especially on Gina. Right, some people get a trampoline in their yard and some people get a 14-foot mushroom Exactly the storyline. That's right, I mean, it did not move at all. That is a testament to this, to the fabrication of that structure. Eugene Sargent, thank you.
Speaker 1:And how well you know every city that we've worked with now and an entity like Walton Art Center for the Fayetteville location, has been a part of the installation and has helped. You know City of Springdale and that public or the Parks and Rec Department helped us. You know bend, the rebar that clips into the ground, that holds that in place and that gets used now every time too. So we have there's, a formula to how we, how we, install. Now it's almost like you've learned, we have perfected, we totally have um, and you know the, the only part of any of the installation that we had to fix um after the storm, um are the flowers have some wooden dowel rods in it. I'm like, well, every bit of wood in that place area snapped, including these, but it didn't hurt the actual art. We just had to replace the rods Because it's crochet, yes, and she also like it gave her the opportunity to think about how to make some of her structures and some of the internal workings that were wood in the future steel and she was like you know, I'm going to take a welding class, I'm going to learn how to weld so I can then do that.
Speaker 1:It's like the real-time Twister movie coming. Yeah, this is how I'm seeing it. Yeah, yeah, right, they can't get Dorothy to fly, yeah, and they go visit Aunt May, yes, and then Aunt May's hit by the tornado. Yeah, she's a problem solver and like, and to the point where it's like I'm going to then master something else, another craft, and that's what they do better. Yeah, so it's, it's great, we're super proud of it.
Speaker 1:Apparently, even in the Bentonville City Council meeting it was like discussed how, how well the mushroom did, and I was like I have a secretary got that down. Yeah, we're like, man, this thing is, this thing is a champ. So, yeah, you know, for and for the community that is still, you know, dealing with a lot, a lot, a lot of cleanup and we will be for a long time, and people lost homes and lives, and you know it's horrible. That's sometimes what public art does is kind of help be the reminder of the joy and the beacon of that joy, and it's a break for a minute and talk about what a magical break the humongous fungus is. So it's been kind of this gift that keeps on giving and I will say so, taking it to another level.
Speaker 1:When we installed it in Springdale, our friends at Hillfolk shop, B Apple and her crew, came out to kind of help and do some kind of crocheting together some pieces, and it's kind of a community involved project in some ways, um, and so one of her staff members created a tiktok um of that day and all the community members that came out to help um, the dogs that were there, the people that couldn't wait to like see it and walk through it and push their stroller through it, ride their bike through it it's ever evolving, it is and so they made this tiktok and b kept texting me like every couple days she'd be like oh my gosh, we're 500 000 views. Like we're at, this is 600 000 views. Like it just kept going up and I was like you're kidding me. Oh, oh my gosh. And so, um, then, uh, so that it went viral from the Springdale installation, um, and then, for the Bentonville installation, gina posted a Tik TOK and a reel um on Instagram and I should have looked before, before this.
Speaker 1:I think that we were almost at 900,000 combined views the other day and I keep saying when we get to a million, a million, we'll have a party at the mushroom, because this, um, people from all over the world are like where is this? This must be burning man. Where is this? Is this at Coachella? Is this at Bonnaroo? This should be something at a festival.
Speaker 1:Yes, it does um and so, um, yeah, it doesn't look like it is supposed to be in Familyville, usa, I know, and it's, it's, and it can take on so many different like it's the most community friendly, family friendly. Everybody recognizes it. Accessible, um, totally accessible, and it's, you know, art you can touch, right, and that's the kind of which you can never touch art. That's the thing, and I love sitting outside the community center right now and watching families come in and out and if it's the first time they've seen it, like kids will just start running up to it and you'll kind of first hear mom go oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, yes, and then we're like no, no, the same point. I'm like oh my gosh, don't the mushroom over, go run, don't? Yeah, yes, um, take your pictures, feel how cool it is, you know, like some hashtags for it.
