By Ella Karoline Hendricks

The Community Creative Center has been a staple of Fayetteville culture since its opening over 15 years ago. In the heart of downtown Fayetteville is a hub of creation, art and friendship, where like-minded artists and art enthusiasts come together. 

Housing over 40 classes and workshops, the Community Creative Center focuses on nurturing artists in the community and providing a space dedicated to creation. Located off of Spring Street, with a dedicated open studio with pottery and printmaking, the center has a space for everyone.  

Bryce Brisco, the executive director, has been with the center for six years, working his way up from the Ceramics Studio to programs manager, to being the executive director for the past three years. Brisco, an Arkansas alumnus, has got his bachelor’s degree in painting and a master’s in ceramics from Ohio University. 

“That’s what I’ve done for the better part of my career, is making pottery,” Brisco said. “I make functional pottery. I really like the material, I like the process, and I really engage with the history of ceramics and the history of clay. It’s a way to access history.” 

Opened in 2008, the center has provided a functional and affordable space for artists in all stages of their careers. According to its website, “In 2019, we served more than 4,600 students, families and community members (a four-fold increase over 2013) with direct, hands-on classes, workshops and arts experiences and an additional 10,000 with community outreach events, art exhibitions and art sales.”

The center has an open studio application in which adults can apply for a membership for $125 a month or $1,375 a year to have access to the kilns, a designated storage space, discounts on classes, access to wheels, tools, reserved premier glazes and more. 

It hosts adult classes seven days a week, has free classes for seniors, several after-school programs courteous of the center’s outreach, and several free events scattered throughout the year, such as The Arkansas Pottery Festival in May, the Day of the Dead Event, and a Holiday Market in December. They offer six-weeks classes for adults, family, kids in clay, printmaking, drawing and painting and theater.

“We also have the Wheel Mobile,” Brisco said,  “which is a 33-foot-long Winnebago that is a traveling pottery studio. It has nine pottery wheels on it, so we can take that to rural locations. So, we take that to lots of different schools and public events to give people a pottery experience.”

The center is also an art gallery, called the McCoy Gallery, displaying ten solo exhibitions a year. There is a sales gallery that is a collection of handmade art and functional craft, which is available year round, creating a special opportunity for local artists to sell their work. 

“We’re the only community-based printmaking studio in the state,” Brisco said. “We have two etching presses, and we’re also set up for screen printing.”

Arts education is important to the staff at the center, with programs such as ART 2 GO, which brings supplies directly to schools, Afterschool ART, serving kindergarten through fifth grade, the Wheel Mobile, and Arts Integration, which offers workshops for online students, co-ops, alternative learning groups and youth-based organizations. 

Natalie Crane, a freshman at the University of Arkansas, is a part-time teaching artist at the center. Crane started hosting workshops in November 2024. 

“I was looking for a pottery class,” Crane said. “I did not end up taking the class, but I saw they had a job opening. I just gave them a call.”

Crane, the owner of @nc_creationss on Instagram, hosts classes once or twice a month. She has hosted classes on watercolor, calligraphy and painting. 

“It’s a great place to connect and be in a calm and fun environment,” Crane said. “It’s always a positive experience when I go.” 

Crane said she looks forward to seeing new and recurring faces of all ages every class. Crane is teaching on Collage and Calligraphy on March 15 and then Watercolor Florals on March 16. She also sells custom canvases, birthday banners and is open for commissions. 

Some other upcoming classes include Beginning Watercolor, a kids summer camp: Clay All Day, Date Night: Pottery Wheel, Intro to Machine Sewing, Papermaking, and Glass Fusing. 

Sasha Mirozoyan, a live painter, will be hosting a portrait drawing class March 22 at 3 p.m. In addition to being a live painter for events such as weddings, Mirzoyan has written several articles on the creative process.

“I’m drawn to people so I draw them,” Mirozoyan stated in his essay on “Booze and Creative Boost: How to invoke your Muse without substance use” where Mirozoyan explores the relationship between alcohol and the creative process. 

“I’m very passionate about making the arts accessible to the public,” Brisco said, “and we try to have the lowest possible barrier to entry. So, we offer our classes at very affordable rates, and we have tons of free classes. We offer scholarships. All our events are free and open to the public. We want to be able to serve the community and provide arts to the Northwest Arkansas region and make it as accessible as possible.”

Stop by the Community Creative Center for a class, workshop or even just to shop for some new room decor! Support local artists and businesses today!