The Celebration of Craft is entering its 13th season and is back with another exciting day packed with music, food and educational workshops led by experts of various crafts. This annual event is taking place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. tomorrow at the Appalachian Center for Craft. The event is free and provides visitors with the unique opportunity to take part in acknowledging the arts and crafts that have been local to this area for decades.
“Unlike most university programs,” Interim Director Ward Doubet said, “this is all designed to interact with the community in a way that is typical of craft. Perhaps different from when you usually think of an art department in an urban setting, out here our students get directly involved with everything, whether it’s helping teach the elementary age kids with the outreach program or helping with the workshops.”
Usually, studio tours are given to groups and are available by appointment only, but these areas will be open to the public during the celebration. Demonstrations will be given throughout various studios in the Craft Center by students, faculty and other artists. Also, a craft booth will be set up by the Visual Arts Society for those interested in purchasing art from Craft Center students.
Two musical groups are scheduled to perform during the celebration. Local musician Ethan Ballinger, who also plays with “The Cluster Pluckers,” will be displaying his mandolin skills with the Nashville-based band “Alison Brown & the Fair Weather Friends.” “All Of Us” will be providing suitable overtones from the stage for the day’s events as well.
Summer workshops are still being offered at a discounted price to Tech faculty and students on a space-available basis. For anyone interested, the Appalachian Center for Craft website has enrollment options for workshops that can last anywhere from a weekend to three weeks.
For more information and directions to the Craft Center, visit www.tntech.edu/craftcenter.
