PROFILE
By Glenda Graves | Portrait photo by Keith Branch
Anne Jackson
Creating Space for the Arts
Anne Jackson is building something bigger than a theater company — she’s building access to the arts for Northwest Arkansas. “I’m not the artist,” she said. “I like to make the art happen for other people.”
It’s a role she’s grown into over decades — part producer, part connector, part visionary and, today, executive director of Arts One Presents. It’s exactly where she belongs.
Anne was just 6 years old when she stepped into her first production. “The first theater experience I had was in South Pacific,” she said. “My dad, brother and sister were in it. I got in a costume and got out there too.”
The production took place in West Memphis, Arkansas, where she spent part of her childhood, but the impact stayed with her well beyond. “My family was involved in theater and music in some way,” Anne said. “I fell in love with both art forms from that point on.”
She stayed involved through high school and assumed theater might follow her into college. Instead, she chose a different path, studying journalism and public relations at the University of Arkansas. Still, the pull of the arts never left.
Anne’s early career took shape in the nonprofit world, where she quickly discovered her talent for organization, branding and big-picture thinking. “I began working in the nonprofit sector in 2005 with Big Brothers Big Sisters and then Single Parent Scholarship Fund of Northwest Arkansas,” she said. “I was tasked with rebranding all of the special events and fundraisers at Single Parent Scholarship Fund, and those event names remain today, which I’m proud of. So, that’s a cool legacy for me.”
It was also where she began to define her idea of excellence. “I learned so much from Jody Dilday,” she said of Single Parent Scholarship Fund’s former executive director. “That organization ran so well. It became a standard for me.”
In 2012, Anne was recruited to join Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, an opportunity that would immerse her in the art world in a way she had never experienced before. “I didn’t have a degree in art,” she said, “but I learned so, so much about art and the business of art while there.”
Her role evolved constantly. “I had several different titles,” Anne said. “I did things that I had never done before.”
She helped create travel programs, led high-profile tours and even found herself in surreal, once-in-a-lifetime moments. “Some parts of my job with Crystal Bridges were so unbelievable,” she said. “I toured President George W. Bush through the William S. Paley exhibition, and it was amazing to hear his stories about his family and his own art as we casually strolled through the gallery.”
It was here that her abilities crystallized. “Producing things became my skillset,” she said. “Be adaptive. Be resourceful. See the big picture of what success looks like at the end.”
After working with major festivals, including the Bentonville Film Festival and the Atlantic Festival in Washington, D.C., Anne found herself doing consulting work when she got a request from a friend. “A friend called and asked me to help Arts Center of the Ozarks with strategic planning,” she said.
At the time, the organization was struggling to define its future in the wake of COVID-19. “I didn’t know anything about running a theater company,” Anne said. But she knew how to ask the right questions and listen. “I had a lot of conversations about the role the theater played in the community and people’s lives.”
What she discovered was clear. “Not only is it viable, but the community wanted it,” Anne said.
Soon after, she was asked to lead it. “I didn’t even really know what I had taken on,” she said.
And there was one problem — a pretty glaring one. “The first thing a theater company needs is space,” Anne said, “and we didn’t have that.”
Anne Jackson with Arts One Presents staff Dacre Draper and Ella Thomas during the organization's The Wizard of Oz production in July 2025 (Photo by Krescent Studios)
Anne Jackson with artists David Gomez, Leah Grant, and Roxy Erickson and Arts One Presents teammate Dacre Draper at a walk-through of the new Children's Safety Center of Washington County facility in 2022
So, they got creative. The organization’s first performance, Romeo + Juliet, was staged in a parking garage in Fayetteville in spring 2022. It was unconventional yet completely aligned with Anne’s philosophy. “Art can happen anywhere, and production is production,” she said. “Be adaptive. See the big picture.”
As the organization evolved, so did its identity. No longer tied to a single building, it rebranded as Arts One Presents, a name that better reflected its mission. “We are a different organization operationally than what we were originally,” she said. “But we want to keep the spirit of the Arts Center of the Ozarks.”
A partnership with Springdale Public Schools gave Arts One access to a professional stage at Don Tyson School of Innovation and opened the door to something bigger. Its first summer production, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, revealed the depth of local talent. “It was beyond what I expected,” Anne said. “Just unbelievable talent.”
