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Community Open House 2024

What a magical day! On Saturday, February 24th, 2024, visitors, volunteers, and staff alike were treated to a day that was as varied in activities as it was in weather. As makers of all ages strolled from one teaching studio to the next, exploring media like wood, clay, and glass, the weather vacillated between sparkling blue skies and bright sunshine to Dippin’ Dots snow and swirling fog.

Visitors printed inspiring posters designed by local youth

Learning and Exploring

Ten of Penland’s teaching studios offered a thoughtful hands-on activity designed to be enjoyed by any age and any level of ability. Over 130 volunteers were on hand to help orient visitors and share their passion for craft. And, as often happens in Penland’s studios, we saw those who had just learned a new technique passing their knowledge along to others. This continued throughout the day as visitors learned to weave, print, forge, etc., creating finished objects to take home, including 375 poplar magnets, 300 metal relief images, and 80 forged iron hooks. Over 700 visitors included tiny tots wielding hammers, established artists trying something new, and community members who surprised us with their creative takes on each activity. See more photos from the day HERE.

Makers of all ages learned to forge hooks in the iron studio

Nice!

Student Print Collaboration

Visitors to the Penland print studio created prints using Lego dots and printed inspiring posters on the Vandercook presses with help from volunteers. The takeaway poster was designed by students from Mayland Early College High School (MECH) engaged in PATH WNC’s Youth to Youth (Y2Y) program. Visiting the Penland letterpress studio back in October, these students learned about poster design and letterpress printing from Penland print studio coordinator Adam Leestma and brainstormed ideas that would promote positive messages in the community. Their “Enjoy the Little Things” poster was selected for visitors to print during the Open House. More posters will be printed soon to be hung in area schools!

Making Lives Meaningful Through Making 

Established in 1929, Penland’s mission is Making Lives Meaningful Through Making. Throughout the year, this takes the form of intensive craft workshops, residencies, gallery shows, and community outreach. We believe that generosity enhances education, with close interaction between people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds promoting the exchange of information and ideas for the benefit of all. The Community Open House is a celebration of community, creativity, and the joy of making.

Volunteers in the clay studio shared their skills with visitors who learned to throw a clay vessel or create a sculpture

Come back soon…

As February draws to a close, we are preparing for another action-packed year at Penland. We hope that visitors and neighbors take advantage of all that Penland has to offer, including local standby scholarships for our intensive craft workshops, kid’s camps and youth workshops, rotating exhibitions in our Gallery and Visitor’s Center, a network of walking trails, the Penland Coffee House and Supply Store, a self-guided tour, the Penland Resident Artist studios at The Barns, and many events throughout the year. Fire on the Mountain is coming up on April 27th!

Visitors to the Penland photography studio made cyanotype handkerchiefs

Miss Lucy in the mix!

Thank you!

Community Open House would not be possible without over 130 volunteers, Penland staff, and our open-hearted visitors. We are so grateful to everyone that made the day possible. Thanks to Lil Pete’s barbecue truck and our hard-working coffee house staff who served hundreds of hot drinks to visitors. Thanks to Ellie Richards for designing this year’s volunteer apron. Thanks to Sibelco, who sponsored the volunteer luncheon and who’s employees were among the day’s volunteers. And thanks to PATH WNC and the students who designed the letterpress poster!

Wood studio visitors customized poplar wood magnets using many different techniques

So creative!

2024 Community Open House Activities
  • Clay Studio – Making pots at the wheel or small clay sculptures
  • Glass Studio – Hands on lampwork bead making and hot glass demonstrations
  • Letterpress Studio – Printing posters designed by students from MECHS Youth to Youth on the Vandercooks and Lego printing with homemade presses
  • Metals Studio – Embossing designs of local plants and wildlife onto metal foil
  • Papermaking Studio – Learning the basics of paper sheet formation and pulp painting while making fun paper butterflies
  • Photography Studio – Making original cyanotype prints using patterns from nature, science, and architecture.
  • Paste Painting – Making sheets of decorative paste-paper using pigmented paste and colorful sheets of paper 
  • Textiles Studio – Making small tapestries and watching floor loom weaving and spinning demonstrations
  • Iron Studio – Forging wall hooks
  • Wood Studio –Customizing wooden magnets through shaping, carving and painting

We took lots of photos! You can find them HERE.

This magnet says it all: “This is awesome! Making wood things!”

Local artist Kurt Anderson helped visitors explore the magic of paste painting

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A Two-Headed Sweater About Being an Artist

Kendall Ross with her work in the Penland textiles studio.

