Blue Ridge Parkway
Folk Art Center, NC

Treat your family and friends while treating yourself with a visit to the Southern Highland Craft Guild's (SHCG) Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Opened in 1980, on the Guild's 50th Anniversary, the center is home to Allanstand Craft Shop, one of Appalachia's oldest and best-known craft shops. Allanstand sells the work of the more than 700 members of the SHCG. Both the finest in traditional mountain crafts of the region as well as the very best in contemporary American crafts are available. The Folk Art Center is the result of a cooperative effort between the Appalachian Regional Commission, the National Park Service and the SHCG. The 30,000 square foot center serves as a base for all SHCG operations from which services are rendered to members in a nine-state region and to the public at large.

The Center's upper level contains the exhibit gallery space as well as the offices of the SHCG and the Center's comprehensive craft library. The changing exhibition schedule showcases the works of SHCG members in addition to specially selected traveling exhibits of interest to the traditions of the Southern Highlands. Live craft demonstrations are offered daily most of the year. Special events include "Clay Day," "Fiber Day," and an annual Gee Haw Whimmy Diddle competition.