Call Center Company in Fayetteville, AR

The Arkansas Pottery Festival showcased potters from across the U.S. and highlighted Arkansas's deep pottery history.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Community Creative Center in Fayetteville hosted its fourth annual Arkansas Pottery Festival this weekend, drawing potters from across the country to the Walton Arts Center. The event, held May 2 through May 4, offered a platform for artists to showcase their work, connect with peers, and engage with the public.

The festival featured potters from California, Iowa, Missouri, and all over Arkansas, with pieces ranging from hand-painted bowls to intricately designed mugs available for sale. Pottery demonstrations and lectures by nationally recognized artists Brad Schwieger and Lorna Meaden took place on Friday and Saturday, giving visitors a chance to learn from masters in the field. The event also highlighted Arkansas’s deep pottery history, with the Archeological Survey from the University of Arkansas discussing Cane Hill’s significance as a pottery hub in the 1800s.

“Arkansas has some really deep history being a center for pottery,” said Molly Jensen, an open studio member at the Community Creative Center who helped at the front desk. “Cane Hill has some amazing history, being a central location for pottery making into the early, mid, and late 1800s.”

The festival, which is free and open to the public, also included a special tour on Sunday in Prairie Grove, where local potters Sam and Jenny Dowd opened their studio to visitors. A handmade flowerpot fundraiser offered affordable planters paired with locally grown plants, perfect for Mother’s Day gifts. For those who missed the event, Jensen encourages marking calendars for next year.

“It’s always the first weekend in May,” she said. “You can come and walk around. There’s beautiful things to purchase.”

The Community Creative Center offers year-round opportunities to engage with local art, including pottery sales, gallery displays, and classes in painting and glass fusing. Their annual holiday pottery sale runs from mid-November to December, and summer camps for kids are available. Located in the heart of Fayetteville’s arts district, the center is a non-profit visual and studio arts organization providing accessible classes and workshops in clay, pottery, painting, drawing, printmaking, glass fusion, and mixed media for all ages and skill levels. More information can be found on the center's website.

For those interested in Arkansas’s pottery history, the University of Arkansas Archeological Survey provides resources on Cane Hill’s legacy at archeology.uark.edu.

By April Eilers, Public Affairs Officer

When a 100-year-old Veteran, who served in WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia, it was anticipated he would require special care. What wasn’t anticipated was the extraordinary connection that blossomed between him and a young Marine Veteran Nurse.

This unexpected friendship connected generations, sharing history and experiences beyond time and circumstances.

When Jesse McCrary, BSN, RN, was assigned to take care of Ernest Bowman, a Navy Veteran, he had no idea he was going to meet a trifecta war hero. Bowman enlisted in the Navy when he was 17 years old and fought in WWII and then left the Navy. He re-enlisted and dawned his Sailor uniform during the Korean War and then hung it up again. Then Vietnam kicked off and one more time, he re-enlisted to the Navy to fight and retired as a Master Chief.

Nurse McCrary, a fellow Veteran who served five years in the Marine Corps and deployed to Afghanistan, has been a registered nurse at the Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks (VHSO) for the past four years. Caring for Mr. Bowman, who is deaf, posed communication challenges. However, McCrary took the time to connect with his patient by writing on a whiteboard. Through these written exchanges, McCrary learned about his new shipmate’s military history and life experiences.

“It is an honor and a privilege to be able to give back even just a little to the generation who built this county,” said McCrary. “To be able to get first-hand accounts of some of the biggest war time events in history is something I get to keep forever.”

Bowman has received care at VHSO for the past 75 years. He said, “The VA has saved my life two times. I trust the VA.”

This resilient war hero has triumphed over his illness and is now back home. McCrary concluded by saying, "It's a rare and extraordinary privilege to meet and talk with a Veteran who has served in three wars and embodies a significant piece of our history. We thank Mr. Bowman, for his service, for sharing his remarkable story, and for placing his trust in the Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks for his care."