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Situated in a picturesque Ozark town, the Eureka Springs School of the Arts has something for everybody.
About an hour south of Branson, Missouri is the small town of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It’s home to about 2,100 people and it has a rich history. Walking down the historic main street, you’ll be surrounded by a dozen amazing coffee shops, boutique stores, local crafts, and the occasional trolley that passes by. When I first traveled there to shoot photos with Doug Stowe (Coopered Table), I instantly fell in love with the small Ozark town. As quaint and beautiful as Eureka Springs is, it’s also a popular destination for motorcyclists, downhill mountain bikers, and fly fishermen (seriously, you should see the streams here). But, in my opinion, the real hidden gem here is ESSA — the Eureka Springs School of the Arts.
The Campus
The Eureka Springs School of the Arts is a 55 acre campus, catering to both locals and students traveling in from across the United States. Founded in 1998, ESSA receive its 501(c) status as a non-profit in 2001. Built upon grants from the Arkansas Art Council, the classes hosted at ESSA have grown from a couple of weeks a year to now offering year-round classes, ranging from one day-courses to five-day workshops.
The school itself is tucked in the hills on the western side of Eureka Springs, the entrance to ESSA is marked by a sign (above) in front of what appears to be a small house. Upon further inspection, there are a group of three houses— these house ESSA’s administration, the 2D studio (for painting, drawing, etc.), and a small metals studio for jewelery making, enameling, and the sort. If you turn down the drive and continue past the houses, you’ll be entering the remainder of the campus. Back behind the unassuming facade, amongst the white oaks and loblolly pines is building 4—and that’s where the woodworking magic happens.
ESSA building 4 is the home of the woodworking, turning, and metal studios.
Building 4
Building 4 is a newer addition to ESSA, and it houses the woodworking, wood turning, and heavy metal studios. ESSA worked with architect David Mckee to design building 4, and the care and consideration shows. The butterfly-
wing-roof above a portion of the blacksmith studio allows rain water to be collected and directed into irrigation for the landscaping. I even believe some of it is stored for use inside the blacksmith studio. The design also allows the front of the blacksmith studio to be opened up to allow cool air to circulate around the hot forges.
The architect-designed building brings in natural light and seems at home in the surrounding mountains.
Within the woodworking studio, the tall ceilings allow windows to be set high-up on the walls, flooding the interior space with natural light. The carefully thought out cedar and pine beams, trusses, and wall coverings blend beautifully with the steel and cinder block exterior, and the building itself emits an air of good vibes and quality craftsmanship.
If you continue down past building 4, you’ll come across a small row of cottage-like buildings. These are the recently (as of this publication date) completed campus cottages that will house instructors as they travel into town to teach at ESSA. The final building is currently under renovation, and will be used as a communal meeting space for people attending residencies at ESSA.
A series of studio apartments offer housing to guest instructors traveling in from across the world.
Of course, this is a woodworking publication—so, let’s talk a bit about the woodworking studio at ESSA. The woodworking space is broken up into two areas—a machine room that is approximately 1,600 sq. ft. and a bench room adjacent to the machine room, which is around 1,000 square feet. Not only does ESSA have the space, but they also have the equipment to fill it. The machine room is equipped with two SawStop table saws, a pair each of Grizzly jointers and planers, several miter saws, drill presses, band saws, and sanders (including thickness and edge/belt sanders). The bench room is loaded with Veritas workbenches, and each station has a set of layout tools and chisels.
The turning studio houses nine Robust Scout lathes, as well as a large Oneway for the instructor.
Walking into the lathe room for the first time made my turning heart flutter. The turning studio is loaded with Robust lathes — which, if you’re familiar with lathes, are considered one of the best. Each turning station is equipped with scroll chucks, drive spurs, live centers, along with a complete set of tools.
The wood shop is fully equipped with everything from table saws to thickness sanders.
Down the hall in building 4 is a blacksmith studio. The heavy metals shop as they call it, is host to a line of anvils, forges, and welders. Here, metal artists, blade smiths, blacksmiths, and others teach their craft to incoming students.
Stepping across the hall, you’ll find a metal studio full of anvils, forges, and welding equipment.
There are no shortage of classes available this year still, woodworking or otherwise. The prices for each class varies, based on the subject, length and materials necessary, but all of the prices appear to be very reasonable for what you’re getting.
Finally, the bench room has nine benches ready for students to work on.
Now, here is my plea to you. If you’ve ever been interested in taking a class in woodworking (or any other of the offerings from one of these schools), there’s no time like now. Many craft schools like ESSA are still struggling after the pandemic and looking to fill their classrooms. Bring your family. Make a vacation out of it. The worst case scenario is that you’ll have a relaxing weekend in a picturesque little town. Heck, you might even learn something. You can learn more about ESSA and their class offerings at their website.
Here are some supplies and tools we find essential in our everyday work around the shop. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality.
