Terra Studios

Take the beauty of the Ozarks, throw in a few hippie artists and a touch of magic, and the result is Terra Studios, a nature and art oasis near Fayetteville, Arkansas.

In 1975, Leo and Rita Ward founded Terra Studios as a glass and pottery studio that would be open to the public. Both were artists, Leo as a master glass craftsman and Rita as a potter and sculptor. After teaching art classes for eight years, Leo created Terra's signature piece: the Bluebird of Happiness. The small, hand-shaped glass birds quickly became very popular and a mail order business was established and other artists presented their work at Terra Studios

In 2007, the Wards retired to pursue more private artistic endeavors, and Terra passed to new ownership. After producing over 8 million Bluebirds, no part of the property has remained untouched by art. Even the trash cans are trolls with gaping mouths that gobble up your trash. There's a maze of standing stones, a cafe next to a pond, and more gnomes, trolls and fairies than you can count. There's also Otis Zark's dim garden, through which visitors can reach the centerpiece of the collection, the Magic Chair, made of molded clay and gorgeously lit colored glass.

Many artists still reside on the property, and the art is in constant production. You can watch glass artisans make bluebirds in the gallery, pottery classes are offered, and local musicians play in the café on weekends. Terra is a wonderful place to relax and enjoy the natural beauty, surrounded by the clay and glass flights of creative, offbeat Ozark folk artists for which they are known.