Collection's Significance
Penland’s history offers a complex array of values for the humanities that extend far beyond the making of things to include universal questions of meaningful human existence. This includes issues of culture, identity, gender, place, collective work, creative process, material culture, lifelong learning, risk-taking, entrepreneurial spirit, and self-discovery. Penland’s role as a leader in crafts education is even more relevant in light of the contemporary “maker movement,” inspiring people to become active creators rather than passive users. An upcoming conference, Shared Ground: Cross-Disciplinary Approaches to Craft Studies, sponsored by the Center for Craft Creativity and Design, the Bard Center for Graduate Studies and the Museum of Art and Design, also underlines the currency of our collections. The conference announcement states: “The ‘material-turn’ in the humanities has brought increased attention to the study of craft in art and design history, decorative arts and material culture studies, as well as other disciplines, such as anthropology and science and technology studies. Institutions are combining academic traditions of the humanities and social sciences with ‘learning by doing’ pedagogy and the influence of global studies has led scholars to research, understand, and contextualize craft outside of the studio craft or the arts and craft movements.” In a similar vein, Warren Wilson College initiated a Master of Arts in Critical and Historical Craft Studies that is the “first program of its kind to integrate American studies, anthropology, art history, decorative art history, design history, social history, and material and visual culture studies.”
The first three decades of the school’s history are rich with themes that reflect the American dream and the American ‘can-do’ attitude: the Great Depression, rural America, Appalachian culture, Craft Revival, economic opportunity, educational reform, government programs, women’s work, and women’s role in society. Lucy Morgan’s Penland Weavers and Potters cooperative introduced a cash economy based on craft production to an isolated mountain community previously existing on a subsistence economy. The archives holds Morgan’s records and the Penland Weavers and Potters administrative, marketing, and financial records, all of which help tell those stories. Highlights in the collection for this era include the Travelog — a log cabin built to fit on a Model-T Ford Truck, which carried another cabin and Penland Weavers goods to the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933-1934. The Travelog itself has been reconstructed on campus and housed in a timber frame structure (built by an 8- week class in timber frame construction during the Spring of 2016) with interpretive material provided by the archives. The archives holds photographs, correspondence, publications, meeting minutes and other materials that document this extraordinary vehicle and the unlikely endeavor spearheaded by a very determined woman. Photographs and records of the Penland Weavers document the resolute strength of an Appalachian community and stand as evidence of the power of hand work to bring about change. Bayard Wootten, an important North Carolina woman photographer and cousin of Lucy Morgan, took many of the photographs that exist from the earliest years of the school. They are significant images as well as resources that document the school and the mountain community. Morgan’s untiring correspondence with state and federal agencies, constantly looking for ways to support the programs offered by the school during first the Depression and then World War II, document state and national efforts in educational reform and the growth of educational opportunities during this time, as well as existing as an example of a successful embodiment of the American dream.
Penland’s history also relates to distinct periods of American history and government policies, educational and economic reform movements, and the creative economy. The full trajectory of the school’s history is a fascinating study in continuity and change and it exhibits a breadth of adaptation over time, in both the economic impact of craft production and in the evolution of innovative educational programs, that is significant. The holdings of the archives support research in all of these areas, while also yielding a wealth of information about specific topics in craft and many individual makers.
Agencies and societies that were associated with Penland during its early history include the US Department of Agriculture Extension Service, the Federal Security Agency, GI Bill programs, occupational therapy training programs, Home Demonstration programs—part of the North Carolina State University Extension Service, Inter-American Affairs, the National Boards of Missions, the National Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, the Russell Sage Society, United Nations Fellowships, and the YMCA Foreign Division.
Lucy Morgan was one of many key figures, and one of the few native to North Carolina, in the Southern Highland Craft Revival and the founding of the Southern Highland Handicraft Guild. During the early 20th century, individuals came to western North Carolina as craft promoters, missionaries, teachers, researchers, documenters, and social workers. These include Frances Goodrich (founder of Allanstand Cottage Industries), Olive Dame Campbell (founder of John C. Campbell Folk School), Dr. Mary Martin Sloop (founder of Crossnore School), Allen Eaton (folk arts champion and staff/Director of Art and Social Work at the Russell Sage Foundation) Edward Worst, Clementine Douglas (owner of The Spinning Wheel, Asheville, NC), and Doris Ulmann and Bayard Wootten (both early women photojournalists). The archives has records and publications related to Morgan’s involvement in this important period of Appalachian history. Two 16mm films by Eaton, Old Craft – New Horizons and Patterns of Rural Art, done for the Russell Page Society in the 1930s and 1940s, are in Penland's collections. They include early footage of Penland and Lucy Morgan, and relate the story of the founding of Penland. A Penland Summer, filmed by an Asheville film enthusiast Thor Behrens, is a silent, color film which captures the school in 1950.
