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All the United States North Carolina Asheville Folk Art Center

Folk Art Center

A wonderful display of arts and crafts handmade by local artisans in the Southern Appalachians.

Asheville, North Carolina

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Meg Neal
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Interior of the Folk Art Center.   Betty Eich, Betty's Photo Art
Craft sales shop at the Folk Art Center.   Melinda Stuart
Handmade dolls at the Folk Art Center.   Betty Eich, Betty's Photo Art
  skippy haha/used with permission
  skippy haha/used with permission
The Folk Art Center   Kelly Loris/used with permission
A beautiful exhibition of quilts produced by local artists.   Melinda Stuart/used with permission
Tools for handcrafts on display at the Folk Arts Center.   Melinda Stuart/used with permission
The craft gallery on the first floor and museum exhibits on the second floor.   National Park Service/public domain
A house   evilgreentriangle / Atlas Obscura User
A jug   evilgreentriangle / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Nestled in the woods at milepost 382 of the Blue Ridge Parkway, Asheville's Folk Art Center is an extraordinary exhibit of locally made arts and crafts. An eclectic rainbow of beautiful mountain art illustrates the significant role that craftwork has long played in the Southern Appalachians.

This cultural gem is the headquarters of the Southern Highland Craft Guild, an organization of over 900 juried artists from nine Southeastern states stretching from Maryland to Alabama. The Guild was formed in 1930 in the throes of the Great Depression, connecting a network of Appalachian craftspeople and cultivating a market for their work.

The Guild’s roots date back further still. It was born out of the Arts and Crafts aesthetic movement that emerged at the end of the 1800s as a reaction to the Industrial Revolution in England. The era saw the pendulum swing away from mass-produced items and refocused the emphasis on beautiful, fine-crafted objects made by hand.

The Folk Art Center's vast collection of handmade items mixes contemporary work with traditional pieces that date back as far as the 19th century. The center's three galleries showcase an assortment of woodworking, jewelry, glass-making, pottery, sculptures, quilts, paintings, and other items. The center also hosts demonstrations of rare and near-forgotten crafts that once thrived in the mountains, such as weaving, cabinetry, and broom-making. It also houses the Allanstand Craft Shop, the Guild’s oldest craft store, and one of the first such shops in the country.

Related Tags

Art Gallery Collections Mountains History Local History Culture Explore Asheville

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Added By

Meg

Edited By

evilgreentriangle

  • evilgreentriangle

Published

August 3, 2018

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Sources
  • https://www.southernhighlandguild.org/
  • http://www.virtualblueridge.com/parkway-place/folk-art-center/
  • http://www.asheville-mountain-magic.com/folk-art-center.html
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_Art_Center
  • https://www.wcu.edu/library/DigitalCollections/CraftRevival/story/allanstand.html
Folk Art Center
382 Blue Ridge Pkwy
Asheville, North Carolina
United States
35.592782, -82.481809
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