Final Preparations Underway For Grove Park Inn Weekend

The New York Times didn’t proclaim it "the most important weekend of the year for Arts & Crafts collectors" without good reason.

Take an historic 1913 Arts & Crafts resort carved into Sunset Mountain overlooking picturesque Asheville, North Carolina, add the country's finest assemblage of both Arts & Crafts antiques dealers and contemporary artisans working in the Arts & Crafts style, weave in three days of seminars, workshops, discussions, displays, tours, demonstrations and exhibits, then bring in a couple thousand of the most energetic, enthusiastic, excited Arts & Crafts collectors -- and ask yourself this:

"Why wouldn’t it be the most important weekend of the year for us?"

For the past 24 years Arts & Crafts collectors from across the country have been making the pilgrimage to the Grove Park Inn to celebrate the style - and the lifestyle - that has grown from obscurity to a popular mantra: "Simplify Your Life - Less Is More."

And this isn't your grandmother's idea of a dry, dusty conference.

The spacious Great Hall, with its Roycroft chandeliers, slate floor, granite walls and towering twin fireplaces, each large enough to hold its own small group discussion, is the heartbeat of this event. The room is never empty, as the late-night crowd reluctantly surrenders the Stickley couches, Morris chairs and Harvey Ellis-inspired rockers to the early-risers with steaming cups of coffee in hand.

They range from rookie collectors to 24-year veterans, from 'bungalow babies' to ranch house remodelers. Some come for the antiques, others for new works, most for both.

But they all share two traits in common: a thirst for knowledge and a passion for what they collect.

Take a break from work, take a break from winter. Recharge your Arts & Crafts battery with a weekend surrounded not by your neighbors, kids, in-laws, bosses or co-workers, but by your Arts & Crafts friends who share your appreciation and your passion for Arts & Crafts.

There are still rooms available at the Grove Park Inn and at our sister hotel the Asheville Renaissance. Information on lodging, agenda and everything else can be found at:

http://arts-craftsconference.com

or call (828) 628-1915.

PS - If you are registered and have not yet received your 16-page packet of information, please email your address to bj1915@charter.net.

CORRECTION: If your packet indicated that the project for the Basic Arts & Crafts Embroidery Workshop was to again be a collar, that should have read an Arts & Crafts handbag. For more information, go to Workshops at the conference website listed above. Thanks!