Stories by Lara Hightower

  • VIDEO: Alden Napier: Business whiz finds his niche

    Alden Napier, executive director of the nonprofit organization Credit Counseling of Arkansas, has wasted no time in making an impression on his peers. Online p…

  • Coast On In

    The Scott Family Amazeum in Bentonville, which celebrated its fourth anniversary on July 15, now finds itself right in the middle of several of the area's bike…

  • Kind-hearted kids

    Volunteerism is often the engine that keeps nonprofit organizations chugging along as they help support our community's most vulnerable neighbors. Parents of k…

  • Comfort Art

    Marie Haley and her two daughters started Art and Soul NWA Studios with one central thought in mind: anyone and everyone has an artist inside of them. Haley sa…

  • The Eye Of The Beholder

    Since Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art opened in 2011, the interest in visual arts has done nothing but expand in Northwest Arkansas. From the newly endo…

  • Date Outside The Box

    Let's face it, the basic dinner-and-a-movie date routine can get old for those that have been dating -- or married or whatever -- for a while. And for first or…

  • 'The Name Of The Game'

    Julie Gabel's first foray into the Arts Center of the Ozarks summer musical was the 1980 production of "Oklahoma!". The young singer braved the Arkansas heat -…

  • Digging In To The Story

    Arts Live's newest show, "The Hundred Dresses," has an important message about bullying and inclusion -- subjects that are particularly pertinent to the theate…

  • Community through music

    There's no experience quite like the Fayetteville Square Dance, held the last Friday of most months. (The event takes off August for the Roots Fest and Novembe…

  • 'A Destination For Opera'

    Opera in the Ozarks at Inspiration Point has been filling the hills of Eureka Springs with song since 1950, when it opened as a summer music camp. Over the las…

  • Bartus Taylor

    On a recent overcast Thursday morning in Fayetteville, Bartus Taylor has his broom in hand and is tidying the sidewalk in front of his stylish office, Buzz Eve…

  • Eric Pianalto

    Eric Pianalto, president of Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas, celebrates 25 years with the hospital system this month. When he accepted a position in 1994 at …

  • Two Women's Junk

    Around mid-morning at Amy Daniels' and Julie Speed's first flea market event -- it was late September back in 2013 -- the duo realized they had a hit on their …

  • Page To Stage

    Cressida Cowell's popular children's book "Emily Brown and the Thing" tells a story both kids and parents will find familiar -- the myriad ways a child can att…

  • Taking Art To The Streets

    Sandy Royce Martin, chairwoman of the Eureka Springs Arts Council, says that adding the Chalk Art Festival -- running May 15-18 this year -- to the venerated M…

  • Watch And Learn

    Galen Harp is passionate about juggling. Though he didn't officially discover juggling until he was an adult, the co-founder of the Institute of Jugglology pla…

  • Art For The People

    There is little doubt that Northwest Arkansas is experiencing an art boom: With Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the region has a nationally known art i…

  • From Russia with love

    If murals are something that catch your eye when you're out and about in Northwest Arkansas, then you have no doubt noticed the colorful and imaginative work o…

  • High Fashion

    Since rebooting Northwest Arkansas Fashion Week in 2017, executive director Robin Wallis Atkinson has approached each subsequent run with fresh ideas to gain f…

  • Local Girls Make Good

    Casting director Dayna Dantzler must have one of the most adorable jobs in the world: As the person who casts two local 4- to 5-year-old girls for the national…

  • Alan Fortenberry

    On a recent March morning, the beautifully landscaped campus of the Beaver Water District headquarters is overrun with school-age kids, all darting to and fro …

  • Housewarming gifts

    If you look out of the wide, west-facing plate glass window on the third floor of TheatreSquared's new, state-of-the-art, 50,000-square-foot facility, you're g…

  • Amber Perrodin

    With her girl-next-door appearance, bubbly-but-erudite conversation and commitment to Springdale, Amber Perrodin is the very model of a hometown girl.

  • Seeking Sovereignty

    The University of Arkansas, Crystal Bridges and TheatreSquared are collaborating on a host of theater, art and history events surrounding a reading of Mary Kat…

  • Learning By Doing

    Pilot Arts Theatre founder and executive director Missy Gipson is no stranger to kids' musicals: Gipson also serves as executive director for Fort Smith's olde…

  • A Good Hair Day

    River Valley and Northwest Arkansas audiences will have a chance to see theater performed by an internationally known company when the Alma Performing Arts Cen…

  • E. Philip Trapp

    In his 95 years on Earth, E. Philip Trapp, University of Arkansas professor emeritus of clinical psychology, has seen a few things.

  • Tangled Web Woven

    Evan Crawford, director of the upcoming production of "A Murder Is Announced" at the Arts Center of the Ozarks, is very familiar with author Agatha Christie an…

  • Brains and a beautiful voice

    Ashtyn Barbaree's wide smile, facility with a ukulele and beautiful singing voice are familiar to anyone who regularly visits the Fayetteville Farmers' Market …

  • VIDEO: Donna and Kelly Mulhollan

    There are few people that appreciate the lush landscapes, quirky history and eccentric characters of the Ozarks more than Kelly and Donna Mulhollan. The music …

  • Mike Rusch

    Mike Rusch has a clear memory of when he realized what it meant to do volunteer work for others instead of volunteering to just make himself feel good.

  • Little pieces of home

    The temptation to escape the crowds, stay warm in chilly weather and remain in your jammies can be seductive. But if you shop by the light of your computer, yo…

  • Mark Kinion

    Mark Kinion is the very definition of a hometown boy. Kinion grew up in Prairie Grove, and a conversation about his history in the Washington County area will …

  • Once More For Christmas

    Amy Daniels and Julie Speed had a good thing going. With five years of experience under their belts, the co-creators of The Junk Ranch -- Northwest Arkansas' l…

  • Days of thanksgiving

    When Jessica McClard launched the concept of the Little Free Pantry, she did more than help feed her community -- she inspired a global movement.

  • Alice Driver

    Arkansas-born journalist Alice Driver has been traveling, off and on, with the asylum-seekers that have been trekking from Central America toward the United St…

  • 'Tis The Season

    From pictures with Santa Claus to dazzling light displays, Northwest Arkansas has more to offer during the holiday season than you can shake a reindeer tail at!

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