In the fall of 2014, some of the Little Rock metro’s biggest art institutions were on the edge of something big. Stage actors, symphonies, studio galleries — the inaugural Acansa Arts Festival of the South would bring them all together for five days of fine arts across central Arkansas.
This year, Acansa will kick off a year of celebrations marking not only a decade since its launch, but also next year’s 10th festival, having skipped a year during the pandemic. The Acansa of 2024 has expanded far beyond its initial boundaries with year-round programming and a physical presence in the form of an art gallery in North Little Rock’s Argenta neighborhood.
To help put it all in perspective, Soirée caught up with Will Hogg, Acansa board member and Acansa Gallery curator, whose own web of arts connections rivals the festival’s.
How has Acansa evolved over the past decade?
WH: As an organization, we have been intentional in becoming more diverse, not only in our leadership but in the artists we invite to the festival. The artistic genres on display have expanded, but more importantly, the backgrounds of the artists are providing more opportunities for diverse representation than ever.
Acansa has clearly woven its way into various elements of the local art scene throughout the year. What is an aspect that might surprise readers?
WH: Acansa’s appreciation of arts learning immediately comes to mind, both within and beyond the annual festival. Currently, Acansa focuses on three aspects: free spring break arts camps, guest artist classroom visits and free festival tickets for students who are 18 years old or younger.
Acansa launched its Free Spring Break Arts Camps programming in 2018 to provide opportunities for central Arkansas youth to engage in arts learning during spring break. We collaborate with local artists and other arts organizations and provide immersive opportunities for young people to explore their creativity in various genres. From STEAM activities, hip-hop and poetry to film acting, dance and music performance, most of the kids participating might not otherwise have opportunities to learn from professional artists. Plus, working parents know their children are in a positive and invigorating environment.
Our primary fundraiser for these activities is held each spring when Acansa presents the Charlotte Gadberry Award to community members who have made a significant contribution to the arts in our community. This year donors set a new record, netting more than $60,000 toward Acansa’s educational programs. This allows Acansa the foothold needed to expand spring break camps in 2025, help fund free tickets for students under the age of 19 and bring artists into local schools for workshops.
People also may not realize that some of the festival events are free for everyone to attend. We’ve revived Family Arts Day this year featuring local artists and a Buckets ‘n’ Boards performance in partnership with UA-PTC. We’re hosting Gangstagrass in conjunction with Argenta’s Dogtown Throwdown in mid-September and helping to support performers during the Hispanic Heritage Festival, which is also a free event. And of course there’s no charge to visit Acansa Gallery and participate in Third Friday Art Walk every month when we open a new exhibit.
As part of that ever expanding reach, how has the arts landscape changed in central Arkansas?
WH: I am excited by the fact that, literally, the visual landscape of our community has changed so much in the last decade. The amount of public art, including dozens of murals, along with new and updated venues make for an exciting time for art lovers to call Arkansas home.
The local arts community is a tight-knit one, evidenced in part by your own Venn diagram of roles. Despite the overlap, what unique role does Acansa play?
WH: Acansa is unique in that it has historically focused on performance art. Acts that would typically require traveling out of state, or even out of the country, can be enjoyed close to home. There has been an increase in the visual arts in the festival lately, which is exciting too, but Acansa’s impact on our community through the performing arts is significant.
I think, too, that when founder Charlotte Gadberry initiated the emergence of Acansa 11 years ago, she set a collaborative tone for the organization. From day one she engaged all the nonprofit arts leaders, civic leaders and funders, as well as a stellar group of volunteers to launch the first festival in 2014. Those early efforts brought a lot of people from diverse backgrounds together, all in pursuit of building an arts community that benefits local residents and attracts visitors to central Arkansas.
Do you have a favorite festival memory?
WH: After having to cancel the festival in 2020 due to COVID, we decided to ease back into things with two “mini” festivals that would take place in 2022. One of the acts during the spring festival was Las Cafeteras out of Los Angeles. Unfortunately, on the day Las Cafeteras was scheduled to perform, Little Rock was hit with an unexpected snow storm resulting in only a small fraction of ticket holders actually showing up for the event. The band, however, was not deterred and put on a show as if they were performing to a sold-out crowd. It not only ranks as one of my favorite festival memories, but also as one of the best live shows that I’ve seen.
What do you hope to see in the next 10 years of Acansa?
WH: Inspiration for Acansa came from founding members visiting an arts festival — Spoleto in South Carolina — that has become an important event for their whole state. We’d love to see this festival grow into an artistic celebration that makes central Arkansas a destination for visitors from around the country. In these more recent festivals, we’ve seen guests from 11 states and 56 Arkansas communities, so I’m confident we’re on the right track.
Can you explain how the puzzle pieces of the Latino Art Project, Pinnacle Fine Arts, the festival and the gallery all come together in your world?
WH: While I’ve always had a love for art, my first experience with organizing an art show was a fundraiser supporting local Latino artists and Seis Puentes, another nonprofit with which I am involved. That event in 2015 was an amazing success and the birth of the Latino Art Project, an organization created to showcase the works of Latino visual artists.
In the fall of 2017, the Latino Art Project partnered with Puerto Ricans en Arkansas to create a fundraiser for Puerto Rico following the devastation of Hurricane Maria. Artists from a variety of backgrounds participated in that event, which led to requests to expand representation outside of the Latino community. I established Pinnacle Fine Arts soon after so that the Latino Art Project could continue its original focus. Working alongside artists from various backgrounds has been an amazing experience.
As my connections with more artists expanded, opportunities arose for me to participate in various community art projects, boards and events, including the Arkansas Arts Council, Arkansans for the Arts, Ballet Arkansas and Artspace.
After having worked with Acansa on a few of their projects, I officially joined Acansa’s board of directors in 2019. In 2020, Acansa relocated its headquarters to what had been the Argenta Gallery in North Little Rock. This relocation gave Acansa a more visible presence in the community, provided the organization a venue to support the visual arts, and also allowed the organization to host art activities year round. On a more personal note, the relocation allowed me to contribute to Acansa not only as a board member but as a curator. Working with a diverse group of artists to create a new visual arts exhibition each month in the space is extremely rewarding.
Learn more at acansa.org.
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JASON MASTERS
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