The Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission awarded a total of $182,828 to help fund 22 projects during its regular fall funding discussion meeting Monday afternoon.
As usual, the top amounts went to those groups who consistently bring in large amounts of people from outside the city including Arkansas High School Coaches All Star Games ($30,000) and Coaches Clinic ($27,500), and TheatreSquared ($20,000).
Awards, however, are not limited to large events or those that are geared solely towards tourists. Local children’s theatre group Arts Live Theatre and local Earth Day festival organizers each received $2,000, and Uptown Fayetteville Association was given $15,000 for a 2012 Fourth of July Freedom Fireworks event.
A new event receiving help was Last Night, a New Year’s Eve celebration planned for this year on the Fayetteville square. Although the commission typically only awards money for the upcoming year during its fall funding session, an exception was made on Monday. Commissioners voted to distribute $7,000 of 2011 funds from an unused $10,000 allocation to the NCAA baseball regional tournament which didn’t end up coming to Fayetteville this year.
Officials with Fayetteville Underground, who originally requested $45,000 to help move the gallery from East Square Plaza to a new location, withdrew their request after voting to dissolve the organization.
Below is a breakdown of what each organizer asked for and how much they were awarded, followed by a brief description of each event.
Fall 2011 Fayetteville A&P Funding Awards
| Date | Event | Request | Award |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec. 31, 2011 | Last Night | $19,500 | $7,000* |
| Feb. 23 | DECA Fashion Show | $1,800 | $1,828 |
| March 9-10 | Men’s Expo | $2,995 | $500 |
| April 7 | Iron Pig Festival | $5,000 | $2,500 |
| April 14-29 | Earth Day Festival | $8,450 | $2,000 |
| April 20-22 | 2012 SEC Women’s Golf Championships | $7,500 | $5,000 |
| April 20-21 | Fay. Foam Fest & the NWA Cheese Dip Classic | $25,000 | $6,500 |
| April 23-29 | RockIT Music Week | $24,000 | $7,000 |
| April 26-29 | Joe Martin Stage Race | $15,000 | $0** |
| May 5 | Dogwood Walk | $15,000 | $0 |
| March 7-11, May 17-20 | Arts Live Theatre | $2,000 | $2,000 |
| May 18-19 | Weekend of Champions | $12,000 | $10,000 |
| June 1-4, June 8-10 | NCAA Baseball Regional and Super Regional | $12,000 | $10,000 |
| June 17-25 | Arkansas H.S. Coaches All Star Games | $30,000 | $30,000 |
| June 21-25 | Arkansas H.S. Coaches Clinic | $27,500 | $27,500 |
| June 24 | Ozark Valley Triathlon | $5,000 | $0** |
| July 4 | Fayetteville Freedom Fireworks | $25,000 | $15,000 |
| July 26-29 | Fayetteville SCR Water-Ski Championships | $12,000 | $5,000 |
| Last weekend of July | Word Camp | $2,000 | $1,000 |
| Aug. 30 | Hooten High School Football game | $18,000 | $7,000 |
| Sept. 6 | FEST of ALL | $3,000 | $0** |
| Sept. 22 | Tri-State Volleyball Challenge | $3,000 | $3,000 |
| Oct. 12 | Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival | $20,000 | $0** |
| Arkansas Entertainers Walk of Fame | $5,000 | $0 | |
| Mural Project | $13,000 | $5,000 | |
| Northwest Arkansas Community Creative Center | $10,000 | $5,000 | |
| Ozark Military Museum | $10,000 | $0** | |
| TheatreSquared | $30,000 | $20,000 | |
| Washington County Fair Livestock Arena | $25,000 | $10,000 | Totals | $388,745 | $182,828* |
* Funds for the Last Night event will come from the 2011 budget.
** These groups were not allocated any event funding cash, but will receive Fayetteville advertising tie-in promotion at various times throughout the year.
Project Descriptions
Last Night Fayetteville
Creative Economy Action Group, Inc. requests funding help for a New Year’s Eve celebration on the Fayetteville Square with multiple activities including the Hog Drop countdown to midnight and a fireworks finale.
DECA Fashion Show
Fayetteville High School would like help to rent the Fayetteville Town Center for the 10th annual DECA Fashion Show, a February 2012 community service event benefiting Arkansas Children’s Hospital.
NWA Men’s Expo
Big Hats Consulting is requesting marketing funds for a March 2012 event at the Washington County Fairgrounds for men including a golf expo as well as activities related to “health and wellness, cooking and entertainment, sports, leisure and life style.”
Iron Pig Festival
All Sports Productions is requesting funds to help with the 4th annual Iron Pig Festival to be held in April 2012. The event features a duathlon, a 5K run and an 18-mile bike time trial.
Earth Day Festival
Treadwell Institute is requesting help for another set of Earth Day-related events in Fayetteville in April 2012.
2012 SEC Women’s Golf Championships
The University of Arkansas Athletics Department would like funding help to promote and offset expenses related to its hosting of the 2012 SEC Women’s Golf Championship in April 2012.
Fayetteville Foam Fest & NWA Cheese Dip Classic
Arkansas Convention & Event Marketing, Inc. requests funding assistance for advertising costs, merchandising, and website development for the Fayetteville Foam Fest & NWA Cheese Dip Classic to be held in late April 2012.
