Participants enjoy a past Penland Open House. The 2023 edition is Feb. 25 from 1-5 p.m.
It’s time for the return of the Penland School of Craft Community Open House.
The public is welcome on campus on Saturday, Feb. 25 from 1-5 p.m. to engage in creative activities alongside trained artists.
The school’s Community Open House is a once-per-year chance for locals and visitors alike to spend an afternoon getting hands-on with Penland’s teaching studios.
There will be hands-on activities in clay, iron, letterpress, metals, painting, papermaking, photography and textiles plus live demonstrations in the glass studios.
The event is free and activities are child-friendly. The Community Open House is fueled by the efforts of more than 100 volunteers who welcome and assist visitors from the front gate through their entire visit.
The Penland Community Open House started more than 20 years ago and brings about 600-700 people to the campus each year, said Penland Communications Manager Robin Dreyer.
Dreyer said the event is useful for generating interest for class registrations but, more importantly, for showing the public what happens at Penland.
Dreyer added the hard work of the staff and volunteers as well as donations make the event possible.
Studio coordinators plan their public workshops and purchase the necessary materials.
“Visitors are welcome at the Penland Gallery and the Coffee House anytime, and we have weekly campus tours, but we generally limit visitor access to our teaching studios because we need to protect the learning environment,” Dreyer said. “So, it’s fun to have an event where people can use these great facilities for a few hours, make some interesting objects to keep and wander around our beautiful campus.”
Visit penland.org/openhouse for more details. The Penland campus is just off Penland Road in Mitchell County near the town of Spruce Pine.