VISITING PENLAND + SELF-GUIDED TOUR MAP
Thank you for your interest in visiting Penland. 

Penland School is no longer offering weekly guided tours as we have had in the past. The good news is that we have changed to a self-guided tour of the campus that we believe balances an interesting and positive experience for our visitors with protecting the unique educational environment for our students. The map may be picked up at the Penland Gallery, supply store, or coffee house – for a FULL-SIZE VIEW CLICK HERE.  (Note that the map is formatted to be printed at 11 x 17 and may not be optimal for navigating online.)

We suggest starting at the Penland Gallery & Visitor Center where you can pick up a copy of our Self-Guided Tour Map and enjoy our Visitor Center Gallery display to orient you to the highlights of the tour. We have added signage on the main campus that will assist you with using our new map tour.

In order to safeguard the well-being, privacy, and uninterrupted work time of our students, please note that our classroom studios are not open to the public. Please respect the focus and attention of students and instructors by not entering the classroom studios. You are welcome to visit the studios of Penland’s resident artists. 

The self-guided tour orients you to several places on campus where you may safely observe our students at work, as well as the locations that are open to the public.  The coffeehouse, the supply store, the gallery, and the resident artist’s studios all welcome visitors.  Our visitors can grab a bite to eat at our coffeehouse (note that there are seasonal hours) as our dining hall is reserved for students only.

The self-guided tour is designed to share a bit of Penland’s history and help you locate some of the many interesting places and things on Penland’s campus.  Please note that navigating the hilly campus and many stairs can be challenging for some folks.

If you are interested in bringing a student or special arts-related group to Penland School for a visit, we ask you to contact us to discuss the possibilities. We are not able to provide hands-on activities or artist demos in our classroom studios, but we would be happy to make some alternative suggestions to assist with a memorable visit. 

Please give us a call or email if you have any additional questions! 828.765.6211 or gallery@penland.org

GALLERY ACCESSIBILITY AND THE PENLAND CAMPUS

The Penland Gallery & Visitors Center is fully accessible from the north side entrance, with two dedicated accessible parking spaces next to the building. After entering via our main gallery driveway, continue past the first parking area and look for these spaces on your right.

The Penland campus is located on uneven, hilly terrain that poses accessibility challenges. Although our supply store and coffeehouse are accessible for students and visitors, please note that accessible parking on the main campus is limited and often occupied by students. Please allow us to assist you with our Penland Self-Guided Tour map to note ways you can experience the campus during your visit.

While we do our best to accommodate all students and visitors, we know that our campus is not accessible to everyone. We are happy to talk with you about what our campus can or cannot do in this regard.

Several of the Penland Resident artists’ studios at the Barns are accessible, and gallery staff can assist you in identifying those and artists’ studios in the community with accessible entries. 

If you plan to visit WNC and would like to learn more about the arts communities in our area, we suggest these two resources for information.  Click on the images for links to their websites.