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Walton Arts Center


Mith242

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Yeah I waited too long to buy Yo Yo Ma tickets. They were sold out by the time I got around to it.

Sometimes you can call WAC on the day of the show or a few days before and snag tickets that season ticket holders have turned back (they can exchange them for tickets to another performance). I got mine Tuesday after being told several times they were sold out. :thumbsup:

I didn't have any luck getting Foo Fighters tickets though- guess the students got them all. Bet it's a great concert. :(

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I didn't have any luck getting Foo Fighters tickets though- guess the students got them all. Bet it's a great concert. :(

Indeed it was. Just got back and I must say the Foo Fighters did not disappoint. They flat out rocked for nearly 2 hours and even played a mostly accoustic set. I've seen countless concerts and live performances, and they were certainly among the better live performers. Barnhill was pretty much full, but it took the crowd a while to really get into the show. Guess that's what happens when you only have big concerts here once in a blue moon......the crowd forgets how they are supposed to behave! :lol:

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Indeed it was. Just got back and I must say the Foo Fighters did not disappoint. They flat out rocked for nearly 2 hours and even played a mostly accoustic set. I've seen countless concerts and live performances, and they were certainly among the better live performers. Barnhill was pretty much full, but it took the crowd a while to really get into the show. Guess that's what happens when you only have big concerts here once in a blue moon......the crowd forgets how they are supposed to behave! :lol:

That's great- they are one of my favorite rock bands. You are right, it's not often a band of that caliber comes around this area. Glad you had a good time and I hope I get to see them somewhere on their tour.

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  • 1 year later...

This was mentioned last month but I thought I'd finally get around to mentioning it along with some other info. In May a new festival is being set up mainly by the Walton Arts Center. The Artosphere Festival will have a focus on the arts and nature. It won't just be located in Fayetteville either. It's going to be set up as a regional festival for both Washington and Benton Counties. They've set up a website now for the festival.

While releasing more news about the festival they also announced that they will be remodeling the Joy Pratt Markham Gallery as well. It will certainly be a welcome move. If I've had some complaints about the Walton Arts Center it's mainly been it's look and design. But I've never wanted to make a big deal about it because I certainly like having the WAC here. Hopefully they'll eventually release some renderings. There's a very rough rendering showing the entrance in the newspaper. But as I said it's very rough and really doesn't show much.

I also noticed in the editorial section of the newspaper today about the WAC. Only 1.5% of it's funding comes from local or state support. Art centers in general tend to get around 7-10% of their budget from local and state support. While it would be nice if the state would be willing to step up and show some more we shouldn't hold our breaths. On the other hand it might be a great sign from the city of Fayetteville is we were to provide more financial support for the WAC. Especially when there's a possibility of having the main facility located somewhere else in NWA. I realize the current economy males this a bad timing. But if the people of Fayetteville are serious about trying to keep the main facility here in Fayetteville we need to prove it. If we don't step up then it's going to be harder to complain if they decide to build the main facility up in Benton County. I can't help but wonder if Bentonville or Rogers would offer more financial support just to help get the main facility built in their city.

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  • 4 months later...

Not happy to see this, but I guess I can't be surprised the Walton Foundation is doing this.

http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2010/jun/24/wac-expansion-bentonville-or-bust/?latest

WAC EXPANSION: Bentonville Or Bust

WALTON FOUNDATION PRESSES FOR ARTS CENTER IN BENTON COUNTY

By Skip Descant

Thursday, June 24, 2010

FAYETTEVILLE — Bentonville should be the site of a Walton Arts Center expansion, at least if it’s left up to the Walton Family Foundation.

And the expansion should be smaller than Walton Arts Center officials have planned, at least for now, the foundation says.

“We believe strongly that a location in Bentonville would be best for adding to the performing arts venues in Northwest Arkansas,” Buddy D. Philpot, executive director of the Walton Family Foundation, said in a letter to the Walton Arts Center dated Tuesday.