Traditional crafts taught at Penland during this period include carding, spinning, dyeing with native plants, weaving, basketry, wood carving, pottery, leatherwork, bookbinding, block printing, soap making, jewelry making, and hickory chair bottoming. Later these also included lapidary, candle making, doll making, shoemaking, plastics, felt crafts, drawing, stenciling, lampshade making, corn shuckery, screen printing, and the making and playing of shepherd’s pipes. The archives holds examples of most of these items, as well as school catalogs which describe these crafts, and photographs of workshops that taught these topics. Eaton’s films also document many of these activities.
During Bill Brown’s tenure, 1962-1983, studio practice expanded and Penland played a role in the early implementation of studio-scale glass technology, developed an iron-working program, and photography became a full-fledged program--all of these developments were in pace with or developing ahead of most university programs in the US. A network of highly regarded instructors came from universities, studios and industry from all over the world to teach and they returned to their institutions or practices with new techniques and materials to share, a practice that continues today. A visiting scholars program and other special events became regular parts of campus life. Performance and interdisciplinary activities became ingrained in the programs. Several residency programs, which have become models for programs around the world, were implemented. Most of Brown’s Penland records are held by the Penland archives, but a small portion of his Penland records are in his personal papers at the Smithsonian Archives of American Art. Penland’s collections include correspondence and grant proposals documenting the residency programs; documents and photographs relating to the implementation of new facilities and technologies; and collegial correspondence. Publications and catalogs trace the development of new programs and new ideas. Staff photographers during this time include True Kelly, Evon Streetman, and Alida Fish, and publications and the photographic print collection include their work. 16mm film and television interviews capture the creative vitality of this time. This includes Penland Summer 1969 and Penland Summer 1979, filmed to capture the school at those moments in time, just as A Penland Summer had in 1950. The records also reflect the social change and conflict evident in the country at large during the 1960s and 1970s. The counterculture of the 1960s attracted people to the idea of making and teaching crafts as an alternative life path. During this period, the school attracted individuals and activities that created a deep divide between Penland and the conservative Appalachian community surrounding it and records in the archives reflect this.
Penland School became a magnet that attracted a new community. Many students and instructors stayed in the area after coming to Penland or returned to establish a studio practice nearby. National organizations such as Southern Highland Handicraft Guild and Glass Arts Society (GAS) held their first meetings at Penland. Harvey Littleton, widely regarded as the founder of the studio glass movement, was instrumental in the founding of Penland’s glass studio. He lived and worked near the school for the last 36 years of his life and remained influential with the area’s glass artists. Paulus Berensohn, author of Finding One’s Way With Clay, came to Penland in the 1960s and lived within a mile of the school until his death last year. There are many other stories of people arriving in the 1960s and 1970s, finding a like-minded community, and never leaving. Oral histories contained in at-risk magnetic audio tapes are held by the archives, and these personal accounts capture many of these stories. These include interviews with Bill Helwig (enamels/State University of New York, Buffalo), Jeff and Jaffa Todd (glass), Drewry Hanes (jewelry, Hanes family foundations), Mark Peiser (glass/North Carolina Living Treasure), Bill Brown Jr. (iron), Ellen Dissanayake (independent scholar of art and culture), Janet Taylor (textiles/Arizona State University ), Jim Stone (photography/University of New Mexico), Jack Troy (clay/Juniata College), Julie Leonard (books and paper/University of Iowa Center for the Book), Paul Sasso (wood/Murray State University), Jacob Fishman (Neon), Sally Prasch (glass/teaching scientific glass at multiple universities), Jane Peiser (clay), Paulus Berensohn (deep ecology, journal making, and clay), Evon Streetman (photography/FL), Jean McLaughlin (NC Arts Council), Gerry Williams (clay, founder Studio Potter journal/Dartmouth College), Phillip Fike (metals/Wayne State University), and Boris Bally (metals/Carnegie Mellon University). Noted affiliations listed were the primary affiliation of that individual at the time of recording.
