bluetyger.ca
Issue 7 November 1 2001

bluetyger main

issue 7 intro
editorial
about this magazine
Edmund Wu photos
John W. Gardner
HandMade in America
Coldwater Fall Fair
Creemore Ontario
Falldown
Way Past Midnight

HandMade in America

HandMade in America is a non-profit organization promoting the fine craft of home made objects as a means to sustainable community and economic development in Western North Carolina.

"The seeds of HandMade in America were sown in 1993 when a handful of Western North Carolinians, struggling to find fresh approaches to economic development and renewal in their mountains, realized that the answer didn't necessarily lie in newly recruited industry, but could potentially be found in the invisible industry of craftspeople already working steadily and exceptionally in shops, classrooms, studios, and galleries tucked away on small town main streets and back roads throughout the Blue Ridge Mountains."

about HandMade in America

Editor: William J. Gibson
email to the editor
Made in Canada

The Community Solutions Institute, a living laboratory

In 1995 HandMade in America, in association with researchers at the John A. Walker College of Business at Appalachian State University, conducted this survey to measure the economic contribution of crafts in 22 counties in Western North Carolina. It revealed that crafts contributed $122 million annually to the region's economy. That figure is four times the revenue generated from burley tobacco, the state's number one cash crop. The survey also revealed some of the challenges and needs of the craft community, including access to capital and marketing and business education services.