I have come to learn pottery.

Far below my feet, the Blue Ridge Parkway forms a slim ribbon of pavement between grassy shoulders and forests of maple and elm. I look upward, and catch a glimpse of Mount Mitchell as its curtain of clouds part. Spring rains make the young leaves glow.

I am at Wildacres Retreat, perched atop Pompey Knob, a protuberance in the ridge just south of Little Switzerland, looking across to Mount Mitchell and down on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Representative of the many arts groups that meet on this mountaintop, the Southeast Federation of Mineralogical Societies (SFMS) started holding classes here in 1976. Although their focus was once strictly lapidary arts – working with metal, gems, and stone – they’ve expanded their reach to classes on glassworking and pottery. This week will be an intensive immersion in a single facet of craftsmanship, led by volunteer instructors with a love of their art.

After dinner the first evening, Hale Sweeney, the SFMS director for North Carolina, escorts me outside. “You need to understand why this place is so special,” he says. “Look. Take it in.” Around us, a sweeping panorama of mountains—the tallest mountains the East Coast has to offer, peaks silhouetted at sunset. “Can you feel the power here?”

I can. And so did I.D. Blumenthal, the Charlotte businessman and philanthropist who decided to buy this mountain in 1936. After I.D. saw the property, he said if Divine Providence meant him to have it, he would devote the land to the betterment of humanity. “God wanted something done on that mountain,” I.D. said, “and I was selected as his servant.” When his low bid on the property turned out to be the only bid at the tax auction, the owner sent someone to investigate the land. Unaccustomed to the mists and clouds of the high Carolina peaks, the Texan visitor took one look and, as Hale relates, said “who would want this God-forsaken land anyway?” Within a decade, the mountain became a mountaintop retreat for artists, thinkers, and dreamers. It remains so today.

Spread over 1,600 acres of forest, Wildacres comprises a handful of buildings—two lodges, a dining hall, an auditorium and adjoining library, studios for lapidary arts and pottery. Everywhere you look, you see works of art. In the main lodge, expanses of glass bring the mountains indoors; intricate floral stained-glass windows catch the afternoon light. A wrought iron table, tiled in shades from the ocean, sits against one wall; a grand fireplace, surrounded by comfortable leather couches, dominates another. Peacock feathers and dried grasses sprout from an urn the color of a soap bubble on river rock. The auditorium entrance showcases an expansive mineral collection; the dining hall lounge is decorated with the unique dioramas of Dan Allenbaugh, many depicting mining scenes in North Carolina.

I can’t help but feel inspired.  

CHAINS, RINGS, AND FANCY THINGS
A distinctive acetylene odor fills seeps into the canteen. I follow the source to the nearby classroom, where six students, deep in concentration, fiddle with tiny ringlets of wire. Dee Conybear holds up her arm, showing off an unusual chainmail bracelet. “Take a look at this piece!” The art of fused chainmaking – creating chains from thin wire – is a rare art, and instructor Howard Siegel made the long journey from Missouri to teach this first-time class. “It’s something anyone can do,” says Howard. “And it’s fun. Beginning students can get five or six chains done in a week—instant gratification!”

In John Iacullo’s lost wax casting class, the group is learning the intriguing art of forming metal in three dimensions. John walks me through the steps, starting with a wax model. “You can use a pre-form, or carve your own. Any kind of hand tool will do—dental pick, pocket knife, pecan pick…” Students, bent over their workbenches, carve wax into intricate forms. One delicate bird shatters, and I gasp. John shrugs. “The best thing about this,” says John, “if you make a mistake, you just melt it down and start over again.”

“Y’all know what beads you’re going to use on the center? There should be at least seven wraps on each one!” The auditorium echoes with Melissa Rogers’ wire-wrapping instructions as four ladies, intent at work on strips of silver wire, finger their creations under the flood lamps. Melissa checks over Bea Wallen’s piece. “Nice…that’s pretty straight.” The ladies keep to their filing. It’s the second day of class and they’re on their fourth project—this one a silver bracelet with beads incorporated into the design. Sheila McGill wraps aventurine beads. “It’s a lot of fun.”


CLASSY GLASS
In the packed lampworking class, Marilyn Jobe teaches the art of making beads. Decked out in fireproof gloves and masks, students are intent at spinning molten glass on wires above the constant flame of the blowtorch. The room looks like a throwback to the 1970s, the table littered with a dozen avocado and harvest gold crockpots filled with vermiculite. Marjorie Putnam, a North Carolina glass artist, explains. “It’s for the first step of annealing…cooling down the glass.” The oddest assortment of kitchen tools lies across a table.  Garlic presses, meat hammers, pie servers—you name it! “I haunt flea markets,” says Marilyn. “These tools make the most interesting patterns on glass.”

In an adjoining room, Addy dePietro oversees the popular fused glass session. It’s a colorful room, sparkling with the dozens of creations set out in front of the students. I check out Hale Sweeny’s current project.  “This is the first time I fired it,” Hale says. “It didn’t come out exactly like I’d planned...I cut it this way, but it shrank that way.” The bolo shape is a bit off, so he’s trying it again with another sandwich of glass. With multiple clear layers encasing layers of colored and sparkling glass, these shapes are especially eye-catching. Although the kilns are busy, the students don’t seem to mind. They laugh and joke, awaiting their next firing session.



SLINGING MUD
In my Raku pottery course, I’m part of a manageable group of three. “Call it speed pottery,” says local artist Sara House, our instructor. “It’s the only pottery course we can offer in a week’s time.” Unlike traditional pottery, the raku firing method – developed in Japan and further perfected by a California artist – takes only forty-five minutes, as opposed to the usual 18 hours or so. The pieces are then plunged into a bed of sawdust and leaves, where they catch fire, bonding the glaze. Quickly quenched, the smoke then seeps into the clay. Anywhere the pot isn’t glazed, it turns black, making for some stunning effects.

Rachel Reninger, the youngest student at this workshop, enjoys working with the potter’s wheel. “I have a small one at home, so I know a little about it.” First-timer Mary Owen and I prefer handwork. It’s fun playing in the mud, no matter what age you are. Our biggest worry, though, is that our more intricate pieces survive the bisque kiln. And they do. While we’re rushed to complete staining and firing our work on the final day of the workshop, the results are stunning. Metallic and crackly glazes bring our creations to life, eliciting plenty of oohs and aahs when we put them on display.


A CELEBRATION OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT
Over the course of a week, I cross paths with all 107 participants— the youngest, 14; the oldest, 94. Many of them return to Wildacres time and again for the camaraderie. Enjoying communal meals, we meet in the dining hall and swap stories. During one breakfast, I admired a lovely intarsia pendant that Jenny Wilkie wore, kicking off a long conversation. Her husband Tom plans to teach intarsia at a future Wildacres session.

It’s a great place to learn new skills and to hone old ones, to learn from your peers, to take inspiration from the wilderness. “I come to get fired up,” said Steve Hillenbrand, who enjoys cutting stones. “I facet just before I come, and then for a couple weeks afterward.” Mimi Quick agrees. “This place energizes me, recharges my batteries. I always look forward to it.”

I can tell by the smiles and positive comments from the 25 newcomers at this spring session that they’ll be back. Hale Sweeny has been coming here for more than twenty years, so I ask him what he’s learned over all these years. He smiles.

“This place restores my soul.”

SIDEBAR: EXPERIENCING WILDACRES

The SFMS is one of many groups that utilize Wildacres for the betterment of the human spirit. “We never have a week without something going on,” said Mike House, resident manager at Wildacres, where the season runs from April through October. Local residents enjoy free concerts during the Master Musician program; the University of North Carolina runs writer’s retreats. I’ve run into members of the National Park Service, retirees from the United Way, and masons from the Masonry Heaters Association, busy building a prototype pizza oven down by the barn. August brings various interfaith and Jewish groups, including the North Carolina B’nai B’rith Institute, which started on this mountaintop in 1946.

If your group is interested in meeting at Wildacres, you are welcome to contact the staff about hosting your retreat or workshop. The lodges contain 57 rooms, accommodating two guests per room. Contact resident manager Mike House at:

Wildacres Retreat
P.O. Box 280
Little Switzerland, NC 28749-0280
Phone: (828) 756-4573    FAX: (828) 756-4586
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

As an individual, you may be interested in attending one of the many cultural offerings at Wildacres. Organizations with sessions open to the public include:

·    Glickman-Popkin Bassoon Camp
·    Hickory Humanities Forum
·    Duke University Institute for Non-Profit Management
·    Eastern Federation of Mineralogical Societies
·    Florida Society of Goldsmiths
·    James Houlik Saxophone Retreat
·    Ringling School of Art and Design
·    Southeastern Federation of Mineralogical Societies
·    Wildacres Flute Retreat
·    Wildacres Interfaith Institute
·    Wildacres Writers Workshop
·    University of North Carolina Charlotte Writing Seminar

Please visit the Wildacres Retreat website < www.wildacres.org > for the current schedule of workshops, along with contact information. Contact each individual organization for registration details. 

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