By Becky Gillette
An outdoor art sculpture under construction downtown is becoming one of the more popular subjects for photographs in a town shutterbugs take seriously. Dan Morris, resident artist at the Eureka Springs School of the Arts (ESSA), is creating a water sculpture called The Horn Section at 0 Spring Street, just south of Basin Park. The work, on property owned by David “Fuzzy” White, has transformed what was an eyesore into an attraction.
The fountain is made from an old tuba, trombones, trumpets, teapots and metal. Morris first assembled the 12-ft. tall sculpture on an A-frame at his ESSA workshop to work out an appealing design that also worked for water dripping from the teapots and other metal pieces down to instruments at the bottom. The sculpture is solar powered.
One recent day, a couple who had just been married at the courthouse stopped by to have their picture taken in front of it. Morris said he was thrilled, especially as wedding photo albums are something that families treasure for generations.
Morris said there are generally two types of sculpture. One is a “take away” sculpture such as carving something out of wood. The second is a “put together” sculpture made from different objects combined in a way to make a pleasing visual statement. The Horn Section is a put together.
Morris, a musician who played for decades with the Greasy Greens, got the idea for the sculpture from a folk art tea kettle water fountain made by Joseph Kuonen. He liked the idea of water dripping from tea kettles into old musical instruments that are now are making a different kind of music from the sounds of the dripping water. Morris refers to it as an Ozark Drizzle Foundation.
White, owner of Eureka Taxi, said the property has seen many different incarnations. The Main Spring Food Court was built there in 1995 by John and Marie White, and the Rock House Saloon was located there, but not the original Rock House Saloon that in 1880 was housed behind what is now Judge Roy Bean’s. One of the original businesses in the food court was a Rally’s Hamburgers. The food court had several 9×12 structures for restaurants including a barbeque place, a Chinese restaurant and a Greek Restaurant. According to city records, in 2002 Big Daddy’s BBQ was in business there when it burned taking out the rest of the structures in the food court.
Visitors to Eureka Springs often appreciate the town has so many art pieces on private property that can be enjoyed from public streets. Another such example is the nearby sculpture of Humpty Dumpty sitting on a wall, photos which appeared in national magazines. Humpty Dumpty was put up by Dan and Belinda Harriman, who also have another widely photographed piece of artwork on their property above Basin Park, the tall goddess sculpture, Aza. Some refer to her as the Goddess of Basin Spring, made from mosaic tiles and mirrors appearing to glow in the reflection.
More of Morris’s art can be seen at the Eurekan Art Gallery, 150 N. Main.