Holiday Bazaar Art and Craft Sale benefits Community Creative Center

Around 400 people meandered through the lobby of Nadine Baum Studios, and into the clay studio, past potters wheels and shelves of pots; browsing and buying unique art ranging from paintings to clay pottery made by local artists at the 7th annual Holiday Bazaar Art and Craft Sale on Saturday (Dec. 6).

The event benefited the Community Creative Center arts education program.

According to their website, the Community Creative Center is a non-profit, visual arts organization, located in Walton Art Center’s Nadine Baum Studios in Fayetteville, that provides a full spectrum of visual arts classes to children and adults along with specialized workshops; summer, after school and intersession arts camps; and gallery and studio space for local artists.  Their mission is “to awaken the extraordinary power of art to engage individuals and community through accessible arts education.”

The Center offers high quality clay and ceramics classes, watercolor, mosaic and mixed media arts classes for students and adults of all ages and skill levels. More than 5,000 people have taken advantage of the classes they offer, according to their website.

Other than the University of Arkansas, Marcella Thompson, Community Creative Center board chair, said the Center has the best-equipped clay studio in the region. She said they want to make it accessible to all in the community from adults to kids in need. 

“We get grant money so that Title I kids can have activities down here,” she said. “Art should be accessible and if people want to learn art, there should be a place to learn it and a welcoming atmosphere that’s not elite art.”

“Art is just a great escape,” Thompson said. “It’s like Prozac for the hands. You just lose yourself in it. It doesn’t matter whether you are good or not, its just if you enjoy it and that’s what our organization is about. We welcome everybody, regardless of whether they want to become a Rembrandt or whether they just want to play.”

On Saturday at the Bazaar, original drawings, pottery, painting, photography, jewelry and handmade cards were offered for sale by the artists who created them. 

“We work with a group of artists that we have worked with in the past and we also did a call for artists throughout the community. And, colleagues of ours recommended people to participate,” Barbara Putman, executive director for the Community Creative Center, said.

The Bazaar, sponsored in part by Daymara Baker, hoped to raise $10,000.

The Chamber of Commerce also participated in the event, selling their book, “Goodnight Fayetteville,” and there was a raffle of artist’s works and Walton Arts Center tickets, according to Putman. Einstein Bros offered bagels and coffee for sale during the morning.

The Center offers art classes year round and has winter classes beginning in January. Visit the center’s website for more info.