That opinion is no small matter as the arts center considers where it will build a performance hall larger than its original 18-year-old facility on Dickson Street in Fayetteville. The family of Sam Walton, founder of Walmart, was the major private donor when it came to building the arts center and continues in that role today.

The foundation gives roughly $1 million a year, said Peter Lane, the center’s president and CEO.

“The Walton family gift is the reason we’re sort of here in the first place,” Lane said Wednesday. “The Walton family has been a significant contributor to annual operations as well.”

The center opened in 1992, built through cooperative funding from Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas, which received a stock donation worth about $5 million from the Walton family for the center. Other donations also paid for the center’s construction.

The foundation wants the center to better serve the region, and would like to see “anchor” venues in Bentonville and Fayetteville.

“Our vision is for the Walton Arts Center to grow and serve the needs of the entire metropolitan area and we will always be supportive of the that mission,” the letter reads. “However, we do not foresee being the lead donor for a new performing arts facility in a location other than Bentonville.”

Foundation officials would not comment further.

The center is still in a site selection process, scheduled to conclude Aug. 2. The center has received about 20 proposals, said Terri Trotter, chief operating officer.

A study released in October 2008 called for a $180 million expansion to include a 2,200-seat theater, a 600-seat multiuse space and a 100-seat black box studio.

In Tuesday’s letter, however, the foundation said the “expansion as currently proposed is simply too large in terms of scope and cost.” The foundation suggested putting off a decision on the size of the project so it can be examined within the “context of the current economic climate and the future potential impact of other Northwest Arkansas cultural amenities now being planned or underway.”

The letter says a Bentonville location would complement revitalization occurring in downtown Bentonville, including the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

Crystal Bridges, financed by Sam Walton’s daughter, Alice, and the foundation, is under construction on a 100-acre site near downtown Bentonville.

Lane said the site selected for the expansion will determine the project’s scope and size.

“A location will help us to decide who is the right architect and planning firms, which will then look at that site specifically, and say, ‘What do we need to design for this location?’ which will then drive the ultimate costs and scope of the project.

“So, we completely agree with the foundation,” he added. “We can’t make those final changes today.”

The Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce — in concert with the city and University of Arkansas — has not submitted a site proposal yet, said Mayor Lioneld Jordan.

Bentonville has also not submitted a site, said Ed Clifford, president and CEO of the Bentonville/Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce.

“There’s a lot of different possibilities,” Clifford said, not elaborating on particular sites.

“If the project is successful, we think it will be a huge win for the region,” Clifford said. “I think when you look at the whole package, we have a lot to offer as a region.”

Lane said the center, a nonprofit organization headed by a board, will continue the selection process. The deadline is Aug. 2.

“This is just a piece of information,” he said of the foundation’s position. “It’s information that will be added to our process.”

Fayetteville’s City Council recently passed several ordinances to establish paid parking in the Dickson Street entertainment district, mostly to address the parking concerns of the Walton Arts Center. The program — which will cost nearly $1 million to implement — is designed to raise money for a parking deck. The program anticipates giving $289,000 a year to the center.

“No, it doesn’t change any of my plans,” Jordan said. “We have a really great proposal, partnered with the University of Arkansas, that we’re going to present.”

“It is our intent to submit proposals that will completely convince the WAC board that best location for a new WAC facility is Fayetteville,” said Steve Clark, president and CEO of the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce.

Jordan said he does not see the foundation’s decision as any sort of a deal-breaker. He intends to continue to fight for an expansion in Fayetteville.

“As long as I have breath, I do not give up,” Jordan said.

Lane stressed an expansion in another city does not shut the door on Broadway shows and other large performances in Fayetteville. Arts center officials have said an expansion elsewhere will not shut down operations in Fayetteville.

“We see Broadway going into both halls. We see music going into both halls. We see dance going into both halls,” Lane said. “A lot of performing arts institutions have multiple locations.”

“If I were telling you that both venues — hypothetically — would be across the street from each other, I would tell you that both venues would have Broadway shows,” Lane explained.

