Artists 360 is working to make Northwest Arkansas a place where artists can thrive by equipping them with the money and business skills needed to succeed.
The Artists 360 program is offered by Mid-America Arts Alliance with the support of the Walton Family Foundation, according to a news release from the nonprofit groups.
The foundation is providing $439,500 in grants and professional development services for 60 artists over the course of its first three years, according to the Artists 360 website.
The program is in its second year, said Lisa Cordes, director of the Arts Alliance in Kansas City, Mo. This week's addition of 20 artists grows the program to 40, she said.
"We've been consistently impressed with the quality of artists in the Northwest Arkansas area," Cordes said. "We really consider it a privilege to elevate them and showcase them for their community."
Project grants are for $7,500 and range in discipline from literary to the performing and visual arts and include mixed media, photography and sculpture.
Students are recognized during post-secondary education and receive $1,500. Awardees will also receive professional development services.
"We're looking for artists to be more prosperous in general and to be able to make work, create a sustainable art practice and generate revenue for themselves and their families," Cordes said. "The prosperity of artists in a community really affects the overall community."
Amos Cochran, 35, of Van Buren works with sound as an artistic medium.
He plans to use his $7,500 project grant to record a nine-movement suite called A Modern Procedure for Breathing.
"There's electronic textures," Cochran said of the piece. "I think that's when you really get away from the fact that it's 'music' and it gets much more into found sounds or textures."
Samuel Rivera Lopez, 22, of Springdale said he'll use a $1,500 grant to film a documentary titled What it Means to be American.
"Now more than ever we need to figure out what it means to be an American, because that's going to redefine what our country is and what it becomes," Rivera Lopez said.
Artists awarded project grants:
• Literary art: Keely Brice, Megan Downey, Rodney Wilhite
• Performing art: Simone Cottrell, Crescent Dragonwagon, Rachel Lynett, Traci Rae Manos, Lia Uribe, Cochran
• Visual art: Craig Colorusso, Robert P. Gordon, Danielle Hatch, Zora Murff, Loring Taoka
Student artists receiving grants:
• Literary art: Samuel Binns, Peter Mason
• Performing art: Mahshid Iraniparast
• Visual art: Ashley Gardner, Ziba Rajabi, Lopez
Artists 360 will offer a professional development conference Oct. 4-6 at the 21c Museum Hotel in Bentonville for the 40 artists in the program, Cordes said.
"When artists do projects, they have to wear every hat there is," she said.
Artists 360 works with the artists to help them develop skills in budgeting, time management, project management, goal setting and developing communications and marketing in support of their projects, Cordes said.
"Artists are creators, they're business people, they're citizens but it is a very different business model," she said. "It's a very different type of work than others."
Applications for the final 20 artists begins May 1, Cordes said.
"We like the idea of supporting them," she said of the artists participating in the program. "We look forward to seeing some of the longer term impacts of this program as this network of artists comes together."
NW News on 09/16/2019