Just about every artist of local repute was represented at the 2024 Mad Hatter Ball. The annual fundraiser for Eureka Springs School of the Arts (ESSA) drew about 160 people to the Crescent Hotel and Spa the night of Friday, Oct. 18.
ESSA sold out of tickets, and would-be patrons had already cast several hundred dollars’ worth of bids by the time the doors opened on the Crescent’s Crystal Ballroom. A pre-dinner reception was held in the hotel’s conservatory, where the auction items were displayed.
The ball’s theme “Enchanted Forest” was carried out to a “T” with the many artistic hats created for the event. Morgan Ahart won “Best Hat” with a carefully crafted red-and-white polka dot mushroom cap that lit her face from above her head. The “People’s Choice” award — decided by a secret vote of ticket-holders — went to Brent and Jordan Eudaly.
Guests dressed as all sorts of “Enchanted Forest” animals, including an opossum and white squirrel as portrayed by Dylan Buyskes and Emily Valentin.
“This was one of our most successful fundraisers ever, with the auction in particular raising record breaking amounts,” said ESSA Executive Director Kelly Mc-Donough. “Participants really pulled out all the stops with their costumes, and many remarked that the costumes this year were some of the best they’d ever seen at a Mad Hatter Ball.”
The auction opened online two days before the in-person affair. For those who found items they couldn’t live without and for participants unable to attend, there was a “buy it now” option to bidding. A mixed media piece by ESSA co-founder Mary Springer, “Girls Night Out,” sold for $440 ahead of the event. Springer suspected the work was acquired by a collector of her art from New York.
Another popular item was a handmade jewelry chest by master woodworker Doug Stowe, who is also an ESSA co-founder.
“[Springer] and [Stowe] were involved with the founding of ESSA in 1998 and have been deeply involved in the art and craft scene in Eureka since the 1970s and 1980s,” Mc-Donough said. Both continue to serve on the ESSA board and both teach multiple workshops there each year.
All funds will go to support ESSA’s scholarship funds and artist residency program, to fund its free public programs and to maintain the ESSA teaching studios.
