ART INSTITUTIONS FUEL THE CREATIVE ECONOMY AND ADVANCE EQUITY
TIM HURSLEY
BY LENORE SHOULTS
The Arts & Science Center for Southeast Arkansas, Pine Bluff
16 | BLOCK, STREET & BUILDING VOLUME 7 | 2021
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rkansas’s art renaissance is unfolding across the state with some entities sprouting from new terrain and some refashioned from urban fabric. The building itself, the art within and the interaction between the institution and the community contribute to, and sometimes define, quality of place. The days of elitism are gone, with today’s art institutions functioning as catalysts across cultural, economic and social-equity sectors. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and The Momentary in Bentonville, the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in Little Rock and the Arts & Science Center for Southeast Arkansas in Pine Bluff exemplify the redevelopment potential that comes with an art institution in the neighborhood. Northwest Arkansas has seen the financial and quality-of-life impact that landed it as No. 7 on Money’s Best Places to Live 2019. Little Rock citizens voted overwhelmingly to support the expansion of the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, and donors have exceeded the initial fundraising goals, all resounding indicators of devotion to this venerable art institution. Pine Bluff’s Arts & Science Center continues its small but mighty tradition with the renovation and transformation of two historic
