Appalachian Center for Craft

The Appalachian Center for Craft is a unique state-of-the-art educational facility and cultural center combining teaching, research, cultural outreach and crafts marketing all operating in partnership. The Center operates academic programs, workshops, outreach programs and exhibitions and sales galleries as well as facilities for meetings and conferences.

The Center exists at a crossroads between urban and rural, academic and folk, high art and domestic life. Born of the vision and initiative of the people of TN and a group of remarkable advocates for fine craft, the Center opened in December of 1979. The complex was originally developed by the TN Arts Commission and funded by the Appalachian Regional Commission, and is now a division of TN Tech University.

Spectacularly located in Middle TN on the Highland Rim of the Cumberland Plateau, on the wilderness tract overlooking Center Hill Lake, the Center’s facilities are spacious and well equipped. The location was chosen with both regional and national service in mind, centrally placed in the U.S., in the middle of a rich Appalachian craft tradition. The wilderness setting is ideal for total immersion in the educational programs, and yet the location offers easy access from around the U.S.

This fusion of traditional crafts and creative education reaches from the grass roots to the international craft world. The Appalachian Center for Craft is a vital expression of the rich contribution of the unique character of Tennessee.