In Fort Smith, Arkansas, a place for creativity is rising, casting its light on an entire community. The Community School for the Arts, nestled by the riverfront, looks forward to transformative changes thanks to $5 million in funding through the federal New Markets Tax Credit program. The NMTC program is designed to attract private-sector capital investments into the nation’s urban and rural low-income areas in an effort to help expand access to quality jobs, healthcare, education, and other critical services in those communities.
This landmark investment is a significant milestone for the city of Fort Smith, which is benefitting from its first NMTC investment.
HOPE joined three other community development financial institutions and banks to finance the completion of the 42,000-square-foot facility set to open this August.
The Center for Creative Arts will serve as a beacon of artistic excellence, offering inclusive arts education for young children through high school. CSA, established in 2016, offers after-school, evening, and weekend programs for youth of all ages and skill levels taught by professional artists. The high school, called the Institute for the Creative Arts, is the first of its kind in Arkansas and will be housed in CSA’s Center for the Creative Arts. As a public charter school, the Institute is tuition-free and open to all students. The Institute will combine a rigorous college preparatory academic program with pre-professional training in the arts, which will include music, theatre, dance, visual art, film, and culinary.