Trudy Hughes, CEO of Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, began her talk by asking how many of us had heard of Arrowmont. Many of raised their hands. She noted that Arrowmont’s mission is simple: to enrich life through arts and crafts. The school does this through:
- its arts education program, which hosts students from 47 states.
- Career development for young artists
- Preserving traditional Appalachian arts and crafts, and’
- Hosting art in its many galleries, including the one on South Gay Street, opened in 2022.
Trudy told about the birth of Arrowmont in 1906, when a group of “intelligent, powerful and wealthy women, the sisters of Phi Beta Pi sorority, saw the need for literacy and health care in Sevierville, met with families there, and in 1912 formed a school in Gatlinburg to provide education and access to health care. As she tells it, “The families wanted to give back, so their way of helping was to contribute woven coverlets, pottery, furniture, and other items. The school took those items and began to sell them. The country began to value traditional Appalachian art, and they were able to be sold through the sorority network. In 1945, when public schools started, Arrowmont pivoted to teach how to create arts and crafts. This means that we are now approaching the 80th anniversary of Arrowmont as a school of arts and crafts.”
Trudy said she herself wondered if she could ever take a class, fearing that she might not have the experience or artistic bent to jump into a class teaching intricate skills. Rather, she said, “We welcome everyone where they are. I took classes in carving and I still have all my fingers. We have workshops that are one week, two weeks, where you can immerse yourself in the creative making of wood, ceramics, jewelry, sculpture.” She then introduced her colleague Isaac Collins, the chief officer of institutional advancement.
“Let me take you back to the 90s, when we invited kids from Sevier County to our workshops. Since then, we’ve served more than 25,000 kids. In 2019 we took that Artreach initiative to six Appalachian states—Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia—and we now serve 5,000 students a year.” He also mentioned Legacy Workshops that they host twice a year for teachers and principals to come in and learn the skills they can then teach in their schools. He showed a video of some of the instructors at Arrowmont and their stories. One woman, PJ Cobbs, said, “Arrowmont gives you permission to be yourself.”
Collins went on to announce that, in two weeks, thanks to a grant from the Boyd Foundation, Knox County Schools will offer the Artreach curriculum.
During questions, it was asked how much it costs for a young student to spend a day at Arrowmont. “It’s under $50 for a young students, but for a college student, it can be $1,000 to $1,500 a day.” It was noted that the ladies of Pi Beta Phi are no longer directly involved in Arrowmont, but Trudy noted that each year the Nashville Chapter hosts a Christmas Village Crafts Fair that very much helps to support Arrowmont.
Susan Dakak noted that she had gone to Arrowmont with Leadership Knoxville. “It was a super class,” she said. President Chris noted that his LK class couldn’t visit Arrowmont because of the pandemic, and he expressed his FOMO about it.