Speaker 1:Um, hashtag meet me at the mushroom. Okay, that's been kind of the one from the from the get-go um. So we had a meet me at the mushroom um yeah, party gathering out there the day. That they had a lot of campers coming in and out of the center and we had a local mushroom farmer, omnom, who sets up at some of the farmers markets. He came out and he brought a lot of his real mushrooms and to show kind of kids, like how mushrooms actually grow and like you know what their purposes are, and so that was really neat too. But, um, yeah, it's been an educational tool. Um, it's been fun. It's been one of the most like Kodak moments. It's Instagrammable, like objects, yeah, yeah, very good, unintentionally, yeah yeah.
Speaker 1:And again, the mushroom to go viral, like um, and we kind of leave organic, yeah, right, exactly, exactly, and every form of the word organic. Yeah, I love that. I know, and you know, gina, like her craft goes beyond, like she's made crocheted in the drag community who will wear her costumes? And like they're just, they're so incredible. And um, you can, you can go and look, but yet like, and she's getting some work um, all over the country now, um, you know people commissioning different um, different things for her to do, and we're excited to see that.
Speaker 1:That was kind of part of our goal to with, like, working with local artists, seeing what their barriers were for creating things for their portfolio, that would really get seen and that really takes them to that next level and how can they, you know, get more work not only where they live but beyond that and really be able to be working artists. I love that, yeah, and this, I mean this is kind of one of those success stories of she was successful before. You know, she did the mushroom for sure, but that mushroom has really kind of exploded in some other opportunities. Out of COVID, you hit it out of the park on your first pitch. Yeah, that was a lot of fun, but you know that was You're like we are a new nonprofit. Yeah, not new, but we are new. Oh, and look what we've done. Yeah, look how amazing.
Speaker 1:I, you know, go big or go home on some things, clearly, and when we really were looking for opportunities to figure out, like, what can we do during this time? Um, working with artists, and then artists especially kind of who work alone, and something that can sit outdoors, something that we didn't know. That still, you know, the public can access. It's free, there's really no barrier to it. Um, was was incredible and um, you know, it wasn't just to see like how big can we make something, but what is something that will be, at that point of the artist's career, the biggest thing that they've done. But it checked all the boxes. Yeah, unintentionally and perfectly. Yeah, oh, I love it. Yeah, so that's your visual lane. That's a visual lane. Obviously that's a little bit more of what I don't care. I know about that. Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1:But yeah, we've done other cool things. We worked with Black Apple and had a Jeffrey Cantu ceiling installation inside of Black Apple. That year we worked with a mural artist, roxy Erickson, to do a mural in downtown Springdale as well. That was, and is still there, really cool. The following year we a the springdale barn quilt project, um, and that's been also just a really cool thing to see how that's progressed. It's still up in downtown springdale. There's three different locations um to see, you know, these large, eight by eight foot square wooden structures there's, um, but they're quilts but well, they're painted barn quilts and so um and and kind of the history of barn quilts and to get to read about them on all these things that can be found on our website too, that tell you a little bit about the barn quilts. Where to find them? Um, but we've worked with a lot of artists now over the last three years and I'm super proud of that. And one of the other projects that I think you've gotten to see is the Children's Safety Center, the collaboration that we did with them and their art collection, and we love that. There's, you know, 30 something artists represented now in their art collection local and regional artists there too. I love that.
Speaker 1:One. That might be like. That is like nonprofits, like a nonprofit collision, right, like I guess. And we've talked about tons of nonprofits just while we're sitting here, and I think that's like one of the secret sauces of Northwest Arkansas, for sure I mean, listen, I'm I love collaboration, I thrive on collaboration. Listen, I love collaboration, I thrive on collaboration, collaboration over competition, for sure you know, yes, I didn't play sports and stuff. Now I will get competitive at games all day long, but no, collaboration is key and kind of that high tide raising all the ships.
