The Penland School of Craft ("Penland" and formerly "Penland School of Crafts"[2]) is an Arts and Crafts educational center located in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Penland, North Carolina in the Snow Creek Township near Spruce Pine, about 50 miles from Asheville.
Penland School Historic District | |
 Penland School of Craft panorama | |
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| Location | NC 1164 (Conley Ridge Rd.), Penland, North Carolina |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 35°56′16″N 82°07′41.9″W / 35.93778°N 82.128306°W |
| Area | 115 acres (47 ha) |
| Built | 1929 |
| Architect | Beeson, D.R.; Van Wageningen & Cothran |
| Architectural style | Bungalow/craftsman, Colonial Revival, Rustic Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 03001270[1] |
| Added to NRHP | December 10, 2003 |
History
edit
The school was founded in the 1920s in the isolated mountain town of Penland, Mitchell County, NC. In 1923, Lucy Morgan (1889–1981), a teacher at the Appalachian School who had recently learned to weave at Berea College, created an association to teach the craft[3][4] to local women so they could earn income from their homes.[5] The center, called Penland Weavers and Potters,[3] provided instruction, looms, and materials.[citation needed] Local volunteers built a cabin and then a larger hall. In 1929, Penland was officially founded as the Penland School of Handicrafts after Edward F. Worst, a weaving expert and author of the Foot Power Loom Weaving, visited the school to provide weaving instruction.[4][5] Worst added classes in basketry and pottery.[4]
Bill Brown, who took over in 1962 after Morgan, created a resident artist program and expanded the number and length of courses. There are 51 buildings on 400 acres.[6] Penland buildings were designed primarily by North Carolinian architects, including Frank Harmon[7] and Cannon Architects in Raleigh, North Carolina[8] and Dixon Weinstein Architects in Chapel Hill.[9]
The school campus was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003 as the Penland School Historic District.[1] The district encompasses 31 contributing buildings, 1 contributing site, and 3 contributing structures. The district is characterized by one- and two-story frame farmhouses dating from the turn of the 20th century, associated agricultural outbuildings, and Rustic Revival style log buildings. Notable buildings include the Colonial Revival style Lily Loom House and Pines; the Craft Cabin; Homer Hall; Ridgeway; and Beacon Church.[10]
Overview
editAs of 2005[update], Penland offered Spring, Summer, and Fall workshops in craft disciplines, including weaving and dyeing, bead work, glassblowing, pottery, paper making, metalworking, and woodworking. It also offers fine arts subjects, such as printmaking, painting, and photography.[3][5] Workshops are taught by visiting American and international artists and professors,[3][5] a tradition that started with Worst and until he died in 1949.[4][5] Academic degrees are not awarded by Penland, but students can receive college credit through Western Carolina University (WCU).[11] There are about 1200 people who study at Penland each year.[6]
Penland holds an annual Community Day in early March, when the school's studios are open and visitors can work on a small project with the help of the artists.[12]
An exhibition of works created at Penland was held at the Mint Museum.[13]
References
edit- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ Hall, Mia. "A Note from the Director – The Penland Sketchbook". Penland School of Craft. Archived from the original on July 26, 2019. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
- ^ a b c d "Penland School of Craft". Craft in America. Archived from the original on December 24, 2013. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
- ^ a b c d Hunter Library Digital Initiatives. "Making History: Penland Weaving Institutes, 1929-1938". Western Carolina University. Archived from the original on December 24, 2013. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
There is much more information about the history of Penland in this article.
- ^ a b c d e Fiber artist Edwina & potter Cynthia Bringle talk about Penland School. [Craft in America]. Archived from the original on January 23, 2014. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
- ^ a b "A short history". Penland School of Crafts. Archived from the original on January 6, 2014. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
- ^ "Penland School of Arts and Crafts". Frank Harmon. Archived from the original on December 24, 2013. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
- ^ "Penland School of Crafts - Phase II". Cannon Architects. Archived from the original on March 25, 2014. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
- ^ "About Dail Dixon". Dail Dixon. Archived from the original on December 24, 2013. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
- ^ Clay Griffith (September 2003). "Penland School Historic District" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places - Nomination and Inventory. North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved February 1, 2015.
- ^ "Enrolled". Penland School of Crafts. Archived from the original on January 6, 2014. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
- ^ "Open House". Penland School of Crafts. Archived from the original on December 24, 2013. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
- ^ "The Nature of Craft and the Penland Experience". Mint Museum. Archived from the original on December 24, 2013. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
Further reading
edit- Bonnie Willis Ford. 1931 Weaving Institute at Penland Hunter Library Library Digital Collections, Western Carolina University
- Bonnie Willis Ford. 1932 Weaving Institute at Penland Hunter Library Library Digital Collections, Western Carolina University
- Appalachian Industrial School in the Mountains of North Carolina. Hunter Library Library Digital Collections, Western Carolina University
- Appalachian Mountain Community Centre. Hunter Library Library Digital Collections, Western Carolina University
- Records at Huntington Library Digital Collection. Hunter Library Library Digital Collections, Western Carolina University
- McLaughlin, Jean, ed. Inspired: Life in Penland's Resident Artist and Core Fellowship Programs. Penland: Penland School of Crafts, 2016.
- McLaughlin, Jean W., Mint Museum of Craft Design, and Penland School of Crafts. The Nature of Craft and the Penland Experience. 1st ed. New York: Lark Books, 2004.
- Morgan, Lucy and LeGette Blythe. Gift from the Hills: Miss Lucy Morgan's Story of Her Unique Penland School. First ed. New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1958.