ASHEVILLE, NC - For four days each July and October, Harrah’s Cherokee Center-Asheville comes to life with functional and decorative crafts made in the Southern Highland region. Over one hundred artists, makers, and craftspeople will fill the two-level building to sell their works of pottery, sculpture, furniture, tapestry, apparel, mixed media, jewelry, and more.
The Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands is an experience, a place to show off the talent and innovation of regional makers. It is diverse: crafts rooted in Appalachian traditions are featured alongside contemporary works. Walking through the Craft Fair, visitors witness the evolution of American craft objects, learning how traditional processes can capture the modern world through the artist’s medium. The focus of the fairs is on the process of craft, often lost in a highly mechanized and digital world; the work of the hand–iron is hammered to become a fireplace tool, and splints of white oak are harvested to become a basket. This theme is reflected throughout the fair with live interactive demonstrations where visitors can learn processes from highly-trained craftspeople. Over the weekend, regional musicians perform on the downstairs stage. Visitors to the fair will have the opportunity to win a piece of fine craft from one of the exhibitors by entering to win the raffle; all proceeds go towards the Southern Highland Craft Guild’s educational mission.
Since 1948, the Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands has showcased work by members of the Southern Highland Craft Guild, (SHCG) a non-profit organization dedicated to keeping crafts alive and relevant in modern times. Having been accepted into the Guild through a rigorous jury process, the artists at the fair represent the finest in the Appalachian region. Membership to the SHCG is open to craftspeople, makers, and artists living in the mountain counties of nine states from Maryland to Alabama. To apply online and learn more, visit craftguild.org/join. Email mentoring@craftguild.org to register for a Mentoring Workshop to prepare for the jury process. For the first time in the history of the SHCG, applicants can purchase a booth to sell and have their work juried at the fair.
Asheville, North Carolina, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, provides the perfect setting for the Craft Fair. Long known as an arts and crafts destination, Asheville offers architectural charm, eclectic restaurants, and a wide variety of lodging. As an organization, the Guild has been serving artists in this area since 1930.
The Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands is brought to you by The Laurel of Asheville, WLOS Channel 13, and Explore Asheville. For a complete listing of exhibitors, craft demonstrations, and entertainment schedules for the Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands, visit craftguild.org/craftfair.
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“Creating a world in which craft and other native talents can flourish – this is the Guild’s legacy. The craftspeople of Southern Appalachia are always aware of tradition and forever renewing themselves from the old sources of nature, family, spiritual life and the desire to share one’s gifts with others.”
Jan Davidson, former director of John C. Campbell Folk School, an educational center of the Southern Highland Craft Guild.
The Southern Highland Craft Guild is a non-profit, educational organization established in 1930 to bring together the crafts and craftspeople of the Southern Highlands for the benefit of shared resources, education, marketing and conservation. The Craft Fairs are one of the ways in which the Guild fulfills its mission. To learn more about Guild programs, visit www.craftguild.org.
Contact:
Southern Highland Craft Guild headquarters, The Folk Art Center
828-298-7928, info@craftguild.org
Marketing Director, Millie Davis
803-604-6508
What: 77th Summer Edition Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands
Where: Harrah’s Cherokee Center, 87 Haywood St. in downtown Asheville, NC
When: July 18-21, 2024 and October 17-20, 2024
10am-5pm Thursday – Sunday
Admission: Adults $12, children under 12 free.
More info: https://craftguild.org/craftfair/ or 828-298-7928, info@craftguild.org
Artists:
Neal Howard (woven apparel) 828/506-2652 Email: henceforthyarns@gmail.com
Julie Calhoun-Roepnack (clay) 828/545-2300 Email: julie@jcrdesigns.net
Audrey Laine Sawyer (jewelry) 828/772-7637 Email: audreylainecollection@gmail.com
Christine Smith (wood sculpture) 727/642-9409 Email: CVinternet3@gmail.com
