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 History buffs, educators and appreciators of the region�s crafts tradition will celebrate the official launch of the Craft Revival Project online collection Friday and Saturday, May 22-23, at the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
�Craft Revival: Shaping Western North Carolina Past and Present� is a Web site and digital archive housed at Western Carolina University�s Hunter Library. Project partners aim to create a Web-based digital history of the historic effort to revive handcrafts in the western part of North Carolina. Mountain wood carvers are depicted in this photo contributed by the John C. Campbell Folk School.The library receives artifacts from its partners � John C. Campbell Folk School, the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, Penland School of Crafts, Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual, the Southern Highlands Craft Guild, WCU�s Mountain Heritage Center and the library�s own Special Collections office. Items that tell the story of the Craft Revival during the half century from 1895 to 1945, such as documents, letters, photographs, oral histories and other objects, are digitized and uploaded into the project database. The celebration will begin at 6:30 p.m. May 22 at the Folk Art Center with a talk by Jeff Biggers, author of the popular history work �United States of Appalachia: How Southern Mountaineers Brought Independence, Culture and Enlightenment to America.� Robert Morgan, author of �Gap Creek� and �Brave Enemies,� says Biggers� book �opens a new window on the complex history of the region called Appalachia.� The book examines the region as a great contributor to the country�s cultural wealth, from Nina Simone, who went on to become an international diva with her blend of folk, jazz, and Bach-motif riffs, to Sequoyah, the legendary Cherokee figure who invented the first syllabary in modern times. Biggers and Craft Revival Director Anna Fariello will use the Web site to talk about the influence of the region�s crafts on the development of the arts in America during the May 22 event. From 9 a.m. until noon on May 23, the public will have an opportunity to learn more about what the Craft Revival Web site offers through an interactive workshop. Workstations will help K-12 teachers to facilitate their use of lesson plans, bibliographies, and resources; a collections-based station will assist museum staffers in utilizing the Web site to identify objects in their collections; a digital station will outline basic scanning techniques; and a �scavenger hunt� station will allow participants to solve research questions using the site. Teachers who wish to receive CEU credit should pre-register by contacting HandMade in America�s Norma Bradley at (828) 298-8555 or [email protected]. WCU�s Hunter Library is sponsoring the launch event in partnership with HandMade in America and the Southern Highland Craft Guild. The State Library of North Carolina and the Institute of Museum and Library Services have provided funding for the project. The Folk Art Center is located at milepost 382 on the Blue Ridge Parkway at Asheville. For more information about the May 22-23 events, contact Anna Fariello at (828) 227-2499 or [email protected]. Visit the Craft Revival Web site at http://craftrevival.wcu.edu. The Craft Revival Project includes vintage photographs that document the region�s crafts tradition. The undated photograph above, taken by Doris Ulmann and provided by the John C. Campbell Folk School, shows Bonnie Logan Hensley and Hayden Hensley carving wood. (Images provided by WCU.)
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