We Make Penland

Dear Penlanders near and far,

We'll be warm and fuzzy from today for a long time to come. On behalf of all of us who work here, the students and instructors currently in our workshops, our extended community, and the many artists young and old who will pass through Penland in the future, thank you! 

The generosity, support, and energy you poured our way today will be felt at Penland for a long time. This community is so special because of YOU.

#WeMakePenland

Many of you know Penland's Leslie Noell. Before starting her current position as Director of Programs, Leslie spent time as Penland's graphic designer, the coordinator of the Core Fellowship program, and a core fellow herself. Her words today really encapsulate what a monumental impact Penland has had on hearts and lives:

"What can I say? I am who I am. And in large part this is because of the people I have met and the things I have learned @penlandschool. My husband, my son, my closest friends, my mentors, my creative process, my proudest moments all found, fed or informed by time on this hill. I am giving today as a small thank you. A single drop of water in the ocean to make this world the place I know it can be. Hoping it may inspire....🌊

#wemakepenland"

#WeMakePenland a global community of artists. 

From meals with new friends in The Pines to late nights working side by side in the studios, your support builds a strong community across differences in age, geography, and even language. This summer, potter Nozomu Shinohara traveled to Penland to work with native North Carolina clay in a workshop with Josh Copus and Ben Richardson—and he shared some traditional pottery skills from his native Japan with classmates, too.

With your help, Penland’s collections remain an important resource and inspiration for the future. “The Penland archives has a fascinating range of artifacts, documents, photographs, and craftwork that tell the story of our evolution into a center for craft innovation,” explains archivist Carey Hedlund. “This is true for students who visit the archives looking for a traditional weaving pattern to researchers that email from far afield. Penland, across its history, has had a local impact and one that reaches around the world.”

The support and the love you all have shown Penland today has been incredible. Thank you for getting us to our goal—and beyond! What's most telling, perhaps, is that, even after we hit 250 donors, the gifts have kept coming. Thank you for trusting us to put them to good use. We promise we will. 

Here is some Penland fun from today featuring some of our awesome fall concentration instructors (+ furry friends)!

We've touched on Penland's impact on emerging artists, our fabulous instructors and scholarships, our incredible facilities and landscape. But we haven't mentioned our community programs, which are so close to our hearts. 

Frequent Penlander and summer Kids Camp instructor Wyatt Severs just shared some beautiful thoughts and images about Penland's impact on local kids and the neighbors in our community: "Everything we have is borrowed from future generations. And I can tell you from first-hand experience that the youngsters are thriving in Penland's kids camp! And they are looking forward to taking over the studios on the hill!!"

See his post for more photos from this summer's "Let's Build Furniture!" session.

Here's another story shared with us today by Penland printmaker extraordinaire Rebecca Henderson. Thank you for putting so many of our experiences at Penland into words!

For me Penland has always been a place that has benchmarked my thoughts about the relationship between making and art. It has intervened, encouraged, incubated, supported, validated, and challenged me in ways I cannot fully explain because I still find new meaning in it almost everyday. Thank you @penlandschool #wemakepenland

We've heard so many inspiring stories from Penlanders near and far today. Here's one from blacksmith Warren Holzman:

Penland, there is so much to say. They took me in as a young punk blacksmithing assistant and launched me on a trajectory that has been a 23+ year career as artist, blacksmith and business owner. I’ve returned over the years to visit and teach on occasion but the real gift Penland has given me are my lifelong friends that I love and cherish, who supported me and encouraged me, the ones I call my community. No matter how far apart we live, we always come back together well. Today is Penland giving day and your donations give kids like I was an opportunity that exists no where else. Please donate whatever you can today.

Your support keeps the flowers blooming and the vegetables growing and the paths mown on the knoll. This year, Penland’s groundskeeper Casara Logan and our WWOOFer Irvin Carsten were able to double the area of the vegetable garden and install a fence to protect it from deer and other critters. The result is not just this 100-foot row of exquisite beets—it’s also the beet hummus, beet pickles, beet green salads, and other delicacies Penland students have been enjoying at meal times all season.

With the help of photo instructor and former resident artist Mercedes Jelinek, we've got a little photo booth running outside the Pines for students and staff to show their Penland spirit. Here are a few of our #WeMakePenland favorites so far.

From winning prestigious grants to being featured on national television, our instructors are leaders in their fields. Your support brings them to Penland. 

Seattle-based glass artist Nancy Callan has traveled the world with her craft, from Germany and Finland to Japan and Australia. Her pieces can be found in the collections of museums like the Shanghai Museum of Art in China, the Museum of Glass in Corning, NY, and the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, WA. As a Penland instructor, she shared her expertise with incalmo, cane, color drops, and more with an eager studio of intermediate and advanced glass students.

It's a good day when you get supportive emails in bold magenta text! Here's a screenshot:

Thank you all for getting us 1/3 of the way to our goal before lunchtime. Let's keep it going!

Shoutout to our friends at the new Momentum Gallery in Asheville, who are getting into the Giving Day spirit by donating 10% of all sales today to Penland! If you're in Asheville, you can stop by their beautiful space to shop and support Penland at the same time. Creative giving win/win!

It's midnight on October 4, and we have 24 hours to reach our goal of 250 donors! What better motivation to kick off this campaign than Penland's ambitious scholarship program?

Every year, we award over 700 scholarships to students of all ages and backgrounds. Many of them have a truly transformative experience while here. “This journey has validated what I am doing as an artist,” remarked one recent scholarship student after two weeks at Penland. “I am rejuvenated in my practice, bursting with new ideas, and am discovering a fresh sense of wonder,” shared another.

Your support helps make the Penland experience accessible to students from all walks of life. We couldn't have Penland without the generosity of people like you!