Chairman Rocco Landesman Releases the Schedule for His Visits to Arkansas and Kansas, March 12-15, 2012

Washington, DC -- NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman will visit Bentonville, Fayetteville, and Little Rock, Arkansas, as well as Topeka and Lawrence, Kansas, March 12–15, 2012, as part of his Art Works tour. In each city, Chairman Landesman will meet with arts organizations and arts and civic leaders to learn about their efforts to use the arts to create vibrant, livable communities.

On March 12, Landesman will begin his visit to Arkansas by visiting the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville. He will then travel to Fayetteville to visit three arts organizations -- TheatreSquared, the Northwest Arkansas Community Creative Center, and the Walton Arts Center. On the morning of March 13, Landesman will visit the Argenta Arts District in Little Rock, meeting with the Argenta Arts Foundation, Argenta Community Theatre, and Thea Foundation. He will then join Mayor Mark Stodola in a tour of downtown Little Rock to learn more about the city’s efforts to create a cultural corridor on Main Street. The design phase for this project is supported by an NEA Our Town grant. At 4:00 p.m., Landesman will take part in a public panel discussion on creative placemaking in Arkansas at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre. Arkansas’s First Lady, Ginger Beebe, will provide opening remarks at this panel.

On March 14, Landesman will visit Topeka, Kansas, to learn more about the development of the North Topeka (NOTO) Arts District. He will begin by touring the district and then meet with key stakeholders in the project. Landesman will then take part in a public panel discussion about the NOTO project and the benefits of creative placemaking in Kansas. On March 15, Landesman will visit Lawrence, Kansas. After meeting with the Lawrence Arts Center and the Percolator, Landesman will visit the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas to participate in a panel discussion on creative placemaking.

Please see the full schedule below for more information on all of these events.

Monday, March 12: Bentonville & Fayetteville, Arkansas

10:00 am-
12:00 pm
Tour of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art   

Participants
NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman
Don Bacigalupi, director, Crystal Bridges Museum
Sandy Edwards, deputy director, Museum Relations, Crystal Bridges Museum

Location: 600 Museum Way, Bentonville, AR 72712
 

2:15-2:45 pm Meeting with TheatreSquared   

Participants
NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman 
Joy Pennington, executive director, Arkansas Arts Council
Robert Ford, artistic director, TheatreSquared
Martin Miller, managing director, TheatreSquared

Location: 505 W. Spring Street, Fayetteville, AR 72701
 

2:45-3:15 pm Meeting with Northwest Arkansas Community Creative Center   

Participants
NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman 
Joy Pennington, executive director, Arkansas Arts Council
Susan Hutchcroft, executive director, Northwest Arkansas 
Community Creative Center

Location: 505 W. Spring Street, Fayetteville, AR 72701
 

3:15-3:45 pm Meeting with Walton Arts Center   

Participants:
NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman 
Joy Pennington, executive director, Arkansas Arts Council
Peter B. Lane, president/CEO, Walton Arts Center
Barb Putman, foundation relations officer, Walton Arts 
Center

Location: 495 West Dickson Street, Fayetteville, AR 72701
 

Tuesday, March 13: Little Rock, Arkansas

9:00-9:30 am Meeting with Argenta arts leaders and North Little Rock Mayor Patrick Hays   

Location: Argenta Community Theatre, 405 Main Street, N Little Rock, AR 72114
 

9:30–10:00 am           Meeting with Argenta Arts Foundation   

Participants
NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman 
Joy Pennington, executive director, Arkansas Arts Council
John Gaudin, board member, Argenta Arts Foundation 
Donna Hardcastle, executive director, Argenta Arts 
Foundation

Location: Argenta Community Theatre, 405 Main Street, N Little Rock, AR 72114 
 

10:00–10:30 am Tour of Argenta Community Theatre   

Participants
NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman 
Joy Pennington, executive director, Arkansas Arts Council
Vincent Insalaco, co-founder & artistic director, Argenta 
Community Theatre 
Judy Tenenbaum, co-founder & president, Argenta 
Community Theatre

Location: Argenta Community Theatre, 405 Main Street, N Little Rock, AR 72114
 

10:30-11:00 am Meeting with Thea Foundation       

Participants:
NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman 
Joy Pennington, executive director, Arkansas Arts Council
Paul David Leopoulos, director, Thea Foundation        
Nicholas Leopoulos, assistant director, Thea Foundation

Location: 401 Main Street, Suite 100, North Little Rock, AR 72114
 

11:30-1:00 pm Meeting with City of Little Rock about Our Town project   

Participants
NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman
Mayor Mark Stodola
Joy Pennington, executive director, Arkansas Arts Council
Steve Luoni, University of Arkansas Center for Community 
Design
Marlon Blackwell, architect
Caran Curry, grants manager, city of Little Rock

Location:  523 Louisiana St # 305 Little Rock, AR 72201
 

4:00-5:00 pm Panel discussion about creative placemaking in Arkansas, moderated by Joy Pennington, Arkansas Arts Council, with opening remarks by Arkansas First Lady Ginger Beebe
* This event is free and open to the public. Reception to follow.   

Location: Arkansas Repertory Theatre, 601 Main Street, Little Rock, AR 72201
 

Wednesday, March 14

2:30-3:00 pm Tour of North Topeka Arts District   

Participants
NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman
John Hunter, NOTO Arts District
Anita Wolgast, NOTO Arts District

Location: North Topeka Community Arts Center, 922 North Kansas Ave., Topeka, KS 66608 
 

3:00-4:00 pm Meeting with key stakeholders in North Topeka Arts District   

Participants
NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman
Doug Kensinger, CEO of the Topeka Chamber of 
Commerce
Shelly Bueler, Shawnee County Commissioner
Laura Kelly, Senator, Kansas State Legislator
Berry Feaker, executive director, Topeka Rescue Mission 
and member of the Quality of Life Foundation for Heartland Visioning
Local artists and business/property owners

Location: Serendipity, 820 N Kansas Ave., Topeka, KS 66608
 

4:30-6:00 pm Panel discussion about creative placemaking in Topeka, moderated by John Hunter, North Topeka Arts District         
* This event is free and open to the public. Reception to follow.   

Location: Serendipity, 820 N Kansas Ave., Topeka, KS 66608 
 

Thursday, March 15

9:15-10:00 am Meeting with the Lawrence Arts Center   

Participants
NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman
Mary Kennedy McCabe, executive director, Mid-America 
Arts Alliance
Susan Tate, director, Lawrence Arts Center

Location: 940 New Hampshire Street, Lawrence, KS 66044
 

10:00-10:30 am Meeting with the Percolator   

Participants
NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman
Mary Kennedy McCabe, executive director, Mid-America 
Arts Alliance
Dave Loewenstein, artist

Location: Ninth and New Hampshire Lawrence, KS 66044 
 

11:30-1:00 pm Panel discussion about creative placemaking, moderated by Saralyn Reece Hardy, director, Spencer Museum of Art
* This event is free and open to the public.   

Location: Spencer Museum of Art, 1301 Mississippi Street, Lawrence, KS 66045 
 

 

Contact

NEA Public Affairs
202-682-5570