In some local press
Story from The Laurel of Asheville
History and History-in-the-Making Surround Toe River Crafts’ 50th Anniversary Celebration
12 Months ago
By Sue Wasserman
Come early spring, there’s always an excited buzz among the working member-artists of Toe River Crafts as they ready the gallery for its annual April 1 re-opening. This year, as the gallery reaches a milestone 50 years in business, that buzz is electrifying.
Reminiscences abound. First there’s the history of the sweet, albeit tiny shop, which is located in rural Celo, a community founded in the 1940s, 45 minutes northeast of Asheville. The intentional nature of the community coupled with its proximity to the Penland School of Craft attracted artists from across the country.
Potter Nancy Herman and fiber artist Joyce Johnson, two of the shop’s founding members, still remember when several artists who had moved into the community presented the idea of a shop where they could sell their work. “The community loaned the artists $10,000 for materials and a construction foreman,” Herman says. “Although there were concerns about how the loan would be repaid, community members stepped up and said they would be responsible should we default.” While Johnson knew defaulting wasn’t an option, she says, “never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined we’d still be here 50 years later.”
Some memories, such as the torrential rainstorm of 1977 that caused the South Toe River to breach, come flooding back easily. According to a surveyor, the water rose 25 feet above its usual level. In an article in The Arts Journal from that time, potter and gallery designer Wanda Lea Austin writes: “a layer of shiny, dark brown mud covered the floor. Tiny mouse footprints, and the trails of some small creature imprinted it like a beach at ebb tide. One of Cindy Bringle’s pots lay in the mud. The lower shelves were emptied – the heavy desk was lying on its side.”
Thankfully, there was little damage to the crafts. The artists and community members quickly mobilized to make repairs. “People still remember,” says ceramic artist and Toe River Crafts vice president Carrie DeVee. “When we’re in the midst of heavy storms, we’ll get calls asking whether we need to move art from the lower shelves.”
To say ceramic artist Tria Turrou has a lifetime of Toe River Crafts memories isn’t an understatement. The current president of the shop, Turrou was 15 when she began helping her working member mom, ceramic tile artist Tzadi Turrou. “I grew up inside this building,” the younger Turrou says. “By the time I was a young teen, I could run the shop when help was needed. Once I turned 17 or 18, I became a working member, which felt amazing.”
More than 20 years later, that feeling of amazement remains. On her days working in the shop, she can’t help but admire the array of colorful pottery, glass, jewelry, handmade books and brooms, wood, fiber art, photography and more that line the shelves and walls.
“We have a waiting list of artists who want to be part of the gallery,” she says. “More than 90 percent of our artists live within 12 miles. The community is still behind us as we look at expansion to be able to serve more local artists and better serve the community through creative programming. It was, and continues to be, a magical place.”
While the doors open on April 1, the 50th anniversary celebration kicks off Saturday, April 6, with an ice cream social and book signing for member-artist Kate Smyre Meth. In July, the Yancey County Library will host a commemorative exhibit featuring photos, articles and more from the gallery’s archives.
To learn about anniversary events being held throughout the year, visit the gallery on Facebook at Toe River Crafts, or call 910-783-7170
Story from The Laurel of Asheville
Toe River Crafts: Highlighting 50 Years of History
9 months ago
By Sue Wasserman
Tria Turrou and Carrie DeVee feel like kids in a candy shop these days. As president and vice president of Toe River Crafts (TRC), now celebrating its 50th anniversary, the duo has been poring over archives and uncovering fascinating stories. To pay homage to this rich history, TRC will host a special exhibition in the Herring-Kivette Gallery at the Yancey County Library in Burnsville from Saturday, July 6, through Tuesday, July 30.
“I realize this place isn’t ours,” DeVee says. “We are simply the keepers of the craft shop. That said, for a business to still function with the same mission 50 years later is amazing and worthy of celebrating.”
The duo learned that founding working member Bobby Wells discovered the Celo community while taking a weaving class at Penland School of Craft. The community was founded in 1937 with the idea of promoting cooperation between residents as well as support of the natural environment. In an article in Arts Journal, Wells said, “I came over and pretty quickly figured out it was the place for me and my husband.” After she and her husband, renowned artist Robert Johnson, moved from MA, she noted, “We’re like pioneers. We wanted to homestead, and land (in MA) was too high. It was too touristed and speeded up. We really like slowness.”
