Clear Spring Fling 2016

Bree's guitar

This day in Eureka Springs is a big day for those involved with the Clear Spring School. We are having our annual fundraising auction at Rogue's Castle overlooking the White River and the lovely town of Beaver, Arkansas:  The Clear Spring Fling, 2016

The view from the castle is one of the best in the Ozarks. The food prepared largely by local caterer Jane Tucker will be (as is always) fabulous, and art donated by local artists and food certificates donated by local restaurants will be sold in live and silent auction throughout the night.

Yesterday I helped move art from school to the castle in preparation for today's event. I will have a few items for sale in the live and silent auction. For the silent auction I donated two boxes and worked with one of my students on a box guitar. In the live auction, I've offered a cabinet from my book Building Small Cabinets.

Yesterday I learned that an artist friend is suffering from advanced COPD, and a fundraising auction will be held to help his family pay the huge medical bills that have accumulated. Max Elbow has always been one of the artists whose generosity has helped support others facing crises in our small community.

Individual artists only rarely have adequate health insurance, given the stupidity of the American model. Time and again, Eureka Springs Artists have stood together to support each other and those others in need whether they are artists or not.

I have mentioned before that a certain set of values is shared by those who create objects of beauty. Those are the values of humanity, not greed, and are the values that have shaped and molded human culture in those places where goodness resides. I am very lucky to live in one of those spots.

Let me assure you that the same circumstances can be found in other places and most particularly where people:

Make, fix, create, and extend to others the opportunity to learn likewise.