A spoken word poem is read aloud as trumpets and drums sound off, accompanied by a dancing ring through the Faulkner Performing Arts Center as the No Tears Project presented by the Multicultural Center concert was performed April 8.

Ryan Harris, project director of the No Tears Project, said the project started eight years ago when he was approached by a group of people in Little Rock wanting to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School. He approached singer and spoken word reader Kelly Hurt and pianist Chris Parker and commissioned them to write the music that premiered for the anniversary.

“We had a full set of music dedicated to telling the story of the Little Rock Nine and from there, started taking that story to other communities,” Harris said. “Also, then working collaboratively with various artists in other communities to tell those community stories.”

Harris said the ensemble has turned into a touring ensemble and civil rights outreach program. This is their second record, called Humanitics, which features eight tracks. The first record was called No Tears Suite, which features six tracks, according to the No Tears Project website.

Bryan Hembree, director of arts and culture for the Multicultural Center, said the new record expands on the lens of the last record, which focused on the commemoration of the Little Rock Nine, the nine Black students enrolled in the formerly segregated high school.

“This project expands out the lens of history and civil rights to, you know, a wider lens, and some of it is near history,” Hembree said. “There are songs that deal with racial tension in the last decade. And so I think what happens is that through line – this is a chance to iterate.”

Hurt said the reason they wanted to start the project is because they wanted to have interactive artistry and they are glad to bring the event back to Fayetteville.

“Incorporating different [styles like] the dance with poetry and spoken words with treasure and then me also writing and then the different instruments,” Hurt. said. “We wanted to do all that, and we do as well with our album and everything we have, like Oliver Lake.”

Braylan McClure, a junior architecture student, said he thinks the event helps students gain a new perspective.

Hembree said there was great interest and thought bringing the event back to campus was important. The last time the project was brought to campus was in fall 2021.

“The core of this band, Kelly Hurt and Chris Parker, are based in Little Rock,” Hembree said.

“And so in many ways, this is very much an Arkansas project. And so, you know, bringing  Arkansas projects of this caliber to the stages here at the University of Arkansas, I think are really important.”