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April Issue 2003
Toe River Arts Council in Spruce Pine, NC, Offers Annual Spring Studio Tour of Area Studios and Galleries
Spring is a wonderful time to
travel through the Western North Carolina Mountains, not only
for the beautiful spring flowers and mountain scenery, but an
opportunity to take a self-guided tour of over 60 arts and craft
studios and galleries.
The Toe River Arts Council in Spruce Pine, NC, will present its
annual Spring Studio Tour on May 3 & 4, 2003. The tour
takes place in Mitchell and Yancey counties, just 45 minutes north
of Asheville, NC. Artists' studios, most not normally open to
the public, will be open from 10am-5pm both days. A few local
gardeners have also joined in offering plants and bulbs in time
for spring planting. And, about 12 galleries too, invite you to
their establishments to view the work of participating as well
as other regional artists' work.
Hand-blown glass, stained glass, hand-turned wood, sculpted wood, forged iron, photography of all sorts, wheel-thrown pottery, raku, porcelain, stoneware - functional and non-functional, jewelry, paintings, weavings, hand-made soaps, baskets and much more will be on the tour. Gardeners will be offering bedding plants, perennials, everlastings, garden sculptures, wildflowers, hostas, and the largest selection of daylilies in Western North Carolina.
To take the self-guided tour, pick up a map ahead of time or the day of the tour at any of the participating studios or galleries. Or, most businesses and the Chambers of Commerce in Spruce Pine, Burnsville and Bakersville will have supplies of the maps as well. On the day of the tours, look for the arrowed "Tour" signs that will lead you to the studios.
The TRAC Center, located at
269 Oak Avenue in Spruce Pine, will be the headquarters for the
Tour. An exhibit of participants' work who are on the Spring
Studio Tour will be on display from Apr. 22 through May 10,
2003. The preview exhibition will include examples of local work
and tour information. Many have commented, "we should have
started the Tour at the TRAC Center - it gave us an excellent
idea of what we would find on the Tour!"
During the Tour weekend, the TRAC Center will extend its hours
to be open May 2 from 10am-8pm, May 3 from 8:30am-6pm, and May
4 from 8:30am to 5pm.
By mid-Apr. the tour map will be posted on the TRAC website at (http://main.nc.us/TRAC/).
For more information check
our NC Institutional Gallery listings, call Toe River Arts Council
at 828/765-0520 or e-mail at (TRAC@yancey.main.nc.us).
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