Crescent Hotel

Overnight on the Trail
The 1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa, a Historic Hotel of America in Eureka Springs.


Fayetteville Artosphere

Walton Arts Center
Arkansas Premier Center for Arts & Entertainment.

Crystal Bridges Art Museum Crystal Bridges Museum
of American Art

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Photographs of trail views were captured by Edward Robison III.

Spring Break Vacation on the Arkansas Art Trail

Spring is blooming in the Ozark Mountains. Plan to spend spring break in one of the most beautiful areas of the country. Whether you visit the Ozarks every year or are new to the area, a trip along the Arkansas Art Trail is an easy way to explore the Ozarks. Take a road trip and spend a couple of days or weeks as you experience one breathtaking vista after another. Visit historical sites and natural settings made meaningful by local culture and artistic communities. Here are some ideas for things to do along the trail this spring. spring break vacations

Go Small Town…Northwest Arkansas is full of small towns with cute little town squares. In recent years many of these spaces have made resurgence. The opening of local shops, art galleries and independent eateries make for a fun afternoon or evening. Places like Bentonville Square and Eureka Springs Historic Downtown have colorful histories and storefronts. Take a tour of Eureka Springs with Downtown-N-Underground. Stay in a historic hotel in the center of town. The 1905 Basin Park Hotel overlooks Basin Spring Park in Eureka Springs.

Discover great spring break vacation packages and vacation deals in Eureka Springs on ReserveEureka.com.

Have Some Bloomin’ Fun…Stroll by clumps of daffodils as you hike one of many trails through the Ozark Mountains. Capture scenes of blooming dogwoods and a variety of native wildflowers along the Buffalo National River or Pea Ridge Military Park. Visit the natural springs of Eureka Springs. More than a dozen postage stamp green spaces surround the dozens of natural springs that dot Eureka Springs. Visit the impeccably manicured springs by car or on foot.

Spring to the Challenge….Learn something new along the trail. Take an art class. Eureka Springs School of the Arts offers every art class you can imagine. Write that book you have always wanted to. Take a writing class through The Writers Colony at Dairy Hollow. Cook up something new with a cooking class. Spend Spring Break at the 1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa and do morning yoga or take watercolor classes with their artist in residence. Enriching activities like this are resort amenities and are available at no extra charge.

Contact the Crescent Hotel and find out about upcoming activities.

On the Trail: an artist’s discovery

Edward sits at the table overlooking the Crescent garden in Eureka Springs. With a contemplative smile he begins his story. “We had to helicopter into a remote part of the canyon and repel down,” he says calmly.

eureka springs

Inspiration point in the autumn captured by Eureka Springs photographer, Edward C. Robison III.

Edward C. Robison III is an accomplished landscape photographer. His connection to nature and his recognition of what is sacred are profound in his photographs. It is what draws people to his work.

It was an internship with renowned landscape photographer Michael Fatali that led Edward to a remote slot canyon in Utah. Having helicoptered in, Edward found himself in an isolated place where few people ever have the chance or courage to travel to; it changed him. Surrounded by natural beauty and mentored by Fatali, Edward found his purpose. Fatali openly acknowledges that he photographs, “places of mystery” where he feels, “at peace with the power of the Earth’s spirit.” Fatali believes his photographs are reflections of the “light and power” of nature. His influence on Edward’s work is unmistakable. Edward’s richly layered yet masterfully simple photographs are meditative moments. They allow the viewer to intimately connect with a sacred space in nature that they may have never witnessed on their own.

Edward brings a love of the landscape to his work. Growing up in the great outdoors, he attributes his passion for nature to time spent exploring with his father. His acute perception to the natural processes surrounding him inspired his creativity early. He began capturing nature’s moments with paint on canvas. As a young adult he followed his passion with formal art studies. Edward studied at the Kansas City Institute of Art, an institutional leader in visual arts education. “The Kansas City Institute stressed the importance of substance in art,” Edward says.  “It is where I learned just how important it is to incorporate a strong spiritual element in my work.”

