Bruce Johnson in his home office with Biltmore Industries wood carvings
The Biltmore Industries Homespun Museum in Grovewood Village will host a book release celebration for local author and historian Bruce Johnson, recipient of the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award, on Saturday, July 22, from 1–4 p.m. Johnson’s new book, Biltmore Industries & Tryon Toy-Makers, is about the lives and works of Eleanor Vance and Charlotte Yale, who operated a woodworking and weaving business for George and Edith Vanderbilt before moving on to start their own toy company.
After moving to Asheville in 1989, Johnson began discovering items like carved bookends, serving trays and nut bowls branded with a Biltmore, NC shopmark. He began researching these items and discovered that very little had been written about Vance, Yale or even Edith Vanderbilt as the founders of Biltmore Industries. “As an Arts and Crafts writer, I was guilty of focusing too much attention only on the men responsible for the American Arts and Crafts movement,” says Johnson.
Johnson says one of the things he loves most about the story of these women “is that they did not limit enrollment, training and employment to young Asheville men, but immediately began inviting young women—Nellie Lipe, Edith Arthur, Alice McKain and others—to also learn how to become skilled woodworkers and woodcarvers.” The widowed Edith Vanderbilt sold Biltmore Industries in 1917, and by that time Vance and Yale had resigned from their posts and moved to Tryon where they founded Tryon Toy-Makers and Wood-Carvers.
During the event, autographed copies of the book will be for sale and Johnson will give brief talks at 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Local textile artist Deanna Lynch will also be on-site to demonstrate weaving on an antique, four-harness loom handcrafted by Biltmore Industries’ woodworkers.
The Homespun Museum is an appropriate setting for the celebration of Johnson’s book. “Since 1953, the Biltmore Industries buildings have been preserved, restored and repurposed by the family of Harry Blomberg,” says Johnson. “Today known as Grovewood Village, the buildings, including a small museum, are one of Asheville’s Arts and Crafts gems and the perfect locale for a presentation on the history of Biltmore Industries and the roles played by Eleanor Vance, Charlotte Yale and Edith Vanderbilt.”
Grovewood Village is located at 111 Grovewood Road, adjacent to and below the Omni Grove Park Inn in Asheville. Gallery hours are Monday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free parking is available onsite. To learn more, visit Grovewood.com or call 828.214.7768.
