The Blue Ridge National Heritage Area is hitting the road Labor Day weekend with the Blue Ridge Craft Trails (BRCT). Six artists and organizations will be grouped with Blue Ridge Heritage as vendors at the Earl Scruggs Music Festival from Friday, August 29th — Sunday, August 31st. This marks a new chapter in BRCT history, opening up opportunities for artists and organizations to participate collectively outside of their own businesses or, in the case of Returning to the Ridge, beyond an exhibit. Over 60 vendors will be present this year, including artists, galleries, organizations, clothing, body care products, home and kitchen items, and more. Additionally, eight food trucks will be on the festival grounds, serving up tasty eats and refreshing drinks. Check out all of the vendors for the weekend.
Additionally, the Blue Ridge Music Trails will be represented through a special fundraising concert. Healing the Hollers will take place at the Foggy Mountain stage on Saturday, August 30th at 3:30 pm. The concert is presented by the Jazz Foundation of America and The Bluegrass Situation, is a fundraiser for the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area. Hosted by Unspoken Tradition, it will feature Zoe & Cloyd, Laura Boosinger, Josh Goforth, Nest of Singing Birds, and Lance Mills. Catch the LIVE stream of the concert from 3:30 – 5:00 pm on Facebook. Tune in here: https://www.facebook.com/BlueRidgeNationalHeritageArea.
Carolina Farm Table
Carolina Farm Table builds custom furniture with a goal to create heirloom furniture to last generations. Devin Ulery, and his team of woodworkers design and craft farmhouse tables, hutches, and other handcrafted pieces for the home from the same space. Each new piece of furniture from Carolina Farm Table starts with a conversation and continues with new or reclaimed locally sourced lumber. Each piece created in their workshop is filled with handmade character and helps to provide a place for friends and family to gather, something Carolina Farm Table believes that everyone needs.
Crossnore Weavers – Crossnore, NC
A vibrant piece of Southern Appalachian history lives on today at the Crossnore Weavers and Crossnore Fine Arts Gallery. This working museum, housed in what is commonly known as the “Weaving Room,” features a fine art gallery, weaving studio, exhibits, and a retail shop whose proceeds benefit Crossnore Communities for Children, a private, nonprofit child welfare organization.
Erica Stankwytch Bailey
Erica creates handmade contemporary jewelry for conscious customers who like unique, bold, and easy-to-wear pieces. Every design is unique because each piece is made by hand with recycled sterling silver and carefully sourced gemstones. Understanding the elemental building blocks of metals and minerals is the foundation of her jewelry. In her work, Erica replicates the molecular and crystalline structures of the materials she uses in the architectural shapes of her jewelry, turning these natural characteristics into spectacular pieces of wearable art.
Local Cloth – Asheville, NC
Local Cloth is a non-profit organization built and sustained by a passion for fiber. Founded in 2012 to connect local fiber artists with local fiber farmers, Local Cloth has worked over the last decade to catalyze a strong local fiber movement and to nurture future generations of artists and farmers. Rooted in local resources and talent, Local Cloth strives to increase awareness of and access to regional production and artisan practices.
Mike McKinney – Maggie Valley, NC
Mike specializes in turning an array of items from local and reclaimed wood. He uses woods like maple, cherry, and walnut, utilizing the natural edges of the wood in many of his designs. His work includes natural-edge bowls, salad bowls, lidded bowls, urns, ornaments, bottle stoppers, and tops. Mike especially enjoys creating items with special meaning for customers.
Tryon Arts & Crafts School
Tryon Arts & Crafts School (TACS) is a regional center for arts and crafts in the Appalachian Foothills. The school was established in 1960 as a key part of the grassroots movement that led to the development of Tryon as an artists’ colony. Hands-on classes and workshops are taught in a variety of traditional and contemporary crafts, including: blacksmithing and bladesmithing, clay, jewelry and enameling, fiber arts, glass, woodworking, and welding. TACS offers elementary through early college programs throughout the year such as afterschool enrichment, field trips, in-school artist programs, and camps.
