Crafting Affrilachia at UNC Asheville

Crafting Affrilachia
October 20, 2018 - 12:45 p.m.
UNC Asheville’s Wilma M. Sherrill Center
Free admission with advance registration

From the Center for Craft (formerly The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design) website:

A roundtable discussion in partnership with UNC Asheville’s 5th Annual African Americans in Western NC and Southern Appalachia Conference

Crafting Affrilachia is a roundtable discussion featuring contemporary Appalachian craftspeople of color sharing and raising the visibility of their work and documenting how their practic impacts their identity, community, and cultural history. Crafting Affrilachia will be led by independent scholar, Marie T. Cochran, artist, educator, curator, and the founder of the Affrilachian Artist Project, which has generated a network of individuals and organizations which celebrate the intersection of cultures in Appalachia. Panelists include ceramic tile artist & mosaicist Sharon Jones (Pendelton, SC), furniture designer and maker Jd Harrison (Greenville, SC), and jewelry designer and maker Viola Spells (Asheville, NC).

Conference Overview

The Fifth Annual African Americans in Western North Carolina and Southern Appalachia Conference offers scholars and the community an opportunity to illuminate the African American experience in Southern Appalachia. The three-day event from Oct. 18-20 will feature a variety of topics, including race in education, social justice, and history while highlighting regional African American culture, with a theme of “Making the Invisible Visible.”

Conference activities are free and open to everyone with advance registration requested. The conference will begin with an opening reception on Thursday, Oct. 18 at the YMI Cultural Center, scholarly presentations and community panels Oct. 19-20 at UNC Asheville, and an awards night at The Collider on Saturday, Oct. 20 to conclude the weekend.

More info here: http://www.craftcreativitydesign.org/crafting-affrilachia/

Admission is free to conference activities with advance registration.

Conference website: https://aawnc.unca.edu/

Registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/african-americans-in-wnc-southern-appalachia-conference-tickets-50074362767