Barn Quilts

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1986. The gallery is open from noon until 5 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and other days by appointment.

AVERY COUNTY

ART CELLAR GALLERY

920 Shawneehaw Ave.

Banner Elk, NC 28604 (828) 898-5175 www.artcellargallery.com/

The Art Cellar Gallery first opened in 1993 and offers different fine artwork from a broad range of styles and mediums including paint, clay, stone, wood and glass. The Art Cellar Gallery is open to visitors Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

BE ARTISTS GALLERY

185 Azalea Cir.

Banner Elk, NC 28604 (828) 898-6767 www.seymourcc.net/beartistsgallery/

BE Artists Gallery in the Historical Banner Elk School that has a large variety of work on display including paintings and drawings in oils, acrylics, and pastels; photography, graphic arts, pottery, jewelry, metalworks, fine furniture, woodturnings, wood carvings, fabric art and more. The gallery is open from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.

CARLTON GALLERY

10360 Highway 105 S.

Banner Elk, NC 28604 (828) 963-4288 www.carltongallery.com/

Carlton Gallery first started as a weaving studio in 1982 and is now one of the most popular galleries in the region. Over 300 artisans have their works featured in the gallery, everything from blown glass to pottery, paints, and jewelry. Carlton Gallery is open from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Tuesday through Satuday and from 11:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. on Sunday. The gallery

is also open by appointment.

Karin Neuvirth’s paining, “Moonlit Flowers” shown in Carlton Gallery PHOTO SUBMITTED

CLARK GALLERY

393 Shawneehaw Ave. Banner Elk, NC 28604 (828) 789-9290 www.chrisclarkgallerync.com/ The Clark Gallery has been open in the High Country since 2001. The gallery is open from 10:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.

SALLY NOONEY GALLERY

7137 Highway 194 S. Banner Elk, NC 28604 (828) 963-7347 www.sallynooney.com/

The Sally Nooney Gallery features animal paintings, landscape paintings, still life paintings and glass art. The gallery is open 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Sunday.

Barn Quilt Trails of the High Country

BY CHANDA RICHARDSON

One of the most fascinating art forms of the High Country are barn quilts and have been growing vastly over the years. The area has become home to one of the largest to house these quilts and showcases Appalachian heritage.

Beech Mountain — Banner Elk Area Barn Quilt Trail

Making its mark in 2019, the Banner Elk Barn Quilt Trail has been attracting tourists and locals to the Avery County area. With three sections, the trail features more than 40 barn quilts. For a comprehensive list of the quilt squares, including coordinates for where they are located visit www. beechmtn.com/avery-county-quilttrail-blocks/.

West Jefferson Barn Quilt Trail

Ashe County has the largest collection of barn quilts with more than 150 documented sites. The Ashe County Arts Council, along with members of the community and artists, designed, painted and mounted quilt block paintings on barns in the area through the Ashe Arts Barn Quilt Project.

With six different loops, the list includes barn quilts sponsored by the Arts Council and barn quilts that community members have created on their own. The loop trails are written instructions with mileage, landmarks and road names to help the visitors find as many barn quilts as possible.

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/barnquilts.php.

Sparta Barn Quilt Trail

Over the hill in Alleghany County, the Alleghany Quilters Guild established the Sparta NC Barn Quilt Trail in 2009. The trail wanders throughout 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

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A barn quilt located on Highway 88 West in Creston. PHOTO SUBMITTED

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houses visit www.highcountryhost. com/sparta-nc-barn-quilt-trail.

Wilkesboro Barn Quilt Trail

Seventeen quilts are available for viewing on the Wilkes County Barn Quilt Trail. Wilkes 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.