Through the use of artifacts, visual art and craft, and educational legend, the installation offers a multimedia experience in the sights, smells and sounds of an iconic place. The creators see it as part of an ongoing experiment in the relationship between art and commerce, and economic condition and opportunity.

McIntyre graduated from the Atlanta College of Art with a BFA in Drawing. Involved in the arts since 1989, he has exhibited at Emory University, Atlanta Contemporary Arts Center, Atlanta History Center, Woodruff Arts Center and Wofford College. He is presently the Economic Development Director of Polk County.

Hannon graduated from Isothermal Community College with an Associate Degree in Media Arts. Founder of Markston Music in Tryon, he works with artists and musicians to write and record sound and audio assemblages for film and video; he also represents regional recording artists. In 2008 he received a Nancy DuPre Menke Young Entrepreneur Innovators grant. He is the great nephew of Edgar Hannon.

The second exhibit, &dquo;This New Day: Black Artists from Upstate to Mountains,&dquo; introduces the installation and performance art of Marie T. Cochran and Victoria Casey-McDonald, both of Sylva. Entitled &dquo;love/loss/love,&dquo; their collaboration explores the &dquo;Affrilachian&dquo; experience and celebrates the resilience of cultural and individual identity in the midst of societal forces and personal struggles. (&dquo;Affrilachian&dquo; refers to the unique perspective of African-Americans born and raised in the Appalachian Mountain region.)

Cochran is a multi-media public artist, arts advocate and interdisciplinary project consultant. Receiving the MFA from the Chicago Art Institute, she has exhibited extensively, including the Lyndon Johnson Presidential Library and Museum, Howard University Gallery, Studio Museum of Harlem, and the High Museum. She teaches in the School of Art and Design at Western Carolina University.

A lifelong resident of Western North Carolina, Casey-McDonald is a storyteller, writer, singer and ordained minister. An educator for 30 years, she recently published a book, &dquo;The African Americans of Jackson County: From Slavery to Integration.&dquo;