Collecting History

The Arkansas Arts Center's steadily growing collection ultimately belongs to the people of Arkansas, and thanks to the support of the biannual fundraiser, Tabriz, executive director Nan Plummer expects to see continued growth. “When a work of art comes into our collection, the presumption is that it's here forever,” she says. “We have promised to take care of it for you forever, and that's a very big promise. It's a covenant.”

For over 30 years, central Arkansas' premier museum space, located in MacArthur Park in Little Rock, has been acquiring a nationally recognized collection of drawings and contemporary crafts. As Plummer explains, preserving these delicate pieces (particularly the light-sensitive paper drawings) for future generations of Arkansans requires careful attention. “Part of taking care of a piece of art means protecting it from theft and invisible enemies like light, heat, too much humidity, not enough humidity and fluctuations in temperature,” she says. “We work very hard to keep the climate stable.”

With a large archive of coveted pieces—drawings by Cézanne, Van Gogh, O'Keeffe and Rembrandt; craft objects by Albert Paley and Dorothy Gill Barnes—and a facility on par with other major regional museums, the Arts Center has the curatorial ability to bring impressive traveling exhibits to Arkansas. “Exhibitions from our collection have gone to New York, Paris and Japan, and the world comes to Arkansas through the exhibits we bring here,” says Plummer. In the past two years alone, the Arts Center has hosted an exhibition of major works by Picasso, a display of contemporary art glass, including works by Tiffany and Chihuly, and a one-of-a-kind showing of Andy Warhol pieces. Augmenting the Center's already impressive permanent collection, these exhibits helped to attract an estimated 291,000 visitors last year, which is more visitors than the Whitney Museum of American Art in Manhattan, Plummer points out proudly.

While the Arts Center takes its charge to protect the treasured works of art entrusted to its keeping seriously, the organization's mission also mandates making those works available to as many Arkansans as possible. Through its ArtMobile and travelling Tell-a-Tale children's theater troupe, the Arts Center reaches an additional 400,000 Arkansans every year, traversing the state to bring the arts to the community. “We really believe in being inclusive—that's part of our heritage as a statewide organization,” Plummer says.

The Center's on-site Museum School provides another way for art enthusiasts to learn from the masterworks in its collection. A non-degree-granting studio school with 3,000 students, the Museum School offers children's and adult courses in ceramics, photography, woodworking, drawing, painting, watercolors and jewelry making. “We offer a wonderful combination of a relaxed, friendly atmosphere with very, very good teachers,” she says. “And students also benefit from the example of all the great artworks on-site. It's wonderful for growing artists to have the museum at their fingertips to get inspiration.”

Producing traveling exhibits, operating a full curriculum of studio classes and expanding a permanent collection of artwork is quite a resource-intensive process, and although the Arts Center receives thousands of volunteer hours from devoted patrons and some funding from local government, the organization relies on the support of donors and special events to maintain its current programs and acquire new artworks. 

On March 5th and 7th, the Arkansas Arts Center's signature fundraiser, Tabriz, will draw an estimated 2,400 guests for two nights of artistic revelry, to benefit the Center's educational programming and to fund the acquisitions of new permanent pieces. Named for an ancient Persian market city, the biennial event's main attractions are its live and silent art auctions. “Tabriz could not happen without the support of the donating artists,” says Bonner. “The event is all about quality art. The second part of the equation is the people from all over the state who come to Tabriz.  It's a win-win situation for all.” Proceeds from the 2007 Tabriz—almost $800,000—afforded the purchase of a number of new works, including a Matisse drawing and a three-dimensional art glass installation by Beth Lipman.

2009 Tabriz features a casual, high-energy silent auction on Thursday night, while the opulent Saturday night gala, a perennial sellout, features a seated dinner, dancing, and live and silent auctions of artwork donated by artists to benefit the Center.