By Dustin Duke
Little Rock Free Press Volume 9, Issue 15
December, 2001
The Arkansas Community Arts Collective (ACAC) is a new group in central Arkansas working on promoting the arts and getting folks involved in creating their own art and music. According to ACAC member Mark Lewis, the collective wants to bring together youth and others interested in creating art in a space where they can show off their talents and learn from each other. “That’s essentially why we are doing this, to allow anyone with creative initiative to use our space and resources to take on their own projects,” said Lewis.
The ACAC does not yet have a space of their own but they are working on it. “Eventually we plan on buying our own place but we’ll have to start out renting somewhere. We’re still in the beginning stages, but we’re pretty optimistic,” Lewis said.
Lewis and other ACAC members are familiar with what it takes to get a project like this off the ground. Members of the group were responsible for Das Yutes, which ran music and art shows in the early 90’s until it was closed due to fire code violations.
After Das Yutes was closed in October of 1995 the group began meeting to determine how they could get the funding for a better location. They decided the way to go was to form a non-profit, tax exempt organization and begin soliciting funds from foundations and private donors. “It was pretty disappointing when Das Yutes was closed but we’ve learned a lot since then and we think we’re on the right track this time,” Lewis said.
The group has been focusing its attentions on getting a tax exempt designation from the IRS. “We’re almost there,” Lewis said. “Once we have tax exempt status it will be a lot easier to obtain grants and funding.” That’s basically our first step. After that things should be a lot easier,” he continued.
The Arkansas Community Arts Collective will host a benefit show Wednesday, December 26 at 9:00 p.m. at Juanita’s in Little Rock. The show will feature local artists: Magic Crop Dusters, Hot Karl and the Cleveland Steamers, Devil Doll, and David Dean from Two Dean Crew. Cover is five dollars. Check out their website at www.acacarkansas.org or contact Mark Lewis at (501) 612-3311.