RockIT Music Week
NAMA organizers are requesting help for a weeklong music event in April 2012 that includes seminars, performances and a vendor fair.
Joe Martin Stage Race
All Sports Productions is requesting help for expenses related to the 2012 Joe Martin Stage Race to be held in April 2012.
Dogwood Walk
The Humane Society of the Ozarks would like help paying expenses required for the 20th annual Dogwood Walk including t-shirts, goody bags, tent rentals, tables, chairs, posters, registration forms, brochures, marketing and entertainment.
Arts Live Theatre
Arts Live Theatre would use any funds distributed towards the fourth second stage production The Bridge To Terabithia and the main stage production Honk!.
Weekend of Champions
Fayetteville High School is requesting help for the 14th annual Weekend of Champions event in May 2012 which includes baseball and fast pitch softball games.
NCAA Baseball Regional and Super Regional
The University of Arkansas Athletics Department would like help promoting the 2012 NCAA Baseball Regional and Super Regional (if held) in June 2012.
Arkansas H.S. Coaches All Star Games
The Arkansas Activities Association is requesting funds to go towards the 2012 AAA All Star Games held in June at various UA athletics facilities for over 600 girls and boys coaches and athletes from all over the state.
Arkansas H.S. Coaches Clinic
The Arkansas Activities Association is requesting help funding the 57th annual ASHCA Coaches Clinic and golf tournament, an event held in June 2012 which draws an estimated 1,500 Arkansas coaches.
Ozark Valley Triathlon
All Sports Productions is requesting money to help fund the 2012 Ozark Valley Triathlon, an event held in June which began in 2003 and expects attendance of about 450 participants.
Fayetteville Freedom Fireworks
Uptown Fayetteville Association Inc. would like help funding the promotion of a Fourth of July Freedom Fireworks celebration in 2012.
Fayetteville SCR Water Ski Championships
The Cedar Creek Water Ski Park requests funding assistance for the 2012 South Central Regional Water-ski Championships, a 300+ competitor event held in late July.
WordCamp
WordCamp Fayetteville is requesting financial help promoting the third year of its July conference that teaches people about WordPress, an open source online content management system.
Hooten high school football game
Hooten Publishing, Inc. requests help to fund two high school football games in late August 2012.
Fest of All
The City of Fayettevil Ie Community Services Division would like help funding the 2nd annual FEST of ALL celebration of cultures in the Ozarks.
Tri-State Volleyball Challenge
Fayetteville High School is requesting financial help to host the Tri-State Volleyball Challenge volleyball tournament at Arkansas Athletes Outreach facility in September 2012.
Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival
Chile Pepper, Inc. would like help funding the Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival, a 23-year-old running event held in October designed to raise money for area high school cross country programs.
Arkansas Entertainers Walk of Fame
Arkansas Entertainers, Inc. is requesting help to launch a new annual event commemorating Arkansas entertainers that would include an induction reception/concert and the installation of bronze emblems of famous Arkansans in the sidewalks along Dickson Street based on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Mural Project
Matt Miller is requesting advertising help for a launch event for his ongoing mural projects.
Northwest Arkansas Community Creative Center
NWACCC is requesting funding support for its 2012 marketing efforts.
Ozark Military Museum
Ozark Military Museum would like financial assistance for advertising and restoration of museum artifacts.
TheatreSquared
TheatreSquared is requesting sponsorship help for marketing its 2012 season.
Washington County Fair Livestock Arena
The Washington County Fair Association would like financial assistance to renovate its Livestock Arena.
There is no way we should be giving UofA events money.
How disappointing!!!
I see that a well established event like the Dogwood Walk (and Humane Society) was totally shut out while sports events (especially high school related, but also NCAA level sports events) reign supreme. Kinda ironic given the hard lessons we are all learning about kneeling too exclusively at the altar of sports.
Yes, I’m sure everyone wants to whine about how the pie was divided, and whose ox got gored (or not). But this disparity is so glaring, and so troubling, that it can’t be ignored.
I agree with Julie’s comments. I cannot believe that the majority of this money went to sports related events, when the Dogwood Walk actually HELPS our community and received NONE of the available funding. I am shocked and very, very disappointed.
Very disappointed that so many of the funds went to events that bring in cash to restaurants/bars/hotels instead of to programs that benefit our community’s citizens. Chile Pepper and theater programs and the Dogwood Dog Walk give back to our community with much more than just dollars. The AP people are crooks of the highest order. There is no way that there aren’t major, MAJOR shenanigans and hands in pies here. These people need to be elected by citizens and should have no conflicts of interest. I’m disgusted by their continuous lack of shame. There are many worthy events not related to big sports that could have been funded. Football, college and otherwise, is great, but as long as we continue to fund it above and beyond our arts and humanities, we will be a state of meatheads.
It IS called the Advertising and Promotion Commission, not the Community Chest. But I do agree that way too much money went to athletic events at the UA, which has more money than they know what to do with.
I am very dissapointed that the 2012 dogwalk wasn’t included! HSO has done soo much for our community.
I have to back Mr. Dooley on this one. The group was created with helping our businesses out (they are the ones who have to manage the extra tax you know).
If you don’t think they cost Benifits are there then go to the meeting and/or become a member when a spot opens up.
It only makes sense that these funds are put back into events generating more visits to Fayetteville.
I’d like to see some of the funds put towards beautification projects that might enhance Fayetteville as a destination.