Exhibitor Registration

Please note: The 8th floor of the Vanderbilt wing will be taken over by tables, display cases, pegboards and staff preparing booth spaces for exhibitor move-in day on Thursday.

A number of setup suppliers and conference staff will be loading and preparing the space both inside and outside the Grand Ballroom, so unless you are an exhibitor or a helper needing to check in, please avoid the 8th floor space.

Exhibitor Setup Day, Pre-Conference Workshops and the Craftsman Reception!

8:00 AM – 7:00 PM: Exhibitor setup starts on the 8th and 10th floor of Vanderbilt — in the Grand Ballroom and the surrounding hallways. Unless you are a show dealer, artisan or organization, please avoid these busy areas.

2:00 PM – 5:00 PM: Pre-Conference Workshops Part 1

• Coppersmithing: Arts & Crafts Style with Frank Glapa
• Lineoleum Block Printmaking with Denise Markbreit
• Arts & Crafts Embroidery with Natalie Richards
• Hand Hammered Bookends with Ron VanOstrand

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6:00 PM – 8:00 PM – The Craftsman Reception: A Fundraiser Celebration for the Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms

The Skyline Room, Sammons Wing

Tickets are $145.00 and include drinks and plates provided by the Grove Park Inn catering.

Exhibitor Final Setup Session

8:00am – 12:30pm

While you are enjoying breakfast, attending a hands-on workshop, exploring Asheville, or sitting in on a Small Group Discussion, our exhibitors will be putting the finishing touches on their booths in anticipation of the 1:00pm opening.

PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP: Session 2

Session #2   8:00 AM – 11:00 AM

• Coppersmithing: Arts & Crafts Style with Frank Glapa (pictured above)
• Lineoleum Block Printmaking with Denise Markbreit
• Arts & Crafts Embroidery with Natalie Richards
• Hand Hammered Bookends with Ron Van Ostrand
• NEW! Exterior Color Workshop with Karen L. Hovde of Interior Vision of the Craftsman Style

Walking Tours of the Historic Grove Park Inn

Hourly Friday:   9:00am – 4:00pm

Join an experienced guide for an informative 45-minute walking tour that will take you to places you might not have found on your own, and will provide you with fascintaing stories about the famous — and infamous — guests, from Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald to presidents from FDR to Obama. A tour not to be missed!

Open to all conference attendees.

Walking Tours of the Historic Biltmore Industries

10:00 – 11:00am 

(Once a day, repeats on Saturday and Sunday.)

Hear the story about the 1905 Biltmore Industries, which George and Edith Vanderbilt (of the Biltmore Estate) supported. Founded in 1905, Biltmore Industries was one of the longest lasting Arts and Crafts cottage industries, making and carving furniture, bowls, bookends, trays, picture frames, and much more. In 1917, the workshops were moved onto the grounds of the Grove Park Inn, where the Arts and Crafts buildings have been restored as a museum, gallery, cafe, and artisan studios. Step back in time on one of these daily one-hour tours.

Small Group Discussions: Session #1

11:00am – Noon

One of the most popular aspects of the conference are our daily Small Group Discussions. Here you will have a chance to select a topic to sit down and discuss with other attendees. No advance registration is necessary. These discussions are lead by volunteer attendees.

The 39th National Arts and Crafts Shows Open

1:00pm – 6:00pm

This will be your first opportunity to see and add to your collection some of the finest antiques and new works in the Arts and Crafts style. Our exhibitors save their best pieces for this weekend, so take advantage of this once-a-year opportunity. A live list of exhibitors is included here.

Photo by Ray Stubblebine/GMHS, 2019.

Silent Auction:  First Session

Friday  1:00 – 6:00pm

Known as the largest and finest Arts and Crafts silent auction, this two-day event serves as a fund-raiser for the non-profit Arts and Crafts Research Fund. The ACRF funds research trips and expenses associated with new studies on the movement and its revival.  Have something to donate for a tax deduction? Contact us using this form.

Arts and Crafts Demonstrations

Building Arts & Crafts Furniture with David Van Epps 

2:00 pm & 3:30 pm

What goes into the building of contemporary Arts & Crafts furniture?  Is the process the same as it would have been more than 100 years ago?  What are the similarities to the work of the last-century furniture makers and what changes has the passage of time brought to the current production of the still popular and much appreciated Arts & Crafts line?  Each presentation—at the times indicated below—will provide insights into the comparisons suggested by these questions.

Check back for an update. 

(Repeat on Saturday and Sunday.)

Conference Book Club Discussion

Friday  4:30pm – 5:30pm

“The Arts & Crafts: Essays Collected by William Morris”

First published in 1893 by the Arts & Crafts Exhibition Society, this collection of essays explores the origins of the Arts and Crafts Movement by the influential figures of the early 20th centur — including essays by William Morris, Walter Crane, Somers Clarke, Emery Walker, and May Morris.

Click here to read more about The Arts and Crafts Essays Collected by William Morris.

Opening Night Friday Seminars

The Heritage Ballroom, Sammons Wing of the Grove Park Inn

8:00pm – 8:10pm: Opening remarks from National Arts & Crafts Director Kate Nixon

8:10pm – 9:00pm

Craft In Context: Life and Art in the Handcrafted Utopia

by Thomas Guiler

Author of The Handcrafted Utopia: Arts & Crafts Communities in Progressive America and Director of Museum Affairs at the Oneida Community Mansion

9:00pm – 9:50pm

“The Evolving Office: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Oak Park Studio”

by Lisa Schrenk

Professor of Architectural History and Author of The Oak Park Studio of Frank Lloyd Wright

SATURDAY SEMINARS

The Heritage Ballroom, Sammons Wing of the Grove Park Inn

9:00am – 9:50am

The Surprising Extent of English Influences on American Arts and Crafts Metalwork

by David Marshall

Researcher, Retired Engineer, Collector, and Dealer in the Arts and Crafts Movement

10:00am – 10:50am

Simple Beauty: The Furniture of the Byrdcliffe Arts and Crafts Colony

by Tom Wolf

Professor Emeritus of Art History and Visual Culture at Bard College

Day 2 of the National Arts and Crafts Shows

Saturday, February 21st

12:00pm – 6:00pm

Silent Auction:  Second and Final Session

Saturday  12:00pm – 6:00pm

Known as the largest and finest Arts and Crafts silent auction, this two-day event serves as a fund-raiser for the non-profit Arts and Crafts Research Fund.

Have something to donate for a tax deduction? See the ACRF page.

Arts and Crafts Demonstrations

Building Arts & Crafts Furniture with David Van Epps 

2:00 pm & 3:30 pm

What goes into the building of contemporary Arts & Crafts furniture?  Is the process the same as it would have been more than 100 years ago?  What are the similarities to the work of the last-century furniture makers and what changes has the passage of time brought to the current production of the still popular and much appreciated Arts & Crafts line?  Each presentation—at the times indicated below—will provide insights into the comparisons suggested by these questions.

Check back for an update

(Repeat on Sunday.)

The Arts & Crafts Historic House Tour

A Fundraiser for the Preservation Society of Asheville & Buncombe County

1:00pm – 5:00pm (trolley continuously leaves from the Sammons wing sliding glass doors)

2026 Theme: Albemarle Park

The Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County is pleased to offer a Home Tour with four or more unique historic homes for the 2026 National Art & Crafts Conference. The homes on the tour are located off Charlotte Street behind the historic Manor Inn.

Link for registration coming!

Letterio Calapai, “Untitled (On the brink of the dark he stood)” from the “Look Homeward, Angel” portfolio (detail), 1948, wood engraving and copper etching printed in relief on paper, edition 70/200, 13 × 18 inches. Museum purchase. Courtesy Asheville Art Museum.

Special Program with the Asheville Art Museum and the Thomas Wolfe House:

States of Impression: Letterio Calapai from Atelier 17 to “Look Homeward, Angel

3:00pm – 4:00pm

Join Assistant Curator Robin Klaus, PhD, for a talk exploring Letterio Calapai’s artistic trajectory from his formative years at the experimental printmaking studio Atelier 17 to his illustrations for Look Homeward, Angel, Thomas Wolfe’s novel inspired by early 20th-century Asheville. Presented on the final day of Asheville Art Museum’s exhibition of Calapai’s Look Homeward, Angel portfolio, the talk situates the artist within the cultural history of American print workshops and highlights how he absorbed and adapted the technical innovations of these collaborative environments. Attendees will examine the works on view alongside multiple states of prints made throughout Calapai’s artistic career to gain insight into his working methods, narrative vision, and the processes behind his most compelling work.

