The Museum of Eureka Springs Art

Today we took over space at the Eureka Springs Community Center for the launch of the Museum of Eureka Springs Art. Eureka Springs has long been known as an art center. Our downtown has a number of art galleries, and we have more artists per capita than most small communities in the US. For many years our artists have participated in art and craft shows throughout the US, spreading the word about this wonderful place.

Years ago local artist Louis Freund had proposed a major expansion of our historic museum to accommodate the arts, and while that never worked out, we are paying homage to the artists of our past and present by building a collection that will be exhibited in our newly acquired space.

One of the reasons I've worked toward the establishment of this museum is that it's extremely important to know where we fit into things. As a young artist, I was welcomed and encouraged by the older artists that lived here at the time. Over the years, more artists have arrived, some not knowing the depth of preparatory work done by their predecessors in the arts... It is important that we preserve that legacy, and use it to encourage young artists and help them to find themselves within the history of this place.

In case you don't know it yet, the arts have always been important here in shaping our community. Our museum will help many visitors to our town to understand the transformative role that the arts can play in their own towns and cities. This is one of the points I attempted to convey in my book, The Wisdom of Our Hands: Crafting, a Life.

We will have an open house in the new space on July 14, five to 7 PM and you are invited to attend.

The box shown is one I made with an aluminum top, scrap left over from making a pantry for our house and too interesting to throw out.

Make, fix and create...