Fast growth impacts mountain arts community

Art Business News, Nov, 2003 by Debbie Hagan

Nestled in the Ozark Mountains, Eureka Springs, Ark.--known to many as "little Switzerland"--is home to natural springs, carefully preserved Victorian architecture and a community of artists and gallery owners dedicated to nurturing the town's vibrant, quirky culture.

There's a lyrical charm to Eureka Springs. Craft shops, antique stores and galleries resembling gingerbread houses are perched on rock outcroppings with narrow streets that twist and turn between them. Many of the town's Victorian houses have been converted into bed and breakfasts to accommodate the 1.5 million visitors who visit each year. Though Eureka Springs has just 2,200 permanent residents, it's located in one of the country's fastest-growing areas.

In the mid-19th century, Eureka Springs' early settlers built luxurious spas around the town's 63 cold natural springs, which were said to cure everything from gout to insomnia. Soon, the areas beauty and peacefulness began attracting artists. By the 1930s, artists Louis and Elsie Freund started shaping the town into an artists' colony. Louis Freund, a muralist for the Works Progress Administration, and Elsie Freund, a modernist jeweler, invited friends such as Thomas Hart Benton to teach art classes in the town's Hatchet Hall (formerly the retirement home of notorious hatchet wielding temperance leader Carrie Nation).

Many of these artists stayed--and so did their friends. Today the town is considered an arts enclave, with many of its residents working as jewelers, potters, painters or sculptors.

While New Orleans is hours away from Eureka Spings, locals celebrate just about anything with an almost Mardi Gras-like fashion. The May Festival of the Arts is a month-long celebration featuring Friday night gallery walks and a mid-month tour of the town's studios.

The Morrison Woodward Gallery carries a comprehensive selection of free art. Located on Spring Street, which locals call "the loop," the gallery has three floors and an outside deck of artwork.

After a major expansion last year by owners Randy Woodward and his wife, artist Susan Morrison, the gallery has about 10,000 square feet of exhibition space. The expansion has helped the couple increase sales, which rose 41 percent in September, Woodward said.

Morrison-Woodward Gallery represents many different artists, including Jesse Barnes, an Ozark artist nationally recognized for his nostalgic cabin scenes; Denise Ryan, who creates surrealistic tapestries; and Ernie Kilman, who paints the Kings and Buffalo rivers in oils.

During the expansion, Morrison set up her own gallery that features originals and prints. Susan Morrison Signature Gallery specializes in pen and ink drawings of North American wildlife.

Across the street from Morrison-Woodward is Satori Arts Temple, which is owned by artist and former Eureka Springs mayor Beau Zar Satori. Like Morrison-Woodward, the gallery has been a mainstay in the local arts community for 25 years. A formal, Asian-influenced space, it features sterling silver jewelry by Eric Goodspeed, fine art lithographs by Michael Parkes, ceramics by Terri Russell and giclee prints by Daniel Merriam.

Located a block or so away is Zarks, which displays glass, pottery and jewelry by more than 100 national and local artists. The gallery has the largest selection of contemporary glass in the region and features works by 32 glass artists including, San Francisco artists Michale Cohn and Molly Stone.

Zarks' selection of pottery comes from Spring Street Pottery, which is located below the gallery. Owner Gary Egan--known for his wheel-thrown vessels, urns and birdbaths decorated with clay-made tree branches, leaves and calla lily stems--founded the pottery studio in 1970. Potter Steve Beacham, who creates fountains made of teacups and other creative ceramic works, also comes from Spring Street.

Just a few steps from Zarks is Quicksilver gallery. Recently purchased by Steve Roberson and Lamont Richie, it carries works by 60 regional artists. One of its most popular artists is Ed Lorhum who creates mystical landscapes using smoke produced by small oil lamp. Lorhum swirls the smoke onto paper and finishes the drawings by etching and erasing. The gallery also shows watercolor prints by Arkansas artist William McNamara.

Quicksilver's lower level is a "please play" space where visitors can strike up a tune using a variety of handmade instruments, including drums, rattles and gongs.

Further down Spring Street is Crazy Bone gallery. Owner Jim Nelson, an artist and teacher, moved to Eureka Springs in 1975 to set up a leather shop. But in 1992, his passion for contemporary art led him to start carrying folk-art inspired textiles by Chris Roberts-Antieau, brightly painted African-styled sheet metal masks by Dave Van Hee and an array of glass chargers and plates by artists Kathy Thompson and Carolyn Walter.

Near Eureka Spring's seven-story Basin Park Hotel is Iris at the Basin Park. Owners Iris and Rick Feutz show works by 195 national and local artists, including raku vases, glass, silver jewelry and whimsical papier mache clocks.