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COVID STATEMENT 2022
PROOF OF VACCINATION will be required to attend Festival events this March. This policy will apply to all ticketed and free events included in the ACANSA Arts Festival of the South lineup. Exceptions will only be made for audience members who are not eligible to receive the vaccine.
Valid proof of vaccination includes a vaccination card, a digital copy or photograph of one’s Covid-19 vaccination record. Lost cards can be easily replaced wherever one received their vaccination or by calling the Arkansas Department of Health at 501-661-2000.
Following 30 months since our most recent ACANSA Arts Festival of the South, we are so very excited to be presenting our seventh ACANSA Arts Festival of the South this March, and we’re looking forward to having our audience join us in as safe a manner as possible.
All performers, dates and ticket prices subject to change.
In keeping with our tradition of recognizing an individual who has made significant contributions to the arts and culture in Central Arkansas, we are thrilled to reveal legendary television and radio personality Craig O’Neill as our 2021 honoree!
Finger Food performed live from Wolfman Studios on Friday, Oct. 16, in partnership with Argenta Arts Acoustic Music Series and Jazz at The Joint. FINGER FOOD, featuring special guest Tim Crouch with Steve Davison, Danny Dozier and Mickey Rigby, provided a tantalizing performance filled with American Fingerstyle Guitar.
In partnership with Arkansas Peace & Justice Memorial Movement, Potluck & Poison Ivy and All Arts Access present this ACANSA A(r)T HOME discussion featuring Dr. Brian Mitchell (UALR Dept. of History), Dr. Guy Lancaster (Editor, Encyclopedia of Arkansas) and Lisa Hicks-Gilbert (Elaine 12 Descendant). Music for this broadcast has been provided by Little Rock’s famed vocalist and guitarist/keyboardist Joshua Asante of Amasa Hines and Velvet Kente.
In January, ACANSA audiences adored Randy Otto in his performance as Winston Churchill in The Blitz at CALS Ron Robinson Theater.
Churchill fans can view an encore of Ask Winston during this recorded live stream from Saturday, March 28th.
ACANSA A(r)T HOME welcomes Ballet Arkansas Dancer & Choreographer DEANNA STANTON to guide you through three levels of ballet classes.
We hope you’ll feel enlivened and inspired and show us your best moves with the Ballet Arkansas Choreography Challenge!
Ephiphany “Big Piph” Morrow performed his one-man show, The Glow, for ACANSA’s 2018 Festival of the South and has been a popular instructor for ACANSA’s Free Spring Break Arts Camps. A Stanford-educated international emcee, community builder, poet and hip hop creative, Big Piph has appeared as a TEDx speaker and has performed as a solo artist and front man for the jazz and funk infused, hip hop ensemble, Big Piph & Tomorrow Maybe. He has traveled the world providing workshops and performances relayed through the lenses of purpose, humor, creativity, race, and a global perspective. Here, he performs with Dee Dee Jones and La’Chaz Holloway:
Art matters most at ACANSA, and right now, staying at home matters, too. For this edition of ACANSA A(r)T HOME, we’re honored to share a performance by Jimmy Martin and ACANSA Board member Drew Jansen. These performers collaborated in October, 2019, to raise funds for one of our arts partners, Argenta Community Theater.
The links to numbers with 4 hands/2 pianos, 2 hands/1 piano, and 4 hands/1 piano are included in this email. Want more? The entire concert is featured here on YouTube.
We hope you enjoy the expertise (and sometimes gymnastics!) of these nimble musicians.
As theaters are temporarily closed during the pandemic, Ben Grimes provides script analysis and performance tips for aspiring actors and a refresher for creatives to keep acting skills sharp during times of social distancing.
Ben directed the production of Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire featured at Argenta Community Theatre during the 2019 ACANSA Arts Festival of the South.
