This episode is a special rerun, originally published on May 16, 2024, in celebration of the Haywood Community College Professional Crafts Graduate Show. The show is hosted online at ArtsvilleUSA in collaboration with the Southern Highland Craft Guild, with the in-person exhibition on view at the Folk Art Center through September 16.

Ask any working artist what they wish they’d learned in art school, and you’ll likely hear the same answer: how to make a living doing what they love. For almost half a century, the Haywood Community College Professional Crafts Program—a beloved training ground for craft artists in the Blue Ridge Mountains—has been rewriting the rules around art school curriculum, blending hands-on mastery in wood, fiber, jewelry, and ceramics with essential business skills and a clear career roadmap that won’t leave them stranded post-graduation.

In this episode, ArtsvilleUSA founder Louise Glickman brings listeners inside the Haywood Community College Professional Crafts Program through a candid conversation with two of its most respected faculty members: Amy Putansu, who leads the fiber/textiles department and whose work earned national attention in ArtsvilleUSA’s A Tale of Two Cities exhibition, and Brian Wurst, wood instructor. Together, they explore the evolution of craft education, the economic roots of creativity in Appalachia, and what makes Haywood’s approach to teaching so distinctive—not just in the studio but in preparing students for real-world careers and lifelong success in craft.

Get Involved / Where to Find More

HCC Professional Crafts Program: Learn more about immersive, hands-on courses in wood, fiber, ceramics, and jewelry.

HCC Professional Crafts Grad Show: See the exhibition online at ArtsvilleUSA or at the Folk Art Center through September 16, 2026.

Graduating student roundtable: Read our conversation with recent graduates of the program, Allison Teeples, Esi Hutchinson, and Christine Savage-Mindel.

A Tale of Two Cities: Explore Amy Putansu’s work featured in ArtsvilleUSA’s commemorative exhibition reflecting on the 20-year milestone of Hurricane Katrina and the first-year milestone of Hurricane Helene.

Contact & Social

Website: haywood.edu

Instagram: @haywood.studios

Facebook: @haywoodcc

Episode Credits

Host: Louise Glickman, Artsville USA Founder

Co-host: Elise Wilson, ArtsvilleUSA Executive Director

Guests: Amy Putansu and Brian Wurst, Haywood Community College Professional Crafts Faculty

Produced by: ArtsvilleUSA /Crewest Studio / Arterial Inc.

Newsletter: Subscribe to the ArtsvilleUSA Newsletter for more stories and updates on the arts and crafts scene in Western North Carolina.

Hello all you artists and art lovers.

This is Elise Wilson, Executive Director of Artsville usa.

This month we're hosting a new partner exhibition as part of our PAVE program which brings your exhibit to the world.

Online, PAVE offers curators and galleries a polished, digitally savvy solution to deepen your visitors connection to the artwork, offer additional sales opportunities for your artists, and introduce your organization to our highly engaged virtual audience of of nearly 100,000.

Since the first week of May, we feature the work of this year's Haywood Community College Professional Crafts Program graduates, curated by the Southern Highland Craft Guild in Asheville, North Carolina and this is their 50th year doing the show.

Today we have for you a throwback to one of our favorite conversations between Haywood Community College craft professors Amy Potanzu and Brian Wurst and Artsville USA founder Louise Glickman exploring the legacy and importance of craft in Western North Carolina and discussing how you can deepen your craft practice and business with Haywood Community College's professional Crafts program.

We hope you enjoy the episode and be sure to check out the exhibition@artsvilleusa.com.

North Carolina.

That's where you'll find us amazing artists.

Welcome all you artists and art lovers out there today.

You're listening to Artsville USA's podcast straight from Asheville, North Carolina.

I'm your host Louise Glickman and I'm inviting you to hear from two special friends and colleagues today, Amy Potain, Su and Brian Worst.

Together they're going to talk to you about Heywood Community College's professional Crafts program in nearby Waynesville.

And I am really excited about this because for those of you who are artists and want additional training in any of the four craft programs that they offer, listen up.

So we are going to get started now first with Amy Potansu.

