Making a Distinction: Free Events, Family Enjoyable and Conversations That Matter

At Arkansas PBS, we’re greater than what you see on display screen. Yes, we stream, put up and broadcast – however we additionally step outdoors our Conway headquarters and into the center of Arkansas communities. For almost 60 years, we’ve labored as your neighbor, creating significant connections round tales that matter. Education is on the core of every part we do, and our dedication to outreach means bringing free, accessible occasions on to the general public as a result of as public tv, we’re nothing with out the individuals we serve. Through neighborhood engagement, we don’t simply meet Arkansans – we replicate them. We are Arkansas PBS.

 “It’s important for all of our events to be open to the public because we’re public television, and we’re nothing without the public.” – Casey Sanders, Outreach Producer

Community engagement is greater than a field we examine – it’s a significant a part of our mission to teach, inform and encourage. From instructional outreach applications to particular occasions centered round nationwide programming, our group works to create alternatives that carry individuals collectively, spark curiosity and strengthen the ties that bind Arkansas communities.

Events Rooted in Education and Connection

We love assembly our viewers and supporters and studying what you watch, what you want and what extra you wish to see.

One of our many training occasions is Read To Succeed, that are enjoyable, household studying occasions designed to supply literacy assets and encourage household engagement by way of instructional actions.

“Read to Succeed is about helping families have tools that set their kids up for success. Read to Succeed also usually provides a meal, so it’s a time for a parent to sit, have a meal that they didn’t have to cook, and they can sit there and be with their child.” – Karen Walker, Community Education Manager

Our beloved Family Day occasions, at present held in Conway and Springdale, characteristic PBS KIDS costume characters, snacks for youngsters, reside leisure, hands-on youngsters’ actions and video games, and giveaways and prizes.

And, our annual Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood Sweater Drive helps our neighbors keep heat in the course of the winter months. The statewide effort serves all of Arkansas, largely rural communities, with donation factors at public libraries and neighborhood companies.

Turning National Stories into Local Conversations

Community engagement additionally means figuring out PBS content material to spark significant native dialogue. Our group creates panel discussions, screenings and particular occasions round flagship applications – connecting nationwide points to actual tales that matter to Arkansans. This distinctive strategy permits us to carry considerate, well timed conversations to communities throughout the state, reinforcing the facility of public media to convene and join.

In March, our group held a free, advance screening of “Unveiled: Daisy Bates and Johnny Cash,” an Arkansas PBS unique documentary, at Robinson Center in Little Rock, which featured a panel dialogue with company Shane Broadway, chairman of the National Statuary Hall Steering Committee; Nathan Willis, “Unveiled” director; Kevin Kresse, sculptor of the Johnny Cash standing on the U.S. Capitol; and Charles King, president of the Daisy Bates House Museum Foundation Board.

“Gospel,” the most recent historical past collection from Henry Louis Gates Jr., digs deep into the origin story of Black spirituality by way of sermon and music.

Our most important occasion in February 2024 with Mosaic Templars Cultural Center drew a standing-room-only crowd. Attendees had been handled to reside music that includes HBCU choirs, reward bands, a panel dialogue with 4 native pastors, hand-held followers harking back to church buildings way back and a bountiful grazing desk.

Stay Connected with Arkansas PBS Events

Want to affix in on the enjoyable? We invite you to comply with us and keep within the loop:

●    Sign up for our publication so that you by no means miss a possibility to affix us in your neighborhood.
●    Follow us on Eventbrite to register for upcoming occasions.
●    Visit our Events web page to see what’s coming subsequent.
●    Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, X, YouTube and LinkedIn.
●    Get front-row entry to a few of the most instructional and entertaining occasions throughout the state with Arkansas Live.
●    Tune in to state legislative proceedings, board and fee conferences, and different authorities hearings and actions with ARCAN.