The digital reformatting of at-risk 16mm film and other magnetic media has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Penland School of Craft together: Democracy demands wisdom. The film, video, and audio materials contain unique documentation of the history of craft in the Appalachian region from the 1930s through the early 2000s, documenting cultural attitudes about Appalachia as well as the genesis of specific crafts and  early studio craft practitioners.

The historic campus of the Penland School of Craft comprises a collection of buildings from the middle and late nineteenth century to the middle twentieth century either built for the Penland School or acquired and used by the school. The campus includes one and two-story frame farmhouses dating from the turn of the twentieth century and Rustic Revival style log buildings constructed specifically for Penland School. Two large Colonial Revival style school buildings and private residences from the mid-twentieth century conform to the character of their setting and the school campus through their scale and materials. This site offers digitized photographs and history about the buildings and was created in reverence of the architectural beauty and age.