So I love Amy's work and one of the favorite pieces in my own collection comes from her and so I look forward to learning more today about her background.

I'm also a textile fanatic and that is what she teaches at Heywood Community College.

She came to it via risd.

She is an educator, an artist and a fabulous networker.

Brian is officially the program manager for the professional crafts program and probably spends most of his time teaching as a wood instructor, but he is also a peer for the other studios and Mediums that we will hear about.

So if you have an interest in textiles, wood, metals or ceramics and want to learn more, we invite you to listen on Brian shows at the Folk Arts center here on the Blue Ridge Parkway and over the years has shown with Grovewood Gallery, one of our favorite galleries in Asheville.

So let's get started.

I'm going to start with you, Amy, because I have visited now three times to your class in your studio and I have been absolutely exhilarated by the talents and and the professional artists that come out of Heywood Community College's professional craft program.

Whenever I visited there, I have been really wide eyed, not only in looking at the artists and their process and how they work, but at the beautiful, fully equipped studios.

They are absolutely amazing.

It's made me want to go back to art school, to tell you the truth.

So can you give us a description of what this program offers?

Sure.

Thanks Louise.

It's so nice to be here.

Thanks for inviting us.

We love having you.

I'm really, I've been so excited about talking to the two of you together.

So what we do at Heywood in the professional crafts program is pretty unique, nationally speaking, maybe even more broadly.

It's a two year program in four media areas as you mentioned, and it's extremely immersive.

For example, our studio courses are seven or eight credits each and what that translates to is anywhere from 15 to 17 required hours in the studio per week for, for students.

So it's very serious.

Students at Heywood are learning fine craftsmanship skills, design skills, history in their chosen media area.

And then what really sets our program apart is in the second year we bring on the professional practices such as marketing, business plan writing, entrepreneurship skills geared specifically for the craftsperson.

Well, that is a particular interest to Artsville and I'd like to first get to know more about the program.

But we definitely want to talk about this component, this marketing and business side because we have learned from the over 150 artists we have worked with in the last four years that most of them say that is a hole in their education.

So that makes you somewhat unique.

Brian, would you agree with that?

Are there other reasons you consider yourself unique?

Again, I'll echo what she said.

Thanks for having us here.

And I think Amy said it really well.

That's really the best part of our program, that we have those three legs, essentially the how to that everybody expects when they come here, the design skills that we try to get them to work on and that entrepreneurship and part of that's the Genesis of what we are.

The community college always kind of has that how to make a living aspect and that's been a component since day one.

We've met any number of people who've come from a four year program and then come back to us and they're kind of wide eyed at that because they talk to us and like, wow, yeah, we did all this cool stuff in art school but we didn't have any kind of studio practices.

And they all seem very grateful for us.

And in talking with our graduates, it's still a bit of a deer in the headlights for anybody who enters the craft world.

You go out there and try to make a living.

But I think they have all appreciated that.

Well, as someone who has grown up in art studios myself and I was trained as a fashion designer and then went on to do mixed media, I see some other unique characteristics.

One is that you're a community college and so the cost of going for this program I think might be one unique aspect of it.

And the other is you're on a beautiful campus with beautiful studios, fully equipped and in an inspiring location because Waynesville and Maggie Valley area, which is just like 45 minutes outside of Asheville, is glorious.

It really wants you to embrace every aspect of the arts.

Brian, how did you come to be a woodcrafter?

Well, it's interesting.

My journey is like a lot of our students kind of.

I'm a non traditional student.

We don't get many, we get a few 18 year olds but we got a lot of folks who've done something else.

So my first career was an architect here in Asheville.

And so for two or three years I was sitting behind a desk and computer wearing a tie and in my early 20s, that's a little confining.

So I gave it all up and ran away to the circus of craft and actually went through the Heywood program way back in the day.

So that's where my formal training was and did that, made a living at it.

That's kind of the story of a lot of our students.

So I did that for about eight years and then came on board as a faculty member.

So someone has to apply, Brian.

Someone has to at least have some basic art education.

Not at all.

