WAC Unveils Study Findings and Previews New Play for Students

Photo Submitted

Actors Shannon Wurst, Jason Suel, and Julie Gabel perform for local elementary students in "Bear State of Mind" at Walton Arts Center

Walton Arts Center revealed new research findings from the University of Arkansas on the long-term benefits of live performance for students.

The study surveyed 2,000 seventh-grade students and found that those who took field trips to Walton Arts Center showed positive, statistical difference, both in desire to attend and participate in arts and cultural events and in their levels of empathy and tolerance. The U of A conducted a similar study for Crystal Bridges to show the short term impact of cultural experiences.

Together, these two experiments support a consistent and important finding: culturally enriching field trips have significant short and long-term benefits for students. For a synopsis of the recent WAC study, visit EducationNext.

Last week, Walton Arts Center introduced a new education tool for local schools. Bear State of Mind is an original play designed to help Kindergarten-2nd graders learn about the state of Arkansas. The production has been in development for three years and over the past two weeks, Walton Arts Center has previewed the performance to over 2,000 local students with the goal of reaching more students in the future.

Walton Arts Center has been serving local schools for 22 years and last year alone, more than 50,000 students experienced the arts through programs like the Colgate Classroom Series and Digging Up Arkansas. Out of the success of Digging Up Arkansas, which reached nearly 31,000 3^rd-5^th grade students all over Arkansas, the idea for Bear State of Mind was born.

Walton Arts Center, along with partners Trike Theatre, Northwest Arkansas playwright Ashley Edwards and songwriter Shannon Wurst, produced Bear State of Mind. The play uses experiential theater techniques, music and puppetry to meet Common Core State Learning Standards, including Arkansas history and social studies curriculums. The story is about Bear, who travels through three of Arkansas’ geographic regions and meets new friends and uncovers native wildlife, folklore and state symbols. The unique staging of the play makes the most of 5- to 8-year-olds’ natural tendency to explore their surroundings; seating them on sleeping bags under a tree canopy in a “Magical Forest” to help facilitate their physical participation in the performance.

This project is supported in part by an award from Mid-America Arts Alliance, the National Endowment for the Arts, Arkansas Arts Council, and foundations, corporations and individuals throughout Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas.