State of the Arts

Todd Price: Welcome to Short Talks from The Hill, a research and economic impact podcast of the University of Arkansas.

My name is Todd Price.

In 2017, a $120 million gift from the Walton Charitable Support Foundation transformed the University of Arkansas’ Department of Art into a School of Art. It was the largest gift ever to a university art program. A second $40 million gift that year from the Windgate Foundation helped establish an Art and Design District in South Fayetteville, which includes the new Studio and Design Center and an upcoming space for both studio and public galleries.

The Walton gift funded scholarships and expanded programs in art history, art education and graphic design. It also gave the School of Art a mission to support the arts and art education throughout Arkansas.

Today on Short Talks, Rachel Debuque, the director of the School of Art, joins us to talk about the school’s outreach to pre-college students and art educators across Arkansas and to the community here in Northwest Arkansas.

Rachel Debuque, welcome to Short Talks.

Rachel Debuque: Thank you so much, Todd. I’m happy to be here.

TP: Rachel, you came to the University of Arkansas and the School of Art here a year ago. What initially attracted you to move across the country here to Arkansas? And in the year that you’ve been here, what have you learned about arts across the state?

RD: Before coming to Arkansas, I was an associate director for George Mason University. And while I was there, I was focused on accessibility and creating inclusive curriculum and creating strategic pipelines to resources at the university. When I was approached about the job for the Director of the School of Art at the University of Arkansas, I saw a tremendous opportunity to make unprecedented impact for the state of Arkansas.

Initially, I wasn’t sure that I would want to move across the country to Arkansas. But the recruiter told me, you just have to come and see. And he was absolutely right. I was completely blown away by all the things that I saw, and I just saw an opportunity to create pathways for higher education for those who have been historically underrepresented. And I was also really shocked and surprised by how much the unprecedented gift that had been given aligned with my goals regarding access, this alignment with my own leadership values about expanding access in the arts. It felt like this rare opportunity to serve the state of Arkansas and to show the skills that I had been developing for years.

Since arriving, I have learned lots of things. I think the thing that really struck me was how deeply people here care about education, and there’s a genuine commitment to improving opportunities for Arkansans. I felt this incredible amount of support for the work that I was doing, especially around expanding access to the arts, which is not always typical. So it’s been really amazing.

TP: Dive into that a little bit, because obviously there’s a lot of talk about education in Arkansas and across the country, but art sometimes is not always included. Have you seen that arts have been a priority in the state, and how have arts kind of fit into the conversation you’ve heard about education in the state?

RD: Access to the arts in Arkansas is a lot better than people might expect, especially in Northwest Arkansas. Statewide, we’re seeing about 65% to 80% participation in arts programs, which has been steadily rising. And there’s clearly been an investment. We’re seeing that reflected in student engagement, and we also know that there’s a lot more work to do to ensure that access is equitable and consistent. But I’m feeling really hopeful about the potential and what I’m seeing here in Arkansas.

TP: How does arts education play out across the state? And I wonder, how similar is the situation as far as the amount of arts education here to other states in the South? I mean, are we on par? Where do you think things stand?

RD: The School of Art certainly has an opportunity to create strategic pipelines to make sure that we’re creating opportunities, that students get access to all the amazing things that we have in Northwest Arkansas. I think that’s part of our task. But I do think that the commitment is there. It’s just the logistics of actually making it happen. I think that Arkansas is making a real concerted effort, and that is not typical. And the amount of resources and positive energy put behind access to the arts is, I think, unprecedented in this state.

TP: Well, let’s talk specifically about some of the programs the School of Art is running. You have two summer programs. The first one you established in 2019. It’s the Summer Arts Workshop for high school students across the state. Take me through what the students do in this program.