Actually what's really interesting, being a community college, we are open to all.

Sometimes people are like, oh, do I have to have a portfolio and do I have to have all this experience and not at all.

We get people who have a lot of background in their chosen medium.

We might have one who's never touched a loom or worked with clay or all that.

And we kind of meet them where they are.

Those ones who have a little bit of background, I always try to push a little bit harder.

But we get folks with zero background in the craft world.

So if you apply, you get in or you juried in, how does that work?

It's pretty much being, again, community college.

It's kind of an open process.

And as many spots as we have available for folks, we are happy to have them in there.

So that means I can come.

Definitely.

If I ever retire from Artsville, I could go back to my arts.

Amy, do you have any spaces for fall?

There might be one spot left.

Oh, I don't think that's going to happen this year.

But Amy, tell me a little bit about how this all got started.

How has it evolved from its.

I don't know how old the program is and how it's changed.

Sure.

The program is nearly 50 years old.

So there was, of course, an evolution.

And the program began with clay, the clay medium.

And then shortly thereafter the other three media areas were added, weaving, woodworking and jewelry.

And it's an individual from Haywood county named Mary Cornwell who we recognize as largely responsible for forming the program.

She was the owner of historic Shelton House, which is now a museum, a historical residence, and a craft museum in Waynesville that's open to the public.

So she saw, I think, maybe a gap in education in Haywood county and had a relationship with the college.

And you know, how exactly it all came about, I don't know.

But she was a leader in our field.

Well, it's fabulous.

And when I came, I came to your student, I guess it's your graduation before you go and show at the Southern Highland Crafts Guild, bought a beautiful piece from Alex Johnson, which is one of your textile students.

And apparently it is the first big piece she ever sold.

And it is prominent in my front hall and across from it is really my own art gallery.

So come see, you know, come see how it's a prize.

And in that room is one of your pieces that I love so much.

I love that strong and textile teacher and student.

So what does curriculum look like?

I mean, for example, let's talk about who's coming.

All the people who are your students are not from North Carolina, right?

That's absolutely right.

In fact, I would say the majority of our students are coming from outside the county, if not outside the state of North Carolina.

They are often moving to the area just to study with us.

And then.

So if I came to your wood class, for example, what would I do?

Year one, what would I do?

Year two, they're kind of.

I'll do the macro thing very quickly.

First there's three types of classes.

We have our core studio classes which are the beating heart of it.

We always saw have some craft support classes, design classes, history classes within each medium.

And then being a community college we have like gen eds.

But in the core studio classes I'm pretty sure it's this.

With all the media, we kind of start with foundational things, work your way up and work more complex projects.

Each media kind of has its own track.

So mine works through various individual products that get more and more complex.

And I think that's the model for most of them.

And so it's fun to see those students from day one almost struggling with some core things, whether, you know, warping a loom.

That's one of the first things they do over in fiber.

And at the end of it they in theory got it down really well as they just move on to more and more complex things.

And then what about year two?

What happens in your program, Amy, in year two?

In year two.

And I think this is true across the board for all of our media areas.

The tone really shifts to.

That's when we become really professional crafts.

The focus shifts to production methods, product development, pricing, marketing, writing a marketing plan.

And everything gets a lot more serious in year two.

This is for individuals who are keen on earning at least a part time living with their craft or maybe going on to a four year school to achieve a bachelor's or a master's in fine art.

Wow, that's very comprehensive and actually unusual.

What would you like to add?

I was gonna say actually as Louis said earlier, sitting here speaking.

Cause I know cause I just left the studios about an hour and a half.

Those second years are feverishly working because their ginormous capstone grad show deadline is this Coming Wednesday, so.

Ouch.

So after the show you have a relationship with the Southern Highland Craft Guild.

And.

And in addition, I think I'd like to talk a little bit about the history of why crafts is so significant here and how your curriculum expresses that.

So that whether the student is from this area or from someplace else, they carry with them the history of the mountains.

Their work is very contemporary.

It is not necessarily traditional, but yet it's grounded in the history of the area.

Can you speak to that a minute, Brian?

Sure.

The contemporary thing I'm always fascinated by because we talked about the roots of the program and all these local folks.

But I think one of the funny things is when they hired the initial instructors, they got really wonderful instructors from top tier craft schools, MFAs, and that kind of set the flavor towards a little bit more contemporary work.

And all of them were there for between 25 and 32 years.

But there is this definitely a touching upon local craft.

We are in very much an epicenter.

I mean, within two hours of where we are are major craft schools.

And we're just one particular, you know, you can take a week class here, you can take nine month concentrations.

There are four year schools here.

But it's really wonderful to have this kind of two year intensive thing and the local connections that we make, that is part of it.

So even the folks aren't always from here.

Sometimes the local aspects do kind of find expression in their work, which is nice to see.

Amy, from your perspective, textile's work is very significant, particularly to economic benefits early on for women.

So when people think about the Blue Ridge Mountains or Appalachia, they get this vision of what it was.

And it's not like that.

We're not talking about tatting or even maybe some knitting or things like that.

How do you translate from the historic basis to.

To what I've seen in your studio?

Much more.

I mean, there is some very traditional work, but all of it seems to have a contemporary influence.

I mean, I used to do encaustic art and I just met a gal when I came to the party, the fundraiser at Heywood Community College, who is putting wax on top of her work.

That's Kelly Reek, she's a recent graduate.

And actually the work she's doing, that's a great example of coming from a very historical, traditional place in textiles, even within Appalachia, because her woven structure focus is called overshot and that was very common in the mountains.

And her take on the work is extremely contemporary, where she's doing just brand new Fresh applications to this very traditional textile.

I think in this area in particular, there has always been a strong connection between economic development and craft making.

And Mary Cornwell saw it in the need to start up a program at Haywood.

Well, Edith Vanderbilt did it at Grovewood as well.

So it is a very strong and fascinating history.

And its interpretation here is what is so brilliant and why people come from all over the world to look at crafts.

And we want to make sure that that continues.

It's a little bit spiritual and it's a lot creative here in the mountains.

But you've brought up something important at the basis we've been talking about business, economic development, how to build a career.

So, Ryan, you said you jumped from architect to maker and made a living.

That is pretty unusual these days.

You want to tell us how you did that?

Not easily.

No.

I mean, and this is the conversation I have with a lot of our incoming students.

Again, a lot of them are, quote, non traditional.

They came from some other background.

And I think we're pretty upfront saying it's a hard way to make a living.

But most people come to this not because they're in it for major financial gains, because it's something they've always loved and it's a niche they've always wanted to scratch.

And so we try, within the confines that we can do in a couple of years, to expose them to as much as we can.

Taking them talking with graduates, having graduates come in and talk to them, this dedicated marketing class and a business or social media marketing class, and letting them do shows and just trying to expose them all to the nitty gritty.

None of them seem to be terribly enthusiastic about that part of it.

I don't think most of the craftspeople I know who are making a living, you know, look forward to April 15th or things like that.

But that's part of it.

Not everybody who comes here is making a living out of different reasons, but we try to do the best we can to give them the tools.

One of the things, the feedback that I hear from, from our various artists is, you know, I want to be successful.

I don't have enough money to hire people to market for us.

But, Amy, you have been able to balance all this somehow.

Incredible.

Unusual textile work.

And how long have you been teaching at Haywood?

So we're in our 16th academic year.

And apparently, like you said, the staff stays.

That's not happening every place.

So talk to me about how you integrate some of these business skills with your artists, your students first.

But then how have you personally integrated all this into your practice?

Well, it takes balance.

Yes.

I consider myself to have at least one and a half jobs, possibly even two jobs.

One job is my full time faculty position at Heywood, to which I am extremely dedicated.

And then my other job is a studio artist with my own personal practice.

And I work out of my home.

There's definitely a limit to what I can produce because of my other full time job.

Those all go out to Penland Gallery, of course, a nonprofit gallery that I'm exhibiting at as well.

So, yes, it is a lot of work.

