Western North Carolina may not be the world’s craft capital yet, but it is definitely gaining critical mass toward reaching that goal.

Mark Karner is a prime example a crafter being drawn to this region. He is from upper Michigan and started throwing pots seriously in Colorado. He then attended the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn. He apprenticed there, but his wife’s family was from Western North Carolina, which prompted trips to this area. In the fall of 1999, he opened the Fiery Gizzard Studio and Gallery in the Balsam area of Jackson County.

“Artists tend to get to places first, when rents are low and the place is beautiful. Within just few miles of where I live there are artists of all kinds. It’s amazing,” Karner said from his studio, which is right next door to his house.

Like many crafters in WNC, Karner believes the work of HandMade in America is a big reason why crafters are attracted to the region. The organization, which is dedicated to nurturing the craft industry and helping rural communities, provides tremendous benefits to individual artists, the region’s reputation, and the economy of the whole area, Karner said.

“The craft trails book is interesting to an artist who lives in the area and to an outsider. It is the way we are united, and it makes it look like we are unified,” said Karner.

The impact of HandMade
Over Balsam Gap in Haywood County, Brad Dodson is showing four women from Florida around Mud Dabber’s Pottery and Craft. One of them had been to the shop before, and now was back and bringing friends.

“This is the best January through May we’ve ever had,” said Brad Dodson, who owns the shop and operates it with several family members and friends who are all potters. “And I know exactly what it is — returning customers. People are starting to come back and bring friends. I show them the kiln, ask where they are from. I don’t try to sell them anything.”

Dodson’s gregarious nature no doubt helps retail activity at the shop, but he also knows that Handmade in America has had a tremendous impact.

“Handmade led to a 20-percent increase in sales. We fit in the guidebook well. Whomever is buying that book is our kind of customer,” Dodson said, again emphasizing that he loves to talk to customers and show them around the studio and kiln area.

He knows well the impact from HandMade. He was not in the first craft heritage trail book, which was published in 1996 before his studio opened. The second book arrived more than a year after he opened, and the studio was listed as a stop in that edition.

“People come in here with the book in their hands,” Dodson said.

The Craft Heritage Trails of Western North Carolina was a first of its kind when published by HandMade in America in 1996. The organization had only recently formed after executive director Becky Ander-son had been talking it up for several years. A few grants later and aided by several heritage tourism committees and tourist organizations, the first craft heritage trail book was published.

“Handmade was the first one to do a book,” said Laurie Huttunen, director of services for the Asheville-based HandMade in America. Anderson and the organization have made such an impact, Handmade is now being copied by groups around the country. In fact, this week a group from Vermont will be in Western North Carolina learning from Handmade about heritage cultural tourism.

“Handmade in America is indeed a national model,” said Barbara Harding, the director of travel and marketing for Mid-Vermont for All Seasons, a division of the Addison County Chamber of Commerce.
“I am currently involved with a pilot project funded by the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing to develop a Heritage Guide promoting artists, studios, farms, farmers markets, historical sites, etc.... What I am doing is based on the HandMade in America program.”

Sally Cavanagh is the deputy commissioner of the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing and is also part of the contingent coming to WNC this week. She said HandMade in America has been carefully watched since it began in 1995.

“What’s intriguing is the partnership approach to developing rural economies,” said Cavanagh. “Rural economic development, community development, and tourism development all come together and the distinctions blur.’

Like WNC, Cavanagh said that in Vermont there is often conflict between traditional economic development strategies aimed at manufacturing and those which focus on tourism.

“I think it is less a rural distinction than a generational perception,” Cavanagh said. “But for the economy to be vibrant and healthy, you want both.”

Huttunen said several studies have shown just how significant the craft industry is to Western North Carolina and the country as a whole.

A 1995 study by the Appalachian State University Walker School of Business found that crafts in the 22 western counties contributed $122 million to the economy. A more recent study released this spring by the Craft Organization Directors Association revealed that crafts are a $14 billion a year industry. In North Carolina as a whole, the annual impact from the craft industry is $538 million.

How far can it go
“In this part of the country, we have the fourth largest concentration of crafters in America,” Huttunen said. The craft capitals of the country now are Santa Fe and San Francisco.

Dodson feels this area has the ability to surpass those regions.

“The wave has started. Asheville is an island in arts and crafts that is building. We’ve got all that those other places like Santa Fe and San Francisco have,” Dodson said.

In some people’s minds, it has more. David Erickson and Kaaren Stoner came here to visit a potential studio and had not heard of HandMade in America. The couple, who now own Twigs and Leaves Gallery in downtown Waynesville, learned about HandMade while here and it helped them solidify their decision.

“Kaaren said she wanted to be a part of a movement to make WNC the center of crafts worldwide,” said Erickson.

Because of that, Erickson is now on the HandMade board and will help when the Vermont group arrives.

Bringing the elements together
Western North Carolina has always been know for its hardy citizens whose isolation led to a kind of self reliance that lasted long after the rest of the country had succumbed to the lure of store-bought goods.

“That’s always been the mentality of the mountains. If you needed something, you made it,” said Dodson.

Huttunen said the same concept applied to HandMade. The long craft tradition in Western North Carolina has been promulgated by organizations like the Penland School, the John C. Campbell Folk School, the Southern Highlands Craft Guild and the craft production program at Haywood Community College.

“All the ingredients were here, and that is how we were able to use this as a nucleus for this type of movement,” she said.

“We didn’t invent anything, but we put it all together in one presentation,” Huttunen said.

As for actually boosting the economy of the region, Huttunen thinks HandMade’s contribution would better be described as “increasing visibility.”

“We’ve increased the visibility the craft industry here, both for potential customers and for other crafts people,” she said. “Now we’re on the map.”

 

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The Smoky Mountain News