Arkansas River Valley Arts Center

Mission:

The Mission Statement of the Arts Center was adopted early in its history. The mission is to create opportunities for education, participation, appreciation and enjoyment of the arts for all people.

Vision:

Our Vision is to encourage youth and adults to improve the quality of life for themselves, their families and community and strengthen their capacity to make meaningful contributions to society through art. We serve the River Valley area of Pope, Johnson and Yell counties.

The Arts Center receives support from a variety of sources. At present we receive income from business and individual memberships, Arkansas Arts Council, other corporate grants and fundraisers. The remainder is generated from class fees, commission on sales of artwork, ticket sales, workshop fees, donations for specific programs and various other miscellaneous contributions such as memorials.

One of the unique features of our Arts Center is that we have a teaching artists who is a permanent staff member. Winston Taylor joined the Arts Center in 1990. He is an outstanding potter who produces and shows his work throughout the state and nation. Winston developed the renowned "Kids-At-Art" program for which he received the Arkansas Arts Award for Arts in Education in 1993. Kids-At-Art is a dynamic program that meets the need for a fully developed multi-disciplinary art curriculum. With the assistance of Carla Swanson, Winston taught the program to all 4th and 5th grade students in the Russellville School system until the 2006-07 school year when legislation decreed that public schools must hire art teachers. Kids-At-Art is still taught as requested to private school students and home school students.