Walton Arts Center

The Walton Arts Center may be the busiest place in Fayetteville after 10 years of steadily increasing service to northwest Arkansas.

“We serve about 150,000 people each year,” said Anita K. Scism, the center’s president and CEO. “We have over 700 events a year.”

Many of the center’s presentations are aimed at education, reaching about 40,000 of the area’s school children every year.

“We present a very extensive education program,” Scism said. The Arts Center supplies guidebooks for teachers before a production to increase educational value, she added. The center also presents a variety of art forms, including jazz, dance, Broadway productions and holiday specials. Classes include photography, clay, metals, drawing and painting and theater.

With the help of corporate sponsorships, the center has been able to present some very popular, very expensive entertainment acts. Last year, comedian and actor Bill Cosby and legendary singer Tony Bennett appeared.

“We could not present them if not for [corporate] sponsorship,” Scism said.

Scism worked in banking and at a law firm before joining the Arts Center in 1991 as director of financial affairs. She served as senior vice president for two years before assuming the president /CEO title in 1998. She directs a staff of 45 and works with the 20-member board of directors.

“My primary responsibility is ensuring the financial stability of the organization and guiding our staff toward the goals set out by the board,” she said.

The center has hired a New York consulting firm, the North Group, to help with strategic planning, Scism said.

“We want to keep up with what northwest Arkansas wants us to be,” she said.