VoicePlay A Capella performed during the 2018 ACANSA Arts Festival of the South at UA-PTC CHARTS. Here they are again: CAN’T HELP FALLING IN LOVE. Visit our Facebook page to hear more VoicePlay.
ACANSA has looked forward to hosting selections from the 62nd Annual Delta Exhibition, one of our region’s most prestigious juried art exhibitions. Today, we’re delighted to share with you that requirements for social distancing won’t stop the Delta. The Arkansas Arts Center has announced that the exhibition showcasing artists born in or living in Arkansas and its border states will open for online viewing beginning June 19. You’ll find more information about the artists and details of the Annual Delta Exhibition here.
The ACANSA Gallery was in the midst of installing a new exhibition, The Adoration of Saint Sebastian, when Covid-19 rounded the corner. The Adoration of Saint Sebastian showcases the art of various artists using various mediums with one common theme. To be sure you won’t miss the show, Gallery curator Will Hogg (The Latino Project, Pinnacle Fine Arts, Arkansas Arts Council) has provided the following video with more information about the art and artists. (Also available via YouTube.)
ACANSA had moved only recently to its new gallery space in Argenta when Covid-19 prompted us to temporarily close the gallery. We miss our central Arkansas exhibits! If you do, too, here’s a link to the Arkansas Arts Center’s collection. New York’s Museum of Modern Art has an array of at-home art projects, and Google’s Arts & Culture site takes you around the world.
As theaters are temporarily closed during the pandemic, Ben Grimes provides script analysis and performance tips for aspiring actors and a refresher for creatives to keep acting skills sharp during times of social distancing.
Here is Parts 3 and 4 of Ben’s acting tips!
The Dallas String Quartet performed to a house of adoring fans at UA-PTC CHARTS during the 2019 ACANSA Arts Festival of the South. On Sunday, 5/17, they beamed a live-stream event right to our homes! Enjoy the group’s first livestream here.
Bill Bowers helped to inaugurate the ACANSA Arts Festival of the South in 2014 and returned in 2019 for the Sixth Annual Festival. Inspired by Ruggero Leoncavallo’s opera, Pagliacci, and the music of guitarist and songwriter, David Wilcox, Bill Bowers offers this response to living in the time of Covid-19 in this video performance with Wilcox’s song, “Show the Way.”
ACANSA is is also proud to be an exhibiting partner for the Arkansas Arts Center’s 62nd Annual Delta Exhibition, which is presented digitally this year. Join us on Facebook here and here for ongoing explorations of the artists and their work.
On June 23, Toni Phinisey-Webber from the Little Rock High School National Historic Site and Delta Exhibit artist Ajamu Kojo discussed Wakanda Don’t Cry inspired in part by Will Counts’ famous photo of Elizabeth Eckford, one of the Little Rock Nine. Learn more about this and the Delta Exhibition here.
For this first installment of ACANSA A(r)T HOME, please enjoy TENORS UN LIMITED, the highly popular “rat pack of opera” that performed during ACANSA’s 2019 Arts Festival of the South! This is a selection from their new show, That’s Amore! Featuring the ‘Sing People Sing’ Choir and pianist Nick Bland, here’s “From Now On” taken from The Greatest Showman.
More A(r)T HOME
All Arts is a premier destination for inspiration, creativity and art of all forms. This new arts and culture hub is created by WNET, the parent company of New York’s PBS stations.
For the kids in your world, check out these Unique Acting Games for Kids. Fun and easy, these games are provided by Kids Casting Academy, an online resource for parents with kids who want to get into acting.
ArtsEdge, provided by The Kennedy Center, is a resource for arts education at home and away.
