ACANSA Arts Festival

10/21/2026

Arkansas artists, here's a creative life-changing opportunity from Mid-America Arts Alliance! CATALYZE and jump on it now - the deadline is coming up quickly.

Acansa Gallery & Store

How could $10K and a year of mentorship change your studio practice? 💥

Applications for Catalyze fellowships are open through December 1 to Arkansas artists in 52 counties. Check https://www.maaa.org/programs-grants/for-artists/catalyze/ for eligibility.

10/16/2026

Join us for Opening Night of REID's solo exhibition, TIED UP: Friday, 10/16, 5 - 8 pm at Acansa Gallery & Store during Argenta Arts District's 3rd Friday Art Walk.

"REID is a surrealist acrylic painter based out of North Little Rock whose vibrant, Imaginative work invites viewers into worlds where the unexpected feels familiar. Through bold colors, playful imagery, and dreamlike compositions, he creates pieces that encourage curiosity, spark conversation, and remind people of the joy that art can bring." -

10/07/2026

Final week for artist Luis Atilano's solo exhibition!
Fiesta Nights - Fire, Color, and Stories on Canvas
Acansa Gallery & Store
413A Main Street
in North Little Rock's Argenta Arts District
UP NEXT: Reid Surreal's exhibition, Tied Up, opens at Acansa Gallery Oct. 16 during Argenta's 3rd Friday Art Walk, 5pm-8pm.
See you at the Gallery!
ACANSA.org

09/26/2026

ACANSA.org tickets almost sold out for Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light TONIGHT:
7:30pm final performance of the 11th ACANSA Arts Festival of the South
Argenta Contemporary Theatre's ACT II Sharon Heflin Performing Arts Edu Ctr
315 N Main St. in 's Argenta Arts District
"Bookish bite. Sharp harmonies. Songs about saints, scientists, and stubborn women." Get ready for tight harmonies, virtuosic musicianship and fearless storytelling! Known for lyrical "femericana" compositions, this acoustic folk trio has won the Kerrville New Folk Competition and garnered the 2025 Telluride Bluegrass Band Contest among its many accolades. Tune into the America Folklife Center where their Library of Congress performance is preserved, or better yet, hear them intimately at ACT II in the Argenta Arts District as we bid a fond farewell to the 11th ACANSA Arts Festival of the South.
Rachel's song “Radium Girls (Curie Eleison)” has been streamed hundreds of thousands of times, tattooed on arms, sung in audition rooms, taught in classrooms, and quietly passed from one curious listener to another. Like much of Sumner’s work, it doesn’t simply tell a forgotten story—it asks why we forgot it in the first place, and who benefits from that forgetting.

The 11th ACANSA Arts Festival of the South is presented by ATG USA with major support from the Gadberry Family, Cynthia & Walter Mashburn, the Heflin Family and Legacy Termite & Pest, as well as individuals, businesses and foundations.
B/W photo by Orion Willits Photography

09/26/2026

King Cabbage Brass Band is sounding fabulous, raising the roof and getting folks into their weekend boogie at the beautiful and hospitable CALS Ron Robinson Theater in downtown Little Rock.

Visit ACANSA.org to see the final performance of the 11th ACANSA Arts Festival of the South TOMORROW, 9/26: Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light in Argenta Contemporary Theatre's ACT II Sharon Heflin Performing Arts Education Center in North Little Rock's Argenta Arts District. Seating is limited.

It's been an honor to bridge the arts across the Arkansas River in Little Rock and North Little Rock these past three weeks. Thank you, ATG USA, our presenting sponsor, and Charlotte & Jim Gadberry, Cynthia & Walter Mashburn, and the Heflin Family, major sponsors. We're grateful for every donor and contributor to ACANSA - we couldn't do it without you and our fantastic audiences! ❤️

09/22/2026

ACANSA.org greets Boston-based string band RACHEL SUMNER & TRAVELING LIGHT and bids a fond farewell to the 11th ACANSA Arts Festival of the South:
Saturday, September 26 | 7:30pm
Argenta Contemporary Theatre's ACT II Sharon Heflin Performing Arts Education Center
315 N Main St Suite A, North Little Rock, AR 72114
“Bookish bite. Sharp harmonies. Songs about saints, scientists, and stubborn women.”
Get ready for virtuosic musicianship and fearless storytelling! This acoustic folk trio has won the Kerrville New Folk Competition and garnered the 2025 Telluride Bluegrass Band Contest among its many accolades. Tune into the America Folklife Center where their Library of Congress performance is preserved, or better yet, hear them intimately at ACT II in the Argenta Arts District. Sharp-edged Americana with a splash of feminine fury, the trio's sound is spare and intimate, sometimes eerie, sometimes sweet, always intentional. Rachel Sumner "merges old and new, with a slyly modern acoustic arrangement."

The 11th ACANSA Arts Festival of the South is presented ATG USA with major support from the Gadberry Family, Cynthia & Walter Mashburn, the Heflin Family and Legacy Termite & Pest Control.

09/22/2026

This Thursday, see DEMENTIA MAN - An Existential Journey as ACANSA.org presents the final week of the 11th ACANSA Arts Festival of the South.
Thurs., 9/24 @ 7:30 PM
AMFA Performing Arts Theater
in partnership with Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts
After decades as a tireless advocate for justice and social change, SAMUEL A. SIMON FACES THE MOST PERSONAL FIGHT OF HIS LIFE: the slow, undeniable progression of cognitive decline. When the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease comes, he refuses to fade quietly. Is it possible to believe in a meaningful future with a neurocognitive disease? Using his own experience as inspiration to reshape the narrative surrounding cognitive decline, Sam defies stereotypes and inspires audiences.
2023 Dementia Arts Impact Award
Literary Titan Book Award
Winner, International Impact Book Awards
The 11th ACANSA Arts Festival of the South is presented by with major support from the Gadberry Family, Cynthia & Walter Mashburn, the Heflin Family and .

09/20/2026

Visit ACANSA.org for tickets to see The King Cabbage Brass Band Friday, 9/25, at CALS Ron Robinson Theater in Little Rock. This jukebox of funk, soul, jazz and R&B transcends genre boundaries and brings you to your feet! “The energy of their live show is spontaneous, infectious and above all, incredibly fun.”
KCBB is dedicated to honoring the originators of brass band music, and there's no doubt, they start a party wherever they land.

The 11th ACANSA Arts Festival of the South is presented by ATG USA with major support from the Gadberry Family, Cynthia & Walter Mashburn, the Heflin Family and Termite & Pest Control.

[ACANSA has no affiliation with the Central Arkansas Library System and our use of CALS Ron Robinson Theater does not constitute CALS’ endorsement of our agenda, mission, beliefs, viewpoints or policies.]

09/20/2026

Final call for ACANSA.org's festival showing of The Wonder Bread Years TODAY AT 2PM at Argenta Contemporary Theatre. Some tickets will be available at the door. If you're into Boomer humor, or grew up in the '50s, '60s and '70s, or just feel nostalgic for the mid-20th century, you "knead" The Wonder Bread Years. You'll never find a funnier, fresher slice of Americana! Join us for cereal snacks and more laughs during the post-show Community Q&A Talkback.
This project is generously funded by Mid-America Arts Alliance, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the state arts agencies of Arkansas, Kansasm Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas. Thank you, Mid-America Arts Alliance!