While many current working members know of paper artist Beverly Plummer, they had no idea she had been a writer for The New York Times. She discovered Western North Carolina while on vacation. In a 1984 article in the Johnson City Press-Chronicle she said, “The next summer in order to come back, I got an assignment to do a story about crafts in the area.” She became so fascinated with making paper, she decided to take a year off from writing. She would go on to become nationally recognized for incorporating plant fibers into her papers.
“We had no idea that Beverly wrote a book called Earth Presents, which offers instructions for making objects from natural materials,” Turrou says. “Not only have we found a copy of the book, which we’ll have on hand at the library but we’re also planning to offer a workshop using her instructions.”
Although Plummer and Wells have since passed away, many past working members continue to thrive, some in different capacities. Miika Rolett, for example, is executive director of the Appalachian Therapeutic Riding Center, which provides safe, therapeutic horseback riding for people with physical, cognitive and emotional challenges.
In the late 1990s, Rolett was a toymaker who also served as TRC’s president. “I was a young mother looking to earn extra money,” she says. The idea for making toys was inspired by projects she did as a kindergartener in Switzerland. “I had the original patterns and then made them my own—puppets, hobby horses, stuffed dragons and more.”
Some of those toys will be on display, along with work from other co-op alumni. “We think people will get a kick out of seeing the photos and articles collected over the past 50 years, along with samples of co-op promotions and member thoughts,” DeVee says.
See the exhibit during regular library hours: Monday–Wednesday and Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Saturday 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Yancey County Library is located at 321 School Circle, Burnsville. For more information about the exhibit, contact Toe River Crafts at 910-783-7170
From the Laurel of Asheville
Highway 80 South Art Hop Helps Get the Jump on Holiday Gifts
6 Months ago
By Sue Wasserman
When Tria Turrou says things will soon be hopping on Highway 80 South in Burnsville, she’s not kidding. The president of Celo-based Toe River Crafts (TRC) is working diligently with her member artists to orchestrate the 11th annual Highway 80 South Art Hop on Saturday and Sunday, October 12 and 13. This popular art tour follows the scenic South Toe River, offering visitors an opportunity to peruse the tranquil setting while purchasing some of the finest regional art and crafts directly from the artisans.
“We’re expecting to have between 25 to 30 participating studios,” says TRC vice president Carrie DeVee. “New for this year is a passport that Tria’s created. They will be available at each studio.” Art hoppers have the opportunity to get their passport stamped with each studio visit. “Those who return a completed passport to us will receive a TRC patch and be entered to win a long-sleeved TRC hoodie,” Turrou adds.
Turrou and DeVee are excited about the artist lineup, which offers something for everyone. On the far end, closer to the Blue Ridge Parkway, hoppers will find jeweler Lucinda Brogden with a napping shop dog or two. Glassblowers Billy and Katie Bernstein are looking forward to opening their studio, just across the road from Toe River Crafts. Potters Pete and Kim McWhirter and Sarah House are working overtime at their kilns, making sure their shelves are stacked.
Susan Scoggins will also be making sure her shelves are stacked. The owner of Maples, located on Highway 80 South at the Micaville Loop, will extend her hours Saturday and Sunday to make sure tourists keep their energy up with a variety of sweet and savory treats.
As part of TRC’s continuing celebration of the shop’s 50th anniversary, DeVee will be introducing special anniversary mugs during Art Hop. “We had so many people asking us for anniversary mugs,” she says. “It took time to get the design right, but it was worth the extra effort. Given the response we’ve had to this milestone anniversary, we suspect they are going to sell out fast.”
The hours for Highway 80 South Art Hop are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. Maps will be available at Toe River Crafts and at all participating studios. For more information, visit the Highway 80 South Art Hop Facebook page or call Toe River Crafts at 910-783-7170
From Smoky Mountain Living Magazine
The Little Gallery That Could
Toe River Crafts Celebrates 50 Years in the Celo Community
10 Months ago
Tria Turrou is living her best life. Not only does the talented ceramic artist get to sell her whimsy-inspired work at Toe River Crafts in rural Celo, North Carolina, she’s also the co-op gallery’s president who feels distinctly privileged to lead the gallery into its milestone 50th year.
Although Turrou, at age 40, is the co-op’s youngest working-member, she is also its most experienced thanks to a childhood spent helping her then working-member mom, tile-artist Tzadi Turrou. “I grew up loading kilns for my mom and helping out in the shop and at shows,” Turrou says. “If she got sick, I knew how to run the shop. I always loved working there; it was such a fun place to be.”
Eager to kick off her own career, Turrou became a working member when she was only 17.
As Turrou and co-op vice president and potter Carrie DeVee sort through books of archival materials and images, as well as talk with past and current members, they are discovering the co-op’s story is even richer than they imagined. “At its heart, ours is a story of a community coming together to support its neighbors,” DeVee said.
