Secrets by Professor Emerita Tommye Scanlin
The newest exhibit of the Southern Highland Craft Guild (SHCG), A Legacy of Makers and Mentors, is on display at the Folk Art Center through Sunday, February 12. It showcases art from the University of North Georgia (UNG), an active member of the Guild at the Education Center level since 1977.
Work by the 42 exhibitors is representative of the high quality craftsmanship that is a constant goal for the 86-year-old SHCG, which has had a decades-long connection to UNG through two former faculty members, the late Bob Owens and Tommye Scanlin, Professor Emerita.
“I began teaching in the Fine Arts Department at UNG in 1972,” she says. “The department sponsored spinning, dyeing and weaving workshops taught by highly regarded Guild members.”
SHCG has eight other Education Center members: Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Penland School of Crafts, Haywood Community College’s Creative Arts Program, Country Workshops, The Village Potters, Silver River Center for Chair Caning, Odyssey Center for Ceramic Arts and Tryon Arts and Crafts School.
“Having these educational organizations as members of our community is significant in the trajectory of craft’s growth,” says librarian and archivist Deb Schillo. Every three years these members undergo a review to ensure quality is upheld.
The exhibit is free to the public in the Folk Art Center, located at milepost 382 on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and open daily from 9 A.M. to 6 P.M. For more information, visit craftguild.org or call 828.298.7928.
