the overwhelming everythingness of belonging, collage by Anthony Naimo
Once a year, we celebrate Penland Giving Week. This year our goal was to connect to our Penland family near and far and to inspire 400 gifts of any size. Thanks to this wonderful community, we met our goal, shared your Penland stories online, and raised $100,000 for this place we love!
Giving Week Collage
This year we commissioned some exciting original art to help us get inspired. To create his collage, the overwhelming everythingness of belonging, Penland metals studio coordinator Anthony Naimo got inspired by the Penland archives. The wonderful result is full of easter eggs and archival penland images.
What was the process of creating the collage like? We asked Anthony:
The Penland campus is teeming with miniature installations of delightful, handcrafted offerings left by generations of makers hoping to give back to this really special community we all share.
Discovering these gifts is a magical experience, and there is no end to the discovery. Things seem to just manifest. Like they’ve always been there. Maybe they have. It’s like an army of woodland sprites are hurriedly marching an endless parade of whimsical objects across time and space to amuse and delight us. That’s the fantasy and characterization of Penland’s community I hoped to capture in this collage. Radiant. Abundant. Magical.
Your Stories
Penland memories from our friend Annie Evelyn, this year’s Giving Week spokesperson
During Penland Giving Week, friends shared stories of what this school has meant to them. It was wonderful to discover how people found their way here (a high school literature teacher), the peers that inspired them, the support they enjoyed (pivots, shifts and ventures), and the ways they grew (from student to instructor).
We love hearing about the legacy of creativity (grandkids falling in love with art at kids camp), ideas that inspired (Miss Lucy the badass), creative exploration (the beginning of whole bodies of work), and the sustained relationship with treasured ideas, objects, and memories that link you to Penland.
Connecting your stories shared online with our current campus activities, we created a collage in The Pines dining hall, putting together printed posts with elements added by current students here for Spring Concentration.
We Did It!
For nearly 100 years, this has been a place where people can find friendship, advice, and inspiration in one another. Our teaching philosophy is based on generosity, the free sharing of knowledge and experience. But it doesn’t stop there. Penland people are generous with their hearts. Penland people make this place possible with their many and varied contributions. In a world of challenges and cynicism, Penland continues to be greater than the sum of its parts. We are deeply grateful for your support.
