Photo courtsey of Grovewood Village
Biltmore Industries
Biltmore Industries dye vat worker.
Biltmore Industries at Grovewood Village in Asheville will celebrate its centennial June 17 from 12 – 5 p.m.
Events include a special exhibition of fiber art by seven regional weavers, artist demonstrations and guided history tours.
There will be a cake cutting ceremony and a historical presentation by Bruce Johnson Director of the National Arts & Crafts Conference at The Grove Park Inn since 1988. He will speak at 2 p.m.
When Biltmore’s first lady, Edith Vanderbilt, approached Fred Seely, visionary of The Grove Park Inn and the son-in-law of Edwin W. Grove, about buying Biltmore Estate Industries in 1917, she asked that he “continue its educational features and develop the arts.”
With Seely’s assurance and agreement to erect six English cottages adjacent to the hotel to house the Industries’ wood carvers and weavers, Mrs. Vanderbilt knew the current eight looms of her Biltmore Estate Industries in Biltmore Village would have a new home and place to grow and thrive.
The enterprise became Biltmore Industries.
Today, this privately owned Asheville treasure includes Grovewood Gallery, which opened in 1992, a museum and visitors center tracing the history of Biltmore Industries, working artist studios and an antique car museum.