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“The value of this program is the environment of complete support of creativity. Staff, food, amenities, create an atmosphere of nurture of the artist soul in all participants.” —Estill, returning student, Kansas “Just wanted to let you know that I had an amazing time at Arrowmont and, to say the least, it was a life-changing experience. My mind is still resonating from the experience.” —Greg, scholarship recipient, Missouri “The group of artists you put together was wonderfully diverse and the attendees were warm and passionate. Utilitarian Clay VI was exactly what I want in a ceramics symposium. The level of intimacy created an atmosphere where I felt safe to really share not just my techniques, but to share my self.” “It was the most significant event in my ceramics career.” —Bryan, symposium presenter, New York 2012 was a very good year for Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. Thank you for making it so. Our books were—and remain— balanced, with reserves. All metrics are positive and indicate positive trends. We’ve gathered them together here for your consideration. In the eyes of those who value Arrowmont, however, the most important things that happen here or because of this place remain difficult to quantify. Former Sevier County School System students who encountered the arts at Arrowmont through our ongoing ArtReach program are performing better in college, or elsewhere in the larger world. Early-career artists who attend Arrowmont workshops or any of the many media-specific professional gatherings organized here—Utilitarian Clay VI: Celebrate The Object, was held in September, 2012, and roundly praised by those on hand—advance faster and more surely than those feeling their own way along. Local eighth-graders who may have started their schooling in other parts of the country are moved to appreciate and even help perpetuate East Tennessee craft traditions by taking part in the Smoky Mountain School of Appalachian Arts and Culture, hosted by Arrowmont in May. Arrowmont was a destination for many hundreds of students, instructors and visitors in 2012. Those people made a positive economic impact on the communities of Gatlinburg and Sevier County. They ventured into our national park. And they left here with an increased appreciation of what makes this area and its arts and its people special. Enrollment during 2012 was up considerably from 2011—1,115 students from 46 states and abroad attended workshops last year. One hundred and twenty of them attended as participants in our work-study or studio assistantship programs. Two hundred and twenty-three of our 2012 students received scholarships totaling $111,030.50. Local Resident Scholarships were awarded to 84 neighbors from Sevier, Cocke, Knox, Jefferson and Blount Counties, who saved $19,300 on tuition. Forty K-12 teachers attended Arrowmont workshops and qualified for Teacher Scholarships worth $10,405. During three weeks of May, 2012, 135 Sevier County eighth graders attended the Smoky Mountain School of Appalachian Arts and Culture at Arrowmont. More than 1,000 local students attended Arrowmont’s ArtReach program. And—arguably our greatest asset— nearly 2,000 hours of labor were volunteered at Arrowmont during 2012. Arrowmont served its students and instructors by providing the inspiration, expertise, studios, support and encouragement for which the school is known and treasured. And Arrowmont has served its donors, patrons, grantors, volunteers and Board by operating successfully. Arrowmont staff will continue to responsibly count and account for those things that ensure the school’s future success. And let us all continue to count, together, the many blessings and real benefits that result. We gratefully applaud your participation and continued support as Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts enters its second century. 2
friends and familiar faces We cultivate the notion that Arrowmont is simultaneously a place, an experience and an opportunity. Easily defended. Never let us forget that this place, this experience, this opportunity would not exist without the large and growing number of people who value what happens here and help to make it possible. Surely you know many. Here are three friends and familiar faces who helped to make 2012 a fabulous year at Arrowmont. Frances Fox Gatlinburg weaver and raconteur Frances Fox is a gracious and smiling reminder of Arrowmont’s rich history and the organization’s ongoing importance. Having grown up in the shade of Arrowmont, attending the Pi Beta Phi settlement school during the 1950s, she is an excellent teller of tales related to what has happened on and around this historic campus. But Fox’s best lessons on the importance of Arrowmont may be the ways she chooses to spend her time during her so-called retirement. She can often be found on or near campus sharing and perpetuating the arts, crafts and other traditions she came to value and perfect as a result of her time here. Frances Fox “I grew up across the street, where Twin Islands is,” says Fox. “It was called Pleasure Island. It was a little old tourist court. “I just had to come over the bridge and cross the street to come to school. The school was county-run, but the sorority still paid for the art and music and home ec. I tell people that I realized later that I had a prep school education in the middle of the mountains.” When it comes to early Arrowmont, the shared local lore is of PBP teachers and administrators working to help local younger generations appreciate the crafts practiced by their elders, and to help those elders develop ways to profit from them. Fox—whose maternal and paternal grandmothers were both weavers—says that picture is accurate. But she has equally fond memories of non-local arts that her teachers made accessible. “We had art classes all through elementary school,” she remembers. “Around fourth grade, we got a new art teacher and she was teaching us calligraphy. We made fun of her— you know mountain kids. “After school, I would pretend to go home. Then I would sneak back and she would set up a still life for five or six of us to practice watercolors. All the teachers lived in the dorms. So when school was out, it wasn’t over.” For Fox, school is still not over. With other craft instructors and Sevier County School System staff and art teachers, Fox spent May of 2012 at Arrowmont (just as she spent May of 2011 and May of 2013) teaching history and weaving to eighth graders. “I love that Smoky Mountain School of Appalachian Arts and Culture,” says Fox. “It’s continuing that tradition. When you’re an artist here, you know the benefits. “If you can’t give money, you give your time, your energy, and your expertise.” Erin Castellan Like so much warp and weft, Arrowmont binds and connects people over time and across distance and disparate paths. Textile artist Erin Castellan began her residence at Arrowmont in June of 2012—the year Arrowmont’s endowed Artist-in-Residence program turned 20 years old. Castellan designs and sells a varied and lovely line of hand-loomed garments and accessories. Elements of Castellan’s “embroidered paintings” are also related to Fox’s traditional weaving, but she combines those elements with contrasting colors, textures and finishes in ways that magnify the power of her materials and their delightful, uncommon combinations. Castellan’s residency ended in May, 2013. She’s currently working and living in Asheville, North Carolina. She says that the time and distance allow her to see how her art advanced during her 11 months at Arrowmont. “Because I had ample time and little stress to squeeze my art making into a busy work schedule,” says Castellan, “I was able to devote more hours to each project. Individual pieces became much more developed. I allowed myself the luxury of putting huge amounts of time and labor into each piece to accomplish desired effects.” Along with quiet, self-directed time in her studio, Castellan says that the teaching opportunities provided at Arrowmont were useful to her. She was both encouraged and enabled to articulate concepts, techniques and processes 3
Page 1: ANNUAL REPORT 2012
Page 5 and 6: Audited financial information Incom
Page 7 and 8: DONOR RECOGNITION Joseph Ontko Oreg

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