At Walton Arts Center, our mission is to engage our community through inspiring arts programming. One way we pursue this goal is by promoting arts opportunities in schools across the state.
When talking with educators throughout the region, Walton Arts Center staff noticed a common thread; students were not engaging with Arkansas history. When our education team heard about this problem, they knew that the arts could help bridge the gap. So, they enlisted the expertise of Arkansas playwright Mike Thomas and Trike Theater to create Digging up Arkansas, an original play designed to teach Arkansas history to students in a new and exciting way.
Through music and interactive theater experiences, the play brings Arkansas history to life right in front of students’ eyes. The show takes distant concepts and facts and transforms them into a tangible experience that students can latch onto and learn from.
“As a non-profit, the revenue from our ticket sales, along with support from Friends of Walton Arts Center, donors and sponsors go to support educational programming that ensures the arts remain an essential part of the lives of students, teachers and families. ”
The show had its first performance in 2009 and has since been performed in each of Arkansas’ 75 counties in front of 30,000 third through fifth-grade students. From experience, we knew the show was a success because the kids loved it. However, we wanted to measure just how effective it was in meeting educational goals.
With help from professors at the University of Missouri and Texas A&M, Walton Arts Center researched how students benefited from watching Digging Up Arkansas. The published study proves what we already knew to be true - the arts can be an effective tool for engaging students and addressing their unique learning needs.
The study showed that those who had seen Digging Up Arkansas demonstrated an increase in historical context knowledge, historical empathy, interest in live theater and interest in learning history. The study also found that while increasing interest in history and theater, the show also effectively delivered the content from the state’s curriculum standards.
“These findings demonstrate that partnerships between schools and arts organizations can offer students remarkable benefits. Cultural institutions like Walton Arts Center, teaching artists and arts integration specialists can improve students’ education with experiences that schools struggle to provide on their own,” said Lauren Goodwin, vice president for learning and engagement at Walton Arts Center.
Digging Up Arkansas engaged all students who saw it, but it had an extra impact on minority students who benefited more in terms of an increased interest in arts and history. Prior studies found that historically under-served groups are less likely to be exposed to enriching arts experiences. Partnerships with performing arts organizations like Walton Arts Center are crucial to exposing students to experiences like Digging Up Arkansas. Without arts opportunities in the classroom, many students would never get to experience the benefits and joy of seeing live performing arts.
Studies show that in recent years, schools have seen a decreased emphasis on arts and humanities curriculum. As a part of our mission, Walton Arts Center stands in that gap to provide life-changing arts experiences to students.
If you want to help us do this important work, please consider becoming a Friend of Walton Arts Center or making a one-time donation.