Instruments of Faith: The Life and Work of Ed Stilley

On exhibit February 4, 2019–January 11, 2020

Ed Stilley at his home in Hogscald Holler, 1997. Flip Putthoff, photographer. Courtesy Kelly Mullhollan.

Ed Stilley was born in 1930 in Carroll County, Arkansas, to Will and Sarah Stilley. He has lived most of his life near the Carroll County area known as “Hogscald Holler.”

In 1979 Stilley received a directive from God to build musical instruments and give them away to children. For the next twenty-five years, without any musical training, he made over 200 instruments. Each of the instruments was built with odds and ends from around his home near Hogscald, where he lived with his wife, Eliza, and their five children. Ed Stilley stopped making instruments in 2004, only because his hands could no longer do the work required to construct an instrument.

Instruments of Faith features more than twenty handmade Stilley instruments, all on loan to the museum from private collectors.

Instruments of Faith: The Life and Work of Ed Stilley

On exhibit February 4, 2019–January 11, 2020

Ed Stilley at his home in Hogscald Holler, 1997. Flip Putthoff, photographer. Courtesy Kelly Mullhollan.

Ed Stilley was born in 1930 in Carroll County, Arkansas, to Will and Sarah Stilley. He has lived most of his life near the Carroll County area known as “Hogscald Holler.”

In 1979 Stilley received a directive from God to build musical instruments and give them away to children. For the next twenty-five years, without any musical training, he made over 200 instruments. Each of the instruments was built with odds and ends from around his home near Hogscald, where he lived with his wife, Eliza, and their five children. Ed Stilley stopped making instruments in 2004, only because his hands could no longer do the work required to construct an instrument.

Instruments of Faith features more than twenty handmade Stilley instruments, all on loan to the museum from private collectors.

Join us for our Instruments of Faith exhibit celebration, Saturday, March 30!

Model Homes

On exhibit through April 11, 2020

Replica of the Albert and and Ida Beadle log cabin located on Highway 71 south of Greenland (Washington County. It was made by Rusty Lanham in 1999. Rusty Lanham Collection

Featuring five handmade replicas of Northwest Arkansas homes from the 1900s. These one-of-a-kind houses were created as children’s dollhouses or as a way to remember a homeplace.

Model Homes

On exhibit through April 11, 2020

Replica of the Albert and and Ida Beadle log cabin located on Highway 71 south of Greenland (Washington County. It was made by Rusty Lanham in 1999. Rusty Lanham Collection

Featuring five handmade replicas of Northwest Arkansas homes from the 1900s. These one-of-a-kind houses were created as children’s dollhouses or as a way to remember a homeplace.

Scenes of Madison County

On exhibit through December 14, 2019

The Crossbowettes strike up a pose, Huntsville, October 1962. The group of local girls participated in an annual crossbow tournament held in Huntsville in the late 1950s and 1960s. Pat Donat, photographer; Northwest Arkansas Times Collection (NWAT D-62-10)

Explore a photographic history of Madison County people, places, and events. Topics include settlers, Civil War, education, government, tourism, religion, agriculture, and transportation.

Scenes of Madison County

On exhibit through December 14, 2019

The Crossbowettes strike up a pose, Huntsville, October 1962. Pat Donat, photographer; Northwest Arkansas Times Collection (NWAT D-62-10)

Explore a photographic history of Madison County people, places, and events. Topics include settlers, Civil War, education, government, tourism, religion, agriculture, and transportation.