If you have the opportunity to visit the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion this holiday season, be sure to look for several wooden ornaments created by students and faculty from the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts on the mansion’s Christmas tree.
ASMSA was invited to participate in creating decorations for the tree that has a multi-national theme. Brad Wreyford, an art instructor at the school, said he quickly accepted the chance to highlight the unique learning experiences ASMSA offers its students.
“When I read the invitation to select a country and custom design multiple ornaments to represent them, I thought our students would excel at this,” Wreyford said. “I also thought this was a perfect opportunity to showcase what we do here.”
Wreyford said the school made a significant investment in its wood fabrication facility about five years ago. To his knowledge, ASMSA is the only school in the state offering wood fabrication under a creative umbrella.
“Multimedia 3D Design, Digital Design and Fabrication, and woodworking are not just tangents of what our department does; they are the emphasis. These are our most popular classes. I assumed most schools who were participating would be making something out of paper or standard 2D materials. I wanted our institution to do something different,” he said.
When it came to what nation to choose, it was natural to pick Japan, Wreyford said. Hot Springs has had a Sister City program with Hanamaki, Japan, for 25 years. ASMSA has sister school partnerships with Hanamaki-Kita in Hanamaki and Tennoji High School in Osaka.
He said he briefly considered having students in the art capstone program to create ornaments with origami as inspiration, but he decided that was a bit cliché. Coincidentally, he had been watching some videos online about Japanese furniture makers around the same time.
“The Japanese have a very rich, unique history of woodworking,” Wreyford said. “Their craft is different in application, purpose and even motivation. Their joints are far more complicated. Their saws and planes work on the pull motion. Ours work on the push.”
He said Japanese craftsmen traditionally take pride in simplicity. Wreyford said one of his early woodworking influences was George Nakashima, an American of Japanese descent. Nakashima’s work “opened the world of Japanese woodworking for me,” he said.
So instead of doing the obvious, Wreyford invited two of his Modern Design students — seniors Reed James of Harrison and Cooper North of Conway — to create simply designed wooden ornaments to contribute to the tree.
Wreyford said he the six ornament designs were inspired by the Japanese concept for life and design of “wabi-sabi.”
“Basically it is a celebration of the simple, or even unfinished,” he said. “What is open or empty is just as important as what is filled. It is a philosophy that heavily influences Japanese architecture and tea culture.”
The trio used scraps, cut-offs and other pieces of wood that might otherwise have been discarded. “Transforming something cast away seemed to embody this philosophy of no waste, no frills, simple,” Wreyford said.
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The forms were based on various stimuli including the Japanese flag, the Imperial Japanese Rising Sun flag, and a pagoda among others. The students were also helped influence the shapes.
“While Cooper and I had the opportunity to offer suggestions, most of the creativity came from Mr. Wreyford,” James said. “The designs were approved and elaborated on by Cooper and me. We were given plenty of creative freedom while working on our respective ornaments. I love all of the designs that we made.”
His favorite design was a dowel. “I like the simplicity paired with the vibrant accent colors on the tops and bottoms,” James said. North said a red gemstone shape was his favorite.
James had taken the Modern Design twice, while North had taken the course once. North had never had the opportunity to take woodworking courses before attending ASMSA. James said he had three years of woodworking experience before going into this project but that the skills he used for this project were learned in class from Wreyford.
While they used the skills they had already learned in class, the project gave both of them the opportunity to expand upon them. Both said learning to use a lathe as well as the proper painting techniques for the wood were new skills they learned on the project.
“The lathe has always been an infamous tool that I felt I was never worthy of getting close to,” James said. “After doing this project, I feel confident with my lathe skills but I have a lot left to learn.”
There will be several opportunities for the public to view the tree at the Governor’s Mansion during December. The first is this Sunday when the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion Association holds a Christmas Open House from 1 to 4 p.m. The mansion will be open to the public and serve as an official Toys for Tots dropoff location. No tickets are required for the event.
A Traditional Christmas Tea for adults will be held on Dec. 17 and a Children’s Christmas Tea will be on Dec. 18. Tickets are required for these events. For more information, visit the association’s website at
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