A message from Dillon Hupp, ACANSA’s Executive Director:
In an effort to help protect the safety of our patrons and the artists who typically travel from across the US and even the globe to join the Festival, our organization has determined to cancel this summer’s concert and the Seventh Annual ACANSA Arts Festival of the South scheduled for September, 2020. In 2019, the Festival hosted 7500 patrons from at least 50 Arkansas communities and eight additional states during more than 30 live events in various venues. This year, the trajectory of the Covid-19 virus remains unknown for the coming months, so we are setting our sights on the 2021 Festival,” said Dillon Hupp, Executive Director. “We will continue the ACANSA A(r)T HOME series and look forward to providing signature events and other creative programming when it becomes safer to bring artists and community members together in person again.
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In these unprecedented times, ACANSA remains committed to providing artistic experiences for you. Through partnerships with amazing artists and organizations throughout our community and the world, we’ll be sharing digital content over these next few weeks. We hope you’ll enjoy ACANSA A(r)T HOME below!
A message from Dillon Hupp, ACANSA’s Executive Director:
In an effort to help protect the safety of our patrons and the artists who typically travel from across the US and even the globe to join the Festival, our organization has determined to cancel this summer’s concert and the Seventh Annual ACANSA Arts Festival of the South scheduled for September, 2020. In 2019, the Festival hosted 7500 patrons from at least 50 Arkansas communities and eight additional states during more than 30 live events in various venues. This year, the trajectory of the Covid-19 virus remains unknown for the coming months, so we are setting our sights on the 2021 Festival,” said Dillon Hupp, Executive Director. “We will continue the ACANSA A(r)T HOME series and look forward to providing signature events and other creative programming when it becomes safer to bring artists and community members together in person again.
—–
In these unprecedented times, ACANSA remains committed to providing artistic experiences for you. Through partnerships with amazing artists and organizations throughout our community and the world, we’ll be sharing digital content over these next few weeks. We hope you’ll enjoy ACANSA A(r)T HOME below!
March 23-27
Spring Break Arts Camps SUSPENDED
We’re very disappointed to let you know that ACANSA is suspending the 2020 Spring Break Arts Camps originally scheduled for March 23 – 27, 2020, due to the COVID-19 viral outbreak and in light of recommendations provided by the Centers for Disease Control, World Health Organization, and the Arkansas Department of Health to limit spread of the virus.
June 6
Bonnie Montgomery
Arkansas’s own Bonnie Montgomery will perform her unique blend of folk, country, and bluegrass in her award-winning style under the lights at the Railyard! Her music is described as “..stunningly authentic, honest-to-goodness songwriting reminiscent of the old country greats.” Don’t miss your chance to see this native Arkansan on her home turf this summer!
The Railyard
1212 East 6th Street, Little Rock, AR 72202
Show begins at 8PM
September 10-27
7th Annual ACANSA Arts Festival of the South
Our Seventh Annual ACANSA Arts Festival of the South will feature more than two weeks of the world-class music, theater, dance, and more that you’ve come to expect over the years! Your season ticket includes a Gold Pass to all the great Festival events we have planned for 2020- make sure to reserve your space now to experience all this acclaimed event has to offer!
Various Locations
Impact the Arts with a Donation Today!
THANK YOU to all of our patrons and sponsors, who helped make our 2019 Festival a huge success!
Our audience came from all over our State- check out the communities represented at the Sixth Annual ACANSA Arts Festival of the South!
Alexander
Augusta
Batesville
Bella Vista
Benton
Bryant
Cabot
Cammack Village
Carlisle
Clarendon
Clinton
Conway
Dardanelle
El Dorado
England
Eureka Springs
Farmington
Fayetteville
Fort Smith
Greenbrier
Gurdon
Gurdon
Higden
Horseshoe Bend
Hot Springs Village
Houston
Jacksonville
Little Rock
Mabelvale
Malvern
Maumelle
Mount Ida
Mount Vernon
New Edinburg
North Little Rock
Ozark
Paron
Pearcy
Pine Bluff
Prattsville
Quitman
Redfield
Russellville
Scott
Searcy
Sheridan
Sherwood
Texarkana
Vilonia
White Hall
Festival Sponsors
Festival Sponsors