The “SAY THEIR NAMES” display at The Oak Street Gallery lists the names of more than 60 Black Americans killed by police officers and the circumstances surrounding their deaths.

Find locations around Buncombe County working hard to feed our community.

FOR STUDENTS: text FOODNC to 877-877 to locate nearby free meal sites. The texting service is also available in Spanish by texting COMIDA to 877-877.

View meal sites by geographical area, day of the week, and/or service type offered.

Craft Your Commerce is a Mountain BizWorks entrepreneurial program designed to connect, elevate and advance creative and craft-centered companies through a series of business training workshops and classes designed by makers for makers. The program is offered in partnership with Center for Craft, UNC Asheville, and area creative entrepreneurs.

The 2020 Summer Workshop Series: Creative Shifts will focus on adapting your craft business to thrive in a drastically changed market.

We will start with a speaker panel of leading WNC based craft business entrepreneurs to hear how they’ve adjusted their business model and operations to meet the challenges of COVID-19. We will then learn from a Portland-based craft manufacturing entrepreneur about the innovative techniques and leadership strategies that have helped him to successfully scale his business and continue to weather these challenging market conditions. Finally, we will open a window into the realm of commercial projects and buyers, which is a customer and revenue segment that remains untapped for many craft entrepreneurs.

Throughout the series, an integrative cohort-based learning program will help weave together lessons from the workshops and guide entrepreneurs in developing their own goals and actionable plans.

The Craft Futures Fund will fund up to $30,000 each month from May 2020 – October 2020 to support craft-based education projects. These one-time, unrestricted grants of $5,000 will be disbursed to craft-based education projects that envision and build new futures for craft.

As an advocate for the arts in our community, Haywood County Arts Council develops partnerships with schools, other nonprofits, county governments, schools, city revitalization boards, economic development councils, chambers of commerce, and tourism bureaus. These partnerships are often the catalyst for sustainable economic and community development using the arts and can lead to programs that connect diverse parts of the county through shared arts experiences.

With the assistance and support of the North Carolina Arts Council, the Haywood County Arts Council (HCAC) has an important role in sustaining, growing, and advocating for the arts in Haywood County. The HCAC is a Designated County Partner (DCP) for the North Carolina Arts Council, and administers the Grassroots Arts Program subgrant process as well as the Artist Support Grant for Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Polk, Rutherford, and Transylvania Counties.

The Battery Park end of the Grove Arcade is home to the Makers Market, an outdoor bazaar with a dozen stalls filled by artisans selling their craft directly to the public. The market is now accepting vendor applications for local artist to sell their wares, and the application fee is currently waived due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Learn more about the process and vendor regulations, as well as how to apply, here.

You don’t need to give up your fitness or workout routine just because COVID-19 has you spending more time at home. If you’ve got a library card and access to WiFi, it’s easy to stay active with digital resources. (If you need a new library card or renewal, call Ask a Librarian at (828) 250-4700 or follow these steps.)

North Carolina Digital Library

This form has been a signature piece in Sarah’s body of work for years. The award winning Dancing Pitcher celebrates gracefulness, soft lines, and movement. The process making this unique form is inspiring and challenging.

This workshop is designed to push our limits as potters and push the limits of clay. We will cover many techniques. The goal is to stretch our thinking when making and designing pots. Creating designs where the flow of line and space are key. The making of this sectional graceful pot is perfect for discussion about design and training our eye to see.

We will cover:

1. Throwing w/excellence
2. Throwing in Sections
3. Throwing with larger volumes of clay
4. Darting
5. Fluid Handles
6. Pulling a large handle off the pot
7. How to glaze this 24″ tall form and not ruin it
8. Art that functions and why it matters

I will have several Pitchers in the different stages so we can all see this pot made to completion in the set 2 hours.

Hang on to you potters stool because you are in for a beautiful ride!

The video workshop is available for 30 days after purchase.

Health-e from Home is a free 8-week program designed to help you make a few small changes to your everyday health habits – and it can be done at home, or anywhere. Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are evaluating the acceptability and usage of this free online program that is designed to help people who are spending more time at home due to COVID-19 build healthier habits.  Those who join the study will receive access to weekly lessons and tailored feedback from the study team that will encourage small changes to their eating, small increases in activity, and simple activities to promote well-being. Participants will complete a brief, 20-minute survey at the beginning and end of the program, as well as weekly check-in questions to help the study team provide personalized feedback to help individuals meet their health goals.  Those who are interested in focusing on maintaining or losing weight will also be invited to a private Facebook group to join other study members working to meet weight goals during the study. To learn more and find out if you are eligible to participate, please visit http://healthefromhome.org.

“As we continue to press into Hope, we continue to hear from supporters, and the message is loud and clear – they also feel the Hope connected to our mission, and want to keep supporting us.” Discovering new ways to sustain The Village Potters Clay Center during this season is the primary job now for the resident potters at TVPCC. As Sarah continues to apply for loans and grants, other potters are choosing hope each day by taking the torch from her to carry on the mission with a second “chapter” of Vessels of Hope.

The Village Potters are Sarah Wells Rolland, George Rolland, Judi Harwood, Lori Theriault, Julia Mann, Christine Henry, and Tori Motyl. They comprise an intentional Collective of potters who share a commitment to nurture creative exploration through education, experience, and community. The Village Potters includes a fine craft gallery, a Teaching Center offering ongoing classes in wheel and hand building for adults, an Advanced Ceramic Studies Program, and online demonstration and workshops. The Village Potters Clay Center is an educational member of The Craft Guild of the Southern Highlands, and is an official distributor for Laguna Clays.

MANNA’s mission is to involve, educate, and unite people in the work of ending hunger, and an important part of this mission is advocating for those living in and experiencing the effects of poverty. As a non-partisan organization, dedicated to sharing information about the issues affecting the people we serve together, MANNA does not endorse political parties or candidates. We simply ask people to work with our elected officials to make legislation that works for us all, and makes our region, our state, and our country stronger from the ground up. If you are interested in receiving advocacy-related emails from MANNA FoodBank, please follow link. By clicking here, you are signing up to receive information from MANNA about ways you can use your voice, and actions you can take, to help work towards our vision of a hunger-free Western North Carolina.

The “SAY THEIR NAMES” display at The Oak Street Gallery lists the names of more than 60 Black Americans killed by police officers and the circumstances surrounding their deaths.