~ The Grove Park Inn Arts & Crafts Conference ~ Asheville, North Carolina ~ February 17 - 19, 2012 ~

Mayor Bellamy Proclaims

February 12-18 As

"Arts & Crafts Heritage Week"

Citing the role the American Arts & Crafts movement has played in the "artistic, architectural, aesthetic and economic development of the City of Asheville," Mayor Terry Bellamy recently signed an official proclamation earmarking the week of February 12th-18th as Arts & Crafts Heritage Week.

What had begun in England in the 1850s as a revolt against the dehumanizing effect of the Industrial Revolution evolved in America as a fresh approach to home design, their furnishings and the burdens they often presented to a rising middle class. In place of poorly-constructed, over-ornate furniture adorned with meaningless carvings and applied decorations, architects and designers such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Gustav Stickley and the Roycrofters offered simple, modest, straight-lined furnishings that were both well-designed and well-constructed.

The emergence of the American Arts & Crafts movement and the symbolic, simple bungalow coincided with Asheville's most significant era of residential development. The arrival of the railroad in 1880 spawned a wave of home building influenced by the Arts & Crafts movement that can still be seen today in neighborhoods such as Albemarle Park, Montford, Kenilworth, Biltmore Village and West Asheville. In place of towering Queen Ann mansions, local architects such as Richard Sharp Smith and Ronald Greene designed modest middle class homes unencumbered by unnecessary rooms and household servants.

Today the Arts & Crafts movement is alive, well and flourishing in Asheville, evidenced by number of artisan galleries, studios and workshops in the area, as well as by the popularity of new homes and businesses still being built in the Arts & Crafts style. The iconic Grove Park Inn, built and furnished in 1913 in the Arts & Crafts style, has for the past quarter of a century hosted the National Arts & Crafts Conference and Antiques Show, and will again welcome more than 2,000 Arts & Crafts collectors on February 17th-19th.

Conference director Bruce Johnson, who in 1988 conceived of the idea of an Arts & Crafts Conference at the Grove Park Inn, approached Mayor Bellamy with the idea for Arts & Crafts Heritage Week. "While Asheville has garnered numerous accolades in recent years," he observed, "it has always been the 'Arts & Crafts Capital of the South.' Numerous organizations, including the Asheville Art Museum, HandMade in America, the Preservation Society, and the Asheville chapter of the American Institute of Architects, have played key roles in preserving our Arts & Crafts heritage. It seemed only fitting that we should designate this week to both continue in that tradition and to share our information with those people to share our enthusiasm for all things Arts & Crafts."

Monday - Sunday

            Sponsor:            Pack Memorial Library

            Event:                Educational Display

            Title:                  "From Mountain Crafts to Arts & Crafts:
                                       The Arts & Crafts Movement in Western
                                       North Carolina"

            Times:                Library Hours

            Curators:            Lynne Poirier-Wilson and Jim Wilson

Monday, February 13

            Sponsor:            Arts & Crafts Research Fund           

            Event:                Slide Presentation by Bruce Johnson

            Title:                  "From Mountain Crafts to Arts & Crafts:
                                       The Arts & Crafts Movement in Asheville"

            Location:            Asheville Renaissance Hotel

            Time:                  5:30-6:30            Presentation by Bruce Johnson

            Reservations:      Not required.

            Admission:         Free.

Tuesday, February 14

            Sponsor:            Asheville and Buncombe County
                                      Preservation Society

            Event:               A Tour and Panel Discussion of Local Experts

            Title:                 "Problems and Solutions in Restoring an
                                      Older Home"

            Location:          Masonic Temple           

            Time                  5:30-6:00            Social time and tour

                                      6:00-7:00            Presentation

            Reservations:    Not required.

            Admission:        Free

Wednesday, February 15

            Sponsor:            Asheville Chapter of American
                                      Institute of Architects

            Event:                A luncheon presentation and discussion           

            Title:                 "Green and Greener - The New
                                       Arts & Crafts Bungalow"

            Location:            Princess Anne Hotel

            Time:                  Noon-1:15pm

            Reservations:      Eugene Britton (404) 376-7452; eb@fisher-pa.com.

                                        (Please make prior to 2/6.)

            Admission:         Free; $10 for lunch.

Thursday, February 16

            Sponsor:            The Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms
                                      and Grovewood Gallery

            Event:                Fundraising dinner and presentation

            Title:                  "The Pottery Tradition of Western North Carolina"
                                       Rodney Leftwich, art potter, historian and author.

            Location:            Biltmore Industries

            Time:                  6:00-9:00pm

            Reservations:      Call (973) 540-0311

            Admission:         $140@

Friday, February 17

            Sponsor:            Bruce Johnson

            Event:                The Arts & Crafts Conference and Shows

            Location:            The Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa

            Time:                  1:00-6:00pm

            Reservations:      www.Arts-CraftsConference.com (for seminars)

            Admission:          Show tickets $10 at the door.

            Sponsor:            Arts & Crafts Conference

            Event:                Walking Tour of Biltmore Industries

            Location:            Biltmore Industries Museum

            Time:                  10:00 - 11:00am

            Reservations:      Not required.

            Admission:          Free.

Saturday, February 18

            Sponsor:            Bruce Johnson

            Event:                The Arts & Crafts Conference and Shows

            Location:            The Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa

            Time:                  Noon - 6:00pm

            Reservations:      www.Arts-CraftsConference.com (for seminars)

            Admission:         Show tickets $10 at the door.

            Sponsor:            Asheville and Buncombe County
                                      Preservation Society

            Event:                Historic Building Tour

            Location:           Bus departs from The Grove Park Inn

            Time:                 1:00 - 4:00pm

            Reservations:     Call (828) 254-2343

            Admission:        $35

            Sponsor:            Arts & Crafts Conference

            Event:                Walking Tour of Biltmore Industries

            Location:            Biltmore Industries Museum

            Time:                  3:00 - 4:00pm

            Reservations:      Not required.

            Admission:         Free.

            Sponsor:            Asheville Art Museum

            Event:                Reception, presentation and exhibit

            Title:                 "Glass Becomes Art:  Artistic Expression of Galle
                                      and Tiffany" by Mary Cheek Mills

            Location:           Asheville Art Museum

            Time:                  5:00-7:00pm           

            Reservations:     Call (828) 253-3227

            Admission:        $25

Sunday, February 19

            Sponsor:            Bruce Johnson

            Event:                The Arts & Crafts Conference and Shows

            Location:            The Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa

            Time:                   11:00am - 4:00pm

            Reservations:       www.Arts-CraftsConference.com (for seminars)

            Admission:           Show tickets $10 at the door.

            Sponsor:               Asheville and Buncombe County
                                         Preservation Society

            Event:                  Historic Building Tour

            Location:              Bus departs from The Grove Park Inn

            Time:                    12:30 - 3:30pm

            Reservations:        Call (828) 254-2343

            Admission:            $35

            Sponsor:                Arts & Crafts Conference

            Event:                   Walking Tour of Biltmore Industries

            Location:               Biltmore Industries Museum

            Time:                    1:00 - 2:00pm

            Reservations:         Not required.

            Admission:            Free.