Featured Artisan: Westwork Designs

Come visit us at the Museum Store as we host our featured artisan, Steve Hurd of Westwork Designs! An artist, architect, and woodworker, Hurd’s Cathedral Blocks, Castle Blocks, and other creations have been sold and displayed worldwide. Come meet the man behind the designs, learn about the skill and artistry of working with wood, then browse our collection of his work, including a unique Revolutionary War-era game inspired by our free exhibition We the People: The Radical Notion of Democracy.

Free, no tickets required. Drop-in anytime from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

About Westwork Designs

Westwork Designs was created through the vision of artist and architect Steven W. Hurd.

A native of Central Arkansas, Hurd is a 1985 graduate of the University of Arkansas’s School of Architecture. His love of architecture and woodworking started early in his life. He combined his love of playing with building blocks as a child (and adult) and his design skills to design architectural building blocks, word toys, and other interesting pieces of woodcraft. Hurd’s Cathedral Blocks and Castle Blocks have been sold worldwide and are on display in the Learning Museum of the Castle de Saint Fargeau, in France and Saint Canice’s Cathedral in Kilkenny Ireland. His Cathedral blocks, along with other toy designs, appeared in the annual Toys by Artist show at the Arkansas Arts Center’s Decorative Arts Center. His Crossword Cubed Puzzle Toy is now in the Center’s permanent collection.

Inspired by his success in artisan toy-making, Hurd continues to develop his unique designs. He has also begun to explore works on paper and photography as an outlet for his natural artistic gifts and creativity.