“There are some artists — pick one, Jerry Seinfeld — you would have to put him in a large hall. But there are thousands of artists that will go into the right hall. And that’s our determination,” Lane said. “Right now, everything goes into the largest hall we have, because we only have one hall.”

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Not happy to see this, but I guess I can't be surprised the Walton Foundation is doing this.

http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2010/jun/24/wac-expansion-bentonville-or-bust/?latest

The one thing I find most interesting in all of that is that they are suggesting that the new center should be planned to be smaller. If they were to build a similar sized facility in Bentonville and then at some point afterward expand the Fayetteville facility I think that would be a good compromise that would please a lot of people on both sides. I don't think anyone in Fayetteville is against there being a facility built in Benton County. They just want to have the 'main' facility in the area. But doing it that way is a bit more complicated. Do you try to find some way to expand the current facility on Dickson St or totally build a new facility in Fayetteville? I almost think you'd have to close down the Dickson St facility to adequately expand it. But once again I think the people of Fayetteville could settle having to go to Benton County while a larger facility was being created in Fayetteville. Although I imagine there are people in Benton County who believe they should have the main facility and would find that plan disappointing. But it would seem to me a good compromise for both sides.

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  • 9 months later...

To give the Fayetteville topic a break with all the redistricting talk. I thought I'd post this info over here. Looks like Jordan has put out his idea about how to pay for the 600 seat black box theater in Fayetteville at the WAC. He has suggest extending the bond issue that voters approved back in 1997 for the Fayetteville Town Center. This would generate $9.5 Mill and after paying off existing bonds would leave $6.7 MIll for the 600 seat black box theater. But the issue still has to pass the City Council and then city voters.

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  • 4 weeks later...

To give the Fayetteville topic a break with all the redistricting talk. I thought I'd post this info over here. Looks like Jordan has put out his idea about how to pay for the 600 seat black box theater in Fayetteville at the WAC. He has suggest extending the bond issue that voters approved back in 1997 for the Fayetteville Town Center. This would generate $9.5 Mill and after paying off existing bonds would leave $6.7 MIll for the 600 seat black box theater. But the issue still has to pass the City Council and then city voters.

I keep waiting to hear more about this but neither the Jordan administration nor the WAC has put anything out. There are many questions that need to be answered such as how much will the total project cost? Obviously $6.7 million should be a small fraction of a new theater when the whole "expansion " project was seen as costing almost $200 million. What would be the timing of construction of it- before the new facility in Bentonville is built or after? What about the parking deck- is there already enough money being generated by paid parking to build it and where would it be? Before they go asking for money they should have at least some idea of what they want to buy.

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  • 2 months later...

There's been a lot of complaints about things backing up with people getting in and especially out of parking for WAC events. So looks like they'll be changing over to an 'event style parking' system when the WAC hosts big events. I've heard a lot of complaints from people saying the city wasting money over all the parking kiosks and so on. But I think there's been some confusion over the whole thing. The paid parking is still going to be in effect. This is just going to take place when there's larger events going on at the WAC, mainly on the weekend evenings. Outside those times the paid parking hours are still in effect and the city is still collecting those fees for an eventual parking deck.

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There's been a lot of complaints about things backing up with people getting in and especially out of parking for WAC events. So looks like they'll be changing over to an 'event style parking' system when the WAC hosts big events. I've heard a lot of complaints from people saying the city wasting money over all the parking kiosks and so on. But I think there's been some confusion over the whole thing. The paid parking is still going to be in effect. This is just going to take place when there's larger events going on at the WAC, mainly on the weekend evenings. Outside those times the paid parking hours are still in effect and the city is still collecting those fees for an eventual parking deck.

It's good that they are addressing the problem. Getting out is the real hassle. It wasn't mentioned but it will increase parking revenue because the flat $5 fee is more than it normally takes to park for a 2-3 hour event at the WAC.

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I'm not against the 600 seat black box idea. I'm just curious where the idea came from and what is the need? My understanding is that the typical "Black Box" is a large square room with black walls and a flat floor, (thus the name). They normally do not have a stage or proscenium and typically seat 200-300 patrons and are mostly used for experimental or repertory theatre.

