Paul Wakefield was the first printer in the print shop at the Folk Center. He had studied typesetting in Philadelphia and his father was also a typesetter. Paul and wife, Maria, would go on to start Creative Impressions, a print business in Mountain View still in operation today.
This Ozark Folk Center 50th Anniversary Legacy Photo is in honor of the entrepreneurial spirit of the Wakefields and their dedication to excellence and kindness to community.
With admiration, Lenore Shoults
The Ozark Folk Center attracts and anchors so much beyond the park itself. The folk culture preserved is both an attraction for visitors and a lived experience for locals. Similar to years ago, small, family run businesses are part of the fiber of a community. Creative Impressions serves individuals and a host of other businesses that rely on their quality and expertise. In a town with a strong tourism economy this ranges from promotional items like rack cards to labels for cottage industries and everything in between.
A number of businesses have roots in the Folk Center. Stone County Ironworks and Grassy Creek Brooms were started by people who learned their craft as Committee of One Hundred apprentices at the Folk Center. The Ozarks Foothills Handicraft Guild, now the Arkansas Craft Guild, existed before the Ozark Folk Center and first managed craft operations at the park. They are still in operation today with their retail store on Main Street in Mountain View. The Off the Beaten Path Studio Tour is an annual event that has brought thousands of visitors to town in its twenty plus years and it was started by Becki Dahlstedt, a former pottery at the Folk Center. Numerous Folk Center artisans participate in the Studio Tour.
Entry by Lenore Shoults.
In addition to entrepreneurial success, the printing business has deep roots in American history. Dr. Bill McNeil, folklorist at the Ozark Folk Center, wrote this essay in support of adding a print shop at the Park:
From the very beginning of white settlement in the Ozarks printing has played a significant role in the history of the region. By the end of the first decade of the nineteenth century several towns in the Ozarks had newspapers and the number multiplied rapidly in the next few decades. These papers influenced the life of the region by reporting events of greater or less significance as they occurred on the local or national scene and by interpreting them for their readers. They also became a record of events and of the climate in which they occurred--often they are the main record available of past history in the area.
Printers, of course, also did more than publish newspapers, they also supplied books, documents of various kinds, and other materials too numerous to list. Many of the advertising brochures produced here brought about the development of the area as a major tourist region. Without the efforts of early-day printers in the Ozarks knowledge of the region's history would be much less than it is today. The printer was hardly a traditional craftsman in the same sense as a basketmaker but both where on common ground in that they contributed greatly to local culture and helped make the Ozark Mountains a unique part of Ameica.
Essay by Dr. Bill McNeil.
The Committee of One Hundred Tribute Wall recognizes contributions to the
preservation of Ozark folk culture.
If you would like to help preserve the folk culture of the Ozarks, consider a
The Committee is made up entirely of volunteers so, except for transaction fees, all of your donation funds music, craft, or the herb gardens and, as a 501c3 entity
your donation is tax deductible!
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