Located in Smithville, Tenn., the Craft Center Gallery features over 1,400 pieces of art and crafts made by more than 150 artists. Serving as both a showroom and retail space, the Craft Center focuses on the work made by students, faculty, and alumni of the Appalachian Center for Craft. The gallery was opened in 1979 by a congressman from Smithville named Joe L. Evans. After construction it was annexed into Tennessee Tech University, and the BFA program was born. The Appalachian Center for Craft offers degrees in clay, glass, metals, wood, and fiber and thus attracts a diverse group of artists working in a wide range of media. The students’ work often blurs the line between art and craft. ”Typically art is something that is created with an intent or an aesthetic purpose in mind to convey emotion. Craft is something that’s created on a more functional perspective,“ says Becca Dilldine, the center’s gallery operations coordinator. “But I think here we definitely cross those lines a lot and things are made with functional purposes, but also with that aesthetic intent.”
Craft Center Gallery
The Craft Center Gallery in Smithville features art from more than 150 artists.