Penland Winter Resident Kendall Ross‘s art sweaters have won the hearts of curators, art-lovers, and the internet. Known for her bright colors, mind-bending color work, and confessional style, Kendall makes her creative home in her native Oklahoma City where she is a full time studio artist. At Penland, we were charmed by the quickness and ease with which Kendall seems to bring her work into being . We were also honored to host Kendall for her first artist residency.  “I was so inspired by the talent of the other artists I was working around and the support of the Penland staff,” she said. “I feel like I’ve formed so many new and important connections in my life with new friends and artists.”

Kendall completed quite a bit of work while here at Penland. One finished piece was a two-headed sweater about her relationship to her creative practice that she encouraged us to try on at show and tell.

We took the opportunity to interview Kendall about her two-headed sweater. Please enjoy!

Kendall uses “StitchFiddle” to plan out her designs

INTERVIEW WITH KENDALL ROSS

What inspired the two-headed sweater? 

Right now, I am inspired by the idea of making pieces about the relationship I have with my work and artistic process. When I’m writing text though, I love to use language that could be taken in so many different ways based on who is reading it. So for me, the two-headed sweater is about my relationship with people’s perception of my work, but someone else could think it’s about a bad relationship. 

I wanted to put two different sweaters into one piece because the way I feel about the creative process is essentially two sides of the same coin. I’ve spent a lot of time over the last few years trying so hard to be taken seriously or be seen as a real artist, but at the end of the day, it shouldn’t matter what anyone else thinks because the work and the process of creating is ultimately mine. For me, though, there is no way to get rid of the fear of how people will see you and what you do, so even when you focus on the process for yourself you’re still carrying the fear and the baggage of perception and expectation with you. 

Also- truthfully, I just thought it would be so funny to make a two-headed sweater and I wanted to see if I could do it successfully, haha. I loved watching people try it on at Show and Tell. 

Trying on the two-headed sweater at show and tell

For us craft nerds: How did you make it? 

I hand-knit each piece using a combination of intarsia and stranded (fair-isle) colorwork. I spend a lot of time charting out and designing each piece using software called “StitchFiddle,” which is essentially digital graph paper where I can notate where I need to change colors when I’m knitting. 

I knit this piece in six pieces. I started by knitting the front left, front right, back left, and back right panels. I seamed all of those together and knit both sleeves in the round. The last thing I did was pick up and knit stitches around the neckline to make the folded collars and wove in all the ends.

How long did it take you to knit the two-headed sweater? 

I started this piece on the first Saturday of the residency. At that point, I was working to knit up the back panel of the big vest I made, which is mostly one color. I can’t work on something simple for too long before I get antsy, so I designed the chart and started knitting the black and white half of it before I finished the vest. 

Most of the piece was made during the second week of the residency after I finished the vest. I was determined to complete the two-headed sweater because I wanted to have a piece that was made entirely during my time at the residency. I was working on finishing the second sleeve the morning of the last day so it would be ready for people to try on at Show and Tell. 

What was your two-week Penland Winter Residency like? 

I could probably talk about this for hours, but it was literally incredible. I don’t have an art school background, and I had never done a residency before so I had no expectations of what the Penland Winter Residency would look like. I was so inspired by the talent of the other artists I was working around and the support of the Penland staff. I feel like I’ve formed so many new and important connections in my life with new friends and artists. 

I am in a unique situation compared to other artists because knitting is so portable, so it’s not like I needed to do a residency to have access to specific facilities like a kiln. However, the time and space to focus on my work outside of my day-to-day environment was so impactful and pushed me to create work that is different than what I normally create. I could say so many good things about my time at Penland, and I’m excited to return someday!

Is knitting your full-time job? What’s next?

Yes! I knit full-time! I have a lot of exciting things lined up for this year, including a solo show at the Pacific Northwest Quilt and Fiber Art Museum that opens in August. 

During my time at Penland, I started thinking about ways I could shift my practice to create work that is bigger and less wearable than what I usually create. I’m excited to make new exciting and weird things in the future!

Thank you for sharing your practice, Kendall!

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Lisa Nguyen’s “Ode to My Favorite Crazy Uncle”

“Calling you from the other side,” Lisa Nguyen, ash, walnut, casted bronze, dolomite mineral, mirror glass, cigarette, 2023

Created in spirit of the altars that can be found in many Vietnamese homes, Penland Core Fellow Lisa Nguyen‘s series, “Calling you from the other side,”  is a celebration of the memories of her uncle and cousin, invoking themes of family, friendship, love, and loss. This week, as Lisa leaves Penland having completed two years as a core fellow, we were honored to speak with her about this moving body of work.

