We Still Make Things: 100 Years of Craft and Culture

Featuring Students and Teachers of the John C. Campbell Folk School

Folk Art Center’s Main Gallery | January 31 – April 29, 2026

john c campbell folk school exhibition

Asheville, NC — January 2026 — The Southern Highland Craft Guild presents We Still Make Things: 100 Years of Craft and Culture at the John C. Campbell Folk School, a landmark exhibition celebrating the centennial of the John C. Campbell Folk School. On view at the Folk Art Center from January 31 through April 29, 2026, the exhibition honors a century of craft education, cultural preservation, and community-based learning in the Southern Highlands.

Organized in recognition of the Folk School’s 100-year legacy, the exhibition traces the School’s origins and its continued role in sustaining handmade traditions. Approximately 50 objects spanning nearly a century offer a broad view of the materials, techniques, and cultural practices that remain central to the Folk School’s teaching today.

The works on view—created by students, instructors, and community members—are drawn primarily from the collections of the John C. Campbell Folk School and the Southern Highland Craft Guild. Together, they reflect a shared belief in learning through making and the importance of passing knowledge from one generation to the next.

Media represented in the exhibition include blacksmithing, weaving, woodcarving, woodworking, pottery, enameling, basketry, paper arts, instrument making, and dance-related traditions. Objects range from pieces created by the Folk School’s founders and earliest students to works made as recently as 2025, illustrating both continuity and evolution within Appalachian craft.

The exhibition also highlights the deep historical ties between the Folk School and the Southern Highland Craft Guild. Several founders of the Folk School were closely involved in the Guild’s earliest years, and works by two of them are featured in the exhibition. These include a carving attributed to Olive Dame Campbell, whose vision helped shape the regional craft revival, and a folk-dance publication by Marguerite Butler Bidstrup and her husband, reflecting the Folk School’s holistic approach to craft, music, and movement as living cultural expressions.

The Southern Highland Craft Guild and the John C. Campbell Folk School share a deep commitment to education, mentorship, and community—values that have shaped generations of makers and continue to guide both institutions today. We Still Make Things invites visitors to explore how traditional craft practices remain relevant, dynamic, and deeply rooted in place.

Exhibition Dates: January 31 – April 29, 2026
Location: Folk Art Center, Blue Ridge Parkway, Asheville, NC
Admission: Free and open to the public

Press Images Here.

  • 2018.1.915 — horse woodcarving by Jack Hall (1920-1984), n.d.

  • 2022.87.24 — vase by Marcia Bugg, n.d.

  • 2025.1.2 — "Brasstown Magic Mountains" tapestry by Pam Howard (1954-2024), 2020.

  • 2025.24.20 — basket by Pattie Bagley, n.d.

  • 2025.32.2 — marbled silk scarf by Laura Sims (1954-2014), n.d.

  • HC-107 — forged iron candleholder by Oscar Cantrell (1901-1993), n.d.

  • "Tammy dancing" — Community dancing at the Folk School, 2025.

  • "marble drying" — Recent paper marbling class.

High-resolution images and additional information are available upon request.