Art Ambitions (Northwest Arkansas Times – March 30, 2005) (Adobe Acrobat PDF)
Art ambitions: Downtown Partners set priorities for planned cultural district
By Drew Terry, Northwest Arkansas Times
"Considering the amount of work that’s gone into this, I really foresee some of these goals moving ahead in the next year."
— Daniel Hintz, interim administrator of the Fayetteville Downtown Partners
Seven goals were unveiled Tuesday during a gathering of local artists who support the creation of a cultural district in Fayetteville.
The Fayetteville Downtown Partners began the initiative about four months ago.
Daniel Hintz, its interim administrator, and Jill Anthes, chairwoman of its initiative, led the hour-long discussion among nearly 30 people at the Fayetteville Public Library.
“Considering the amount of work that’s gone into this, I really foresee some of these goals moving ahead in the next year,” Hintz said.
Those who attended the meeting voted for the three projects they most likely would want to see achieved.
Producing an expanded Fayetteville Arts Festival, establishing an arts commission and setting boundaries for a Cultural Arts District received the most votes.
Other projects included creating and supporting an arts walk, developing and defining a “museum without walls” concept, uniting and implementing a public arts policy, and facilitating the certification of Arts in Education- rostered artists.
Hintz revealed during the discussion plans for the expanded arts festival, which was scheduled earlier in 2005 than in years past to avoid conflicting with a University of Arkansas home football game, but will still take place when school is in session.
The event is scheduled to begin Aug. 23 with a free mayoral concert featuring Jura Margulis and will run through Aug. 28.
Among the activities planned are a 24- hour play festival and 24- hour film festival — in which participants have a day to write and produce a play or film — a poetry slam and a concert series.
Other additions could include performances by the Dance Coalition and potentially the naming of a poet laureate of Fayetteville, Hintz said.
Hintz also mentioned restructuring costs to increase more artist participation and help ease the festival’s dependence on sponsors.
He proposed reducing the booth cost from $110 to about $50 for artists and charging tickets for the indoor events like the music series, dance performances and 24-hour events.
Admission could be paid at each individual event, or visitors could purchase a general pass for the entire festival, Hintz said.
The seven goals revealed Tuesday came from a list of 190 items collected during earlier meetings.
They were categorized into four objectives: Increasing opportunities for artists, strengthening the arts infrastructure, increasing audiences for the arts, and enhancing young people’s access to the arts.
The next cultural arts initiative meeting is scheduled for April 26. A time and place has yet to be determined.
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