Artists 360 Will Feature 11 Northwest Arkansas Artists
By Elizabeth Snell
The free event at Crystal Bridges will include performances and artist presentations
The second annual Full Circle Showcase is a free, public event highlighting the talented artists of the Artists 360 program and taking place at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art on Sunday, April 23, 2023 from 1:00–3:00 p.m.
Artists 360, a program of Mid-America Arts Alliance, provides grants and professional development opportunities for artists in Northwest Arkansas, and it has awarded $770,000 to 112 artists in the first five years of the program’s existence. Through a series of short talks and performances, 11 of these artist alumni will share their work and recent developments in their artistic practices in a public exhibition and address. Artists 360 is made possible through philanthropic support from Steuart Walton and Tom Walton through the Walton Family Foundation.
Artist and rapper Jeremiah Pickett told the audience at last year’s Full Circle event, that he had been about to give up on music as a career when he was told about Artists 360. The program of Mid-America Arts Alliance changed his life, said Pickett, who goes by BAANG, an acronym for Believe Aspire Achieve Now Go.
“I finally took one step,” BAANG said. “I took one step. I filled out the application. I did the program. And it’s changed my life.”
The following artists will present their creative work and artistic journeys in their own words in an engaging and inspirational short-presentation format.
- Robin Bruce
- Carolyn Guinzio
- Airic Hughes
- Sharon Killian (Creative Impact Award Winner 2021)
- John Rankine
- Khoulod Sawaf (Creative Impact Award Winner 2022)
- Aaron Turner
The showcase will also feature performances by
Now in its sixth year, Artists 360 highlights the talented artists of Northwest Arkansas by providing grant funding and professional development opportunities to individual artists of all disciplines in the Arkansas counties of Benton, Carroll, Crawford, Sebastian, and Washington.
Offering six $1,500 student grants, fourteen $7,500 project grants, five $15,000 Community Activator grants, and one $25,000 Creative Impact Award to artists in 2022, Artists 360 includes learning opportunities to develop entrepreneurial skills, build sustainable careers and create a network of leading regional artists in Northwest Arkansas.
Applications for the 2023-2024 grant cycle will open on May 1, 2023. For more information about the program, grant categories, and application criteria, please visit https://artists360.art.
About Walton Family Foundation
The Walton Family Foundation is, at its core, a family-led foundation. The children and grandchildren of our founders, Sam and Helen Walton, lead the foundation and create access to opportunity for people and communities. We work in three areas: improving K-12 education, protecting rivers and oceans and the communities they support, and investing in our home region of Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta. In 2018, the foundation awarded more than $595 million in grants in support of these initiatives. To learn more, visit waltonfamilyfoundation.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Photography credit: Top collage header photography by Kat Wilson. Right image features Jeremiah Pickett known as BAANG at the first Artists360 Full Circle Showcase event. Photography by Ironside Photography.