In The Ozarks Vernacular

Visitors might not know his name, but Garrett Hunt is the past and the future of the Arts Center of the Ozarks.

Hunt, who owns Design Direction in Fayetteville, is the creative force behind the new “Ozarks vernacular” look of the building at 214 S. Main St. in Springdale.

He’s also an old friend of the Arts Center, having started working there as a 16-year-old high school student and returning after design school to be visual arts director for a couple of years.

“ACO was my first beyond-family job,” Hunt said. “I learned to do scenic work with Harry (Blundell, ACO director of theater).

He taught me everything I know about that - and about working on a budget!”

That’s been the big challenge of Hunt’s role in the ACO revitalization project.

He knows just how determined the arts center’s Board of Directors is to make the most of the money raised.

Founded in 1967, ACO has been in its current home for more than 18 years, Administrative Director Kathi Blundell explained. The aging facility clearly needed work, but the decision to embark on a $1 million capital campaign wasn’t made lightly, Harry Blundell added.

The public campaign wasn’t even announced until the private campaign had raised more than 75 percent of the money, he said. Thanks to a matching grant from the Walton Family Foundation, a grant from the Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Trust, agrant from Tyson Foods and a grant from the Walmart Foundation plus gifts from ACO supporters, only about $20,000 is left to solicit.

Hunt has plans for using that money wisely to create an elegant, contemporary facility that pays homage to its roots as the “Arts Center of the Ozarks.”

The interior colors were chosen to represent trees and leaves, rocks and rusted metal, he said - browns and greens, grays and oranges and a deep brownblack-purple color called “raisin.” That palette - plus adding carpet to the gallery spaces - has created a warmer, more welcoming feel, Hunt said.

The exterior will continue the Ozarks theme, using a linear facade intended to look like a line of long, tall trees, he said, combined with rusted metal. Entry points will be wrapped in wood, he added, that will continue into the building.

As always, Hunt is thinking about additions to the arts center that he can build himself. Custom furnishings are a big part of his designbusiness, which he described as “making dreams come true.”

“I do everything from interior architecture down to painting a wall or tiling a floor,” he said. “We do the design work, and then execute a lot of it. We create things influenced by highend sort of architecture down to the simplest task of getting that wall painted.”

Hunt was first inspired toward his profession by the high-end designs he saw in Palm Springs, Calif., when he was young.

“It was the first time I saw a Roller Wilson painting,” he said with a laugh, “even though he lived right down the street in Fayetteville. It was also the first time I saw a rug that cost $100,000 - the same as a Jaguar.”

The magic, he said, is getting that same look at a much lower price - and hecredits much of that skill to Harry Blundell.

“It’s a good thing for a designer to understand that approach,” he said.

That doesn’t mean Hunt isn’t looking for an extra $5,000 to $10,000 in the budget. He has his eye on five huge - 26 by 40 inches - starburst light fixtures he says look like giant cuckle burrs. He can envision the shadow play of the lighted brass fixtures contrasting with the chrome lighting in the galleries, with handcrafted biomorphic wooden benches upon which patrons could sit and admire the artwork.

“This is a labor of love,” he admitted. “I know what this kind of work costs, and it would have been prohibitive to hire a big company.

And I really wanted to do this for Harry and Kathi and make it something special.”FAST FACTS Arts Center of the Ozarks Location: 214 S. Main St. in Springdale Founded: 1967 Current structure: Dates back 18 years Current renovation: Started in 2012 Renovation budget: $1 million Left to raise: $20,000 To make a contribution to the project or for further information, call the Arts Center of the Ozarks at (479) 751-5441 or visit artscenteroftheozarks.org.