GIFTS & GRANTS
► The Women’s Foundation of Arkansas awarded a $10,000 grant to EAST Initiative to fund a new student training program for girls interested in STEM.
► In 2021, Bank of America awarded $999,500 to more than 30 Arkansas nonprofits working to address career skill building, food insecurity and health care access in communities of color and other disadvantaged populations disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
► The Ozark Society Foundation awarded its 2022 Youth Engagement Grants to eight organizations and schools in Arkansas, Missouri and Louisiana that engage students in environmentalism and conservation projects. Recipients include Arkansas 4-H for development of a new trail teaching the principles of “leave no trace” and the Guy Fenter Education Service Cooperative in Benton for a hands-on survey of native and invasive plants and animals.
THE ARTS MARCH ON
Even as new variants continue to cause scrambling backstage and in box offices, the arts scene continues to evolve in our city.
► The top story is the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra’s move to Little Rock’s East Village neighborhood. Years in the making, the ASO announced plans for the Stella Boyle Smith Music Center, a 20,000-square-foot building with performance and practice spaces, music classrooms and a dedicated streaming studio for virtual concerts.
This center will greatly expand the programming the ASO is able to offer for students of all ages from across the state. The majority of the $9 million price tag is already secured, but fundraising efforts are underway to make the center a reality. Learn more at arkansassymphony.org.
► After the return of its popular “Nutcracker Spectacular,” Ballet Arkansas continues its season this month with “Coppélia,” a family-friendly classic with community performers and plenty of laughs, at UA-PTC CHARTS Feb. 17-20. The troupe is also in preparations for its 10th annual Turning Pointe Gala themed “Confetti” on March 5 at Wildwood Park for the Arts. Learn more at balletarkansas.org.
► At Sixth and Main, the Arkansas Repertory Theatre held its first production of the year after undergoing “massive enhancements” to the building’s air quality control systems. The Rep hopes the improved ventilation system will help provide a safer theater-going experience for audiences amid the pandemic.
BIG MOVES
► Dr. Melvin Beavers, an assistant professor in the department of rhetoric and writing, has been appointed the first-ever chancellor’s fellow for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at UA Little Rock.
► Marcia Rasmussen is now officially Heifer International’s new chief financial officer after serving as interim CFO since October.
The beginning of the year is also when many nonprofits add new faces to their boards of directors. Here are a few of those highlights:
- Arkansas Children’s Foundation – Trisha Montague and Jennifer Yurachek
- Arkansas Cinema Society – Ayana Baraka and Alicia McDonald ►
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arkansas – Rhonda McBain, Matthew Brunson, Willie Davis and Chris Shenep
- CareLink – Nick Fair, Sandra Prater and former COO Joy Scates
- Methodist Family Health – Jan Green and Rev. Jeanne Williams
