Guest Blog by Scott Galbraith, vice president of programming and executive producer for Walton Arts Center
Diversity has long been a hallmark of Walton Arts Center’s programming (what we put on stage), and it’s one aspect of our work that always excites me. Our mission is all about bringing great performing artists from around the world to Northwest Arkansas, and that commits us to showcasing a wide array of people, cultures and art forms.
Our 10x10 Arts Series is known throughout the industry for the diversity it represents. Just last season, 10x10 included Nobuntu, a female a capella ensemble from Zimbabwe; Tiempo Libre, a three-time Grammy®-nominated Afro-Caribbean band; Socks in the Frying Pan, a rollicking Irish folk trio; and The Nature of Forgetting, a poignant dance-theatre performance from London. Had the season not been interrupted by the pandemic, 10x10 would also have kicked off the first U.S. tour of Punya Dance Company, a classical ensemble from Bangalore.
Nobuntu performing on a local TV show during their visit to Northwest Arkansas.
But 10x10 isn’t the only series to represent artists and cultures from around the globe. Our Colgate Classroom Series, which annually serves tens of thousands of NWA students, regularly features artists from Australia, Europe and Asia. The Starrlight Jazz series recently presented ASPADA, an ensemble that explored the synchronicity between American Jazz and classical Indian music. Martha Redbone, an American blues and soul singer whose ancestry is Cherokee-Choctaw-European-African American, appeared as part of our West Street Live series. Our last P&G Broadway Series included Once On This Island, an epic love story that’s complicated by colorism in the Caribbean. The Broadway Series (pre-COVID) was also scheduled to feature The Band’s Visit, which shows how the ancient divide between Egyptians and Israelis was bridged by a shared love of music. And we were also preparing to present America’s acclaimed transgender modern dance choreographer, Sean Dorsey Dance Company.
But diversity in the arts doesn’t end with race, gender or ethnicity. Rather, it leads us to explore different artistic disciplines, styles and genres. Our palate includes dance, theatre, music, puppetry, film, contemporary circus, etc. And just within music, there are both classical and contemporary forms, jazz, gospel, roots, zydeco, klezmer – the list goes on.
Mosaix Festival, originally scheduled for Spring 2020, highlighted the arts and culture of India in Northwest Arkansas.
All of which is to say, our work as programmers is never dull! We’re constantly being exposed to artists and art forms that are unfamiliar. Our work isn’t easy, either, since we’re often making decisions outside our areas of expertise. Thankfully, we have a vast network of industry colleagues who freely share their insights, expertise and experiences. And, since we live in a community where more than 50 languages are spoken, we’re forever forging new relationships to help us understand and appreciate the cultural expressions that are meaningful to our neighbors.
Our new Mosaix Festival, which was delayed by COVID-19, was curated just that way. The focus of the first Mosaix was India, and we started two years ago listening to a group of advisors from the NWA Indian community to help inform what we would present. We are continuing to learn about the regions of South Asia from which our neighbors emigrated; the art forms, foods, and customs of those regions; and even the cultural connections they want to create for their first-generation American children.
At the end of the day, diversity at Walton Arts Center is both a goal and a way of life. Every person on this earth has roughly 99% of the same DNA and yet, too often, we allow divisions to grow based on skin color, culture or beliefs. For us, diversity is about showcasing, understanding and reveling in what makes people unique. Doing that together is what it is all about.