The Art Center already has the Star theater, a black box that seats 220, so some of my questions are:

Has audience demand outgrown the Star theater?

How often is it being used?

How often is it sold out?

Is there a national trend to larger black box theaters?

What will be the purpose of the new theater?

What is the need for this space?

What type of preformances do they envision for this space?

When completed will there be enough parking to use all three preformance spaces at the same time?

How much will it cost?

How will it be paid for and by whom?

I for one would like some of these questions answered before decisions are made!

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I'm not against the 600 seat black box idea. I'm just curious where the idea came from and what is the need? My understanding is that the typical "Black Box" is a large square room with black walls and a flat floor, (thus the name). They normally do not have a stage or proscenium and typically seat 200-300 patrons and are mostly used for experimental or repertory theatre.

The Art Center already has the Star theater, a black box that seats 220, so some of my questions are:

Has audience demand outgrown the Star theater?

How often is it being used?

How often is it sold out?

Is there a national trend to larger black box theaters?

What will be the purpose of the new theater?

What is the need for this space?

What type of preformances do they envision for this space?

When completed will there be enough parking to use all three preformance spaces at the same time?

How much will it cost?

How will it be paid for and by whom?

I for one would like some of these questions answered before decisions are made!

I'm not sure just who might be able to answer your questions. I suppose someone from the WAC would probably have to answer. The overall theme for the WAC was that the current facility is just too small to meet current needs. Of course Bentonville is getting the larger over all theater space. But I suppose there might be demand for a larger black box space as well. Not sure if you'd ever have performances overlapping. I would think they would probably be more likely to space things out. But right now I could see parking being an issue. I think we'd probably need a multi-level parking deck if we were going to try to have performances overlapping. As far as who's going to pay for it. I suppose we might expect some of the usual names to help make some big donations. But overall I would still think the city is going to have to pay for a large chunk. Therefore it would end up coming down to the taxpayers. I don't have anything to back up what I've just said. It's just basically my guesses to your questions. I imagine some might question whether we really a new black box theater or not. Or if it might be something just to try to appease Fayetteville for losing out on the larger over theater.

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They have put out a total cost estimate of $30 million so the $6.7 million that the city would ante up along with a match from the university would leave around $16 million to go. It is no big secret who the likely lead donor would be.

Since this facility would be used in the same way Nadine Baum Studios is used now the plan may be to remove that building and use that space for new construction or parking. The university is also seen as a major user of the new theater so I don't think there will any problem with it being utilized. There are times now when the WAC theaters and Nadine Baum are all in use at the same time so it shouldn't have a huge impact on parking. Additional parking is needed now and will be then as well.

Although the full plan isn't out yet this deserves serious consideration. The chance to add a first class entertainment venue to the city needs to be taken advantage of. I think it will be supported considering it would not be new taxes but simply rededicating HMR revenues that are already be collected.

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They have put out a total cost estimate of $30 million so the $6.7 million that the city would ante up along with a match from the university would leave around $16 million to go. It is no big secret who the likely lead donor would be.

Since this facility would be used in the same way Nadine Baum Studios is used now the plan may be to remove that building and use that space for new construction or parking. The university is also seen as a major user of the new theater so I don't think there will any problem with it being utilized. There are times now when the WAC theaters and Nadine Baum are all in use at the same time so it shouldn't have a huge impact on parking. Additional parking is needed now and will be then as well.

Although the full plan isn't out yet this deserves serious consideration. The chance to add a first class entertainment venue to the city needs to be taken advantage of. I think it will be supported considering it would not be new taxes but simply rededicating HMR revenues that are already be collected.

I agree with you about a first class venue, but lets make sure it is first class!

I guess my main problem is with the term Black Box. I would much rather see a 600 seat Studio theater built with a stage, proscenium and full cat walk system. A Studio theater can handle a higher end production than a box!

As far as the parking deck I don't think there's any argument about the need. I wish the City had used a bond issue with the proceeds from the deck going to pay off the bonds but it is what it is. Any info on parking revenues? I'm sure they went down when the students left for the summer.