RD: It’s really exciting. The Summer Arts Workshop started as a day camp, and then it’s grown into a week-long residential program for high school students. It’s free to attend, and we offer scholarships to cover travel for students who need it, which is incredible. Each year, we welcome around 80 to 100 students, and they get to take part in all sorts of exciting studio courses like printmaking, painting, drawing, sewing, even curatorial practices. They get to visit places like Crystal Bridges and The Momentary, and they also attend college readiness sessions. They get to explore our campus. They get to feel what it might feel like to be on this campus in a year or two. And the week ends with a public exhibition where they get to invite their family.

It’s really exciting. The program is about opening doors and connecting students from across the state to our resources, and they might not otherwise have access to these things. And this is really about creating meaningful access and investing in our community.

TP: Where are these students coming from across the state? And are they all Arkansans or do students come from other states as well?

RD: They’re all Arkansans, and they come from all over the state. I think that my task in the next year is to really create a good strategic plan and that we’re making sure that we’re hitting all areas of Arkansas – and especially focusing on our more underserved areas and ways that we can connect with the right people and the right places to make sure that those students know about the opportunity. And then they have access to, let’s say, our travel scholarship, if they need it.

TP: And I wonder, have some of the students that you’ve seen attend this high school program enrolled at the university and at the School of Art?

RD: Yeah, we have seen that. We’ve seen students come to the camp and then show up on campus in the next year or two. It’s a super exciting, full circle moment.

TP: The second program that I wanted to talk about, and it’s brand new, is called ArtLab, and it just launched this summer. This is a program for arts educators across the state. These are teachers from K to 12. How did this program come about? What was the need that the art school saw and how did this program develop?

RD: Our leadership and our recruitment and outreach team have been talking about doing this for a while. We started with a kind of exploratory email, seeing if folks would be interested. And then we immediately had our first pilot filled just off of that one email. We didn’t even get a press release out. It was really clear to us that there’s a demand. And so now we’re just focusing on how we can grow the program and make sure that we’re aligning with what teachers really need and providing innovative curriculum and the resources that they need to be successful when they go back to their classrooms.

TP: How many arts teachers participated in the first year?

RD: The first year had 30 participants, and we hope to expand that. We might do two cohorts next year. We’ll see. We just ended this last week, so we’re gathering all of the survey feedback, and we hope to take that and make really thoughtful changes.

TP: And were these high school arts teachers? Elementary? Who is coming to the program?

RD: It was art teachers from all different areas — high schools, elementary schools —from all different regions. It was a pretty exciting group.

TP: Tell me about the program. You, I assume, got to interact a lot with these teachers as well as they went through it. What did you learn from them and what do you think they got out of the program?

RD: So the teachers are given tools to develop innovative and inclusive curriculum. They get a network of support from across districts. I think one thing that’s important to note is that these professional development workshops were approved by the Arkansas Department of Education, so it really aligns with the goals of the state education. But we gave them resources. They worked with faculty. They develop new techniques. They learned from different lectures. They worked closely with our graduate students. It was a wide variety of different things.

And we hope that through this pilot we learn more what they’re interested in, what will help them advance as teachers and ultimately improve the landscape of arts education across the state. I think we have a real opportunity here in our education program to be a leader among the nation in what we’re doing in arts education and outreach.

TP: So I assume also the teachers receive continuing education credits, those credits that teachers need every year to keep their certification.

RD: They do, yes. They receive those credits that they’re looking for. We do a little certificate ceremony at the end to honor their completion. And it’s been a really nice moment.

TP: I guess so many art teachers are also artists themselves, so I’m sure they really enjoyed working with fellow artists.

RD: Yeah, we got an overwhelming response from teachers that really they wanted this concentrated time not to just be lectured to, but to do hands-on workshops where they can work on their own craft. And that was something that we really zeroed in on for this arts lab.

TP: The School of Art has this impressive new Studio and Design Center, this very beautiful contemporary building, and it’s in what’s called the Windgate Art and Design District here in South Fayetteville. You just broke ground on a new building next door. This new building will go between the beautiful contemporary art school and the Anthony Timberlands architecture building. What’s going to happen in this building? What will it be?

