The 79th Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands returns to downtown Asheville from Thursday, October 15, through Sunday, October 18, bringing more than 100 juried makers together at Harrah’s Cherokee Center-Asheville from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. The fall edition of the fair will feature pottery, sculpture, furniture, textiles, apparel, jewelry, mixed media and other handcrafted work. Ten members of the Southern Highland Craft Guild’s Emerging Artist Program will join the juried Guild members exhibiting at the event.
“Events like this are what keep a maker culture alive in a place,” says Theresa Clower, mixed-media sculptor. “It’s one of the few times all year when people can walk up, hold a piece in their hands and talk directly to the person who made it—no gallery wall or online listing in between.”
Clower will bring mixed-media sculptural pieces made with skeletonized flax leaves that she bends, wires and gilds, combining them with materials including steel, rusted metal, reclaimed wood and dried native magnolia. The one-of-a-kind works range in scale and draw on her interest in transformation and impermanence…