Northwest Arkansas has a top tier outdoors scene with state forests, world-class mountain biking trails, multiple rivers, and amazing parks. We wanted to highlight a few newly opened places that we'd recommend checking out:

• Osage Park: Whether you want to explore the native wetlands, play pickleball, learn archery, or enjoy live music, you can do it all and more at Osage Park in Bentonville.
• Railyard Rogers: The new park in downtown Rogers stretches across both sides of the railroad and includes an array of spaces with a stage and a playground all incorporated in the downtown refreshment area.
• Devil's Den Monument Trails: The newest addition to the state’s Monument Trails system is open at Devil’s Den State Park that includes 12 miles of new trails.
• Underwood Park: The land available for use at this time spans 58 acres and consists of 38 acres of park land. Although little work has been done on it yet, it has unimproved walking trails for a great nature walk.

While many industries struggled last year, the pandemic ended up being a surprising tailwind to others. A sector that certainly accelerated in our area is residential real estate.

• The new normal? Even when the pandemic is fully in the rearview mirror, homes prices may stay high. “I don’t think we’re going to go back to what it was pre-COVID or before this year,” says Executive Broker for Lindsey & Associates.
• Quote: "Most of the people coming to Northwest Arkansas are coming from Arkansas, so relative to the rest of Arkansas we’re not more affordable. When you talk about people coming from other major metros we’re very affordable," and should remain that way, says Jeff Cooperstein, a senior research assistant for the U of A.

You can listen to the interview and Q&A HERE.

• Slow Streets Crew Leader - BikeNWA is looking for part-time crew leaders in Bentonville, Rogers, and Fayetteville that will help execute the program plan each weekend. Learn more and apply HERE.
• Slow Streets Crew Member - BikeNWA is looking for crew members to help setup and breakdown Slow Streets materials and fulfill other responsibilities on the weekends in Bentonville, Rogers, and Fayetteville. Learn more and apply HERE.
• Event Support Specialist - NWA Trailblazers is looking for a part-time specialist to support the execution of program initiatives: National Bike Challenge, Slow Streets, and more. If this sounds interesting to you, you can learn more and apply HERE.

*These are sponsored job postings

Music Moves, founded by Anthony Ball and Reginald James, made it their mission to make Black music accessible to students and communities through performance and education.

• Music Moves: Is a local non-profit organization that organizes programs and performances to share the stories of Black musicians and their influence on American culture. They also have an educational program, with the U of A to teach K-12 students about the history of Black music in America.
• Quote: "We know bringing people together to play and enjoy Black musical performances opens the door to understanding the history behind this music." said Co-founder Reginald James.
• FYI: June is Black Music Month.

Learn more about the organization and what events its hosting this month to celebrate Black Music Month HERE. The full article about Music Moves can be found HERE.

This weekend may have been a time for you to unplug and detach from the world. If that was the case, you may have missed out on history in the making.

• Kings: No. 1 Razorbacks outslugged No. 4 Tennessee, 7-2, in the SEC Tournament championship game on Sunday afternoon...becoming only the "third team since the conference expanded in 2012 to win the SEC regular-season championship and tournament championship in the same season."
• This win put Arkansas in a great position for the NCAA Regional tournament, which it will host at Baum beginning this Friday (June 4). No. 1 seed Arkansas will host Nebraska, Northeastern and New Jersey Institute of Technology in the Fayetteville Regional.

Tickets and series game times can all be found HERE. W🐽 Pig

INTERFORM art, formerly known as NWA Fashion Show, kicked off its month long art experience, ASSEMBLY, this weekend in downtown Springdale.

• A work in progress: ASSEMBLY is the first event of its kind, and its aim is to highlight local talent and bring the community together through a creative perspective.
• 7, 10, 13, 50: Throughout the month of June, 13 multi-media exhibitions created by 50 local and resident artists will be displayed across 10 different venues with the help of 7 emerging art curators bringing it all together.

You can get involved in the art excitement by syncing up with their calendar of events HERE.