RD: This building really represents the heart of what we do, which is thinking about community outreach. The Windgate Art and Design District was built to expand access, empower students and connect the community to contemporary art and design. And that’s exactly what this building is going to do. It’s going to house our public galleries, our foundations program, which is our first-year program for students, experimental media arts and arts entrepreneurship spaces.

We’re describing this building as the front porch of the school. It’s a place where we get to invite the public into our dynamic exhibitions and our creative experimentation. And for years, the School of Art has really been committed to public facing exhibitions. It’s a really important part of what we do as artists, sharing that with the public, but we’ve lacked a dedicated space to do it at scale. So with this new building, we have a network of galleries that can support student work, national and international artists and we can also develop new forms of community engagement, which I know that the city of Fayetteville is really clamoring for. So it’s not just a building. It’s going to be a place for connection, for dialog, and to really pull people in.

TP: And so I guess I’m thinking not only exhibitions, but maybe events?

RD: We have a lot of flexibility in that space, and we are excited about the potential to allow the community and the space to evolve over time and be responsive to the conditions of Fayetteville, the conditions of the art world, the conditions of the school and the university, and roll with it in that way.

TP: Well, I know you just broke ground, but when do you think it’s going to be done?

RD: I know that building buildings take a lot of time and there’s always some unforeseen delays. We are slated to be opening in the fall of 2027, but if you quote me on that, when fall 2027 approaches, it might not be good for me. So maybe spring? We’ll see.

TP: Obviously, the gift from the Walton family really gave the school a mission to do community work and outreach. But I’m curious why, in general, do you think it’s important that university art schools look out beyond themselves and look to the community?

RD: Well, I think, one, I’ll say that I haven’t mentioned just how important that we are part of a network, right? So the Walton gift gave us this amazing opportunity, but we’re also partners with Crystal Bridges and The Momentary. And their mission to access really informs ours. We’re creating this network where we’re allowing multiple entry points for folks to come in and engage with the arts.

But as an artist, why is this important? Why does this matter? I mean, I see creative work as really like sacred work. It is what helps us make sense of the world and connect with one another in ways that logic and language just can’t. And our culture really doesn’t always recognize the value of creative inquiry. I mean, we’re always up against trying to prove why our existence matters.

But when you start looking at the evidence, it’s pretty overwhelming. Artists, we know this in our bones, but it’s also backed by research. And it’s our job as educators to make this really clear. So the arts contribute billions of dollars to the U.S. economy and support millions of jobs, and creativity has been named one of the top skills for the future workforce by the World Economic Forum. In education, arts participation is linked to higher GPAs, lower dropout rates, stronger engagement, and we know that integrating arts into core subjects can actually deepen the learning of those subjects in really meaningful ways. People connect with art, and it helps them to connect deeper with other subjects as well.

I think more importantly, though, beyond the data, arts really fosters empathy, which is super important right now. Always, honestly. I feel like the arts can save us in so many ways. We need the kind of deep feelers who are going to reject the casual cruelty we can see in our day to day. We need disrupters who can imagine better systems and better futures. And we need makers who really remind us what makes life worth living. This is the stuff. This is what makes us human. And more importantly, critical thinkers who are going to reflect the world back to us in ways that are going to challenge us, that are going to heal us and inspire us. This is, I think, monumental stuff. This is what I think makes us human and what makes life worth living. And that’s why the arts matter.

TP: Well, Rachel, thank you so much for coming on Short Talks. It’s been a great conversation.

RD: Thank you so much.

TP: Short Talks from the Hill is now available wherever you get your podcasts. For more information and additional podcasts, visit ArkansasResearch.uark.edu, the home of research and economic impact news here at the University of Arkansas.

Music for Short Talks from the Hill was written and performed by local musician Ben Harris.