About the Show:This episode is part of a special series supported by the Walton Family Foundation. Through their Home Region program, the foundation is investing in the people and ideas shaping Northwest Arkansas—across housing, entrepreneurship, transportation, and leadership. In this episode of I Am Northwest Arkansas®, host Randy Wilburn sits down with Fayetteville-based artist, author, and adjunct art professor Sean Fitzgibbon. Part of the Building What Comes Next series, presented with support from the Walton Family Foundation, the conversation looks backward in order to look forward: how the strange, true stories buried in our region can help us decide what kind of place we want to become. Sean came to Northwest Arkansas from Missouri in 2003 to earn his MFA at the University of Arkansas and stayed, building a creative career by showing his work anywhere he could. His view is simple: roads and utilities sustain life, but the arts are what we live for. Sean spent more than a decade on What Follows Is True: Crescent Hotel, a fully painted graphic nonfiction book about Norman Baker, the radio huckster with no medical training who turned Eureka Springs' Crescent Hotel into a so-called cancer hospital from 1937 until his arrest in 1939. He traces Baker's path from vaudeville mentalist and calliope fortune to promising cures he couldn't deliver, and explains how six months of groundwork turned an $11,000 Kickstarter goal into nearly $30,000 raised in a month. He also previews his next book on the 1,000-year-old Plum Bayou Mounds near Scott, created with the Arkansas Archeological Survey and due in 2027. A great listen for artists, history lovers, and anyone who has taken a ghost tour and wondered what really happened. Key TakeawaysCuriosity as Fuel: Sean says simple curiosity about who Norman Baker was and what happened during those two years kept him going through more than a decade of work.Primary Sources Matter: Interviews around Eureka Springs, a residency at the Writers' Colony at Dairy Hollow, and original letters still bearing the indentation of Baker's pen brought the history to life.Kickstarter Isn't a Shortcut: Most campaigns fail; Sean spent about half a year building interest before launch, which helped him raise nearly $30,000 against an $11,000 goal.Local Story, Universal Themes: Publishers passed on the book as too regional, but its warnings about demagogues and charlatans resonate anywhere.Arts as Infrastructure: Crystal Bridges, the Momentary, and CACHE create real opportunities, but artists still need more support like the now-ended Artists 360 program.Get Outside Your Tribe: Sean tells his students to meet people beyond the arts world; his book connected him with archivists, librarians, archaeologists, and tribal nations.Preserve What Came Before: As cranes rise across the region, Sean hopes we protect archaeological sites like the Plum Bayou Mounds and keep nature woven into new development. All this and more on this episode of the I Am Northwest Arkansas® podcast. Important Links and Mentions on the Show*Sean Fitzgibbon Art (website and book orders): https://seanfitzgibbonart.comWhat Follows Is True: Crescent Hotel (Kirkus Starred Review): https://kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/sean-fitzgibbon/what-follows-is-true/print1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa: https://crescent-hotel.comPlum Bayou Mounds Archeological State Park: https://www.arkansasstateparks.com/parks/plum-bayou-mounds-archeological-state-parkArkansas Archeological Survey: https://archeology.uark.eduWriters' Colony at Dairy Hollow: https://writerscolony.orgArkansas Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship: https://arkansasheritage.com/arkansas-art-council/aac-programs/individual-artist-fellowshipArtists 360 (Mid-America Arts Alliance): https://www.maaa.org/artists-grants-fellowships/artists-360/CACHE (Creative Arkansas Community Hub & Exchange): https://cachecreate.orgCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art: https://crystalbridges.orgThe Momentary: https://themomentary.orgMuseum of Native American History: https://www.monah.orgFayetteville Public Library: https://www.faylib.orgNWA Maker Faire: https://nwa.makerfaire.comMonte Ne (CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas): https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/monte-ne-benton-county-334/ComixLaunch Podcast: https://comixlaunch.comPerennial Seller by Ryan Holiday: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/534365/perennial-seller-by-ryan-holiday/Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud: https://www.scottmccloud.comWalton Family Foundation: https://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org This episode is sponsored by*The Walton Family Foundation The Walton Family Foundation is, at its core, a family-led foundation. Three generations of the descendants of founders Sam and Helen Walton and their spouses work together to lead the foundation and create access to opportunity for people and communities. The foundation works in three areas: improving education, protecting rivers and oceans and the communities they support, and investing in the home region of Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas–Mississippi Delta. Learn more at waltonfamilyfoundation.org *Note: some of the resources mentioned may be affiliate links. This means we get paid a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you use that link to make a purchase. Connect more with I am Northwest Arkansas:Grab our Newsletter Email Us at hello@iamnorthwestarkansas.comConnect With Our Facebook Page Connect With Us on Threads Connect With Our Instagram Connect With Our LinkedIn PageJoin The Facebook Group Connect with our Fearless Host, Randy Wilburn on LinkedIn Thank you for listening to this I am Northwest Arkansas podcast episode. 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