Indulge your Inner Child. Awaken your sense of Imagination and Wonder. Go to that special place within and bring out your creativity that is bursting to come forth. Come….Carve….Create….Have fun while learning at Chaffin Carousel Carving School in Birmingham, Alabama 35205, phone 205-789-7925.

        The Chaffin Carousel Carving School is located in the heart of Birmingham’s Five Points Historic Entertainment District which boasts 26 restaurants within a 3 block walkable area of the School in the Five Points National Historic District. The history of the place helps inspire creations which are reminiscent of the turn-of-the-century carousel horse rides. While Carousel Horses are the most popular animals carved at the School, other carved subjects are also welcome.

        Sculptor Ira Chaffin is one of those rare individuals who doesn’t let his own ego get in the way of encouraging other’s talents to come forward. He teaches at the Birmingham Museum of Art in Birmingham, Alabama; the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina; and in his own Chaffin Carousel Carving School in Birmingham, Alabama.

        Previously when living in other regions, Ira taught at the New York Academy of Art and Graduate School of Figurative Art in New York, New York; The 92nd Street YMCA on the Upper East Side on Lexington Avenue in New York, New York; the Palm Springs Village Center for the Arts; the California State University at San Marcos; Palomar Community College in San Marcos, California, and as for the National Park Service at the National Historic Registered Glen Echo Park, near Washington D.C. He holds a life-time teaching credential in Sculpture.

        Ira encourages exploration, individual creativity, and personal expression. Often he invites his students to exhibit with him to recognize their talent. His students have ranged in age from 13 to 90. Some of his very dedicated students are surgeons and dentists with excellent hand-eye coordination, who discover their hidden artistic abilities during retirement. Other students are actively employed in their current occupations and seek new forms of self expression. They feel rejuvenated during the journey of uncovering their innate artistic abilities, brought out through his watchful and patient encouragement.

        To view his active class schedule and offerings at the Birmingham Museum of Art, please go to their web-link: http://www.artsbma.org and double click on “Education”. For the upcoming classes he’ll teach at the John C. Campbell Folk School, please go to their web-link: http://www.folkschool.com and double click on “Teachers” and “Course Offerings”. Classes taught in his Birmingham, Alabama home studio are scheduled at the convenience of his students.

Carousel Horse Carving Tuition and Fees

        Students may select their level of instruction and appropriate fee, according to how much time they plan to devote to carving, their experience level, and interest as follows:

Introductory Carving Experience in a Class: $10 per hour plus $100 materials fee if a Horse Head, use of Instructors tools

Introductory Carving as Private Student: $25 per hour plus $100 materials fees if a Horse Head, use of Instructors tools.

Carousel Horse Head – Unlimited number of Lessons for a Year -- $500 includes materials fee, use of Instructors tools

Inside Row Carousel Horse -- Unlimited number of Lessons for a Year -- $1,500 includes materials fee, use of Instructors tools

Middle Row Carousel Horse – Unlimited number of Lessons for a Year -- $1,700 includes materials fee, use of Instructors tools

Outside Row Carousel Horse – Unlimited number of Lessons for a Year -- $1,900 includes materials fee, use of Instructors tools

Large Menagerie Animal or Over-size Carousel Horse -- Unlimited number of Lessons for a Year – Instructor to price according to size and complexity of the creation


Enjoy learning a traditional art form while staying in the comfort of the National Historic Registered 1898 Cobb Lane Bed and Breakfast, located in the heart of the Five Points Historic District in downtown Birmingham.

Who can forget the exhilarating experience of whirling around within a menagerie of animals moving in unison to music? Now you can reclaim the excitement of your first carousel ride by learning how to carve the head of a wooden carousel horse from gifted artist and teacher Ira Chaffin.

This learning vacation package includes a 5 night stay at Chaffin's Cobb Lane Bed & Breakfast in downtown Birmingham, located near the Chaffin Carousel Carving School. Chaffin and his wife, Sheila, own and operate the Victorian B&B which is a short walk to 1 of the top 5 restaurants in America--Highlands Bar & Grill. The Inn is also near all the nightlife of the Five Points Points South Entertainment area of Birmingham, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Birmingham Art Museum, Birmingham Botanical Gardens and Zoo, Talladega Motor Speedway, Barber Motor Sports, Robert Trent Jones Golf Courses, and the best shopping in Alabama.

Package includes 5 days enrollment for 1 person in the Chaffin Carousel Carving School, wood supplies, use of the teacher’s carving tools, and a 5 night stay at the Cobb Lane Bed and Breakfast. Best of all, you will be able to take home your completed carousel horse head at the end of your stay.

Cost for 1 Person $795 (Includes Guest Room with private Bath, Full Hot Cooked daily Breakfast, Tuition, Wood Supplies, Taxes)

Come as a couple Share a Room, Both Partners take the Course $1,150 (Includes Guest Room with private Bath, Full Hot Cooked daily Breakfast, Tuition and Wood Supplies for 2 Persons, Taxes)

Call 205-789-7925 to reserve!