diff --git a/rust/arrow/benches/array_slice.rs b/rust/arrow/benches/array_slice.rs
index a535c80d217..8aacf451743 100644
--- a/rust/arrow/benches/array_slice.rs
+++ b/rust/arrow/benches/array_slice.rs
@@ -35,6 +35,23 @@ fn create_array_with_nulls(size: usize) -> ArrayRef {
     Arc::new(array)
 }
 
+fn create_nested_array(size: usize) -> ArrayRef {
+    let mut builder = ListBuilder::new(StringDictionaryBuilder::new(Int16Builder::new(size), StringBuilder::new(size)));
+    let strings = &["foo", "bar", "baz"];
+
+    (0..size).for_each(|i| {
+        if i%2== 0 {
+            builder.values().append(&strings[i%strings.len()]).unwrap();
+            builder.append(true).unwrap()
+        } else {
+            builder.append(false).unwrap();
+        }
+    });
+
+    Arc::new(builder.finish())
+}
+
+
 fn array_slice_benchmark(c: &mut Criterion) {
     let array = create_array_with_nulls(4096);
     c.bench_function("array_slice 128", |b| {
@@ -46,6 +63,17 @@ fn array_slice_benchmark(c: &mut Criterion) {
     c.bench_function("array_slice 2048", |b| {
         b.iter(|| create_array_slice(&array, 2048))
     });
+
+    let nested_array = create_nested_array(4096);
+    c.bench_function("array_slice nested type 128", |b| {
+        b.iter(|| create_array_slice(&nested_array, 128))
+    });
+    c.bench_function("array_slice nested type 512", |b| {
+        b.iter(|| create_array_slice(&nested_array, 512))
+    });
+    c.bench_function("array_slice nested type 2048", |b| {
+        b.iter(|| create_array_slice(&nested_array, 2048))
+    });
 }
 
 criterion_group!(benches, array_slice_benchmark);
diff --git a/rust/arrow/src/array/data.rs b/rust/arrow/src/array/data.rs
index 09fb019f314..34970c746ad 100644
--- a/rust/arrow/src/array/data.rs
+++ b/rust/arrow/src/array/data.rs
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ use crate::{
 };
 
 use super::equal::equal;
+use std::ops::Index;
 
 #[inline]
 pub(crate) fn count_nulls(
@@ -205,6 +206,57 @@ pub(crate) fn into_buffers(
     }
 }
 
+#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
+enum SmallContainer<T> {
+    Zero,
+    One(T),
+    Many(Vec<T>)
+}
+
+impl <T> SmallContainer<T> {
+    fn from_vec(mut v: Vec<T>) -> Self {
+        match v.len() {
+            0 => Self::Zero,
+            1 => Self::One(v.pop().unwrap()),
+            _ => Self::Many(v)
+        }
+    }
+
+    fn get(&self, index: usize) -> &T {
+        match self {
+            SmallContainer::One(one) if index == 0 => one,
+            SmallContainer::Many(v) if index < v.len() => &v[index],
+            _ => panic!("index out of bounds")
+        }
+    }
+
+    fn as_slice(&self) -> &[T] {
+        match self {
+            SmallContainer::Zero => &[],
+            SmallContainer::One(one) => std::slice::from_ref(one),
+            SmallContainer::Many(v) => v.as_slice()
+        }
+    }
+
+    fn iter(&self) -> impl Iterator<Item=&T> {
+        self.as_slice().iter()
+    }
+}
+
+impl <T> Index<usize> for SmallContainer<T> {
+    type Output = T;
+
+    fn index(&self, index: usize) -> &Self::Output {
+        self.get(index)
+    }
+}
+
+impl <T> Default for SmallContainer<T> {
+    fn default() -> Self {
+        Self::Zero
+    }
+}
+
 /// An generic representation of Arrow array data which encapsulates common attributes and
 /// operations for Arrow array. Specific operations for different arrays types (e.g.,
 /// primitive, list, struct) are implemented in `Array`.
@@ -225,11 +277,11 @@ pub struct ArrayData {
     /// The buffers for this array data. Note that depending on the array types, this
     /// could hold different kinds of buffers (e.g., value buffer, value offset buffer)
     /// at different positions.
-    buffers: Vec<Buffer>,
+    buffers: SmallContainer<Buffer>,
 
     /// The child(ren) of this array. Only non-empty for nested types, currently
     /// `ListArray` and `StructArray`.
-    child_data: Vec<ArrayDataRef>,
+    child_data: SmallContainer<ArrayDataRef>,
 
     /// The null bitmap. A `None` value for this indicates all values are non-null in
     /// this array.
@@ -258,8 +310,33 @@ impl ArrayData {
             len,
             null_count,
             offset,
-            buffers,
-            child_data,
+            buffers: SmallContainer::from_vec(buffers),
+            child_data: SmallContainer::from_vec(child_data),
+            null_bitmap,
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub fn new_smallvec(
+        data_type: DataType,
+        len: usize,
+        null_count: Option<usize>,
+        null_bit_buffer: Option<Buffer>,
+        offset: usize,
+        buffer: Buffer,
+        child_data: Option<ArrayDataRef>,
+    ) -> Self {
+        let null_count = match null_count {
+            None => count_nulls(null_bit_buffer.as_ref(), offset, len),
+            Some(null_count) => null_count,
+        };
+        let null_bitmap = null_bit_buffer.map(Bitmap::from);
+        Self {
+            data_type,
+            len,
+            null_count,
+            offset,
+            buffers: SmallContainer::One(buffer),
+            child_data: child_data.map(SmallContainer::One).unwrap_or_default(),
             null_bitmap,
         }
     }
@@ -278,12 +355,12 @@ impl ArrayData {
 
     /// Returns a slice of buffers for this array data
     pub fn buffers(&self) -> &[Buffer] {
-        &self.buffers[..]
+        &self.buffers.as_slice()
     }
 
     /// Returns a slice of children data arrays
     pub fn child_data(&self) -> &[ArrayDataRef] {
-        &self.child_data[..]
+        &self.child_data.as_slice()
     }
 
     /// Returns whether the element at index `i` is null
@@ -340,15 +417,16 @@ impl ArrayData {
     /// Returns the total number of bytes of memory occupied by the buffers owned by this [ArrayData].
     pub fn get_buffer_memory_size(&self) -> usize {
         let mut size = 0;
-        for buffer in &self.buffers {
+        for buffer in self.buffers.iter() {
             size += buffer.capacity();
         }
         if let Some(bitmap) = &self.null_bitmap {
             size += bitmap.get_buffer_memory_size()
         }
-        for child in &self.child_data {
+        for child in self.child_data.iter() {
             size += child.get_buffer_memory_size();
         }
+
         size
     }
 
@@ -362,14 +440,14 @@ impl ArrayData {
             - mem::size_of_val(&self.child_data);
 
         // Calculate rest of the fields top down which contain actual data
-        for buffer in &self.buffers {
+        for buffer in self.buffers.iter() {
             size += mem::size_of_val(&buffer);
             size += buffer.capacity();
         }
         if let Some(bitmap) = &self.null_bitmap {
             size += bitmap.get_array_memory_size()
         }
-        for child in &self.child_data {
+        for child in self.child_data.iter() {
             size += child.get_array_memory_size();
         }