Fay Jones Collection Opened for Research

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The papers of famed Arkansas Architect Fay Jones are now open for research at the University of Arkansas Libraries’ special collections department. The formal opening of the collection was announced by Carolyn Allen, dean of libraries, during the April 4 dedication and renaming of the Fay Jones School of Architecture.

The collection contains biographical information, correspondence and drawings for projects, business and academic records, slide and photographic images, books and working models. The records were donated to the University of Arkansas Libraries by Fay Jones and his wife Mary Elizabeth “Gus” Jones between 1997 and 2009. The task of processing and organizing the papers was a six-year project, resulting in a collection of 606 linear feet of material. A finding aid for the collection is available online, in addition to a project catalog containing information about the projects and illustrations of them.

Sketch of Stoneflower, a residence built for Bob Shaheen and Curt Goodfellow in Eden Isle, Arkansas, in 1963.

(Left to right) Frank Lloyd Wright, E. Fay Jones, Wes Peterson (traveling with Wright) in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in April, 1958.

Interior of Mildred Cooper Memorial Chapel, Bella Vista, AR. Photo by Tim Hursley, circa 1988.

Jones was an internationally known architect and educator who won the American Institute of Architecture’s highest honor, the AIA Gold Medal, in 1990. Working from his small studio in Fayetteville, he practiced architecture from 1954 to 1998, designing more than 200 projects, including residential buildings, chapels, pavilions and intricate metal structures. His most acclaimed structure is Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Springs. Of the projects for which records exist, 129 were built, 84 of which were in Arkansas.

Jones met his mentor, Frank Lloyd Wright, in 1949. Both Jones and his wife Gus became members of Wright’s Taliesin Fellowship in the mid-1950s. Wright’s most lasting influence on Jones was in the application of the principles of organic architecture: simplicity of construction, use of native materials, attention to crafted details, and seamless integration of buildings to sites. 

Jones inspired and educated generations of Arkansas architects and lectured widely throughout the United States. After a teaching stint at the University of Oklahoma, Jones returned to the University of Arkansas in 1953 where he began his twin careers of teaching and maintaining an architectural practice. In 1966 he became chair of the university’s architecture department, and in 1974 he was named the first dean of the new School of Architecture. Jones died in Fayetteville in 2004.

The Fay Jones collection is a complete record of Jones’ teaching, his practice, his philosophy of architecture, and his skill as an artist. Personal materials include biographical information from Jones’s childhood through his World War II service. The collection includes numerous carefully kept appointment books, registration certificates, sketch books and phone messages that provide details not found elsewhere. Printed resources include posters from seminars and meetings, clippings, magazines featuring Jones’ work and portions of his own library.

 Materials documenting more than 200 building projects from 1950 to 1998 include correspondence, construction schedules, notes, sketches, reports and product literature. Over 22,000 separate sheets of drawings illustrate the development of projects from conceptual drawings to presentation and construction drawings. More than 20,000 slides and photographs record Jones’ architectural creations and travels. Recorded interviews and audiovisual items featuring Jones and his works are in VHS and DVD formats. His academic records include lecture notes, class rosters and University of Arkansas School of Architecture administrative records.

Tom W. Dillard, head of the special collections department, observed, “Fay Jones was an Arkansas treasure, and I believe his archive will be a treasure to future generations. I anticipate the collection will be used extensively as architects and architectural historians seek to determine the full scope of the brilliance of this Arkansas architect and teacher.”

A selection of Jones’ sketches, models and plans is on permanent display in the Libraries’ architectural archives in Mullins Library 126. The recent renaming of the School of Architecture in honor of Fay Jones was made possible by a generous gift from Don and Ellen Edmondson of Forrest City, Ark., who also supported the processing of his papers in special collections. Another gift from the Edmondsons produced four display cases for models, as well as a large brass emblem for the architectural archives door in Mullins Library.

For further information on the Fay Jones Collection, visit http://libinfo.uark.edu/specialcollections/findingaids/mc1373/ or view the extensive project catalog at http://libinfo.uark.edu/specialcollections/manuscripts/FayJones/projects.asp.