Speaker 1:You can't do anything alone, right, I mean you can, but it's going to be real hard. You're going to be better, right, and you're going to have bigger ideas and you're going to have more perspectives. It's just like the fungus, I mean. So she crocheted it. You know someone else, eugene, welded it or whatever, somebody. The different city parts of it, parks and regs yeah, install it. Yeah, I mean there's a lot of moving pieces and it just it better, I'm sorry, bigger and better together. I totally agree. We couldn't do what we do without. You know, all of our partners and collaborators and from spaces to you know, the Springdale Public Schools has been one. That was a little bit of a surprise how that came about. Okay, let's talk about that, because you mentioned that. Off camera, yeah, so we were. You know we do public, we do community theater in different venues.
Speaker 1:The first show that we did again the heat of COVID was in a parking garage. We turned the likewise parking garage here in Fayetteville into a theater. What was that? Romeo and Juliet? Okay, I was going to guess that, but I didn't want to butcher it and be completely wrong. That's okay. I'm sorry I should have said no, it's okay.
Speaker 1:I can picture the red dress, oh, yeah. Yeah, it was like kind of contemporary, yes, clothing. Yeah, it was all different shades of like pinks, and, yes, I'm sorry, I'm like, yes, in that realm not red, red, but no, yes, you're exactly right, and um, but you know, we had kind of an? Um, an intimate 80 seat theater in this parking garage, and it was sold out, yes, and um, I, um, I didn't get to go. It happened while I was on vacation, and I was like it was raw, it was, yeah, it was very like minimalistic on.
Speaker 1:You know, with the set, um, we were like you know, how are we going to do sound and light here? The windows in that building and in that parking garage are so beautiful, and the way that the sunset and the sunlight came in, like golden hour, was amazing, um, and, and then we had some some kind of beautiful pink lighting there. We actually, you know, because Romeo and Juliet is not a musical, um, it is Shakespeare, uh, we brought, we were like how can we kind of do this a little differently? And then, of course, anything in the public domain like that, you can take a few more, um, uh, liberties, liberties with artistic liberties, um, the Shakespeare, the words, everything stayed the same.
Speaker 1:What we kind of did, though, is we, um, we had a couple of local DJs um work with us in the film industry. They made like a rock and roll-y type something for Romeo and Juliet years ago. When you watch the movies of Romeo and Juliet, the score is amazing and the soundtrack is incredible. So I love that y'all. We worked with local DJs, yeah, and we were like, hey, can y'all like add to the ambiance of this and the kind of like play some of this? And the kind of like may you know, play, play some of this music on under some of the scenes, the fight scenes and things, and it really made it more engaging in a lot of ways for people that like to have the multiple, you know, sensory engagement. I would too, yes, so that was really cool. We did that.
Speaker 1:I mean, of course, huge challenge of like turning a non-theater space into a theater. And then we did Hunchback of Notre Dame and that was the first time that we used the Don Tyson School of Innovation, their performing arts center, the Pat Ellison Performing Arts Center, which is an amazing building, amazing school. But if you don't know, you don't know, so you're exposing more community members to this venue. Yeah, it's in East Springdale, the school itself is incredible, and so you know, for people that don't know about it. There's a lot of kind of unique things about the Don Tyson School of Innovation, but their Performing Arts Center has some really state of the art equipment. It's like about a twelve hundred seat theater, large stage, all the bells and whistles for the tech crew. It's kind of like kids and candy, something like they're going to bring their A game and it's going to knock it out of the park and it's going to stun people. And I loved watching people exit with their jaw dropped.
Speaker 1:And one of the coolest things that I heard over and over, was this not community theater? And I was like this is community theater, but community theater can have take on all kinds of different, absolutely like you know, facets, yeah, many facets. And so I'm like yeah, no, isn't it incredible? And like look at who we have in our community that's doing this. I know the, the female lead, um, that we cast in that show, had not done theater before, community theater before. She just gets the lead as what? As Esmeralda? As Esmeralda, yeah, as Esmeralda, esmeralda, yeah, I think she came and auditioned for to be in the ensemble. Oh, okay, they were like can you also sing for this part? That does not happen to me, by the way, and she's done a lot of other shows in this area super talented person and like they. You know there's a lot of more of those stories that are that are around Um, and you know I love getting to see actors that do arts.