What followed was rapid growth. “We’ve grown the program now to three large musicals per year,” Anne said.
Youth involvement came naturally. “We weren’t trying to compete with youth theaters,” she said. “But naturally, more and more youth were interested in participating on the stage and behind the scenes on our larger productions. By Beauty and the Beast, nearly half the cast was under 18. Organically, it just grew and grew.”
Today, Arts One operates with a level of professionalism that surprises even seasoned theatergoers. “People will say, ‘This is better than shows I’ve seen at professional theaters,” Anne said. “These performers, crews and orchestra members live and work here, and it is great that community theater gives them an outlet for their talent and allows the community to experience it as well.”
While theater is at the core of Arts One, its reach extends far beyond the stage. From public art installations to community-centered design projects, Anne has helped redefine what an arts organization can be.
One standout example is a collaboration with Children’s Safety Center of Washington County. Anne recalled that the organization’s executive director reached out while the center was beginning plans for a new space, hoping to incorporate artwork that would feel welcoming and create a sense of safety for the children they serve.
“All of the artwork, murals and sculptures were carefully curated and installed with the children at the forefront of our work,” Anne said. “We began planning the experience from the moment a child walked through the front doors with a ceiling installation inspired by the ribbons of paint from the children’s handprints. The art was integrated into the design.”
The result is a space that feels both intentional and comforting. “That was one of the most meaningful projects for us to work on,” Anne said.
Another project that captured widespread attention was a larger-than-life crocheted mushroom installation by Fayetteville artist Gina Rose Gallina. Commissioned by Arts One, the piece, aptly titled Humongous Fungus, is an immersive, walk-through sculpture modeled after a red-and-white toadstool. Made from more than 1,300 hand-crocheted squares and weighing nearly 350 pounds, it quickly became a destination. Designed to be interactive, it invites visitors to step inside and experience a sense of wonder. “People around the world have seen this mushroom,” Anne said. “It’s become so iconic and has created a lot of buzz for Gina’s work.”
For Anne, these projects are about access for the artists and the community. “I want people to experience art created by our community, for our community,” she said. “I don’t want things to sit in storage.”
That includes everything from the costume collections, regularly lent to schools and other small theater companies, to partnerships with local organizations such as the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas.
Anne Jackson sprucing up a window installation highlighting the Arts One Presents costume collection
Anne Jackson with her mother, Mary Ellen Pounds, at the Arts One Presents Empower the Arts Gala on Sept. 4, 2025, at Sassafras Springs Vineyard & Winery in Springdale (Photo by Krescent Studios)
For all its beauty, theater is labor-intensive, and Anne is quick to pull back the curtain. “The arts don’t just happen, we have to make them happen,” she said. “It takes well over 100 people to make that magic happen onstage — months of rehearsals and design work.”
And funding remains a constant challenge. “Ticket sales don’t cover all expenses for community theater,” she said. “It takes additional sponsorship, underwriting and community support.”
Still, she remains optimistic because she’s seen firsthand what the arts can do. “Think of your day,” Anne said. “If there were no art forms in it, no music, no murals, no shows — that would be pretty sad.”
At its heart, Anne’s work is about making sure everyone has a place in the audience and on the stage. That includes breaking down barriers for those often left out. “Having ASL interpretation in theater is not often a standard even for professional theater,” she said. “We believe the arts should be accessible to everyone, and as part of that commitment, we provide an ASL-interpreted performance for every production.”
She recalls one moment that made it all worthwhile. An aunt who had never been able to experience her nephew’s performances before traveled from New York, and through this accessible performance, she was finally able to share in that moment.
Moments like that are why she does what she does. “There’s nothing like watching someone experience live theater — whether for the first time or the hundredth,” Anne said. “You can see the magic reflected on their faces.”
Although Anne said she isn’t an artist, in many ways she is. She builds the framework, creates the opportunities, brings the right people together. And she sees the final vision before anyone else can. Then, quietly, behind the scenes, she makes it happen. “The arts need more support now than we ever have before,” she said.
Her ask is simple: “Buy a ticket and come to our shows.” For Anne, the magic isn’t just what happens onstage — it’s what happens when a community shows up to make it possible.