Upcoming events
Bark Basket Workshop
Andrew Lee is a professional educator with over two decades of teaching experience. His fascination with history began by finding Native American artifacts in Northwest Georgia as a young boy. He credits this time in his life as crucial in developing a deep interest in understanding past cultures.
While at the University of Georgia, Andrew met master primitive skills instructor Scott Jones. After taking Jones' flintknapping class, the fuse was officially lit.
More than twenty years later, through teaching in elementary and middle schools as well as in the correctional setting, the constant passion in Andrew's educational life has been pursuing history, including learning more about primitive skills.
His hands-on workshops and the bark baskets & stone-bladed knives that he creates are ways that he expresses this love of history and nature.
CLASS FULL.
Bark Basket Workshop
Andrew Lee is a professional educator with over two decades of teaching experience. His fascination with history began by finding Native American artifacts in Northwest Georgia as a young boy. He credits this time in his life as crucial in developing a deep interest in understanding past cultures.
While at the University of Georgia, Andrew met master primitive skills instructor Scott Jones. After taking Jones' flintknapping class, the fuse was officially lit.
More than twenty years later, through teaching in elementary and middle schools as well as in the correctional setting, the constant passion in Andrew's educational life has been pursuing history, including learning more about primitive skills.
His hands-on workshops and the bark baskets & stone-bladed knives that he creates are ways that he expresses this love of history and nature.
CLASS FULL.
Maker Series
Join us for an informal discussion with fellow creatives! Cowee Coffee will open at 9am.
Maker Series
Join us for an informal discussion with fellow creatives! Cowee Coffee will open at 9am.
Moonlight Moonshine 10K
Register at https://runsignup.com/Race/NC/Franklin/MoonlightMoonshine10KHalfPintRun
Where We Live: History, Nature and Culture Speaker Series
Migration of the Scots-Irish People to Western North Carolina
On Monday, April 15, the speaker series Where We Live: History, Nature, and Culture will host a program on the immigration of Scots-Irish people to our area.
The program will use images and artifacts to showcase the 18th century migration of peoples from England and Ireland to North America. Many of these people eventually made their way to western North Carolina and many of their descendants are still among us today. During the presentation, we will discuss adaptations the Scots-Irish people made to the new places they found themselves in, in farming, textile production, and other activities.
The speaker will be Education Associate Peter Koch of Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center. Koch holds an M.A. in public history from North Carolina State University and is on the boards of the WNC Civil War Roundtable and of Civil War Trails. He has also had a long involvement in the North Carolina Museums Council.
The program will take place at Cowee School Arts and Heritage Center at 51 Cowee School Rd. in Franklin beginning at 6:30 p.m. April 15. The lecture series is designed to give people an opportunity to learn more about our local area, from many different angles, and to enjoy a pleasant, informative evening together. Come join us!
Maker Series
Join us for an informal discussion with fellow creatives! This month, we will meet Lindsey Ridgeway, our newest Co-Workspace resident artist who specializes in therapeutic arts. Cowee Coffee will open at 9am.
Where We Live Speaker Series - Women's History Trail
On Monday, February 19, the series “Where We Live: History, Nature, and Culture” will present a program about the much-anticipated public sculpture, Sowing the Seeds of the Future, soon to be installed on its site on E. Main St. in Franklin.
The sculpture, by artist Wesley Wofford, was inspired by the research of the late, local historian, Barbara McRae. Barbara was intrigued by the intertwined life stories of three early-19th-century women who lived in what is now East Franklin. The program will focus on one of the three, Salley, an enslaved woman who is the central figure in the sculpture.
The program will begin with an overview of the sculpture project by Mary Polanski, a member of the leadership team of the Women’s History Trail project of the Folk Heritage Association of Macon County.
Mary will introduce the main speaker for the evening, Delphine Kirkland. Ms. Kirkland has done extensive research into the lives of her ancestors – African, European, and native – in her home state of South Carolina. Her knowledge of the historic interactions of these cultures helps to shed some light on what can be surmised about the life of an enslaved woman here in western North Carolina. Ms. Kirkland was the model for the Salley figure in the sculpture.
The program will conclude with a performance of The Sexton’s Tale, one of a set of monologues written by Barbara McRae. In this brief, haunting theater piece, local dancer Jada Bryson portrays the ghost of Salley visiting the cemetery of Franklin’s First United Methodist Church. Jada, incidentally, was the model for the Wesley Wofford sculpture of Harriet Tubman that stands in front of the courthouse in Dorchester County, Maryland.
The program will be held at the Cowee School Arts and Heritage Center at 51 Cowee School Drive in Franklin beginning at 6:30 p.m. on February 19.
Speaker Series
Where We Live: History, Nature and Culture Speaker Series
On Monday, January 29 at 6:30pm, the “Where We Live: History, Nature, and Culture Speaker Series” will present a program on “Bird Talk: An Exploration of Avian Communication” by Dr. Barbara Ballentine.
Birds use acoustic, visual, and olfactory signals in social contexts allowing for the transmission of information that is important for successful reproduction and survival.
The beauty of birdsong is one of the joys of nature, and this talk will explore how songs are learnt and performed, why the quality of a male's repertoire can affect his mating success, and how birds use song-matching and countersinging in territorial disputes.
Birds communicate through visual signals too, from the dazzling feathers of a Peacock to the jumping displays a Jackson's Widowbird performs to show off his long tail, to how aggressive wing-waving is used to ward off impostors. Understanding how signals are produced and used by birds to communicate provides insight into the amazing lives of birds.
Dr. Ballentine is an Associate Professor of Biology at WCU. She earned a BS in Biology at UNC Chapel Hill (1996), a MS in Zoology at Auburn University (2000) and a PhD in Biology at Duke University (2007). She worked as a post-doc at the University of Miami and the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center.
Sponsored By:
Larry & Kendra Rasche
Free Community Art Day
Alarka Expeditions - Black Walnut Ink
Carolina Artworks - Basics of Wet Felting
Carol Conti Studio - Valentine Fingerprint Art
Cowee Textiles - Weave a Coaster
Cowee Pottery School - Try the Wheel & Studio Tours
Inner Woven Wellness - Mini Inspiration Boards
GUEST ARTISTS
Cherokee Beadwork & Basketweaving
Nikki Reese - Carve a Chicken Stick