More than just the likenesses of a place under beautiful light, Edward’s photographs are like the quite hum of bees in a field or a softly stirring breeze through woodland trees. They nudge the viewer to joie de vivre, an exuberant enjoyment of life. With what he describes as a “sensitivity and energetic connection with nature,” he finds and captures the beauty of nature in less suspecting places. “I think I see things differently,” Edward confesses. “My appreciation of nature allows me to find the sacred in my own backyard. I try to show others what I have discovered through my work.”

buffalo river

Hawksbill Crag in the Buffalo River National Park captured by Edward C. Robison III.

Although Edward has photographed Yellowstone and other high profile sites, he is perhaps most recognized for his photographs of less famous (less traveled) places in the central United States and most recently in Arkansas. The ethereal qualities of Edward’s photographs have naturally placed them in the internationally acclaimed Sierra Club Desk Calendar 4 years in a row and although he could call anywhere home, Edward C. Robison and his family still live in Eureka Springs where he continues to find beauty in his backyard. His work is featured on the Arkansas Art Trail. His book, Postcards from Eureka, he records the beauty of the quirkly little Ozark Mountain town, Eureka Springs. His gallery, Sacred Earth, is located just west of Eureka Springs on the Arkansas Art Trail and catalogs his progress and travels. His work can be viewed and prints can be obtained from the Sacred Earth Gallery website.

 Chances are if you are looking at an amazing photograph of the sun setting at Inspiration Point or a waterfall in the Buffalo River National Park, it is Edward’s vision and image. His photographs are in high demand and are often used to promote Eureka Springs and the surrounding area. His work is featured on EurekaSprings.com, the Arkansas Art Trail, and more recently the Buffalo River National Park Region.

Make your own discoveries on the Trail with Edward. Register for one of his Workshops. See his work displayed throughout Eureka Springs and all along the Arkansas Art Trail. Follow Arkansas Art Trail and Sacred Earth Gallery on Facebook.

Architecture on the Arkansas Art Trail

Interested in architecture? Learn more about architecture in Arkansas and plan on visiting the Top Trail Sites for Architecture on the Arkansas Art Trail.

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art by Moshe Safdie.

An apprentice of Louis Kahn, Safdie’s works are immediately recognizable. Meaningful spaces created by curving architecture that complement the essence of their setting and culture. Crystal Bridges exemplifies Safdie’s principle of responding to the essence of place even bearing its name for the natural creek it spans. See the layout of Crystal Bridges and read about the challenges of constructing these cable roofed buildings and the hurdles of completing this project while continuing to build responsibly, treading as lightly as possible on the landscape. The Crystal Bridges complex pays deference to the natural setting through organic shapes, fantastic views, and native materials used for its construction and is architecture with a purpose. Visit and discover for yourself how Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art’s collection echoes themes of American landscape and life. View an interview with Moshe Safdie on the modern issues in architecture and how he is working to shape the public realm and humanize megascale building.

Thorncrown Chapel by E. Fay Jones.

E. Fay Jones was an apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright and Bruce Goff. Jones created organic architecture from simple materials: wood, stone, glass, and steel and much of Jones work can be found throughout northwest Arkansas. It can be said that the touchstone of his architectural accomplishments is Thorncrown Chapel, a place of “gentle beauty and quiet dignity that celebrates the land and embraces the American Spirit.” Jones received the highest honor awarded by the American Institute of Architects, the Gold Medal, for “humble, original, intelligent, and uncompromising [architecture].” (Quotes taken from the AIA Gold Medal citation presented to Fay Jones. Now part of the Special Collections Division of the University of Arkansas Libraries.)

Thorncrown was awarded the American Institute of Architecture’s Design of the Year Award (1981) and the American Institute of Architecture’s Design of the Decade Award (1980). It is #4 of the members of the American Institute of Architects Top Buildings of the Twentieth Century and won the AIA Twenty-five Year Award for a design that has stood the test of time for more than 25 years (2006).

