High-concept exhibit at Center for Craft is set for expansion
Photo by Colby Rabon
Making the most of everyday material is at the heart of craftmaking, but Asheville’s Center for Craft is expanding the definition of “everyday” with its innovative Materials Collection, a public display focusing on materials that are commonly associated with craft, although, in some cases, derived from unlikely sources. While the collection has been housed at the Center for more than a year, it’s getting a major upgrade for 2026.
“The acquisition of new materials are those sourced, produced, or disposed of to minimize harm to the environment and human health,” says Program Manager for Research and Ideas Mellanee Goodman. The expanded holdings are intended to spark curiosity “and encourage innovative making.”
The Materials Collection forms a key segment of the Center’s Engagement Studio, dedicated to increasing access for makers and viewers to share ideas. It consists of more than a hundred samples paired with descriptive cards and an interactive touch screen. The samples were collected from individuals as well as from companies and organizations, “the majority of whom are in the United States,” Goodman says.
Among the samples displayed, visitors can touch and feel biodegradable plastic and fiber made from alginate, which is extracted from seaweed, one of the novel sustainable materials that account for 29 percent of the expanded collection.
“The collection is a resource to interact with and learn about materials like this that are not readily accessible for open-source engagement,” says Goodman. She further explains: “Many material collections in this country are only accessible with permission from an institution or within manufacturing sites. We created an activation section to encourage visitors to touch and observe the materials and learn about them the way an artist might, through prompts like, ‘What do you feel, smell, and see?’”
At Center for Craft’s Engagement Studio, visitors can interact with elevated ideas.
Photo by Colby Rabon
The collection is one of the more recent additions to the Center for Craft, which has been serving Western North Carolina’s craft community for nearly three decades. That includes raising and distributing $1.3 million in hurricane relief funds to more than 800 regional craft makers and organizations like the Village Potters, Madison County Arts Council, and the Big Crafty, to name a few.
The downtown Asheville facility includes galleries for exhibitions, an upstairs co-working space, an Ideation Lab for residencies, shared equipment for artists, and a reference library for visitors, now augmented by the expanded Materials Collection as an educational tool.
The alternative-materials options in the collection can help “expand understanding,” Goodman says. It’s a notion that fills all 16,000 square feet of the venue.
“We provide visitors with a baseline understanding not only of what craft is, but of the possibilities it holds.”
Center for Craft, 67 Broadway, Asheville, open Monday through Saturday, 10am-6pm. See centerforcraft.org for details.