Speaker 1:One shows go do um Arkansas public theater shows go do um, our collective shows. You're like a traveling groupie. I love that. Right, I'm like, yeah, it's just support. Yeah, I like that. I totally want to support everybody because there's there's a place for all of us to exist.
Speaker 1:Um, because we all do different shows, different types of shows, different sizes of shows. You know, sometimes your, your theater, determines the size of show that you can do, um, and you know, luckily, with this show, that we get to do in the summer, because it's the summer, um, uh, at this location is big, so we can go big. Are we talking about Beauty and the Beast? So now it's Beauty and the Beast, yeah, so our second year there we did Sweeney Todd. That was last year. Uh, massive Sondheim show, like a 28 piece orchestra in that one, um.
Speaker 1:So another, just huge show, um, and then this year, um, where we're back to Disney and we're doing beauty and the beast and we had over a hundred people audition for it, um, people, that the excitement was like palpable. Um, and you know, this is where I like, if I could, I would just start making up roles for you know, because you just want to cast everyone. No, that is one thing I will say is. I sat in on like one day of auditions for for something like early on it might've been Romeo and Juliet, actually I think it was Um and somebody said, you know, I think having the director of the organization there might be a little intimidating to some of these folks. And I was like, okay, well, I'll have to come.
Speaker 1:And actually then I was like, cause I was just curious, but I was like you know what, I'm kind of glad that I don't have to make that decision because I couldn't. Yes, I like wanted to cast everyone, everyone. Like there's so many talented people and we don't know how you choose. And so, yeah, we, you know, we do get to kind of curate, if you will, the directors and the directing team and kind of that kind of core crew who then and the music director, who then are the ones that really then take over cast the show, direct the show, make all of those kind of creative decisions about the show, and I get to kind of sit back and figure out, like, how can I make whatever you want? Come true to a point with our, you know, budget pinching, some budgets and, uh, whatever working on you know sponsors and and and things like that.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, we really um talk about a a huge community effort. Everyone gets involved in trying to make, get these shows off the ground, um, but they're so important to to not only the people involved, very important to the people involved, um, they are so important to our community because, you know, community theater provides a level of access that people who you know may not be able to afford going to a Broadway show or or something, with, you know, a higher ticket price or even just, too, you know, uncomfortable going to a theater, maybe not so used to theater, but coming to something where you're like, hey, my neighbors in this show, exactly, I'm gonna go watch. Yes, I'm gonna go watch him or her, you know, I'm going to watch them. And so, um, that's exactly my coworkers in this show, you know. So it really brings community together, um, in the audience, and that's so cool too, absolutely. And then, but also on stage and on stage. Yeah, every single one of them has a real hustle, and this is a side hustle, a non-paid side hustle born out of passion. Yeah, every single one of them has a real hustle, and this is a side hustle, a non-paid side hustle born out of passion. Yeah, and you know you also like the.
Speaker 1:I love seeing the generations of people involved in community theater too. That's a fun storyline, I bet it is, I would say, like on this show, beauty and the Beast specifically, um, uh, we'll have. We have someone who's probably 14-ish to 70s, you know. I mean, there's a big range there and they both can learn from each other. And it's incredible.
Speaker 1:We love involving youth and students in production, because it's one of those things that we need more people who are skilled in production. Once you're skilled in production, you can go work in the music industry, you can go work at a venue, you can work in theater, you can do all these different things. You don't have to just do production for one lane, um, but product this, you know, skilled at production. We have a a growing film community here now too, and there's multiple festivals outside of BFF. Yes, and not even just festivals but films being shot here, and they're looking for local crews, and so we want to put you know, we want to train and put these kinds of tools um, into people in our community to get those jobs, for sure, and so I feel like that's in the development world. Yes, I mean, it is workforce. We're not workforce training in a lot of ways, for sure, yeah, yeah, you know, what else I loved and maybe you did this with the other productions, I just simply don't remember is that you did a pop-up, like at what?
