One of the club's on going projects is in coordination with Terri Menefee from the Art Church in Hot Springs. This project is based on making artistically interpreted birdhouses based on children's architectural drawings. The children's freehand birdhouse  sketches are made as part of Terri's art and architecture class. Volunteer woodworkers pick out a drawing they would like to interpret and make as a wood working challenge. The woodworker has the option of staining, painting or leaving the completed birdhouse unfinished for painting by a student. The birdhouses are displayed at a club meeting and typically, the birdhouses are put on display in the Hot Springs Art Church for a month. Included in the display is a silent auction where people have the option of bidding on any of the birdhouses.  For more information on all Art Church activities, click on: Art Church website. You can read typical birdhouse building steps and see an example drawing and birdhouse by scrolling to the bottom of this page. The 2010 art birdhouse displays & silent auctions are from 5/1 (Friday) to 5/31 (Sunday). All proceeds from the birdhouse's silent auction go to the benefit of children in Terri's art classes. This is part of a larger Arkansas Art event. The unveiling of the birdhouses is scheduled for 5 PM on 5/1. The address is: The Artchurch Studio 301 Whittington Ave Hot Springs, AR 71901 (501) 282-8343 You can see the 2010 art birdhouses that were displayed at the April 2010 Club Meeting by clicking on: 2010 Art Birdhouses Album  You can see the 2009 art birdhouses that were displayed at the April 2009 Club Meeting by clicking on: 2009 Art Birdhouses Album   Example Art Birdhouse Building Steps  The first step in the Art Birdhouse project is Terri Menefee intoducing her students to different architectural styles and themes. The students then apply their knowledge to creatively draw a birdhouse. An example drawing is shown to the right that is titled "Day at the Circus". The next step is providing all drawings to the Village Woodworkers club where volunteers select a drawing they would like to use as a guide to building the student drawing birdhouse. Depending on the woodworker skills and the student's birdhouse depiction, the drawing is used as a "build-to-blueprint" or as creative inspiration for an artistic birdhouse the woodworker can implement. Two pictures are provided below for one woodworker's creative birdhouse building and painting that was inspired by the "Day at the Circus" drawing. (Student's freehand curves are translated into something more easily made in a woodworking shop.) The center of the birdhouse structure contains a birdhouse built to exact bluebird specification requirements. For specifications on any birdhouse, click on: USGS Birdhouse specifications.