By Emma Castleberry
The Craft and Community Vitality Grant program, established in 2023 by the Center for Craft in collaboration with UNC Asheville’s Gillings Master of Public Health (MPH) program, supports a variety of projects by Western North Carolina artists that connect craft and community health. In July, The Laurel looked at three of the six grant projects, each of which was studied by a public health student from the MPH program. For this issue, we highlight the three remaining grant recipients that have harnessed the power of craft to foster health, healing and resilience in their communities.
Limpia kits created by students. Photo by workshop instructor Luis A Sahagun
The Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center saw the grant as a perfect extension of the school’s mission. “Part of what we do is to preserve and pass on craft traditions, so the ability to have a program dedicated to teaching our community about the past, present and future of craft, along with its health benefits, fits perfectly with our mission,” says Laura Brooks, executive director of the school.
By partnering with the MPH program, Brooks and her team were able to validate the impact craft has on health and well-being. This collaboration has sparked long-term planning for expanding their Free Community Art Day program to include activities tailored for specific groups like veterans and seniors.
For artist Jakeli Swimmer, the grant provided the opportunity to bring his project, Uliyod’: A True Story, to life—a project deeply rooted in his drive to reclaim and protect the representation of his Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI). Swimmer’s project created visual aids to translate Cherokee language signs for broad use beyond the classroom and educational settings. “This grant provided much needed financial assistance without the drudgery that some other financial opportunities require,” Swimmer says. “It really gives the artist the reins and gives the resources to a community without asking for something equal to the institution in return.”
For visual artist and ritualist Luis Alvaro Sahagún Nuño, the grant was an invitation to create something beyond art. “I’ve always believed that craft is not just about making objects but about mending what has been broken, especially within marginalized communities,” he says. His project, Crafting Community: Discovering Your Creative Medicine, used craft as a tool for healing through the creation of limpia tools and spiritual cleansing rituals. “The heart of this project is about remembering who we are, where we come from and the power that lives in our traditions,” he says. “This project reminds us that our craft can be a tool for decolonization, a way to reclaim our stories and our right to thrive.”
Nuño adds that this grant, and others like it, provide artists with the financial means to embark on projects that can change the public perception of art. “The Craft and Community Vitality Grants make space for voices that have long been silenced,” he says. “They provide a platform for BIPOC artists to lead, to teach and to inspire, while nurturing a deep connection to our cultural wisdom and collective future.
In a world often filled with noise, these grants help us find a deeper, truer song.”
Learn more at CoweeSchool.org, LuisSahagun.com, AroundTheBound828.com and CenterForCraft.org.
