What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/1197021
JANUARY 5-11, 2020 WHAT'S UP! 3 COVER STORY to see it happen here. They encouraged us to think a little bigger and expand our horizons. So, in 2011, we did ramp it up, and it was a two-day festival. And then we started ramping it up from there." The trio's efforts have ballooned into a weeklong music and food celebration that has garnered international attention and attracted world class talent like Mavis Staples, John Prine, Guy Clark and Gillian Welch; for one week during the summer, Fayetteville reigns as the epicenter of the folk-rock/ Americana/roots music universe. Other Milestones • The Walton Arts Center launched Artosphere, a multi-day event that "celebrates art, music and nature with exciting performances, activities and events that the whole family can enjoy." • Erika Wilhite and a group of like- minded artists created the Artist's Laboratory Theatre, a "community- based, site-specific theater in Fayetteville dedicated to expanding the audience's role in live theater," and produced their first show, "Bombs, Babes and Bingo." 2011 The Big News After more than six years' anticipation since the announcement of a new world class art museum opening in the middle of the country, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art opened in Bentonville on Nov. 11, 2011. Founded by philanthropist and heiress Alice Walton in 2005 as a nonprofit, the museum — designed by lauded architect Moshe Safdie — opened with the missions of exploring what it means to be an American through art and celebrating the natural world. "When we landed on the scene, we were labeled a disrupter," Executive Director and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Rod Bigelow told Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reporter Jocelyn Murphy. "I think that's part of our DNA and our culture is that we want to continue to disrupt these discussions and have a bit of a different perspective in the field. Early on in our life, there was a lot of criticism about who would come to see art in Arkansas, and a lot of discrediting the quality of the experience or where it was. It's good to look back on that now." Other Milestones • Walton Arts Center purchased the Arkansas Music Pavilion, still located on the blacktop outside the Northwest Arkansas Mall in Fayetteville at the time. A $4 million upgrade expansion was announced, but it was delayed as issues with the lease agreement at the mall location stalled planning. • TheatreSquared earned national recognition as one of only 10 theater companies nationwide to receive the 2011 National Theatre Company Award. The honor is presented by the American Theatre Wing, founder and presenter of the Tony Awards. • The 2 ½-year-old Fayetteville Underground art collective — one of the entities that contributed to the launch of Fayetteville's First Thursday — was re-branded as the Fayetteville Art Alliance with a new governing board. 2012 The Big News Sometimes an announcement is the biggest news of a year — and in this case, it was a big announcement. In August 2012, Silver Dollar City announced a $10 million addition coming the next spring to the Branson theme park. Outlaw Run promised to be unique — the only wooden coaster to offer a double barrel roll; the world's steepest drop on a wooden coaster; the world's only wooden coaster to twist upside down three times; and second fastest wooden coaster in the world at 68 mph. Coaster enthusiasts from all over the world were thrilled! Other Milestones • Opera Fayetteville debuted on the arts scene in January 2012 with its production of Mark Adamo's "Little Women." • In June 2012, the GoodFolk House closed its doors after 22 years of concerts. The intimate music venue on North Block Avenue in Fayetteville was the brainchild of musician and music promoter Mike Shirkey. • The Northwest Arkansas Prison Story Project debuted in October. • Rogers Little Theater — now Arkansas Public Theatre at the Victory — produced the world premiere of "Checks and Balances," a short play by Oren Safdie, son of Crystal Bridges Museum designer Moshe Safdie, in November 2012. • NWA Fashion Week debuted March 10, 2012. • Arkansas Music Pavilion lost its home at the Northwest Arkansas Mall and temporarily moved to the Washington County Fairgrounds for its biggest season so far. 2013 The Big News The Fort Smith Regional Art Museum expanded to about eight times its previous size with its January 2013 opening at a new Rogers Avenue location. The museum was born in 1948 through the efforts of the Arkansas Association of University Women. In 1960, the Vaughn-Schaap House was purchased, and in 1968, the Fort Smith Art Center was incorporated. The move from the historic home of about 2,000 square feet to a 16,000-square-foot building donated by Arvest Bank was the culmination of some six years of effort. See Decade Page 4 Courtesy Photo/SILVER DOLLAR CITY This artist's conceptual image shows Mystic River Falls at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Mo., scheduled to open in the spring of 2020. File Photo The Fort Smith Regional Art Museum expanded to about eight times its previous size with its January 2013 opening at a new Rogers Avenue location.