The Inspiration Point Fine Arts Colony (IPFAC), near Eureka Springs, Arkansas, was established in 1950 by Dr. Henry Hobart, Dean of Fine Arts and professor of music at Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma. Phillips University owned acreage in northwest Arkansas and asked Dr. Hobart to create a summer music camp at the property. Dr. Hobart proceeded to develop an opera camp as well as other music camps at the Colony. Criteria for the opera program included recruiting the finest faculty possible, using the highest possible professional music standards, and identifying young people with quality voices and musicianship to sing and perform in all roles--without the need to bring in outside talent to sing the lead roles. The theme for Inspiration Point was "The Students are the Stars."

Over the years the summer programs offered at Inspiration Point have included opera, strings, piano, vocal jazz, artists' workshops, etc. The opera program itself has grown to eight weeks of training, rehearsals, and performances.

The Colony is administered by a General Director, who has general oversight of infrastructure, publicity, budget, staff, etc. The Artistic Director oversees the artistic program, including selecting the repertoire, holding auditions, hiring musicians, overseeing rehearsals, and conducting performances. The Inspiration Point Governing Board, led by a President, oversees overall planning, fundraising efforts, and activities of IPFAC. The board includes officers, two representatives from each of the member states (Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas), and members-at-large. An Associate Board deals with matters concerning their respective states, such as recruitment and publicity. A Board of Trustees oversees endowments and long-term funds and the Inspiration Point campus and buildings.

The Central Region of the National Federation of Music Clubs holds its annual meeting in Eureka Springs during the last week in July in conjunction with the last performances of the season held at Opera in the Ozarks.

Dr. Henry Hobart, founder of Inspiration Point Fine Arts Colony, was born December 23, 1894, in Roscoe, Illinois, and raised on a farm in southern Wisconsin. He earned a bachelor of music degree in 1929 from the Gunn School of Music and Dramatic Art in Chicago. Having early established himself in the Chicago area as a nationally-known vocalist and virtuoso pianist and accompanist, including with the Chicago Civic Opera, Dr. Hobart moved in 1929 to Enid, Oklahoma, to serve on the music faculty and later as Dean of Fine Arts at Phillips University. In 1950 he founded Inspiration Point Fine Arts Colony, using his experience with summer opera programs that he had established in Enid. Hobart took the degree of master of arts in pedagogy from Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1951, and later received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from the same college. In 1961 he retired from Phillips University, and in 1965, he received the Presidential Citation from the National Federation of Music Clubs. Dr. Hobart continued to direct the Colony until his death on February 23, 1966, in Houston, while visiting a son.

Born in Philadelphia on September 5, 1891, Dr. Isaac Van Grove served as artistic director of IPFAC from 1957 until 1978. He died September 27, 1979, in West Hollywood, California. Van Grove was a voice coach, piano accompanist, opera composer, and conductor of major opera companies. His operas Ruth, The Shining Chalice, and The Prodigal Son were performed at Inspiration Point. Joan Woodruff Van Grove was an internationally-known choreographer and ballet instructor and taught ballet and other dance forms at the Colony.

James Swiggart attended Opera in the Ozarks (OIO) first as a performer in the years 1955-1958 and then returned to Inspiration Point in 1989 as General Director. Upon his retirement from the Inspiration Point directorship twenty-five years later, in 2014, Swiggart was named General Director Emeritus.

Some of the other notables associated with Inspiration Point include Roger Cantrell, Kyoung Cho, Constance Eberhart, Carroll Freeman, Holly Gash, Julius Hegyi, Hei-kyung Hong, William Johns, Chris Merritt, Leona Mitchell, Latonia Moore, Antonio Nagore, Louis Otey, Kay Paschal, Vern Sutton, Barbara Rondelli Perry, and Daniel Wright.

Opera in the Ozarks processor and librarian Janet Parsch created a spreadsheet, entitled "IPFAC Leadership and Opera Seasons, 1950-2016," which lists the opera season year, IPFAC operational leadership, IPFAC organizational leadership/governance, artistic director, and the names of the operas performed during the season. A paper copy of the spreadsheet can be found in Series II (Administrative Files), Box 7, File 13, and in Series III (Events and Performances), Box 17, File 1.