Ozark Giraffe
Vernacular architecture made by Ozarkers—stone-stacked structures with wide mortar—are often painted white to resemble giraffes. By advancing these handmade, owner-built homes of whimsical design, artist Chuck Davis seeks to help reverse the stigma of Ozark people.
For decades, visual representation by mass media has marginalized Ozark culture. These intuitive and inventive designs covered by field stone are similarly stereotyped and victimized, dating to early Ozark explorers in the 1850s.
Let us celebrate and reclaim a style of Ozark architecture that’s often misrepresented and overlooked.
421 W Persimmon Street, Rogers AR
Carthage Missouri Municipal Park (demolished April 2023)
Pump House – E 20th Street, Joplin MO
5689 E 20th Street, Joplin MO
Roller Rink – Carthage Missouri Municipal Park
Wilson Park, Fayetteville AR
1300 North D Street, Rogers AR (condemned and restored)
628 E Henri De Tonti Blvd, Springdale AR
609 Mission Street, Fayetteville AR
524 Spring Street, Rogers, AR (badly damaged in tornado)
Herman's Rib House, Fayetteville AR (painted-over stone)
Pig Bird Bath – Herman's Rib House, Fayetteville AR
Ozark Giraffe is an ongoing project, seeking to reverse cultural stigmas and stereotypes.
September 2023 – An artist statement and lecture, ‘The Avoidance of Othering – Ozark Giraffes,’ was first presented during the Ozarks Symposium, at the Missouri State University of West Plains.
January 2024 – Chuck Davis was awarded an Innovation Grant by Art+Everywhere to continue elevating the vernacular architecture of giraffe-style homes. Plans included community engagement in unlikely locations.
June 2024 – Mario Quiroz (Cambridge, Mass.) became an Artist in Residence as an outcome of the Art+Everywhere grant, photographing vernacular architecture and giraffe homes in Rogers, AR. His project deliverable: ‘As I saw the Ozarks’.
October 2024 (to present) – Upon completing the Art+Everywhere grant cycle, Davis and Quiroz erected a fence wall exhibit of their work at Ozark Beer in downtown Rogers.
November & December 2024 – Exhibited within ‘Current Works 2024’ at the Leedy Volkus Gallery, Kansas City. Juror - Adam Finkelston
January 2025 – Art+Everywhere Retreat at MASS MOCA, North Adams MA, presenting grant outcome and exhibiting in ‘Roots/Wings’ exhibit.
July 2025 – Artist in Residence exhibiting during Culture Splash at Gallery RAG, Rocky Neck Artist Colony, Gloucester MA. ‘Trace Light: The Archive in Motion,‘ curated by Tracy Hayes.
October 2025 – Arkansas Arts Council awards an Individual Art Fellowship grant to Chuck Davis for Community Engagement Art.
November & December 2025 – ‘Ozark Giraffes at Mount Sequoyah,’ Sequoyah Gallery – Creative Spaces, Fayetteville AR (Solo exhibition).
Collect your Ozark Giraffe.
Individual prints on 11x17 archival rag.
Edition of 5, $300.Silver Gelatin prints on request.
Fence wall exhibit by Chuck Davis and Mario Quiroz.
