Craft Galleries and Studios

The North Carolina mountains are renowned for the quality and variety of craft galleries and artist studios in cities and small towns across the region.  Galleries and studios are wonderful places to sample the local arts culture and to meet the artists themselves.
 
An online directory of local galleries, studios and artists is available on the website of HandMade in America, a nonprofit organization that supports the work of craftspeople in Western North Carolina.  The directory provides gallery/artist profiles, contact information and addresses and photos of work or locations.
 
An excellent printed guidebook, The Craft Heritage Trails of Western North Carolina , is an invaluable resource for visitors who wish to explore local craft culture while traveling scenic byways and back roads across the countryside.

Several nonprofit galleries prominently feature crafts from the North Carolina mountains

• The Grove Arcade Arts & Heritage Gallery, in downtown Asheville, exhibits and sells handmade crafts from throughout the region.  The Gallery also features an interactive map and exhibit on the region's craft heritage and other themes of the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area.
  
  
• The Penland Gallery in Penland, NC, is one of the premiere craft galleries in the region, featuring work by artists affiliated Penland School of Crafts.
  
  
• The Center for Craft, Creativity and Design, near Hendersonville, NC, features gallery exhibitions of regional and national artists as well as a public art and nature trail.
  
  
• The Home of the Perfect Christmas Tree gallery in Spruce Pine, NC sells a variety of handmade crafts inspired by the award-winning children's book, The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree.