Ever want to learn to create a stained glass window or to stitch an intricate quilt? What about learning how to bake artisan breads or to play the hammered dulcimer? Curious about shape note singing, buck dancing or other mountain traditions? You can learn about all of these and more at the John C. Campbell Folk School, located just an hour away from Lucille’s Mountain Top Inn & Spa in beautiful Brasstown, North Carolina. Now is the perfect time to plan a visit to the Folk School campus and to shop for hand crafted gifts from the school’s Craft Shop. Now is also a great time to make plans to attend a class in 2014 and take home a finished piece that you make, under the direction of some of the finest craftsmen in the Southern Appalachian region.
There are plenty of unique ways to spend your time in the North Georgia Mountains and visiting the John C. Campbell Folk School offers a unique day long experience to remember during your stay at Lucille’s. The school was founded by John and Olive Campbell and has a long and rich history. The Campbell’s came to Southern Appalachia in the early 1900’s on a mission to help improve the social conditions of the region. The Campbell’s traveled the Appalachian Mountains in their wagon home for several years talking with local mountain folk and recording their history and folk art traditions in an effort to preserve the culture and to share it with the world. After establishing a collaborative relationship with the local mountain people in the Brasstown area, the experimental folk school opened in 1925 as a way to help market the handicrafts made by the locals while preserving and sharing the Appalachian culture and heritage with others.
Today the school offers week long and weekend classes of all kinds and is the perfect year-round campus for learning mountain heritage & culture, folk art and crafts from the finest artisans around Appalachia.
Now through December 24th, the Craft Shop is offering 15% off of your purchase of hand crafted goods that include jewelry, fiber art, wood, forged metal and more. Gift certificates are available in any amount and are good for both week long or weekend classes or items from the Craft Shop. Over three hundred juried craftsmen offer their work for sale at the Folk School’s Craft Shop, representing a diverse collection of traditional and contemporary Appalachian craft. A book room features hundreds of instructional to celebratory books on every subject from basket weaving to Appalachian writers. CD’s of traditional music are available and you can commemorate your visit to the John C. Campbell Folk School with a variety of souvenirs from t-shirts to postcards.
A day at the John C. Campbell Folk School is a day well spent during your stay with us in the North Georgia Mountains.