THE POWER OF TOUCH

As long as people are passionate about making things with their hands, Arrowmont will have a place in this community. Making things with our hands connects us to our humanity, and community will always be drawn together by a desire for that connection.

“The Power of Touch” is more than a theme; it is a testament to the collective impact that each supporter, student, and instructor has on the Arrowmont community and on the creative legacy of our region.

As we look to 2024, we need your help to amplify Arrowmont’s ability to connect, enrich, and inspire our community through art-making. We plan to:

• Grow our ArtReach program so more students in Central Appalachia can discover our region’s legacy of traditional arts and crafts.
• Offer more scholarships to ensure new students are always welcome at Arrowmont.
• Continue to offer exceptional support for artists and arts educators to share their gifts with the world.

Please consider donating to Arrowmont this season to ensure we always have a place in this community. You can make a gift to Arrowmont by simply clicking on the donate button.

It is powerful to bring the essence of something into being like our artists and students do every day. But you need not be an artist to shape the world around you. Thank you for your support.

The Power of Touch 2023

Touch has always been at the heart of Arrowmont’s mission. Begun as a settlement school in 1912 by Pi Beta Phi, Arrowmont’s roots are grounded in being a welcoming place for all.

The Arrowmont experience contains many beautiful, nuanced layers, each contributing to its unique impact. This work would not be possible without your support, and we want to share what you made possible in 2023.

National Workshops

In 2023, 880 students from all over the country joined us for 150 national workshops. Workshops took place in each of Arrowmont’s signature disciplines: Ceramics, 2-D art, fibers, Textiles, Basketry, Weaving, Metals, and Woodworking. Registration for 2024 workshops is now open. We hope you will find a workshop that sparks your desire for touch in 2024.

Thanks to our generous donors, we currently administer eight different scholarship funds to make Arrowmont programming accessible to all. Our scholarships support residents of East Tennessee, national artists, veterans, and arts educators. Last year, we challenged our donors to help us expand our scholarship offerings, and you helped us distribute 529 scholarships worth $356,753! That’s the power of your touch reaching people across the world.

Artists-in-Residence

Arrowmont’s Artists-in-Residence (AIR) program began in 1991, and so had been going for over 30 years. Fully endowed now, the AIR program invites five emerging artists every year for an eleven-month (June-May) residency. While on campus, they have a private studio, and a private room in a shared living space. While workshops are in session, they eat meals alongside students, and participate in evening activities such as artists presentations and a weekly open studio. They are integral parts of the staff at other parts of the year, contributing to Arrowmont projects and programs, and they are core set of instructors in our ArtReach and Community Class programs.

Pentaculum

Pentaculum is an invitation short-term residence at Arrowmont designed to provide artists with unfettered time and space to work alongside peers, friends, and colleagues.

Legacy — Appalachian Arts for Appalachian Educators

Legacy offers Central Appalachian K-12 educators the opportunity to learn in Arrowmont’s supportive environment. The program provides full scholarships including tuition, lodging, meals, and a completion stipend to K-12 educators from any discipline. Legacy provides information and skills building in traditional arts, crafts, and culture and teaches how traditional craft relates to, and may be used to enhance the subjects taught. In 2023 — we welcomed 132 teachers from across Appalachia to enjoy time at Arrowmont free of charge.

Bill Griffith Art Educators fellowship

This fellowship provides an annual residency for one United States-based K-12 art teacher. The fellowship duration is flexible, 2–4 weeks, selected by the recipient based on their schedule and Arrowmont’s programming schedule/availability.

Community Classes

Our “Community Classes” are any and all workshops designed for local and regional adults and children in the surrounding counties. In any given year, we may serve 100–200 community class students. There is a wide array of various community class formats. You can register for our 2024 community classes on our website now.

GALLERIES

Arrowmont’s campus has many different gallery and exhibition spaces on campus. The Sandra J. Blain Gallery, The Geoffrey Wolpert Gallery, and the Jerry Drown Gallery are all current galleries that visitors to Gatlinburg can explore Monday–Friday every week.

THE ARROWMONT GALLERY

Arrowmont’s first permanent off-campus exhibition space is located in downtown Knoxville. It offers rotating exhibitions that complement workshops, conferences, and programs, featuring instructors, staff, Artists-in-Residence, and other members of Arrowmont’s creative community.

And the heart of Arrowmont lies its sense of community, where people you meet touch your life and enrich your journey. This communal aspect is more than just a backdrop to the artistic endeavors; it is the very essence of Arrowmont.

Without the support and involvement of the community, Arrowmont’s success would be incomplete. Your commitment to the mission to enrich lives through art and craft is essential to the future of Arrowmont’s legacy.