Craft Heritage

The North Carolina mountains and foothills have become the geographic center of handmade crafts in the United States.  The region fostered the country's traditional craft movement (1800s – early 1900s) as well as the contemporary craft movement (1940s).  Today, over 4,000 craftspeople live and work in Western North Carolina, where the traditional and contemporary crafts flourish side by side.
 
Visitors from all over the globe come to the North Carolina mountains and foothills in search of fine crafts.  Here visitors can meet artists in their studios, participate in hands-on demonstrations, and sample a great variety of crafts at festivals, galleries, and museums.  Many also come to the region's venerable craft schools—for a weekend, a week, or longer—to hone their skills or learn a new craft.