I would say that is, I have personally always been extremely dedicated to work in general.

Work has always been my number one priority.

Maybe it has to do with my growing up, my heritage or something, but the work ethic is very strong.

So it's always been the number one most important thing.

Well, it shows your pieces are large.

And also I think what's interesting is I have a hard time jumping from being very active and out there and, you know, the marketing, business side of things, being involved in the community work, to the quiet of what you do, weaving, sewing, and maybe that provides some relief as well.

Absolutely.

My home studio is like a respite.

You know, school and students require a lot of energy for me and I do find it not depleting, but, you know, it takes a lot out of me.

So to escape back to my home studio where it is, you know, very quiet and very inward facing, actually provides an excellent balance.

And I've seen that and kind of envy you that because it's nice to have that I'm spread a little bit more thin and have that dedicated space and what's a lovely place to work on that is pretty great.

Brian, what do you see as the future of craft in America?

Oh,.

That's a big one.

We've been wrestling and I love wrestling with that, but it's hard to know.

I mean, the conversations I've had the last few years with people are always fascinating because there's always something that we're afraid of, whether it is the maker movement or maybe it's AI now.

And I think it's got a strong future because it's not for everybody.

But I've always found that whenever we're worried about something, there's a core group of people in our society who really love craft, whether it's collecting it, buying it, whether it's just surrounding themselves with it or whether it's making it.

I believe there's always going to be that core group, whether it's 10, 15% of the population.

And because there's just it's we all find some value in that and we kind of reach out to those as students.

We kind of direct our students to them and I think it's got a pretty strong future.

Do you agree with that, Amy?

I would agree and I feel like the news is good.

Over the years we have watched our students in the craft marketing course, for example, studying or doing industry analysis, so essentially studying business models across the board, competitors, et cetera.

And I feel like what we've learned as a result of their research is that there is a growing appreciation for the type of work that we make and that our students make meaning, for example, like the slow fashion movement, objects that are more well made with more integrity and soul than our mass production objects.

So we have seen evidence that the market is growing, you know, ever so slowly, but it is growing.

So the audience is becoming more appreciative of what we do.

We have one of our actually a graduate from your programs.

She's in metal.

Tiffany Payne, who grew up in the Blue Ridge and has exceptional talent in how it's translated into her jewelry.

It's non traditional in many, many ways and we love having her.

And also significant changes in how our artists sell now because where you have gallery representation a lot of people now are turning to digital sales and actually don't even want gallery representation.

So it's a whole new ball game.

It's funny, when we started out we were start talking to them about having a website and the beginnings of social media.

We've been doing this for 15, 16 years now.

And it's kind of funny so many of them now outstrip us in the knowledge of social media marketing.

We still have some core marketing things that we tricks that we know that they may not know.

But they are amazing at how entrepreneurial folks are these days in terms of craft.

I'll leave with a funny story.

I always go to the Penland Auction and I use it as an opportunity to see old friends, see new art, craft all of that.

Well, last August, because Artsville is moving so fast and I wanted to include a lot of names for our subscriber base and to talk to people about what we were doing because we just went from being a self funded organization to a nonprofit organization.

So I was getting feedback and doing all of that.

When I came home, I had a list of probably 30 to 40 people that I had spoken to or about that I felt like I wanted to talk to them, catch up.

I asked all of them for their card.

These are artists, these are donors, these are educators.

And I came home with three business cards.

I've been guilty of that myself.

We've also, like some of the students are like, oh, I don't need a card.

And there's still a place in the world for things like that.

And that's what in some ways marketing is like, making sure you've got every single voice covered, which includes cards.

Well, I thank you all both for coming.

This has been a really interesting conversation and you are exactly what we want to talk to our artists and our audiences about.

So we really, I really appreciate this and there'll be more.

So we encourage you to make sure you watch for it, you share, you subscribe and that you follow us on Facebook, Instagram and all of that.

And we invite any questions, contact any time you'd like to get in touch with us.

But thanks for joining us today and we'll be back next month.

Thank you, Louise.

Artsville USA uniquely markets creativity to the world.

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