Eunie Fay Jones, noted American architect and designer, was born in Pine Bluff, Jefferson County, Arkansas, on January 31, 1921. Jones’ family eventually moved to El Dorado, Arkansas, where he attended high school. At the outbreak of World War II Jones joined the United States Navy and served in the Pacific theater of operations as a naval aviator piloting torpedo and dive bombers. After the war Jones studied at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansasand at Rice University in Houston, Texas, where he encountered and began studying under Wright, Frank LloydFrank Lloyd Wright. Jones established a private practice in the Ozark Mountains of Northwest Arkansas, where he also joined the faculty of department of architecture at the University of Arkansas, later serving as the first Dean of the UA School of Architecture. Jones used Frank Lloyd Wright's principles to create buildings that had a distinct, natural flair . Among his most famous buildings are the Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, the Mildred B. Cooper Memorial Chapel in Bella Vista, Arkansas, and the Pinecote Pavilion at the Crosby Arboretum in Picayune, Mississippi. Jones is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and, in 1990, was the recipient of its highest honor, the A.I.A. Gold Medal. He died on August 31, 2004, at his home in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

In 2001, the South Arkansas Arts Center in El Dorado sponsored an exhibition honoring Fay Jones’ work and his connection to El Dorado. The exhibit, titled “Outside the Pale: A Homecoming” was held from March 10, 2001-April 30, 2001, and featured material loaned from the Fay Jones Collection in the Special Collections department at the University of Arkansas.