My Happy Place: Terra Studios

Places that inspire me and make my heart sing

Honest, when I go to Arkansas to visit, it’s to go see my dad. But…if it happens that while I’m there visiting him we get to make a run out to Terra Studios for the day, I’m all over that one too.

Terra Studios is my happy place.

That’s the place where I can go wander and sit all day. I’m never ready to leave Terra Studios. Unfortunately, when I’m there I’m always there with other family members — you know, the visiting Dad thing — and they are ready to leave long before I am.

If I’m not simply sitting and enjoying nature and relishing being in the middle of this creative playground, then I’m wandering around and getting enthused about all of the artistic vibes that fills the space. Or I’m in the stone labyrinth, walking the path and communing with my soul.

Terra Studios, just east of Fayetteville, Arkansas, came into being in 1975. Leo and Rita Ward purchased ten acres of land and along with their son John established Terra Studios as a family glass and pottery studio.

According to their web site:

Leo was a master glass craftsman, Rita was a recognized potter and sculptor, and John is an accomplished artist in a variety of media including cartooning, pottery, sculpture, painting and photography. The original Bluebirds of Happiness were created in about 1983, and soared from a fledgling mail order business into a successful national and international gift-ware business.

To date, over 8 million Bluebirds of Happiness have been produced at Terra Studios. This success enabled the Ward family to follow their artistic passions. They personally produced many wonderful art installations and enlisted over 200 different artists to create the whimsical wonderland that is Terra Studios. Leo and Rita have both passed on, and John continues to create in his private studio.

When we first started going to Terra Studios, stopping in to watch the glass blowing was always one of our first destinations. The artisans were always hard at work, and one could stand at the huge windows watching them create the Bluebirds of Happiness that Terra Studios became so well known for. Later they expanded their line to include their Pink Bird of Hope.

Time passes. People age. Life changes. The Wards retired in 2006, leaving the business to their son. In 2007 they sold Terra Studios to James Ulick, an artist, musician, and entrepreneur.

Ulick spent several years revitalizing Terra Studios and putting his own personal stamp on it. But a few years later he changed it all up.

Their web site states:

In 2015, he gave Terra Studios to the community through the vision of “using art to create a better world.” Today, Jamie continues to be actively engaged by volunteering as president of the board of directors of the nonprofit and serving wherever he possibly can to further the dream.

Alas, you can’t go watch them glass blowing Bluebirds of Happiness anymore. Through the years they’ve sold over 8 million glass birds. Sometimes they’ve employed up to twenty artisans to keep up with the demand for the glass creations.

Encyclopedia of Arkansas reports, “Terra Studios announced in November 2019 that the company would suspend production of its bluebirds indefinitely at the start of 2020 as a way to bring attention to the global problem of climate change.”

According to Ulick, in one year they use more than one-million cubic feet of natural gas to make the birds, which produces a tremendous amount of greenhouse gasses that threaten the earth.

He said it felt hypocritical for them to continue doing something that goes against what they stand for — protecting the planet.

The next time I go visit Terra Studios, will I miss watching the glass blowers?

Absolutely.

Will that stop me from going?

Not on your life!

In fact, I’ll probably rush over there even quicker, admiring them for taking a stand and making a change to the way they conduct business in a proactive way to better our world.

There is still so much to see there. Creativity fills the air like a perfume you can smell on your clothing even after you leave the place. It infuses my pores and my soul and fills me up and brings me peace. Terra Studios is still my happy place, one that tops my list of happy places — even higher than the beach — and that’s saying something.

So, If you ever find that I’m not on Medium and I’m not replying to comments for days on end, it’s probably because I’m at Terra Studios, hanging on for dear life to one of the trees, screaming at the top of my lungs, “Noooooo! Don’t make me go!”

Thanks to Heart Speak for their new category of ‘Places that Inspire’. Is there a special place that inspires you? Or an experience? They’re looking for those too.

Write it up and send it on to Heart Speak. Here’s the details: