High Country Barn Quilt Trails
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BY MAKAELAH WALTERS
arn quilts are a fairly new art form based long standing craft traditions of years past, and Western North Carolina is home to one of the largest concentrations of barn quilt blocks in the country. A symbol of Appalachian heritage, these colorful squares with elaborate geometric patterns are a beacon at the center of several barns along the High Country’s winding roads.
BEECH MOUNTAIN — BANNER ELK AREA BARN QUILT TRAIL
The newly revived Avery County Barn Quilt was re-mapped in 2019. The trail has been split into three sections, featuring more than 40 barn quilts. For a comprehensive list of the quilt squares, including coordinates for where they are located visit www.beechmtn.com/averycounty-quilt-trail-blocks/.
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Tour of Independent Filmmakers. This collaborative initiative brings together cinema fans and community partners to create a High Country home for independent film. “Given our area’s love for good storytelling and the quality and creative depth of the Southern Circuit Filmmakers, partnering again with South Arts was a natural fit for our upcoming season,” said Kratt. “We are thrilled to have been selected, for the second year in a row, to be a host sites and an integral part of this distinguished regional film network.” South Arts in Georgia selected the Appalachian Theatre in Boone as one of only 24 Screening Partner organizations in the southeast United States selected for 2021-22. The film selection process is equally rigorous with over 200 filmmakers competing to be presented during each local tour. Kratt noted that a dedicated 12-person local film team was an invaluable part of the process volunteering countless hours in film review to help bring compelling and engaging films to Boone. From September through November 2021, 122
Trail meanders throught the town of Sparta and the Alleghany County countryside. To view the 14 brightly painted barn quilt patterns on the sides of barns, businesses and houses visit www.highcountryhost. com/sparta-nc-barn-quilt-trail.
WEST JEFFERSON BARN QUILT TRAIL
Members of the Ashe County community, brought together by Ashe County Arts Council designed, painted and mounted quilt block paintings on barns in the area through the Ashe Arts Barn Quilt Project. To date, the county is home to 150 documented Barn Quilts. The list includes barn quilts sponsored by the Arts Council and barn quilts that community members have created on their own. The county has been divided into six “loop trails” featuring a majority of 150 barn quilts. The loop trails are written instructions with mileage, landmarks and road names to help the visitors find as many barn quilts as possible. Ashe County has the biggest collection of barn quilts in the region with over 150 documented sites. Because of the overwhelming amount of quilts, the trail has been split into six different loops.
BOONE DOCS will present five Southern Circuit documentaries hosted by the filmmakers, giving audiences a rare look behind the scenes with post-screening Q&As about film subjects and the filmmaking process. To prioritize the well-being and flexibility of Screening Partners, filmmakers, and audiences during the most recent spike in the COVID-19 pandemic, the fall 2021 Southern Circuit season will feature online screenings via the Eventive platform. The first event of the series features a free, online screening of “Stateless” at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 12. Through the grassroots campaign of electoral hopeful Rosa Iris, director Michèle Stephenson’s new documentary reveals the depths of racial hatred and institutionalized oppression that divide Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It is followed at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Sept, 26 by “At The Ready,” set in El Paso, Texas. Home to one of the region’s largest law enforcement education programs, students at Horizon High School in El Paso train to become police officers and Border Patrol agents as they discover the realities of their dream jobs may be at odds with the truths and people they hold most dear. “Not Go Quietly” tells the heart-breaking but uplifting true-life story of Ady Barkan. When he is diagnosed with ALS with only four years to live, he struggled to connect with his newborn
WILKESBORO BARN QUILT TRAIL
Launched by the Alleghany Quilters Guild in 2009, the Sparta NC Barn Quilt
The Wilkes County Barn Quilt Trail features 17 quilts in many different parts of the county. TWilkes County Public School art students helped produce three of the 17 quilts, as part of an effort to keep the historic quilting tradition alive for future generations. In 2012, a new working vertical Barn Quilt Sundial was installed in downtown Wilkesboro and became part of the official trail. This project is made possible by the Wilkes County Quilters Guild in partnership with the Cultural Arts Council of Wilkes. For more information about the Wilkesboro Barn Quilt Trail visit www.wilkesboronc.org.
son and mourned the future he will miss. But after a chance confrontation with Senator Jeff Flake, Ady decides to embark on a cross-country tour of America, using his final breaths to fight for healthcare justice. The documentary will be screened at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 10. Sunday, October 24 brings the 3 p.m. screening of “And So I Stayed,” a documentary about survivors of abuse fighting for their lives and spending years behind bars. The story chronicles how the legal system gets domestic violence wrong. It is a moving portrait of Kim, Tanisha, and Nikki, three survivors whose strikingly similar stories are separated by over 30 years. None of them were believed, and each of them was criminalized for fighting back. This screening is in support of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. “Duty Free” closes out the fall BOONE DOCS series on Sunday, Nov. 7 at 3 p.m. with additional films to be announced for the winter and spring of 2021-22. After a 75-year-old immigrant mother gets fired without cause from her lifelong job as a hotel housekeeper, her son takes her on a bucket-list adventure to reclaim her life. As she struggles to find work, he documents a journey that uncovers the economic insecurity shaping not only her future, but that of an entire generation. A bonus “Cinema Sundays” event will be
offered at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 14, the exact 83rd anniversary of the 1938 grand opening of the Appalachian Theatre. “Hollywood in the High Country” is a feature-length documentary that explores the 69-year history of Boone’s iconic main-street cinema prior to its closing in 2007. The magic of the movies comes alive through the stories of locals who grew up in front of the theatre’s silver screen. The film also recounts the efforts of the townspeople to purchase and renovate this long-closed theatre into a performing arts center. This will be a live, in-person screening. Patrons and supporters of the Appalachian Theatre should note that the venue is committed to the health and safety of its community and will continue to follow the guidance of health and governmental officials in the development and implementation of COVID related policies. Tickets are required for all online and in person events can be obtained online as part of the theatre’s touchless ticketing program at www.appptheatre.org. Ticket to the Southern Circuit films are free. Tickets to other film events are $10 for adults and $6 for children. Everyone, regardless of age, must have a ticket. To read about current guidelines in effect for each of the above events, or to join the theatre’s eblast list, get tickets, or purchase memberships, please visit their website at www.apptheatre.org.
PHOTO SUBMITTED Ashe County has the biggest collection of barn quilts in the region with more than 150 documented sites.
The red loop takes visitors through some of the prettiest and most historic areas of Ashe County. For directions on how to navigate each loop visit www. ashecountyarts.org/barn-quilts.php.
SPARTA BARN QUILT TRAIL
AUTUMN TIMES 2021
