Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 66

TOM BAILEY:
Executive Director of the Southern Highland Craft Guild
Tom Bailey is leading the second-oldest craft organization
in America toward its 100th birthday with big dreams for its
future in multiple locations.
INTERVIEW BY MARY LEIDIG | PHOTO COURTESY TOM BAILEY
You are a native of Asheville, North
Carolina, and began working at the
Southern Highland Craft Guild in
1987. Tell us about your journey to
executive director. Share, also, your
family's love of the region and where
you recommend visitors go.
I grew up in south Asheville and spent
five years at the University of North
Carolina-Chapel Hill, majoring in
business and accounting. In 1987 I began
working for the Southern Highland
Craft Guild as comptroller, and in 2010
I was promoted to executive director.
My wife, Pam, and I love Asheville!
We always recommend the guild's Folk
Art Center and our other two Asheville
shops on Tunnel Road and in Biltmore
Village to visitors and friends. Our
town has become a major draw for
handmade craft.
Southern Highland Craft Guild
represents hundreds of artisans, and
one of its craft shops is the oldest in
the nation. What matters the most
about handmade crafts in a highly
digital environment, and how do you
attract a new generation of " makers " ?
The guild offers fine handmade crafts
to visitors who want something that is
not mass produced. They want to see
and touch what they purchase, and
sometimes they want to get to know
66 BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM
the maker.
Our history makes us unique. The
shop inside the Folk Art Center, Allanstand
Craft Shop, is literally the oldest
craft shop in the United States! Its
origins date back to 1895.
Our Craft Fairs of the Southern
Highlands, held every July and October
in the Harrah's Cherokee Center in
Asheville, began in 1948. We represent
more than 800 craftspeople, and we
host education events, two annual fairs
and operate four craft shops. We have
now presented a new area of younger
" Emerging Artists " at one of our craft
fairs that was an exciting and successful
" first. " We hope they will join our guild
and infuse a younger membership into
our organization.
You say the guild is about so much
more than its original founding in
1930. Tell us about its evolution
through the years.
Southern Highland Craft Guild was
formed in 1930 as a marketing outlet
for mountain craftspeople and has been
shaping the region's economy since.
Conversations with the National
Park Service began in the 1940s and
led to the opening of our shop in the
Moses Cone Mansion on the Blue
Ridge Parkway in Blowing Rock,
North Carolina, in 1951. In 1955, the
guild opened its shop on Tunnel Road.
During the early 1970s, the guild
again began conversations with the
National Park Service to open a large
craft facility on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
This led to the building of the
Folk Art Center in Asheville, opening
in 1980. This project received major
national political support from the Second
Lady, Joan Mondale, who loved
the guild!
Today, the Folk Art Center welcomes
nearly 250,000 annual visitors.
In 2013, the guild opened its shop in
Biltmore Village.
What do you love the most about your
work?
I love getting to know our members
and learning their journey in what
they make. Their passions and talents
are remarkable! In a world of massproduced
products, it is refreshing to
meet true makers of fine craft.
Finally, what's next for the Southern
Highland Craft Guild?
We are in the early stages of planning
our 100-year anniversary celebration
in 2030. We also have a nearly
6,000-piece permanent collection, library
and significant archival materials.
Our big dream is to build a museum
to showcase these!
https://southernhighlandguild.org/folkartcenter/ http://www.BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024
