Asheville's Folk Art Center Clay Day

June 1   From 10 Am - 4 PM  Clay Day at The Folk Art Center.   The the Southern Highland Craft Guild  celebrates ceramic arts with craft demonstrations and hands-on activities including the Annual "Make and Take" Raku Firing. Buy a $10 pot, glaze it and watch expert potters raku fire it for you.  Raku is a ceramic firing process which uses fire and smoke to create unique patterns and designs.

Other demonstrations include clay sculpture, hand building, surface design and throwing on the potter's wheel. Volunteers from Haywood Community College Professional Crafts Department will be demonstrating and assisting visitors with a try at the potter’s wheel.  Southern Highland Craft Guild member Cindy Billingsley will lead a collaborative sculpture project.  Members Becky & Steve Lloyd will demonstrate sgraffito on porcelain and wheel throwing.

The Folk Art Center is located on the Blue Ridge Parkway at Milepost 382 in Asheville NC.

Historic Pisgah Forest Pottery Open Tours Today

July 20-21  Celebration at Pisgah Forest Pottery -  Pisgah Forest was established in the early 1920s as the third pottery of Walter B. Stephen. Stephen's potting began in 1904 and he established North Carolina's first art pottery, Nonconnah, in Skyland in 1913.

Several things are remarkable about this site. It has been preserved by Stephen's step-grandson, Thomas Case, virtually as it was in the 20s and 30s. The original equipment, kilns, glaze containers, etc. are as photographed in that era. Also his contributions to American ceramics are nationally recognized. His two most important are his crystalline glazes, the first developed in the South, and his cameo decorations of American folk life scenes. On the cameo works he recalled his early days in the west near the Sioux Indians.

Free guided tours of the pottery and demonstrations of Stephens's early pottery techniques by Rodney H. Leftwich, author of the book on Pisgah Forest Pottery. .These talks will be informal and ongoing both days.

Pisgah Forest Pottery is located 3 miles south of I-26 Asheville exit 33 ( Biltmore Square Mall). Follow Hwy. 191 past the Arboretum and Parkway. Event is on the left.

65th Annual Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands

July 19 - 22 in Asheville NC -   65th Annual Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands.  One of the most popular NC mountain events,  this bi-annual Fair includes over 200 exhibitors, craft demonstrations,  live regional music and entertainment in downtown Asheville's Civic Center ( now officially US Cellular Center). The event brings together state-of-the-art contemporary crafts with traditional heritage crafts.

Both levels of the Center offer artisans exhibiting and selling works of clay, fiber, glass, leather, metal, mixed media, natural materials, paper, wood and jewelry.  The Fair  showcases the work of members of the Southern Highland Craft Guild with members living in the mountain counties of nine states from Maryland to Alabama.

River Arts District Second Saturday

July 14   River Arts District Second Saturday  Asheville’s River Arts District Artists open their studios for a day of family friendly fun, educational experiences, live demonstrations and to share their creations. Visit dozens of artists working in all types of media, available for viewing or purchase.

Pause to refresh at a variety of River District restaurants including 12 Bones Smokehouse and the White Duck Taco Shop or quench your thirst with local brews at the Wedge Brewing Company and juice at Nourish and Flourish.