The Platform 2022-2023

Kevin Nguyen is a Vietnamese-American musical artist, producer, and audio engineer from Salt Lake City, UT. He is a graduate of the Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences in Gilbert, AZ. For the past 2.5 years, Kevin has spent time working on his craft in an intimate studio space located in Bentonville’s famed CACHE Studios, collaborating with the new wave of Hip-Hop and Rap artists in our flourishing and eclectic art and music scene. Having recently served as a barista at a local cafe, known for its excellence in hospitality, he is looking to help facilitate these qualities, at The Medium, for everyone in the creative community.

A lover of nature, collector of plants, and avid fan of travel and adventure; Cynthia is a fine art photographer, curator, educator, and multi-disciplinary artist.

With a heart-felt passion for empowering and encouraging authentic self-expression, she is mindful of how personal experiences influence and inspire the vision for future growth and community support to evolve as a result of authentic embodiment. She is mindful of the ever-changing moments of life and thrives to elevate the essence of every place and every person she encounters.

She has been involved in the arts sector for over six years and a practitioner of her own medium for over a decade now, with eight years of professional experience capturing, curating, connecting artists to opportunities, and facilitating events.

Evan Alvarado has deep roots in the arts and seeks to understand life through a creative lens. He’s had lifelong inspiration from his supportive parents; his father is a musician from Costa Rica, and his mother is an artist/videographer from Arkansas. Evan received an AA with a major in Music from NWACC. Since 2010, Evan has performed live music—mostly keyboards in reggae bands—in Northwest Arkansas and surrounding regions. Since 2107, he has been a freelance filmmaker.

Evan is CACHE’s Creative Content Manager. He spends most of his time telling impactful stories of the many beautiful things happening in and around Northwest Arkansas and telling CACHE’s story and work within the region. Additionally, he manages equipment the Media Hub, an A/V equipment rental program housed at The Medium.

John Wayne is a Filipino-American who has spent each half of his life on opposite sides of the world. But no matter where he has been, there has always been an innate desire to make sounds and capture them. He began his musical journey as an avid listener, which then progressed into learning to become a keyboardist, a choir member, then finally a self-taught guitarist. That path proceeded to taking on roles as an audio engineer, videographer, and live sound technician. Later on in life he was introduced to his second passion, construction. With over five years now of experience in various aspects, he is looking to transform the space in Downtown Springdale into a safe and evolving one providing to the needs of local creatives.

Since 2015, Thalia has been a vital liaison between performing arts and the community, following more than a decade of in-home education fueling the minds and passions of her five children. Combining her scientific background — a Cum Laude University of Arkansas graduate with a degree in Environmental, Soil, and Water Science — with the artistic, athletic, and academic world in which she was immersed, Thalia began her career as Production Manager for the Northwest Arkansas Conservatory of Classical Ballet, the region’s premiere dance school.

In 2019, Thalia continued to cultivate a relevant landscape for dance in Northwest Arkansas, working with acclaimed directors, artists, and choreographers as Project Manager on a successful 6 month pilot program called Dance Anywhere/Everywhere. Later, as Executive Director of NWA Ballet Theatre, she managed 22 professional dancers and administratively supported art that began receiving national attention. Thalia orchestrated day-to-day operations of NWABT, and quickly became the hub of information flowing in and out of the organization. She not only solidified the continuation of the company, but found her niche in the curation of relationships among artists, venue operators, arts organizations, and community leaders.

With an analytical mind to keep artistic systems functioning, Thalia now employs her talents on the Medium team as their Operations Manager, cultivating connections between nonprofits, municipalities, cultural institutions, and funders to build a more equitable and inclusive region for artists and creatives.