Circle the Mountains Tour

My wife and I took off on one of the eight HandMade in America trails, traveling on the Blue Ridge Parkway initially. This 469 mile road runs along the crests of the southern Appalachians and links the Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks. It was started in 1937 and wasn’t completed until the 1980s. We headed north and east toward Spruce Pine, NC (population 2,030) to do the “Circle the Mountains Tour.”

After visiting several galleries and studios we stopped at the Pendland School of Crafts, which was started by Miss Lucy Morgan in 1929 to teach mountain women the art of hand-weaving. From very simple beginnings, today the school attracts over 1,000 students each year from around the world to study in one of its core areas: textiles; ceramics; glass; metals; wood; photography; printmaking and books. The school sits on 400 acres with 43 different structures on the campus.

From there we drove on gravel roads to the Energy Xchange, an innovative energy recovery project that is utilizing methane gas from a land dump that was closed in 1994. At the site we met Amber Bewernitz, who is originally from Mt. Vernon, IL, about 60 miles from my home. Amber, a potter, explained to us, “They drove tubes down into the old dump and then pump the methane gas out. It is pumped to the glass studio and to the ceramic kilns. I only have to pay $200/month for my space and use of the kiln, which is a real bargain.”

In addition to the artists energy needs satisfied with this alternative energy source the complex also produces tilapia and basil in a closed energy loop along with starter plants. This project is a joint one that includes HandMade in America. It is the only such project in the world.