Speaker 1:Bow house beer garden. Bow house beer garden. Yes, sorry, thank you. No, it's okay, I don't know how to say it, but I love that it was German-inspired. Yes, because that's kind of fictionally where it takes place. Right, well, it's Europe, so it's French, so Beauty and the Beast is French. No, you're good though, but the pub, like it's very Steinish, like it's their Stein. Yes, that's what I'm thinking. Yes, yeah, be like and meet like. Exactly, I'm not going to sing, because that's tragic. Yes, I can see it. Yes, the no one drinks like Gaston was totally brilliant. I love a pun and I love putting lyrics to the event that we're having. Of course, be Our Guest has been one of the most widely used things, now that we've said.
Speaker 1:And so, yeah, our good friends it was like a month ago or something, yeah, not too long ago, just a few weeks ago, our good friends Dan Hentz and Chef Jennifer Booker, who own Bauhaus in downtown Springdale, were like, hey, you know, use our space, it can be a home to whatever y'all want it to be. If you want to, you know, have a drink special or something, and um, but it's a family-friendly space. So, as, as I was educated, because I um had have, you know, wasn't didn't know about beer gardens, but beer gardens are very family-friendly. Um, in Germany, in Europe that you know, people might have their kids birthday party at them, but they're very family friendly spaces. It's not just like you're going to a bar and it's 21 and up right and so, um, they have an incredible outdoor patio.
Speaker 1:We had some live music. Um, people, there was thrown chairs, yeah, like the beast throne we set. We set up like a little fun, like photo booth session area. I want you to do it again right before it kicks off. So get ready, because so, and then the actor who plays Gaston was very willing to come. Gaston actually joined us at this event and Gaston heckled people, you know, all throughout, and it was. It was amazing. I was so bummed.
Speaker 1:It was right in the thick of a baseball season was wrapping up for us and but I was like, oh my God, I want to go to this. Well, and we will. So we're going to do some other things like that too. Um, where they're? You know, they're open to the cast and family members, but they're open to friends and community members and anybody can come. Again, we want to highlight our local businesses as well as spread the word about what we're doing and have more people be interested in and excited about coming to the show. So, yeah, it's just been fun to play with and kind of the marketing of this, a lot of our cast members, you know we're very interested in walking in this weekend's pride parade and so, um, even you know some one of the signs that that I just looked at, saw today that's, that's being printed for it.
Speaker 1:Um is, you know, a tale as old as time. Um, love is love, and so I'm like, yes, this, it's perfect. So it's really kind of it's translatable in all kinds of ways and we're excited about that. We're going to have a couple of more nights at restaurants or places where people can come. I love that, yeah, okay, before we close, I want you to talk about where the name Arts One presents, sure, talk about where the name arts one presents can, sure, um, yeah, honestly, I I not to take credit for it, but I think arts one, at least, was me the first two words um, um, I, yay, yes, credit, yes, take it.
Speaker 1:I honestly think I was listening to a youtube2 song which is not surprising and there was a text, probably with a couple of the board members, and I was like, hey, what do y'all think about this? And then I kind of presented an overall here's how it could sound and what it could look like and all of this. And we really were like, yeah, it is arts one. So you just kind of dreamed it up out of, because you too, probably in some ways. I mean, I don't know, um, I'm a word person, I love words, okay, so I do want to.
Speaker 1:I, you know, I was thinking through a lot of um, I wanted a word from the old organization and I mean, at least you have an and, if anything, we are the arts, we are multiple arts and we are one in community. We are one in the arts, we are one supporters of each other, and the we are one kept coming up, so that was one of our hashtags early on too was we are one, and it gives me chills just thinking about it. So I loved that, and then I learned a lot about how you register organization names in a state oh, that's a good time, and whether that no one. You know, the word arts and the word one O-N-E are used in lots of different names of organizations and businesses in the state of Arkansas, and one thing that I did learn is that if one of your words in your organization name is a letter or a number or a spelled out number, so the number one or an O-N-E, it does not count in the name of like are you duplicating the name of another organization? So therefore, then it just became like our name was arts, and so we were like what do we do then if we can't count this other word? I don't know to make it where like we're different enough from another sounding organization that has the word arts in it, and so they were like you need a third word in there in it. And so they were like you need a third word in there. And so we were like, what's our third word? And again this kind of actually was reminding me of probably what those boards were going through in the 60s and 70s when they were like, you know, association, council, commuters, all of the things, um, civic group and uh.
