Read our Origin Story, get to know our Board of Directors,
meet our Advisor Network, and learn about how you can get involved.
Our Mission
The Center for Cultural Community builds and cultivates support for creative people.
We open avenues for assistance, provide access to knowledge,
and foster opportunities for connection.
The Birth of the CCC
From The Center for Cultural Community’s Founder, Sarah Stricklin
I first came to Little Rock in 2010. Right out of the gate, I dove headfirst into the arts community here - in fact, immediately connecting with some of the people that are now involved with the CCC. Over the years, my connections within the creative community grew and grew. We are so rich with remarkable talent and interesting work here. There was (and still is) no shortage of engaging people or imaginative creativity to capture my attention.
Something else that caught my notice was that we would periodically lose some of our brightest talents to bigger cities and more supportive creative communities. One of my closest friends ended up being one of those talents to decide to relocate. I asked her about her thinking, wondering what was motivating her to leave home. After our conversation - wherein we talked about a general lack of support, the difficulty of finding appreciation, the limits of what this community could sustain - I got to wondering whether other creative people here were thinking similar thoughts. I asked my social networks this question on July 22, 2014: “What would it take, realistically, for Little Rock to become a supportive city for artists and musicians?”
Over seven days, people posted 90 comments, sent me several private messages, and engaged in a handful of very productive arguments. Clearly people were thinking similar thoughts.
Driven to keep the momentum of our shared interest alive, I invited everyone who had shared a concrete idea to participate in an in-person discussion. 20 people gathered to talk. That first meeting ended up becoming a series of meetings with more than 50 total participants. We talked about problems with local promotion, the disconnect between artists and patrons, the dearth of working spaces for creative people, overly-limiting local permitting issues relating to the arts, and a host of other structural frustrations we could identify as holding our cultural community back.
I've been thinking about the topics that arose out of all of those discussions in the years since the question that day in July. I started talking to community partners about programs I thought could be started to help address some of the issues. I pursued a Masters degree so that I could better address some of the problems that were outside my scope of experience. And I waited until I felt I was ready to confidently attempt to make a difference.
Our community has grown since 2014. There are new and exciting initiatives to help spur our cultural growth. Local leaders are recognizing the power of the arts as a driver of quality of life. And major organizations are undertaking projects directed at supporting and enhancing our creative community.
Despite all of that growth and progress, many of the issues our local creative workers face have not changed in the decade I’ve been here. We need to look those issues squarely in the face and take action.
The Center for Cultural Community was born from the knowledge that the time for action is now. I hope you feel the same readiness that I feel to be a part of the solution.
Meet our Board of Directors
L-R: Adrienne Collins, Natasha Miller, Mike Motley
Each member of our Board of Directors represents a specialty area of expertise. They all hold advanced degrees in their fields and possess several decades of combined experience. On top of helping support the creative community with us at the CCC, our Board members are all active in our community in so many other ways. They’ve been recognized for their service and are respected leaders in their fields.
We couldn’t hope to do our work without them. Get to know these remarkable folks!
Adrienne Collins
Adrienne Collins currently serves as Director of Human Resources at Rock Region Metro. RRM is the central Arkansas public transit system that serves 3 million passengers per year in the cities of Little Rock, North Little Rock, Maumelle, Jacksonville, Sherwood, and Pulaski County. Collins began her human resources career for the US Army and the US Air Force… READ MORE
Natasha Miller
Natasha Miller is an adaptive, multifaceted Senior Accountant with a demonstrated history working in the management consulting industry preparing, analyzing, and reviewing financial reports for management, boards of directors, and auditors of multiple entities and industries on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis… READ MORE
Mike Motley
Mike Motley is the Director of Analytics at the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement. Mike has worked closely with Arkansas Medicaid and the largest private insurers in the state to design, implement and evaluate components of Arkansas’s Health Care Payment Improvement Initiative… READ MORE
Say Hi to the Advisor Network
As a central part of our efforts to provide creative workers access to the resources and information they need, we maintain a network of local artistic professionals who agree to make themselves available to their community.
Advisors represent a wide range of knowledge and include musicians, producers, visual artists, venue and gallery owners, and other leaders in the field. Community members seeking assistance with a specific issue or a particular question can reach out to us to get connected with the Advisor who can best help. Advisors provide one-on-one assistance to help put people on the right track, get started in a new direction, or lend their expertise. In cases where the need for guidance or assistance reaches beyond what can be addressed with an Advisor, we collaborate with those we serve on finding a more long-term solution.
Be a Part of Our Work
We believe that artistic work is valuable - to our society and to the individual.
We believe that artistic work is worthy of the dedication of one's time,
one's resources, and one's life.
We believe artistic workers are essential to a community.
You are invited to join us in building a better future for our creative community.
We promise to work diligently and compassionately to build a more connected,
more enriched, more empowered artistic world.
We could not hope to accomplish our vision for the future of our community without your support.
Visit the "Support" page on our website to donate now
or mail a check to PO Box 2871, Little Rock, AR 72203.
Something to note: if you donate by check, more of your generosity will reach us
since we’ll avoid any credit card processing fees!