Big Crafty Founder was Destined to Curate the Indie Arts Scene
byAnthropologists are trained to take what appears foreign and help build bridges of understanding, appreciation, and universal commonality. They are also skilled at delving…
Fiber
She Felt Her Way into Fiber Art
byArtist Tracey McCracken Palmer, who grew up in Western North Carolina, has drawn and painted for as long as she can remember. But, she…
“The Long Process of Creation” Booming Art League Debuts Rebranded Studio Tour
byNo one can accuse the Art League of Henderson County of having remained idle during the thick of the pandemic. In September, the greatly…
Village Art & Craft Fair Celebrates 50 Years
byLate local visionary John Cram, an entrepreneur and philanthropist, launched the Village Art & Craft Fair 50 years ago, when Asheville was still a…
Imagine Dragons Riding on Your Hip or Circling Your Waist
byLyn Lyndall makes it possible to keep a pet dragon by your side. The artist’s hand-tooled leather bags are sculpted with the bodies of…
20 Years, 20,000 Square Feet, One Big Key to Success
byThe F.W. Woolworth building, located at the corner of Haywood Street and Battery Park in downtown Asheville, was constructed in 1938 and has since…
Making (Negative) Space for Contemporary Quilting
byThis year, the Western North Carolina Quilters Guild will celebrate its 40th birthday. And, like anyone blowing out the candles on their “Big Four-O,”…
Putting the Factory Back on Factory Hill
byOne summer during college, Leigh Anne Hilbert worked the graveyard shift at a Hanes factory in Galax, Virginia. From seven at night to seven…
The Secret to Controlling a Lack of Control
by“When I was nine years old I had a brain tumor,” reveals multimedia artist Molly Sawyer, who has also endured breast cancer and undergone…
Nearly Out of Buttons But Still Full of Ideas
by“My hands are always doing something,” says Barbara Bryan — sewer, knitter, weaver, spinner, and quilter, just to name a few of the craft…