From the Hands of our Elders

As part of Tryon Arts & Crafts School’s Crafts and Conversation Series, Road Scholar Anna Fariello will be speaking on Cherokee Traditions on Thursday, August 10 from 12-1 p.m. at the school at 373 Harmon Field Road. TACS developed the free series to provide an inside look into the art of craft for all within the community. The Road Scholar project is made possible by funding from the North Carolina Humanities Council, a statewide nonprofit and affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The talk will begin with a brief overview of Cherokee crafts, focusing on the key material traditions of basketry, pottery, and carving. The highly visual program then recognizes early 20th century artisans, the elders who have kept these traditions alive. These Cherokee elders join thousands of unnamed makers who created and maintained traditions during centuries past.

Anna Fariello’s “From the Hands of our Elders” series included three books and a website, produced to share important archival collections of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians with the general public. The project was the recipient of the 2013 Guardians of Culture International Awards Program awarded by the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums. This talk is made possible by funding from the North Carolina Humanities Council, a statewide nonprofit and affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. 

For the past 10 years, Associate Professor Anna Fariello built digital collections for Western Carolina University. These curated collections focused on the region’s material culture, highlighting material traditions in a digital humanities format. A former Smithsonian Fellow and former Fulbright Scholar, Fariello is the author of numerous book chapters, articles, and conference presentations, and curator of over 40 exhibitions. Among her publications, she is the author of three books on Cherokee crafts, author of the interpretive travel guide, Blue Ridge Roadways (2006), and co-author of the textbook, Objects & Meaning (2003). Recipient of the 2010 Brown Hudson Award from the North Carolina Folklore Society, she was recently honored with a 2013 Guardians of Culture award from the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums.   

Come, bring a lunch (beverages and snacks will be provided) and hear more about Cherokee crafts here in the WNC area!

– article submitted by Cathy Fischer