Creative Vacations Part I - Off the Wall Friday

My husband and I have decided we are all " Disney'd Out".  I mean, ten days at the Happiest Place on Earth, would probably be enough for pretty much any couple.   What we did discover though is we like vacationing together.  So I was tasked to come up with our next destination.  Now you wouldn't think this would be so hard because there are so many great places to go in this country.  But, I needed to find that had enough to do to keep us both interest without totally exhausting us and didn

My classroom at Arrowmont

't involve mountains or beaches (since he doesn't like beaches and I'm not that keen on mountains).

Finally I decided on a week or two at a Folk Arts School.  In this country there are several to choose from all with their own take on what a "Folk Arts School should be. Now for you that don't know, a Folk Arts School is a school that offers classes from weekend to a week to several weeks in all types of hand arts all in the same week.  Most offer woodworking, ceramics, metalwork, Fiber (Weaving, Paper, Needlecraft) and glass.  Here is a snapshot of some that I researched using the 2018 season as a guide.

Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, Tennesee

•  Has a Rich 100+ history
•  Located in a tucked away spot off of downtown Gatlinburg
• Some housing on campus in dorms or rustic "doubles" rooms
• Hotels/ restaurants within walking distance 
• WiFi and Air conditioned
• Has a great Library and Gallery
• Classes mostly run Spring through Fall, 20 classroom size
• About $1200/ week each for two people (room, board, tuition)
• Offers Art Quilt Classes periodically

Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME

• Located on a gorgeous 40 acre ocean side campus 
• Acceptance into the program is "chosen" through an application process with a non refundable application fee
• Mostly 2 week session with one  - one week session offered
• Several options for rooms on campus are available from singles to dorms
• Limited WiFi
• Summer Session Classroom, Classroom size 18
• About $2600 for a double (for two weeks), $1450 (for one week) (room board tuition)
• A lot of classes are conceptually based

Penland School of Crafts, Penland, North Carolina

• Located on a large rural campus in Blue Ridge Mountains
• Summer and Fall one week sessions are mostly offered
• Several choices for rooms on campus are available
• Evening activities are offered as well as a library, gallery
• About $1650 for a double (private bath)/week (no air conditioning)
• A very spread out campus but provisions are made for mobility issues 
• Studios are open 24 hrs a day

 This post is getting long so I thought I would break it up into two parts!!  Hope you find the information helpful and if you would like me to feature a school you know of in next week's post please let me know!

So What Have You Been Up to Creatively?