Speaker 1:So we kept just trying things with a third word and the third word and a third word, um, and finally we really liked the action of arts one presents. It's unlike anything I've ever heard. Yeah, cause you were truly presenting, we're presenting things. Yeah, um, so it's, it's very much action, you know, related are. You know, we, we do shorten it as arts one a lot when we speak, or AOP, um, and we love that. It's cool, um, and it's just it really, the minute it happened, it's like you knew that's it, that's the one I love that. Yeah, because it sounds like it's like oh, they've left a fourth word off, right, right. One presents what? Yeah, but like, we'll tell you, but it's intentional and I love it. And so I didn't think about it like that. I've never thought about it to mission oriented, it spoke to the vision, it spoke to the community and it was a brand that could withstand some time we wanted to also honor the former logo of the ACO and it was, if you remember, the triangle, like the A.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, so we still kind of kept well, I have a shirt on it has. Yes, this is our pride version of our logo. Yes, but we kept the the triangle look and then our very brilliant designer, just very simply, instead of finishing out the triangle, put the one things I would never think, I just brought the one right in there. Uh, do graphic design people? Yeah, bernie is awesome, and, like you know, we had several different logos that the board looked at, voted on. We got feedback from the community on all of them as well. An anonymous survey went out for people to give some feedback about the different logos, the colors and how people felt about them.
Speaker 1:Sometimes what happens with colors? Is the old logo super cool, a lot of colors. It gets hard to translate that into a lot of different formats of media, yes, and it also gets expensive yes, yes, it does To print Um, and so a lot of brands also have kind of go into one signature color. For that reason, um, and that's what we did too. We pulled out this beautiful magenta pink, okay, um, and I was kind of surprised that that's what was chosen, but I was so happy that, totally. But I don't know why I'm surprised.
Speaker 1:And, casey, I'm not a pink girl. I wasn't a pink girl. Let's say, like I was very like a museum. My wardrobe is black, very neutral. You do love black, I love you, really do. I mean, I don't know if y'all remember she was a leading lady a few years ago. Oh, I was, and she was in black and I was all in black, yeah, on a really bright wall. Yes, but you were in black, you're always in black, I'm always in black. Hey, listen, I love a uniform and I welcome a uniform. Go wrong anytime. This job has brought and because of our brand, has really brought out me wearing some color and I have, like, pink shoes. Now I have pink shirt. I know when, then Barbie did not hurt that either. I was like, well, I kind of have a wardrobe, thank you, um, that can match this.
Speaker 1:Have fun pink earrings, like, yeah, we really kind of own this pink color now and we have a lot of pink. So, no, it's fun because it's also a color that everyone gets drawn to and then gets pretty proud of and, yeah, we love it and it's more universal now. I think, thanks to Barbie Absolutely, knuff, it's Knuff, literally it's Knuff. Um, and, yeah, we love it and it's more universal now. I think, thanks to barbie, absolutely enough, yeah, it's enough. Literally, it's enough. Yes, we are can this? Pink is pink is pink, pink is pink. So, yeah, we have this beautiful, beautiful pink color and, um, we, last year, britney uh made us a pride version of our logo as well, and so that's been kind of fun to get to have because, um, we're back to multi-colors and and one um uh, for a while that we, you know that we get to use and show off and um, but yeah, we, I'm, I'm really proud of this brand, um, I think it's, I think it's done really well as a brand and I'm really proud of the organization because we have stuck to our mission to, you know, empower local artists, engage the community, enrich the community, enrich the local businesses around us and provide accessible and inclusive performing and visual arts.
Speaker 1:That's what we do. I am so happy you walked behind me at BFF and you were like I want to be on the podcast and I'm like, okay, great, come on, let's talk, because I'm like I know you, I know I knew of Arts One Presents, right, yeah, but I told you it was all really money for me and I am like a visual, yes, one-on-one, kind of person, like somebody, me, like in my terms, so I can understand. And now I'm like, oh, you have two lanes and we're going to go visual and performing, yeah, and we're connecting and we're enriching the community, and I'm like this is a win win, casey, I love a podcast and, yes, you just told on me, but I would tell him myself too that I was like I definitely did say at BFF, Casey, I want to be on this podcast. I love it, though. I love it and I listen to podcasts all the time. I'm obsessed with podcasts. Okay, give me pointers, because I'm going to need. Yeah, I will give you some pointers off the air. I go into genres where I'm like true crime and you know, um, there's a lot of um, uh, amazing kind of queer content and and, um, uh, related podcasts right now that that have been great to kind of to, to listen to and get to experience. And then, um, uh, there's a lot of like head and brain and things that make you just think and things that just kind of talk about, like you know, mental health or, um, you know how to feel like a whole person. And I just like I love that. Podcasts can really do anything and talk about anything. Yes and um, and I've kind of I've got a deeper first. Yeah, no, I love it because I am, we will do it together.
Speaker 1:Listening to you, I'm like, okay, I love it. My attention span has gotten so bad over the last few years and I have a hard time finishing a book now, but what I'm in is my car all the time. All the time. Do you listen to them? I do. I listen to podcasts. Do you forget where you're driving? Do you just drive on accident? Because that would be me. I miss an exit or two occasionally, okay, this is why I haven't done it yet. I do, because exit or two occasionally Okay, this is why I haven't done it yet. I do, cause my mind is wandering. So I'm like, also, would I really listen to this chapter or would I have to replay it? I have no idea.
Speaker 1:I, shockingly, pay really good attention to podcasts and now I have them on I I noticed I get more done in my house, like doing dishes or laundry or something, if I have a podcast on Cause, I will stop and dance and have my own dance there. Go there, you go, um. And so I love, I love a podcast and it's kind of helped me feel like my brain still works and I, um, am learning things without learning having to read a book, um, which I still need to get back to. But in the meantime, I think podcasts are great. I love being able to like see that there are everyday people who can start a podcast and you feel like you get to know them. You can do I'm just kidding, I'm not but you feel like you get to know people, yeah, and it's great, that's awesome, so much. I think you're like number six or something.
Speaker 1:So I feel sorry for everybody that watches me, because I'm like a rambler and they always go forever and I don't even know what time we started, but we're probably well over on time. But I'm like I, yes, I learn something in every podcast and to where I'm like, oh my God, I totally get Arts One Presents now, yes, well, and I think, too, people that kind of know me from different in different spaces and different contexts, which is me, yes, like, are always like what do you, what do you do, so I'm not surprised that. It doesn't offend me at all, and I love getting to tell people about arts one and kind of how it came about and what we do, um. But I'm also just such a fan, um, and want to support as many other organizations as possible too, cause I see you at all the events. I love going to all their events, right, um, and I'm a big Razorback fan, so I like going to Razorback stuff too, and so I like doing a lot of different things, and so I'm out and about and I have to remember. Sometimes I'm like, oh yeah, people might not realize I actually work for Arts One, work for Arts One, even though I might be over here or in Edwin or whatever or whatever. But I'm like, again, secret sauce to end up in the way, that's right and that's what we do. Yeah, I love it and thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you, casey, this was awesome. I know I'm glad that we had like dedicated time to chat. I know I love it. I feel like really like a huge cheerleader of Arts One Presents now. Thank you, too late July. I feel like, am I gonna butcher it? 18th through the 26th, 18th through the 28th. 28, yeah, days, yeah, 18th through the 28th, there are eight performances and um tickets are online at arts1presentscom. I'm sorry, arts1presentsorg tickets are online. Arts1presentsorg. Like yep, yep, no, um, it's. I've I've typed a lot of things today, but, yeah, and we appreciate all of our sponsors. So thank you 3W2, because y'all have been just awesome support from day one. Well, we're team man, so we're Angos, we support team man. Thank you so much. So, yes, thank you, thank you for hanging with us all this time. I know I appreciate it, anne appreciates it, and remember to keep.