The Alliance for Immigrant Respect and Education, or AIRE, is collaborating with Rogers-based influencer and event planner Joanna Kantiok, known by her brand Jsavage Official, to host Voices Without Borders, an NWA artist showcase, Saturday at Vibra Night Club in Springdale.
Proceeds from ticket sales will go toward benefiting AIRE, the largest immigrant advocacy organization in Northwest Arkansas. Sophia Nourani spoke with Joanna and one of the performing artists, El Don, about how the show came together and about their motivations for supporting AIRE's work in the community.
Don and Joanna both moved from Los Angeles to Northwest Arkansas a little over four years ago. Joanna says she began to plan events in the region when the existing spaces she visited didn't feel as welcoming.
Kantiok: My events were coming from a place of come as you are, like, I don't really care about your background, I don't care about what you do, because some of the other events that I used to go to around here just kind of felt like, every time you walked in the room it was like, where do you work, or who do you work for, what do you do?
And it kind of felt like, what do you do that can get me to where I need to be, as opposed to, like, saying, hey, what do you do? Oh, that's so cool, that's a really cool job, this is what I do. It kind of felt like, oh, what do you do, how long have you been there, who do you know, who's your — it just felt kind of, it just didn't feel great to me. So I wanted to create a space where people again could come as they are, meet people that they generally wouldn't meet on the street and just connect. The showcase stemmed from that. Don, who's my fiancé, he again makes music, and we wanted to kind of break him into this music scene here in Northwest Arkansas.
And I was like, OK, well, let's throw on a showcase. But while we throw the showcase to push your music, why don't we also have local artists in the area who would want to do the same, expand their network, bring their music to a different crowd. And we had a showcase, I think in March, was our first showcase a few months ago, and it was a great turnout. Everybody loved it and they were asking for another one.
So when I had the opportunity to pick an organization that I would want to partner with to do something with, I obviously immediately went to AIRE because I've seen the efforts and the things that they do in Northwest Arkansas. Again, my fiancé, Don, being a DACA recipient and having family with, you know, dealing with a lot of things that are going on in this world, I definitely didn't blink twice about who I wanted to work with. AIRE is such a great organization.
I just wanted to use this showcase to amplify not only their voice and what they're doing in the community, but to amplify the voices of all the artists and everyone that's going to be coming, all the local businesses, the vendors, just anyone that's going to be a part of the showcase.
Nourani: Tell me about just how this fundraiser has gotten together. Tell me about the process of putting the show together and working with AIRE.
Kantiok: Yes, this process has been fun. I have kind of really been doing a lot of the groundwork, as far as, like, I created all the flyers, I've been doing promotion on TikTok, and I just wanted to make it as easy as I could for the artists, the vendors.
We're looking for sponsors for the event. I wanted to make it as easy for them so they could just show up and be a part of the event and not feel like they have to do too much to be a part of this.
We've actually had good traction. I have had some artists, or we've had some artists from different areas, Little Rock, I think, I don't know where the other artist is from, but people have been seeing them and they're signing up. We have an artist who's actually flying from Vegas to do the showcase, which will be one of his first shows in I don't know how many years.
Don: It's an artist that I started with back in California, and then he moved to Vegas, and we told him about it. He was like, yeah, let's do it. You know, my name is Don. El Don is where you'll find me on social media. I'm a Spanish rapper born in Jalisco, Mexico, and I kind of blend cultures from California and Mexico in my music. And so that's kind of what I want to show.
I'm a DACA recipient too, you know, so this show means a lot to me, to just be able to show my culture. I mean, it reached all the way to California. I had people from California wanting to come. So it's, yeah, it's going to be really fun.
Nourani: Thank you for sharing that. I think it's great that you're bringing some artists into the region for this event. I think it's also, you know, like you've mentioned, people congregating around a cause that they believe in.
Kantiok: Yes, and it's been very supportive. Irvin and his team, they've been very helpful, and, you know, with helping us spread the word and promoting it. And I'm grateful to work with them just as much as, you know, they have told me, like, just seeing other people in the community, black and brown people coming together to support such an amazing cause.
You know, I've always said I grew up in California, so to us, it's just, if we see someone or something that matters to us, that's what matters. I don't, to me a cause is a cause. If it's near and dear to my heart, I don't care what that looks like for anyone else. If I feel passionate about it, you can't tell me anything. I'm going to support that cause no matter what. And I think that's kind of like the same mindset that we've brought to this.
Don: I mean, it's just, it's kind of a full circle moment, you know, because I started music just because I love it. You know, my goal was never to, oh, I want to make millions off of this. It's just something I love. And now to do something I love and help people that are in my position, you know, it's just, I mean, it's a blessing to be able to do it and help someone. I can say that I helped someone with my music, and that means a lot.