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As far as the parking deck I don't think there's any argument about the need. I wish the City had used a bond issue with the proceeds from the deck going to pay off the bonds but it is what it is. Any info on parking revenues? I'm sure they went down when the students left for the summer.

Yeah I've actually been sorta wondering how revenues have been going over the summer. Like you said, you'd think things would drop a bit because the students are gone. But I haven't heard anything mentioned in quite a while.

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I agree with you about a first class venue, but lets make sure it is first class!

I guess my main problem is with the term Black Box. I would much rather see a 600 seat Studio theater built with a stage, proscenium and full cat walk system. A Studio theater can handle a higher end production than a box!

As far as the parking deck I don't think there's any argument about the need. I wish the City had used a bond issue with the proceeds from the deck going to pay off the bonds but it is what it is. Any info on parking revenues? I'm sure they went down when the students left for the summer.

Hopefully with $30 million they can build a very nice theater. As for the layout, I think they are still discussing what it will be- I'm sure they would welcome any input the community gives them as to what is wanted.

It will be a year of paid parking soon so we should be getting some hard numbers about it within a couple of months.

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  • 1 month later...

The WAC is redoing the AMP as a permanent structure at the NWA Mall. It will be on the hillside at the SW corner of the mall next to where it is now. Work is expected to begin in October and be finished in time for the 2012 season. Here is an excerpt from the WAC's email.

1) Moving the venue off the mall parking lot blacktop and onto the hillside to create a permanent amphitheater venue

2) Enhancing patron amenities such as:

  • Air conditioned restrooms
  • Concession and merchandise kiosks
  • VIP Pavilion
  • Raised tent structure that increases air circulation and allows for a better view of the stage
  • Marquee entrance and drop off area

3) Upgrading and increasing seating capacity (6,400 total capacity)

  • 2,400 outdoor theater-style seats (1,800 covered)
  • Sloped, manicured lawn to accommodate 4,000
  • VIP box seating

4) Building a permanent, well-equipped stage and stagehouse

  • Artist amenities including air conditioned dressing rooms
  • Technical capability to produce most major concert tours

I have to admit I never thought they would follow through on this promise. Good for them for doing so. Hopefully it is a sign of any better things to come for Fayetteville.

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Saw some of this info in today's newspaper as well. Certainly good to hear. I imagine a number of Fayetteville residents were a bit nervous wondering if the AMP was eventually get moved up to Benton County as well. It's also nice they're even basically keeping it in the same area. It will also be nice that it will start to feel more than just a temporary structure. Here's a picture from Google Earth of how it basically looks now. If I understand correctly it will move more off the parking lot and over into the grassy area just southwest of the NWA Mall area on the edge of the hill there.

ampr.jpg

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Well the whole AMP situation looks like it just got messy. Apparently now the WAC is asking the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission for $500k to go towards the renovations for the AMP. You know that isn't going to go over well with some Fayetteville residents after what happened with the new WAC theater location.

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Well the whole AMP situation looks like it just got messy. Apparently now the WAC is asking the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission for $500k to go towards the renovations for the AMP. You know that isn't going to go over well with some Fayetteville residents after what happened with the new WAC theater location.

Yikes! I had not heard that. They continue to make public relations mistakes. After the big renovation announcement that sounded so good they turn around and put their hand out. That is not smart at all.

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Yikes! I had not heard that. They continue to make public relations mistakes. After the big renovation announcement that sounded so good they turn around and put their hand out. That is not smart at all.

It looks like it worked though. The Fayetteville A&P has committed to giving them $500,000.

Here is the article: http://www.fayettevilleflyer.com/2011/09/13/ap-commission-commits-500000-to-arkansas-music-pavilion-renovation/

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I don't see where Fayetteville has much of a choice! It's either support it or loose it! Take your pick!

That is so true. I think it will be a good investment. Hopefully this will lead to more and bigger artists coming to Fayetteville and so more ticket buyers spending money in town.

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