INTERVIEW WITH LISA NGUYEN

Can you tell us a little bit about some of the traditions that informed “Calling you from the other side”?

This piece is an altar to represent loved ones who have passed away. Usually in Vietnam, these altars come in a cabinet form where it houses the plates, bowls, utensils, trinkets or small things that the deceased used a lot during their lifetime. Photos of family and records of important dates can also live inside the cabinets, it’s sort of like a time capsule. On top of the cabinet, there will be a photo of the person, incense for sending prayers to heaven and offerings of fruit and some of their favorite foods. 

Who is this work dedicated to?

It’s dedicated to both my uncle and my cousin. My uncle and I were really close though. We spent two weeks traveling from Ho Chị Mình city to Hanoi, visiting my moms side of the family, including that cousin. 

Lisa Nguyen and family members at the top of Fansipan, the highest mountain in the Indochinese Peninsula

What do the memories of your uncle and cousin mean to you?

My uncle was a pretty extroverted person. He was unafraid to state his mind and could make friends and conversation wherever he went. Sometimes I couldn’t tell when he was actually being serious or if he was just messing with me. Both my uncle and cousin had a very hard, rough upbringing, they were raised in the North. I think this is why my uncle chose to stay light hearted and humorous. They both taught me that, even though life is hard, one can still choose to bring in laughter and hope to create sweet moments into the world even in times of hardships.

Please tell us more about each piece.

This is the altar. It holds pictures, incense, and candles. These gestures are a way to greet your loved ones and invoke their to return from the spirit realm to the earthly realm to visit the living.

This mirror door acts as a telephone portal. The action of opening the door represents calling and wanting to speak or feel the presence of your loved one because you miss them. The mirror is a reminder that they are still with us. Even if we don’t physically see them, their energy is still nearby.

This is an altar of offerings. It is a form of mind-training to practice mindfulness when making offerings (mindfulness of their favorite foods and habits while on earth). It is also a way to invite your loved one into the space with offerings.

What moved you to make this work?

I decided to make this piece to commemorate my uncle and cousin and the memories we shared when we were together. It was a way for me to remember my trip to Vietnam and how much it impacted me, especially after meeting so many family members for the first time. It’s hard for my family from Vietnam to come and visit and so I think it’s important to not only make time to visit them but also to genuinely get to know them. I think it was the fact that I could speak and understand the Vietnamese language that made our bond super special (though they would tease me of my “accent”. ) It’s pretty normal for first generations to not speak their native language and to assimilate to the western culture, but my parents were really strict growing up. I wasn’t allowed to speak English inside our home. Growing up I hated it, but times like these is when I am very grateful I had to go through that; to be able to communicate and be curious about their upbringings and culture.

How does “Calling you from the other side” fit into the story of your two years as a Penland Core Fellow?

Prior to coming to Penland, I don’t think I truly understood what community or to be part of a community meant. The outside world is pretty harsh but at Penland, I feel the most safe, loved, accepted and appreciated. It feels like home; warm, loved and protected. Penland has taught me to get out of my comfort zone, to be curious about people and most importantly, I learned that there are so many ways to live life and it all comes down to how you perceive it to be.

What are some of the techniques you used?

The columns were turned on the lathe and then my housemate, Brandon cut the glass mirror to fit the dimension I needed. I also casted organic garlic and star anise in bronze. The garlic represents my uncle and his belief that garlic can cure almost everything. Its normal for restaurants to have chili pepper and garlic out and so anytime we went out to eat, my uncle would take extra cloves to keep in his pocket. The star anise represents my cousin. He was born and raised in Hanoi, where Pho originated. It was his favorite dish.

What is next for you?

I’m getting ready to leave the core program and I’ll be heading to NYC to work for some people. It’ll be challenging at first but knowing that Penland will always be home, a place where I can experience it over and over and it still remembers me, makes it a little more exciting to see what I can get myself into. 

Lisa Nguyen, 2022-2023 Penland Core Fellow

It has been a pleasure and an honor to spend two years here at Penland with Lisa during her core fellowship. We look forward to seeing where she goes in the world, and hope she will return often.

Lisa, thank you for sharing this work and the tender memories of your loved ones. Thank you for reminding us that life is short, precious, and beautiful.