Interview Nick Leopoulos, Executive Director of the Thea Foundation
Nick Leopoulos is a Little Rock native who earned an BFA in photography and an MA in Arts Administration from the Savannah College of Art and Design. He returned to North Little Rock in 2011 to serve as the Assistant Director of Thea Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to supporting arts education in schools across Arkansas. In 2019 Nick became Thea’s Executive Director.
AAS: Nick, tell me about yourself and your role at the Thea Foundation.
NL: Before becoming executive director of Thea Foundation in 2019, I served as assistant director of the organization, overseeing programming, gallery events, and aiding in fundraising when needed. I was hired by the board of directors of the Foundation in 2011, after returning to Arkansas from Georgia to work at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre for Bob Hupp. I attended the U of A Fayetteville in the early 2000’s before moving to Savannah, Georgia to earn a BFA in photography and an MA in Arts Administration from the Savannah College of Art and Design. I am a product of both the LRSD and NLRSD where I’ve experienced incredible art teachers that set me on a path to pursue an education and profession in the arts.
AAS: How did Thea Foundation come into being?
NL: Thea Foundation was started in 2001 by my parents, Paul and Linda Leopoulos, after discovering that my sister Thea, who had traditionally not excelled in school, found renewed life and enthusiasm in education thanks to her involvement in a large number of arts courses at her high school. After stumbling into this revelation, Paul and Linda created the organization to champion the arts in schools and find ways to support those classes when the trend was to defund or outright remove them entirely from the school day.
AAS: What kinds of activities is Thea involved in?
NL: Early in the life of the organization, Paul and Linda identified the best way to support teacher’s and student’s creative endeavors, through grants and scholarships specifically aimed at giving teachers new creative possibilities in their classrooms and students the opportunities to realize their potential in higher education. The programs have always been geared to serve the arts community within the system of education first but have grown to include support for all teachers seeking more creative ways to engage their students through the inclusion of the arts. Thea also works with cultural institutions across Arkansas to champion arts in education initiatives and independent artists hopeful to share their work with the public..
“Thea's programs are focused on creating the next generation of cultural consumers that will support a more diverse and sustainable arts landscape…”
AAS: Are you just a local organization?
NL: We started as a local organization, based in North Little Rock, supporting two seniors a year with $500 scholarships. In our 23 years of operation, we have gown to pay out more than $200,000 dollars a year in scholarships and provide hundreds of thousands more in materials support each year to art departments and creative teachers in every corner of the state.
AAS: You mentioned the board of directors. It is quite an impressive board made up of civic leaders, philanthropists and artisans like Bryant Phelan, who I recently interviewed. What is the role of the board within the organization?
NL: The role of Thea's board is fairly typical but made up of a myriad of professionals that provide support for the organization in a variety of ways. They provide sound advice, financial support, assist with engagement, but most importantly believe in and share the Foundation's mission. Most of our board members are directly connected to the arts and have a deep understanding for the transformative power arts education can have on students. Take, for example, Bryant Phelan. Bryant is a fashion designer known for his hand-crafted, luxury leather goods, and a dedicated Thea board member. He is always excited to share our stories, introduce people to our work, volunteer to judge our scholarship competition, and share the impact of the arts on his life and career. It is the support of Bryant and his co-board members that make the work we do every day possible.
AAS: So many of the artists and teachers I’ve interviewed have mentioned the impact Thea and its programs have had on them, especially Thea’s exhibition space. Tell me about the facilities and exhibition space at Thea.
Jeff Horton exhibition in the Thea Gallery, November 2023.
NL: Our offices and gallery are located at 4th and Main in North Little Rock, and we are incredibly fortunate to be the owners of the building that our offices and gallery are housed in. We moved into our location in 2009 and have served as the foundation for North Little Rock’s creative endeavors for the Argenta neighborhood ever since. We’ve produced many arts festivals and happenings that have seen some of the state’s greatest artists exhibit in our gallery and right outside our doors on Main Street. This has successfully attracted other creative businesses that continue to add to the fabric of the neighborhood.
We have put our gallery to good use by hosting many school shows, independent artists, national organizations, summer workshops, and much more for the benefit of our community. We reserve April and May each spring to exhibit work produced from one of our programs, Arts Reconstruction. It is a beautiful show in which the students and teachers that participate in the program get to exhibit the work they create side by side. This is something that’s rather unique in the world of arts education, and a chance for everyone to see how much of an impact our teachers and arts programs are having on the development of our students.
