Folk Art Center, Art museum and craft center on Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina.
The Folk Art Center is an art museum and craft facility on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina, with three galleries showing regional handcrafts. It presents both traditional Southern Appalachian work and contemporary pieces from local and visiting artists.
The center opened in 1980 with support from the National Park Service and the Southern Highland Craft Guild to keep regional craft traditions alive. It grew from the earlier Allanstand shop, which had been supporting local craftspeople for decades before the museum was built.
The Allanstand Craft Shop inside the center is one of the oldest craft shops still running in the Appalachians. Visitors can buy handmade goods directly from the makers, keeping a tradition of direct support for local craftspeople alive.
The center sits at Milepost 382 on the Blue Ridge Parkway and is easy to reach by car. Live craft demonstrations take place daily from March through December, and the building stays open on most other days of the year as well.
The collection holds international craft objects, some dating back to around 1000 AD, showing how far craft traditions reach across the world. The building also houses a specialist library with thousands of volumes focused on craft techniques from many different traditions.
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