Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Boosters lend a hand online to help art school
The annual Hands On fundraiser for Eureka Springs School of the Arts has been reinvented for 2021 as HANDS ONline ESSA. It’s set for April 9-11.
In the past, according to Kelly McDonough, executive director, the benefit has featured maker stations where guests could have the opportunity to build something in the wood shop, or throw some clay on the pottery wheel, for example.
This year’s iteration boasts free online workshops from 4 to 5 p.m. April 9 during which guests may learn to work with watercolors and pastels or polymer clay. Early registrants will receive a kit in the mail to allow them to actively participate in the instruction. Pre-recorded options for viewing, such as a blacksmith demonstrating making an S-hook or a wood worker box making, will begin at 10 a.m. April 10 and 11.
The fundraiser’s online auction of postcard-sized art of various media donated by local, state and regional artists features jewelry, textiles and wood, among available items. The auction will begin at 7 p.m. April 9. All funds raised during this event will go to fund scholarships and facility improvements.
The arts school for adults features workshops in a number of media, including wood, metalwork, two-dimensional, fiber arts, clay and glass. The school’s mission is “to cultivate, promote and encourage artistic expression by providing art education opportunities in a unique environment of beauty and creativity.” The school was incorporated in 1998.