Nourani: Yeah, thank you for that. So tell me about the showcase. You mentioned some artists that are going to be there. Tell me about that and other things people can expect.
Kantiok: Yes. We have a couple of artists lined up already. We're still looking for a few more, but we have some local artists. I think a name that would be familiar with a lot of people would be Monet. She's going to be performing. She performed at our last showcase and, oh my gosh, she brought the house down. So when I told her about this, she was like, girl, she was like, yes, let me know what I need and I'm there.
So this will be at Vibra Nightclub in Springdale. We went for the first time a couple of months ago, but this stage there, I know they've brought some really big artists, from all over the country, the world, to come and perform there. And so the stage is amazing. So we're super excited about what the location itself will have.
But yeah, we have artists like Monet, Don, there's another local artist, CY Music. He's actually not based here, he's based in Atlanta. And then John B. is another artist that I'll be performing — and the two other artists, I don't, one I think is Trigga is his artist name, and then the other one I think is EP From the 501 is his name. Those are the two other artists.
And like businesses, we wanted to also give vendors, small businesses a place to come and table, talk about their services, talk about whatever, if they have crafts, if they have, you know, little snacks, if they have jewelry, like this was a space to give local businesses, local community, local people a place to come and connect and just to be able to enjoy music, arts and community with one another. That's really what the showcase was about, you know, giving everyone an opportunity just to come and be and enjoy and have fun.
Don: Those local businesses too, they'll have their own room too, you know? So like, it's the whole stage, the concert over here, and you want to take a break from that, you can go and check the local businesses too. So it's a really good space.
Kantiok: And we have two amazing DJs too. We have DJ Latino, who, um, his wife, he said, is also dedicated to AIRE, and you know, he's been known about the cause. And then our other DJ, DJ Dexter, who is — where is he from? Venezuela. And he's a great DJ. So we have two DJs for the event.
It's just going to be really fun. We're just all about, again, bringing community together and showcasing all this local talent. Because when I tell you, like, all the music and the people that are going to be performing, I'm like, oh my gosh, like, every time I hear their music, I'm like, how do people not know who y'all are? Like, come on, like, we need the world to know what's going on here.
Nourani: Can you give the date and ticket information and where people can find more about the showcase itself?
Kantiok: Yes. So the date is June 27, and it's going to be at Vibra Night Club, again, in Springdale. Doors open at 6 p.m. I think the show will start around like 6:15, 6:30. We're gonna have kind of two halves to the show.
But again, you can find out more information on Instagram or TikTok. I kind of mainly post on both, but my Instagram is Jsavage_Official. My TikTok is Jsavage_Official1. And then I've been collaborating with AIRE and the artist. So if you go to AIRE's Instagram as well, they are, there should be some posts talking about the event.
And then again, if you're around Springdale, hopefully Fayetteville will be dropping off flyers. Like we're trying to go to places like Pizzeria Ruby. I think Pink Fern is another big advocate. Just any kind of local businesses in Springdale, Fayetteville, Rogers that support AIRE will be dropping off flyers, information there. So if people see it, make sure you scan, purchase tickets.
Tickets will be sold at the door. Right now we're doing early bird pricing, so tickets are discounted, but they will be available up until the event ends.
Don: I was explaining to a couple of my friends too that just remember, when you buy a ticket, you're helping a family out there. You know, it's the main thing. So hopefully people want to come and buy a bunch of tickets.
Kantiok: I just want to add, again, we're super excited for this opportunity and to again bring light, shine light on an organization that's working so hard to bring families together. I think that's the thing that, like you said, bringing families together back together.
And just being an advocate in a place or in a world that just kind of feels like voices are kind of being diminished a little bit more than they would have been before. I'm just really grateful that I strongly support an organization like AIRE, and to see so many people in this community stand behind them as well. It's just one of the most beautiful things that I would have ever imagined, especially in Northwest Arkansas. I was surprised, so I really do want to shout out all the businesses, all the companies, all of the organizations, everyone that stood behind an organization like this or something similar. Like I really, truly appreciate the things that they've done in this community.
That was me, Sophia Nourani, speaking with event organizer Joanna Kantiok and musician El Don about Saturday's Voices Without Borders NWA showcase at Vibra Night Club in Springdale. Proceeds from that event will go toward supporting the Alliance for Immigrant Respect and Education, or AIRE. You can find tickets and more information for that event on Joanna's Instagram, Jsavage_Official.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline and edited for length and clarity. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The audio version is the authoritative record of KUAF programming.