Tour organic architecture on the Arkansas Art Trail. Experience organic architecture for yourself at the Cottages at Crescent Park. The Cottages are designed by David McKee, apprentice of E. Fay Jones. McKee’s design philosophy is rooted in the principles of organic architecture as developed by Frank Lloyd Wright and E. Fay Jones.

1886 Crescent Hotel by Isaac S. Taylor.

The Crescent was one of America’s most luxurious resort hotels boasting eighteen inch thick walls of White River limestone quarried just miles from the site of the hotel.  Surrounded by acres of pristine woodlands, the hotel sat on top of West Mountain overlooking the valley and town below. Read more about the history of the Crescent Hotel.

Isaac S. Taylor was the chief architect of the Largest World’s Fair ever held,  the St. Louis Exposition in 1904. In the process he was charged with finishing one of the largest public parks in America, Forest Park. He was also a member and Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. Read more about the 1904 Worlds Fair and see photos of structures in the fair.

Victorian Vernacular-Architecture in Eureka Springs

Beginning in the late 1800’s, the machine age triggered the revival of traditional craftsmanship in building and the use of local materials which lead to the Queen Anne and Arts and Crafts style homes. Vernacular buildings inherently weave local traditions, building materials and skills into a recognizable form.

The town of Eureka Springs showcases Victorian vernacular with its many remaining historic structures. In fact, the whole town is on the National Register of Historic Places. Discover Arts and Crafts style elements in the 1905 Basin Park Hotel and Queen Anne residences on both sides of the historic loop. If you are downtown, just look up. Victorian homes are tucked into the mountainsides surrounding downtown Eureka Springs.

Photos that appear on the Arkansas Art Trail website were taken by local Eureka Springs artist Edward C. Robison. See more of his work at Sacred Earth Gallery. For cultural events on the Arkansas Art Trail, find us on Facebook.

FOLLOW THE ARKANSAS ART TRAIL… WHERE NATURE INSPIRES ART.

New Museum Inspires Creation of Art Trail

With attention to the Northwest Arkansas region on a high mark with the opening of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the Sesquicentennial Commemoration of the Civil War, tourism leaders in the region have come together to develop the Arkansas Art Trail. The trail was designed to give visitors to the area an opportunity to see more of Arkansas-its natural beauty and cultural inspiration.

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is attracting a lot of national attention and is expected to draw large groups of art enthusiasts to its official opening. Welcoming all “to celebrate the American spirit in a setting that unites the power of art with the beauty of landscape,” Crystal Bridges opens November 11, 2011. With that on the horizon, the Arkansas Art Trail has been launched to help these enthusiasts discover other culturally significant sites and inspirational natural settings.  Simply put, the Arkansas Art Trail maps places in the Natural State where nature inspires art. 

Inspired by the well known Hudson Valley Art Trail in New York, the Arkansas Art Trail features breathtaking vistas, mountain views, nationally significant sites, and natural settings.  These points of visual interest are complimented by architectural features and made meaningful by local heritage and cultural sites.  The Arkansas Art Trail includes ten stops that include destinations like Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and historic cowntown Eureka Springs but it also guides trail followers to lesser known but nationally significant points of interest like Boxley Valley and Inspiration Point.

ArkansasArtTrail.com provides resources to guide visitors on their actual or virtual journey along the Trail.  Trail travelers are encouraged to do three simple things: wear comfortable shoes, open their eyes widely, and prepare to be inspired. Realistically, viewing the Arkansas Art Trail in its entirety can take three to seven days depending upon how long visitors choose to linger at each site or how many side trips are taken. The Trail has been organized into three legs that take an average of one day to complete.  Side trips noted include additional inspirational sites with pictorial samples highlighting each leg of the trail.

Images from the trail seen on the website were provided by local Eureka Springs photographer Edward Robison III who owns and operates a gallery in Eureka Springs.

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