FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Southern Highland Craft Guild Announces the Six Artists Selected for its Fall 2025 Emerging Artist Program

Asheville, NC — [August 28, 2025] — The Southern Highland Craft Guild (SHCG) is proud to announce the six artists selected for the Fall 2025 cohort of its new Emerging Artist Program (EAP). The selected artists are Stacia Baldwin (mixed media), Robert Choe-Henderson (paper), Christina Covington (clay), Kimberly Obee (paper), Liam Sawyer (clay), and Rebecca Tolley (fiber). 

Launched in 2024, the Emerging Artist Program was created to identify and support rising fine craft artists across the Southern Highlands and strengthen the Guild’s outreach to the next generation of makers. The program serves as an introduction to the Guild as an advocate for craft by offering these EAP artists educational resources, networking opportunities, and the chance to sell their work in the professional environment of the Guild Fair. 

“This program prepares our EAP cohort for possible future Guild membership and broader career success in fine craft,” said Elizabeth Walton, the Guild’s Outreach Director. “The goal of the EAP is to give these artists access to resources they need to develop skills for selling and advancing their work. The program has also been created to better connect the Guild to voices we want to see amplified in the organization's future.”

“Craft has long been having a moment,” said Susan Spies, Guild member and EAP co-organizer. “You see that in studio practice, in arts education, and increasingly in the galleries of museums across the country. The Guild and its history as a force for craft in Appalachia for nearly a century is uniquely positioned to make a connection between craft’s rich heritage and the incredible new talents emerging in fiber, clay, and other fine craft media.”

For the first time, the selection process for the EAP was conducted by a two-person professional artist panel, marking the next level in the program’s development. Some 55 applications were received, and a distinguished jury—comprised of independent artist Pippin Frisbie-Calder and Guild Standards Committee member Erica Bailey—narrowed the field to the six outstanding artists from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Some of the selected artists expressed their enthusiasm for how the program gives them access to the Guild’s prestigious member roster of fine craft artists. Contemporary paper artist Robert Choe-Henderson of North Carolina sees the cohort as a chance for him “to become more firmly rooted in the region’s craft lineage, and offers tools and relationships that could sustain my work for decades to come.”

This sentiment is shared by book binder Kimberly Obee of Asheville, NC. “Being part of the cohort provides an invaluable opportunity to be in dialogue with other makers who understand the importance of the handmade,” she said. “I’m eager to connect with artists across the region who are equally invested in material, place, and process, and to be part of a community that values tradition while pushing craft forward.”

The EAP program offers the six selected artists access to craft business resources in partnership with Mountain Bizworks and a chance to connect with their peers new to the craft scene. The program also provides resources to build a booth display and a discounted booth fee for exhibiting at the Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands. 

“The included workshops on pricing, marketing, and presentation are vital tools I've previously lacked formal access to,” said fiber artist Rebecca Tolley, a quilt maker based in Johnson City, TN, whose work combines tradition with modern narrative-driven content touching on Appalachian heritage, feminist craft histories, and social engagement. She believes the EAP will help her transition from a primarily academic and grant-funded background into a more sustainable arts career.

The program also has the goal of offering participants direct insight into the workings of the Guild, and they are encouraged to apply for full membership through a separate, more involved jurying process. 

Walton emphasizes that the program is evolving with more changes likely in store: “The response has been incredible. We were thrilled to receive so many applicants for this round and are looking to possibly expand the number of cohort spots as well as offer a more robust educational component in the future.” 

The six artists will debut their work at the fall Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands on the Arena level in Harrah’s Cherokee Center in downtown Asheville. The Fair runs from October 16-19 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visitors are encouraged to stop by the booths of the new artists, engage with their work, and celebrate the next generation of fine craft makers. To learn more about each of these artists, visit the Guild’s EAP Fall Cohort page

About the Southern Highland Craft Guild
The Southern Highland Craft Guild is one of the longest-running craft guilds in the country, representing over 800 makers in the mountainous areas of nine states. Since 1930, the Guild has been committed to cultivating the crafts of the region through education, preservation, and the promotion of fine craft.

To view more information about the EAP’s fall cohort of artists, the jurors, and an overview of the program, visit: https://southernhighlandguild.org/news-stories/emerging-artist-program/

Press Contact:
Elizabeth Walton
Outreach Director, Southern Highland Craft Guild
[email protected]
(828) 298-7928