Arts & Science Center for Southeast Arkansas

This cultural center in Pine Bluff occupies a historic building in the downtown district. The Delta region of Arkansas has deep roots in plantation history and Civil War suffering.

The Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas occupies a 22,000-square-foot facility at 701 Main Street in downtown Pine Bluff, a city whose history is deeply entwined with the Mississippi Delta's turbulent past. The center traces its origins to March 4, 1968, when two local community arts groups merged by ordinance of the Pine Bluff City Council under the name Civic Center Arts Museum. The organization was renamed the Southeast Arkansas Arts and Science Center in May 1969 and became a commission of the City of Pine Bluff in 1971, serving ten counties across southeastern Arkansas.

For its first eighteen years, the center operated out of the Pine Bluff Civic Center, which housed an art gallery, a science education junior gallery, a permanent collection gallery, a 192-seat theater, and administrative offices. A satellite building — a former fire station lent by the city — served as classroom and student gallery space. In 1986, a severe fire heavily damaged the Civic Center facility. While the theater was eventually restored, the galleries, offices, and collections had to be relocated to a historic home on Martin Street. The geographic separation of the center's operations across multiple buildings prompted a fundraising campaign that culminated in the construction of the current purpose-built facility, which opened in 1994. The building was designed to American Alliance of Museums accreditation standards and includes four galleries, a 232-seat theater, classrooms, a vault, and conservation space. The center received full AAM accreditation in 2001. In 2021, two adjacent buildings constructed in the 1920s — the ARTSpace and ART WORKS — were renovated from dark commercial and industrial buildings into bright, open multifunctional spaces for the center's expanding programming.

Pine Bluff itself carries a weight of history that some say lingers in its older buildings. The city was a significant site during the Civil War — the October 25, 1863 Battle of Pine Bluff saw Confederate forces under General John S. Marmaduke attack Union troops who had fortified themselves behind cotton bales in the town square. The Delta region's long history of plantation agriculture, racial violence, and economic hardship has left an imprint on the city's collective memory. Staff members working late at the Arts and Science Center have reported hearing footsteps moving through empty galleries after hours, and lights that turn themselves back on after being deliberately switched off for the night. According to local accounts, a woman in antebellum dress has been seen standing before artwork in the galleries, gazing silently at the pieces before dissolving into the wall. Whether this apparition is connected to the building itself, the land it sits on, or the broader history of Pine Bluff's downtown remains a matter of speculation.

The paranormal claims at the center are not extensively documented compared to other Arkansas haunted sites, and no formal investigation has been publicly reported. The center's management does not promote the building as a haunted attraction. Nevertheless, the reports persist among staff and occasional visitors, particularly during the quieter evening hours when the galleries empty and the building settles into silence. The Arts and Science Center continues to serve as Pine Bluff's cultural anchor, presenting programming in the visual arts, performing arts, and sciences through exhibits, performances, classes, and community partnerships.