While Northwest Arkansas has made a name for its rough, wild biking trails and outdoor sports potential, few consider it a cultural or business hub. However, Northwest Arkansas recently saw a large number of award winners and nominees coming from the area.
There have been many recent award winners in Northwest Arkansas — in the food and hospitality industry, art space, and business world. Some of the recent award winners include Yeyo’s, TheaterSquared, JB Hunt and Tyson, and art and architecture installations in Fayetteville and Rogers.
In the rest of this article, I’ll discuss these businesses and art installations and explain why they won an award. I’ll also let you know a bit more about the awards themselves.
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1. Yeyo’s James Beard Award
The first award we have to talk about is the James Beard Award which Yeyo’s owner has been nominated for. This award is given to restaurateurs in the South, so it’s pretty cool that Yeyo’s owner got nominated for it.
He’ll be up in Chicago soon, potentially winning the award.
I think Yeyo’s first became a national name when they made it into the New York Times’ list of Top 50 Restaurants in America. That was the moment that really put them on the map, which I think is incredibly cool.
I’ve been to Yeyo’s multiple times, and I definitely think the owner deserves this award. He’s done a fantastic job with the place, and everything from the taste of the food to its presentation is fantastic. I’m actually quite excited to see a prominent Northwest Arkansas restaurant get such an important award.
I’ve also written about Yeyo’s before and made videos on them. They’ve got great food, great ambiance, and great staff. They have a couple of different locations — my favorites are the one in downtown Bentonville on 8th street and the one in downtown Rogers.
They also have food trucks and a welcoming environment, so I highly suggest checking them out.
2. TheaterSquared
In this section, I’m actually going to talk about two awards that went to TheaterSquared. These are:
- The 2023 American Institute of Architects Design Award.
- The 2023 Institute of Theater Technology Architecture Award.
So that’s two awards for TheaterSquared.
Now, TheaterSquared is a place that I’ve always considered sort of similar to a modern marvel. I know that sounds like an exaggeration, but it really is absolutely insane.
If you don’t know what Theater Squared is, it’s a Broadway play production suite in downtown Fayetteville, next to the Walls and Art Center. So, not exactly in downtown Fayetteville, but pretty close to it.
TheaterSquared is the go-to place for any Broadway play. Basically, any Broadway play coming to Fayetteville, or Northwest Arkansas in general, plays at TheaterSquared.
Now, I consider this place pretty unique because it isn’t just a location to watch plays. It’s also about community. It’s not like you just open the door, walk into a theater, and walk back out. It’s also a place to get together as a community and build bonds.
They built the space to encourage people to meet one another, meet the actors, and really make a solid community. However, these awards aren’t about the culture but the design and architecture.
If you’ve ever been to TheaterSquared, you know that it’s an architectural marvel. It’s really a beautiful building — one of the coolest in Northwest Arkansas, in my opinion.
I’ve spoken about Northwest Arkansas’s unusual and cool architecture before when discussing places like Walton Art Center. These places have also won some incredible architecture and design awards. However, I will stick to the recent award winners in this article. If you want to learn more about other award winners, you can check out my article on some Architecture Award Winners in Northwest Arkansas.
3. Experience Fayetteville’s Art Court and Rogers Rail Yard
So the third item on this list combines two award winners in one.
- Experience Fayetteville’s Art Court
- Rogers Rail Yard
Let’s start with Experience Fayetteville’s Art Court.
Experience Fayetteville is the tourism arm of Fayetteville. They recently designed something called the Art Court. It’s a basketball court down in Dixon Street in downtown Fayetteville that they’ve covered in cool, almost trippy art.
The art consists of multiple lines and geometric swirls that make the place look wild and artistic. It’s supposed to be an art installation that’s practically part of the street, so they built a basketball court and then painted it.
Now, Northwest Arkansas is no stranger to public art pieces. There are many murals and paintings in public areas, especially along the Razorback pathway. What makes this one unique is the out-of-the-box thinking that went into its conceptualization.
This attitude is one of the things I love about Northwest Arkansas. We always strive to push the boundaries of art and culture, so this kind of unusual thinking is par for the course.
Now let’s talk about the Rail Yard in Rogers.
Essentially, they’ve built a massive stage in downtown Rogers that hosts multiple concerts throughout the year. They also recently hosted Bikes, Blues, and BBQ, a large motorcycle event that happens every year.
I’ve been to a few concerts in this place and had a great time. It was a lot of fun, and I met some really cool people.
4. JB Hunt and Tyson
In the last item on this list, I’m going to discuss two companies based out of Northwest Arkansas that recently landed on a prestigious list. JB Hunt and Tyson made it onto Fortune’s list of the Most Admired Companies in the World.
I’ve personally heard many people talk about how they love working for these companies. I would definitely say that these people are almost like cheerleaders for these companies.
I even know people who’ve moved to Northwest Arkansas specifically to work for these companies. Many of them worked in very fast-paced environments before, and they love how much more time they get to spend with family here.
Northwest Arkansas culture heavily emphasizes work-life balance and a healthy work environment. So it’s unsurprising that two companies based here would end up on this list.
In fact, NWA is a promising space for businesses and startup. To get an idea of what I’m talking about check out my article on The Exchange – a start-up hub in Bentonville.