{"id":70199,"date":"2024-06-27T12:00:26","date_gmt":"2024-06-27T16:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/?p=70199"},"modified":"2024-06-26T09:33:25","modified_gmt":"2024-06-26T13:33:25","slug":"toe-river-crafts-highlighting-50-years-of-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/arts\/toe-river-crafts-highlighting-50-years-of-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Toe River Crafts:<\/strong> Highlighting 50 Years of History"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Opening day at Toe River Crafts<\/p><\/div>\n

By Sue Wasserman<\/p>\n

Tria Turrou and Carrie DeVee feel like kids in a candy shop these days. As president and vice president of Toe River Crafts (TRC), now celebrating its 50th anniversary, the duo has been poring over archives and uncovering fascinating stories. To pay homage to this rich history, TRC will host a special exhibition in the Herring-Kivette Gallery at the Yancey County Library in Burnsville from Saturday, July 6, through Tuesday, July 30.<\/p>\n

\u201cI realize this place isn\u2019t ours,\u201d DeVee says. \u201cWe are simply the keepers of the craft shop. That said, for a business to still function with the same mission 50 years later is amazing and worthy of celebrating.\u201d<\/p>\n

The duo learned that founding working member Bobby Wells discovered the Celo community while taking a weaving class at Penland School of Craft. The community was founded in 1937 with the idea of promoting cooperation between residents as well as support of the natural environment. In an article in Arts Journal, Wells said, \u201cI came over and pretty quickly figured out it was the place for me and my husband.\u201d After she and her husband, renowned artist Robert Johnson, moved from MA, she noted, \u201cWe\u2019re like pioneers. We wanted to homestead, and land (in MA) was too high. It was too touristed and speeded up. We really like slowness.\u201d<\/p>\n

While many current working members know of paper artist Beverly Plummer, they had no idea she had been a writer for The New York Times<\/em>. She discovered Western North Carolina while on vacation. In a 1984 article in the Johnson City Press-Chronicle<\/em> she said, \u201cThe next summer in order to come back, I got an assignment to do a story about crafts in the area.\u201d She became so fascinated with making paper, she decided to take a year off from writing. She would go on to become nationally recognized for incorporating plant fibers into her papers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had no idea that Beverly wrote a book called Earth Presents,<\/em> which offers instructions for making objects from natural materials,\u201d Turrou says. \u201cNot only have we found a copy of the book, which we\u2019ll have on hand at the library but we\u2019re also planning to offer a workshop using her instructions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Plummer and Wells have since passed away, many past working members continue to thrive, some in different capacities. Miika Rolett, for example, is executive director of the Appalachian Therapeutic Riding Center, which provides safe, therapeutic horseback riding for people with physical, cognitive and emotional challenges.<\/p>\n

In the late 1990s, Rolett was a toymaker who also served as TRC\u2019s president. \u201cI was a young mother looking to earn extra money,\u201d she says. The idea for making toys was inspired by projects she did as a kindergartener in Switzerland. \u201cI had the original patterns and then made them my own\u2014puppets, hobby horses, stuffed dragons and more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of those toys will be on display, along with work from other co-op alumni. \u201cWe think people will get a kick out of seeing the photos and articles collected over the past 50 years, along with samples of co-op promotions and member thoughts,\u201d DeVee says.<\/p>\n

See the exhibit during regular library hours: Monday\u2013Wednesday and Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Saturday 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Yancey County Library is located at 321 School Circle, Burnsville. For more information about the exhibit, contact Toe River Crafts at 828.284.7011.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To pay homage to its rich history, Toe River Crafts will host a special exhibition in the Herring-Kivette Gallery at the Yancey County Library in Burnsville from Saturday, July 6, through Tuesday, July 30.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":70201,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,94],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-heritage"],"yoast_head":"\nToe River Crafts: Highlighting 50 Years of History - The Laurel of Asheville<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"To pay homage to its rich history, Toe River Crafts will host a special exhibition in the Herring-Kivette Gallery at the Yancey County Library in Burnsville from Saturday, July 6, through Tuesday, July 30.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/arts\/toe-river-crafts-highlighting-50-years-of-history\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Toe River Crafts: Highlighting 50 Years of History - 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