We have something in our gallery almost every month of the year and are proud of the fact that we attract visitors from all over the state that are curious to see what new works we have in our space. We have a full schedule this summer, with artists Brianna Peterson exhibiting in June, the Arkansas Pastel Society exhibiting in July, and Crystal Mercer exhibiting in August.
Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School teachers Rodney Bailey (bottom left) and Matt TerAvest (bottom right) pose with students from Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School. Students presented their work at the Creative Collective exhibit this past April and May. This annual show highlights work from the participants of the Arts Reconstruction program.
AAS: I did not realize Thea offers student scholarships in more than just the visual arts. Tell me about all the different student scholarship areas Thea supports.
NL: The scholarship program is our oldest program and started by offering two $500 visual arts scholarships to Thea’s graduating class of 2002. It has since grown to pay out more than $200,000 a year through the categories of visual arts, performing arts, creative writing, film, and fashion design. They are very competitive but offer students an opportunity to pursue their hopes and aspirations in higher education without the burden of test scores and any other criteria that are often used to define how smart a student is. Students that earn a scholarship from Thea Foundation do not have to major in the arts and often carry their experience of winning one with them as proof that creative endeavors should play a role in the construction of a full and meaningful life.
AAS: Thea also supports two areas directed toward art teachers. The first is the Art Reconstruction program. What does that program support?
Central High Art Department chair Rex DeLoney participating in our Arts Reconstruction professional development at Robinson High School last summer.
NL: The Arts Reconstruction program is special. Teachers that are selected to participate receive large capital investments in their classrooms that they wouldn’t ordinarily receive, as well as meaningful professional development geared specifically towards advancing their knowledge in an array of media. These are two areas of an art teacher’s life that are often left unfulfilled. Teachers are excited to engage in new and difficult thinking in their classrooms and aren’t given the chance because of a total lack of resources. We aim to address those issues and hope to grow this program and serve more teachers.
AAS: One of the programs I am most excited about is the Thea’s Art Closet. Tell me more about that program and its partners.
Parkview High School students working with supplies and materials from Thea’s Art Closet.
NL: Thea’s Art Closet was the second program established more than fifteen years ago and was a literal closet in one of North Little Rock High School’s art rooms that teachers could pick through for materials they might need. Everything was donated and most things were partially used. Today, thanks to the help of one of our most ardent supporters, the Windgate Foundation, we can connect teachers with more than $400,000 of creative materials each year.
We operate this grant program through an organization named Donors Choose. It’s an incredible money raising resource for teachers in public education to utilize so that they can get what they need to engage their students with creative lesson planning. All they need to do is visit the Thea’s Art Closet webpage on our website to learn just how to go about receiving one of our grants.
AAS: What is the process for students and teachers who want to apply to these programs?
NL: If students and teachers are looking to learn more about our scholarships and grants, I would encourage them to visit our website www.theafoundation.org to learn more. Everything you need to know is there!
11. AAS: What ways can readers support Thea and its programs?
NL: We are always excited to connect with new people interested in our mission and vision. I would ask those curious about our work to invest in reading through our website, sign up for our newsletters, and follow us on our social media accounts. We understand that everyone is inundated with requests and distractions, but we want you to get to know us first and through the work we are accomplishing in schools across the state. Come see one of Arkansas’s best artists at one of our Art Department shows, come see the student work on display in our gallery, then seek out a friend or family member that has been impacted by the arts. I guarantee that you won’t have to search long for a beautiful story or work hard to relate to its emotive power.
When you have come to understand the gravity of what we’re investing in, then I would ask that you support us by donating to our cause. We are incredibly grateful for all of the individuals, businesses, and organizations that support our work across the state, and take great care in being a resource for teachers in the long term.
AAS: Where do you see Thea Foundation in the greater art scene of Arkansas?
NL: Currently, there is an unprecedented buildup of arts engagement across our state for those that have resources to travel to a place and experience a beautiful building or work on display, but there are still major barriers keeping most Arkansas students from accessing those experiences or finding their voices through participation in the arts. Thea's programs are focused on creating the next generation of cultural consumers that will support a more diverse and sustainable arts landscape by funding arts engagement in their classrooms and continuously advocating the importance of the arts in the development of Arkansas’s youth to all that are willing to listen.