The Celo community, 45 minutes northeast of Asheville, holds a unique place in North Carolina history. It was founded in 1937 as a self-governed land trust by Arthur Morgan, an educator and the first chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority. Its primary purpose was to enable members to “enjoy a life that includes personal expression, neighborly friendship and cooperation, and appreciative care of the natural environment.”
The intentional nature of the community, coupled with its proximity to the Penland School of Craft, attracted artists from across the country. “I helped talk the Celo community into loaning us $6,000 to build something nearby craftspeople could use to exhibit our work and keep people from interrupting us in the midst of creating that work,” says potter Nancy Herman, one of the co-op’s founding working members. “Although there were concerns about how the loan would be repaid, community members stepped up and said they would be responsible should we default,” recalls fiber artist Joyce Johnson, another founding working member.
With funding and a construction supervisor in tow, the real work began.
Founding working-member Wanda Lea Austin, a potter who attended Black Mountain College, sketched the building’s simple but functional design. She also managed all legal documentation. Elpenor Ohle, a revered local physician who had been recruited by Arthur Morgan to open a medical clinic in the South Toe Valley, donated the beams.
“We brought a homemade apple pie with us to help talk Elpenor into donating his cut-but-unused pine logs for the rafters,” says Rob Grenell, the carpenter hired to build the structure with the help of community volunteers. Grenell’s late wife, Barbara, was both a weaver as well as one of the first working members. “I rigged those logs like a North woods logger while Elpenor’s son Charlie drove the green Jeep and towed them out of the woods. Joe Hollis, who would become a renowned medicinal herbalist, wielded the broad ax to shape them. We were such a jolly crew working together.”
Following a 1977 flood, co-op members were able to salvage most of the gallery’s wares.
Three years after their joy-filled opening, a torrential rainstorm brought members to near panic. The South Toe River breached, sending floodwater across N.C. 80 and into the gallery. According to a surveyor, the water rose 25 feet above its usual level. In an article from The Arts Journal, gallery designer Austin wrote: “a layer of shiny, dark brown mud covered the floor. Tiny mouse footprints and the trails of some small creature imprinted it like a beach at ebb tide. One of Cindy Bringle’s pots lay in the mud. The lower shelves were emptied—the heavy desk was lying on its side.”
Thankfully, little work was damaged. The artists, many of whom were just returning from a show in Winston-Salem, and other community members quickly mobilized to make repairs. “People still remember,” says DeVee. “When we’re in the midst of heavy storms, we’ll get calls from former members telling us to move work from the lower shelves just in case.”
No matter the storm, Toe River Crafts has made an art of weathering them. When talk of shuttering the gallery and giving the building back to the Celo Community arose, Turrou, who had previously served as vice president, threw her passion into becoming the organization’s president. While Covid 19 delayed their spring 2020 opening, the team worked together, vowing to remain open as long as they could do so safely.
As Turrou looks around at the colorful glass, jewelry, paintings, ceramics, books and more that surround her, the majority crafted by artists living within 12 miles of the gallery, she says, “there was simply no way we were closing. This place is too special.”
With an eye on the future, the working members implemented new guidelines, installed an automated point-of-sale system, and opted to stay open seven days a week from April 1 until the first week of January. “We also focused more on marketing and social media to let people know we were here, just a stone’s throw from the Blue Ridge Parkway,” Turrou said.
“Before we installed the point-of-sale system, one of our working-members had begun discussing the likelihood of retiring,” DeVee remembers. “It wasn’t that she wanted to, but the efforts involved in labeling inventory and calculating sales had become too cumbersome. We’re all delighted her retirement is now off the table.”
Their efforts have literally paid off. “Not only have our profits increased significantly, but we have a waiting list of artists who want to be part of the gallery,” Turrou said. “The community continues to stand behind us as we look at expansion to be able to serve more local artists and better serve the community through creative programming.”
Looking back, both Herman and Johnson agree: “When we started, we took it one year at a time, hoping to be open again the next year. It’s wonderful thinking about how many artists have participated and contributed to its success over the years. We’re delighted Toe River Crafts is still here 50 years later.”
More:
In July, the Yancey County Library will host a commemorative exhibit featuring photos, articles and more from the gallery’s archives. Additionally, the gallery will host special monthly events throughout the year.Toe River Crafts is located at 6274 N.C. 80 South. For more information, follow on Instagram (@toeriver_crafts) or Facebook (facebook.com/ToeRiverCrafts).