Upcoming events
Recurring Events
Fit & Fun Exercise Class - Every Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 9:30am
Where We Live: History, Nature and Culture Speaker Series - Every Third Monday at 6:30pm
Open Mic Night - Every Second Friday at 6pm
Free Community Art Days - Quarterly
Jon Shain & Piedmont Blues
Hailing from Durham, NC, Jon Shain is a veteran singer-songwriter who’s been turning heads for years with his words, his fiery acoustic guitar work, and his evolved musical style – combining improvised piedmont blues with bluegrass, swing, and ragtime. Jon has released nine solo albums to date, along with two albums with duo partner FJ Ventre, a Jon Shain Trio live album, and one album of co-writes with Joe Newberry. Shain’s newest album, Restless Soul Syndrome, recorded at Good Luck Studios this past year, will be released April 9, 2024. Shain is also the author of the music books Gettin’ Handy With the Blues – a Tribute to the Legacy of W.C. Handy and Jon Shain’s Fingerstyle Guitar Method, both published by Mel Bay Publications. In 2019, Shain won the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN in the solo/duo category.
Over the last several years, Shain has headlined listening rooms both as a solo and with duo partner FJ Ventre throughout the US and he's done two solo tours in Europe. He has opened shows for John Hiatt, Keb’ Mo’, Little Feat, and many other roots legends. When Shain is not recording, producing other artists, or performing, he stays busy giving private instruction in guitar, and teaching group workshops in songwriting and blues guitar.
FJ Ventre began playing music with Jon in 1982 when they met in high school and have developed a brotherly connection that continues to this day. Ventre went to University of Massachusetts-Lowell, earning a B.A. in Music Performance and Sound Recording and remained for some time in the Boston area, performing in the city's vibrant music scene. Since relocating to Chapel Hill, NC in 2000, Ventre has performed with his own group The Swang Brothers, as well as with Chris Stamey, Wes Collins, Huzzah, and a who's who of NC music groups. In addition to being a sought-after bassist, Ventre spends his time behind the mixing board, producing and engineering at his own Good Luck Studio as well as writing his own songs.
Where We Live: History, Nature and Culture Speaker Series
Where We Live: History, Nature, and Culture---More than Memories - Why Historic Districts Matter
On Monday, November 18, at 6:30 pm, the speaker series “Where We Live: History, Nature and Culture” will present the program More Than Memories-Why Historic Districts Matter by Stacy Guffey.
By taking an in-depth look at the Cowee-West's Mill Historic District in northern Macon County, we'll discover why historic structures and historic districts improve our area's social and economic health.
The district, designated by the National Register of Historic Places in 1999, includes the archaeological site and mound of the Cherokee town of Cowee, a major settlement until the time of the Revolutionary War. In the first half of the 19th century, the area became a thriving agricultural community, during which time many of the historic structures were built , including Rickman’s General Store, the predominately African American Pleasant Hill Methodist Church, and Cowee School. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, it became the largest African American community west of the Balsam mountains.
Stacy Guffey is a Macon County native who has grown into leadership in business and public life in the region his family has called home for generations. A graduate of Franklin High, Western Carolina University, and holding a Master’s in Public Administration degree from the University of North Carolina, Stacy served as Macon County’s planner from 2004 to 2009. He helped establish and run the Arts and Heritage Center at the old Cowee School while working as a regional planning and economic development consultant. Currently, he serves as the Senior Program Manager for NCGrowth at UNC Chapel Hill providing technical assistance for small businesses and local governments in the 17 western counties of North Carolina. He took on a new role in Downtown Franklin’s preservation efforts with the purchase and rehabilitation of the 1897 building that contains the Scottish Tartans Museum. Stacy serves as the Vice Mayor of Franklin.
The program will take place at Cowee School Arts and Heritage Center at 51 Cowee School drive in Franklin. Please join us for an informative and pleasant evening.
Where We Live: History, Nature and Culture Speaker Series
On October 21 at 6:30 p.m., the Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center series, “Where We Live: History, Nature, and Culture” will present a program by Teresa Bouchonnet on “The Cultural Significance of Millinery as a Women’s Profession in WNC”.
