My new galley BOB.

16 years ago I bought a piece of property with a small home and old restaurant on it. It was pretty run down but the price was right. I quickly began making stick chairs out of the old restaurant and that little venture turned into Roadside Rustics. At one time the largest manufacture of sassafras furniture and the creator of the sassafras log furniture genre, Roadside is now gone but the shop is still there. It’s been sitting there for nearly two years now not doing much but storing a few extra works of mine. I thought it was time for a change. Frankly most of the Galleries in town, that’s Eureka Springs Arkansas, are nothing more than gift shops and that’s fine. Not all but most. They seldom display any art without the clutter of point of purchase trinkets smothering the view of the better art. You see Eureka’s rent is often too high for a real art gallery with our type of clientele. So it’s understandable. We have yet to turn the corner into a truly art collectors Mecca, but that is about to change. Even without Chrystal Bridges Museum of American Art just 30 minutes away we in the art community here have been beating our chest for decades for people to notice. Our May festival of the Arts has got to be the biggest festival we have now. It has become quite the month long show of Eureka finest artist. I myself won the poster contest last year and was the Grand Marshal for the Artrageous parade. I must say quite the thrill for a guy who just up and quit the rustic furniture business to become a full time artist. For small art town under a hundred thousand we consistently rank in the top ten. Yet now Alice Walton has opened the flood gates with her new gift to North West Arkansas, Chrystal Bridges and it’s amazing. Naturally people want to check out our funky little art town that’s just a short drive away and that’s where my new gallery come into to play. The old restaurant and once catalog showroom for Roadside Rustics is getting a new job, my new gallery, BOB. BOB the art gallery! I figure since I now go by Robert R. Norman as an artist now I should give the name BOB to my new gallery. Who could forget that name right? It’s the very first gallery collectors will get a chance to stop at on their way into Eureka Springs from Crystal Bridges. The remodel is in full swing and I’m doing it all myself. So far I have taken down all the old tine and barn wood from the rust shop. What a drag that was. Then patched the thousands of nail holes then took out two windows for more wall space. I really thought the windows were going to be hard but they were a snap. One more coat of mud and a quick sanding and its painting time. I will be using paint reclaimed from the recycling center. Next lights and I’m about done. The art will be primarily my art and my newer urban rustic furniture. I will also be hosting other outside artist from around the Eureka Springs area. You can bet it will not be the standard fair gift shop art. The gallery, BOB, will be a hub for art parties, artist openings and Drink & Draw Art Jams. I’ll post updates as I get closer to an opening date.