The period from 1983 to the end of the millennium was one of change — three different directors and two interim directors led the school and financial stress was a constant companion. Despite this, the school continued to add new programs and maintain an impressive roster of instructors. Records of the directors and the Board of Trustees document these years. During this time, the advent of affordable video technology offered a new way to capture life at Penland. The archives holds original recordings, promotional tapes, and clips from news programs. Around 200 of these cassettes include footage of interviews, demonstrations, and workshops with notable craft artists, writers, and visiting scholars. These tapes include footage of Harvey Littleton (glass/University of Wisconsin/North Carolina Living Treasure), Evon Streetman, Walter Nottingham (textiles/HI), Paulus Berensohn, Don Wilcox (poet, sculptor, Hands in Outreach), Michael Pierschalla (furniture), Dan Bailey (photography/University of Maryland Baltimore), Cynthia Bringle (clay/North Carolina Living Treasure), Ken Carder (glass), Doug Sigler (Wood/Rochester Institute of Technology), Norm Schulman (Clay/Rhode Island School of Design/North Carolina Living Treasure), Mark Peiser (Glass/North Carolina Living Treasure), Stephen Dee Edwards (glass), Peter Voulkos (clay/Black Mountain College, UC Berkeley), Robert Arneson (clay/UC Davis), Viola Frey (clay/California College of Art), Bill Brown, Edwina Bringle (textiles/UNC Charlotte), Gary Beecham (glass), Bill Fiorini (Damascus steel/University of Wisconsin), Louise Todd-Cope (textiles, Hands in Outreach/CA), Gerry Williams, M.C. Richards (poet, clay/Black Mountain College, Camphill Village), Johne Ehle (writer), Debra Frasier (author-illustrator), Tim Tate (glass, video/Washington School of Glass), Billie Ruth Sudduth (basketry/North Carolina Living Treasure), Amanda Degener (paper), Einar and Jamex de la Torre (glass), Heather White (Jewelry/MassArt), George Ferrandi (installation), Ireland Renier (painter, musician/Clemson University), Jean McLaughlin (Penland executive director), Linda Christenson (painter), Jerry Spagnoli (Daguerreotype photography), Ah Leon (clay), Liz Covey (costume design), Rosemary Ingram (costume design), Pinky Bass (pinhole photography), Kitty Couch (clay), Alex Bernstein (glass), Billy and Katie Bernstein (glass), John Clark (wood), Sam Reynolds (landscape architect for Penland’s Master Plan), Stephen Proctor (furniture), Roald Hoffmann (chemist, writer in residence/Cornell University), Fred Fenster (pewtersmith/University of Wisconsin), Steve Miller (letterpress, Red Ozier Press, Red Hydra Press/University of Alabama). A series of tapes also records the master glass work of Yuki Uchimura, Lucio Bubaco, Cesare Toffolo, Pino Signorette, Dante Varioni, Lino Tagliapietra, Paul Marioni and Ann Trouther, Hiroshi Yoman and Finn Lynggaard. These video tapes have been digitized thanks in part to funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The period from 1998 to the present is particularly notable for the financial grounding of the school, campus master planning and strategic planning, historic preservation and the creation of the Penland School Historic District on the National Register, and the further development of the creative community surrounding the school. Today, Penland School is an economic driver for two counties in North Carolina and the creative economy is a major component of daily life in the region. The Toe River Arts Council estimates over 400 artists and craftspeople have settled in close proximity to Penland School. Penland’s programs have expanded to include writers-in-residence, artists-in-residence, and winter residency programs. Writers in residence have included Barry Lopez, Garth Clark, Stuart Kestenbaum, Emilia Ferrera, and Jenni Sorkin. Recent past executive director Jean McLaughlin’s records of nearly 20 years have been transferred to the archives and will become the primary records of this period and they are the first director’s records to include a computer hard drive and email as the primary form of correspondence.
Penland’s alliances with other craft organizations include a consortium called Craftschools.US which includes Penland, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Pilchuck Glass School, Peters Valley School of Craft, and Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. The school maintains close ties with the American Craft Council, American Federation of the Arts, Center for Craft, Creativity and Design, the Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF), Alliance of Artists Communities, and many craft specific organizations. Penland has significant collection ties to the Smithsonian Archives of American Art; University of North Carolina Chapel Hill’s North Carolina Collection; Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC; North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, Raleigh and Asheville, NC; Southern Highland Crafts Guild Archives, Asheville, NC; Belk Library Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC; and the Hunter Library digital collections and the Craft Revival website — collaborative efforts between a number of regional institutions including Penland that are maintained by Western Carolina University, Sylva, NC.