Hat-making was more than just a craft; it allowed women to express their creativity and contribute to their households. The skills required for millinery were often taught within families. Teresa is a native of Macon County. Her Grandmother Allen & her mother both made their own hats using material to coordinate their church outfits like many women of that period.
A variety of hats showing different periods and styles including wooden hat blocks used to make hats will be displayed. Teresa will also give a tour of her studio, Cowee Textiles/Cowee Millinery, after the talk, for anyone interested in seeing items she uses to create her one-of-a-kind hats. Her studio has been located at the Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center since 2013. She is a fourth-generation textile artist accomplished in many styles including millinery/hat making. She has just returned from an international Millinery Meet-Up with hat makers from all over the world. Hats are making a bold return per Harper’s Bazaar June/July 2024 issue.
This tradition of hat-making is a testament to the resourcefulness and creativity of the women in WNC, reflecting a broader narrative of resilience and ingenuity in Appalachian culture.
You are invited to bring examples of old hats to add to the display in the gym.
The program will be held at Cowee School Arts and Heritage Center at 51 Cowee School Drive in Franklin at 6:30 pm. The 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!
Where We Live: History, Nature and Culture Speaker Series
“An Overview of Water Quality in Macon County Mountain Streams”
with Jason Love
On Monday, September 16 at 6:30pm, the series “Where We Live: History, Nature, and Culture” will present a program on our exceptional mountain streams and rivers.
The southern Appalachian Mountains act as “water towers” for the Southeast. Our Macon County streams, arising from the mountains, provide drinking water not only for Franklin, but also major cities located 100s of miles downstream. These same streams nurture incredible biodiversity, provide outstanding recreational opportunities from canoeing to fishing, are a major feature of the natural beauty here, and a strong attraction for visitors to our region. This presentation will look at the threats to water quality in Macon County as well as ways landowners and citizens can act as stewards of their streams.
Speaker Jason Love is the Associate Director of the Highlands Biological Station, Western Carolina University. He was born in the suburbs of Roswell, Georgia (just north of Atlanta) where he witnessed first-hand the streams he fished become degraded and woods he wandered become strip malls and parking lots. This spurred him to pursue a career in conservation.
Jason received a B.S. in Forest Resources from the University of Georgia and his M.S. at West Virginia University in Fisheries and Wildlife Resources.He has worked in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park as an environmental educator and as the Site Manager of the Coweeta Long-Term Ecological Research program at Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, working with dozens of scientists and graduate students on research projects, many of which dealt with water quality in Macon County. Since 2019, at Highlands Biological Station, he and his collaborators have been studying microplastics in the Little Tennessee watershed and assessing the biodiversity of degraded and intact wetlands along floodplains of the Little Tennessee River.
The program will be held at Cowee School Arts and Heritage center at 51 Cowee School Drive in Franklin at 6:30 pm. The 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!
Where We Live: History, Nature and Culture Speaker Series
On Monday, August 19 at 6:30pm, the series “Where We Live: History, Nature, and Culture,” will present a screening of the film Clear Day Thunder: Rescuing the American Chestnut.
Once there were over four billion American chestnut trees in the United States. One out of every four trees in the Appalachian forests was a chestnut! American chestnut trees thrived and matured as the dominant species, towering over their neighbors. One tree near Waynesville was over 53 feet in circumference!
Foresters called the American Chestnut “the most useful tree in the woods” because it provided abundant food for people, wild animals and livestock, a cash crop for mountain farmers, fine wood for furniture, and rot-resistant lumber.
In 1904 the chestnut blight disease was identified and began to spread quickly-- by the 1930´s, almost all the mature chestnut trees in the Carolinas were dying back to their roots. Thanks to soil organisms, however, many of the roots remain alive, sending up small sprouts that constantly die back from the blight even today.
Now, with an approach called backcross breeding, the American Chestnut Foundation is working to revive this great King of theForest. Within a decade, they expect to have blight-resistant trees ready for testing in North and South Carolina. It is the hope and expectation that the American chestnut will resume its place as a significant species in our forests.
The film tells the story of this magnificent tree and how it is on its way to restoration.
The program will take place at Cowee School Arts and Heritage Center in Franklin at 51 Cowee School Drive. 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!
