Pop-up gallery offers local art for the holidays
BECCA MARTIN-BROWN
bmartin@nwadg.com
The biggest reason there’s a EurekaMade pop-up market at 67 Spring St. sounds like a lyric from a Broadway musical. Mark Hughes and Steve Beacham thought Eureka Springs needed a little touch of Christmas, right this very minute.
It didn’t hurt that all the pieces serendipitously fell into place.
EurekaMade, a pop-up holiday gallery at 67 Spring St., offers the work of more than 20 Eureka Springs artists for a limited time only.
(Courtesy Photos/Mark Hughes)
The space at 67 Spring St., for many years home to Zarks Gallery, had been vacated and wouldn’t have new tenants until 2021.
Hughes had spent the spring and summer making thousands of cloth masks, first as a charitable response to the pandemic and then as a business. Meanwhile, his line of Regalia Handmade Clothing had just been hanging around his showroom, he says, and needed to be seen, shopped and sold.
And Beacham, whose Spring Street Pottery is one of the oldest continuously operating studios in Arkansas, had lost a couple of the outlets for his work because of covid closures.
“Steve and I looked at each other and said, ‘You know, we’ve always toyed with the idea of a gallery with just local Eureka artists,’” Hughes says. “We never really want to go into business again with each other! But he had inventory. I had inventory. And we didn’t want the shop to be empty and dark during the holidays. So we planned this pop-up, and once word got out, we had about 20 more artists get involved.”
Among others also showing their work are painter Barbara Kennedy, jewelry maker Eleanor Lux, woodworker Doug Stowe, sculptor Sandy Starbird and glass maker Suzanne Reed.
Hughes moved to Northwest Arkansas from his native Little Rock 23 years ago, escaping a career as a costume designer in regional theater. He started Regalia Handmade Clothing in 2000 and relocated it from Fayetteville to Eureka Springs 14 years ago.
(Courtesy Photos/Mark Hughes)
“My main clothing line is comfortable, natural fiber clothing for women, which contains a higher-end line of one-of-a-kind designs made from specialty fabrics. Another line called ‘Bing Bang Boomerang’ is retro clothing for men and women made mostly from vintage fabrics.”
Beacham moved to Eureka Springs in 1979 and became a potter. His studio is downstairs at 67 Spring St.
“I don’t know why there are no galleries in Eureka that just show Eureka artists,” Hughes says. “But this one does — for six weekends. And we only have two to go.”
FAQ
EurekaMade Pop-Up
WHEN — 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Dec. 17-20
WHERE — 67 Spring St. in Eureka Springs
COST — Admission is free; artwork is for sale
INFO — EurekaMade on Facebook or email regaliacontact@sbcglobal.net