Transportation will be included in 2026. Round trip transportation will be included for $10.00 each for access to a trolley that will pick up and drop off. You can purchase at the Sammons wing registration desk.

Optional trip to the Thomas Wolfe Memorial House- 1:45pm – 2:45pm.

Transportation available to Asheville Art Museum included in round trip ticket. Bus picks up from the Sammons Wing Sliding Glass doors at 1:30pm.

Join a curator at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial House before you learn about the prints found in Thomas Wolfe’s famous novel — see where he grew up.

Originally a seven-room family home built in 1883, the Queen Anne Victorian home grew into a 29 room boardinghouse, owned and operated by Thomas Wolfe’s entrepreneurial mother Julia throughout most of its tenure. Serving as young Thomas’ childhood home and then later as the backdrop for his deeply autobiographical first novel, Look Homeward, Angel, the boardinghouse first opened to the public as a Memorial in 1949.

Walking Tours of the Historic Biltmore Industries

Saturday  3:00pm – 4:00pm 

(Repeats Sunday.)

Founded in 1905 and supported by George and Edith Vanderbilt, Biltmore Industries was one of the longest lasting Arts and Crafts cottage industries, making and carving furniture, bowls, bookends, trays, picture frames, and more. In 1917, the workshops were moved onto the grounds of the Grove Park Inn, where the Arts and Crafts buildings have been restored as a museum, gallery, cafe, and artisan studios. Step back in time on one of these daily one-hour tours.

Small Group Discussions: Session #2

Saturday  4:30pm – 5:30pm

One of the most popular aspects of the conference are our daily Small Group Discussions. Here you will have a chance to select a topic to sit down and discuss with other attendees. No advance registration is necessary. These discussions are lead by volunteer attendees. Come ready to listen and to ask questions.

Saturday Night Movie

Held at the Heritage Ballroom, Sammons Wing

8:00pm – 9:30pm

“Herb & Dorothy”

The incredible true story of a postal worker and a librarian who built a world-class art collection.

Herb & Dorothy (2008) is a documentary by Megumi Sasaki about Hebert and Dorothy Vogel, a postal clerk and librarian who built one of the world’s most significant contemporary art collectors on modest salaries, filling their small Manhattan apartment with thousands of minimalist and conceptual art pieces. The film chronicles their unique collecting habits, their close relationships with artists, and their decision to donate their collection to the National Gallery of Art, redefining the role of the art collector. 

Admission is paid for by the Arts and Crafts Research Fund.

Sunday morning seminars

Heritage Ballroom, Sammons wing

9:00am – 9:50am

Exploring The Moss Mystique: The Women and Works of Newcomb College Pottery

by Elyse Gerstenecker, Ph.D.

Curator of Decorative Arts for the Telfair Museums of Savannah, GA.

10:00am – 10:50am

Asheville Strong: The Three Mountaineers Company and Asheville’s Arts and Crafts Movement

by Heath Towson

Asheville Historian and Tour Guide, Mountain Motor Tours

All Three Selling Shows Open For Final Day

Sunday  11:00om – 4:00pm

Our annual Arts & Crafts Shows will have its final day on Sunday from 11am to 4pm. Once again, don’t miss this opportunity to see and add to your collection some of the finest antiques and new works in the Arts and Crafts style. Our exhibitors save their best pieces for this weekend, so take advantage of this once-a-year opportunity.

Arts and Crafts Demonstrations

Building Arts & Crafts Furniture with David Van Epps 

12:30 pm & 2:00 pm

What goes into the building of contemporary Arts & Crafts furniture?  Is the process the same as it would have been more than 100 years ago?  What are the similarities to the work of the last-century furniture makers and what changes has the passage of time brought to the current production of the still popular and much appreciated Arts & Crafts line?  Each presentation—at the times indicated below—will provide insights into the comparisons suggested by these questions.

Check back for updates.

Small Group Discussions: Session #3

Sunday  12:30pm – 1:30pm

One of the most popular aspects of the conference are our daily Small Group Discussions. Here you will have a chance to select a topic to sit down and discuss with other attendees. No advance registration is necessary. These discussions are lead by volunteer attendees.

Historic House Tour

Sunday 1:00 – 4:00pm

A Fundraiser for the Preservation Society of Asheville & Buncombe County

last bus will leave at 3:30

Walking Tours of the Historic Biltmore Industries

Sunday  1:00pm – 2:00pm 

No, not the 1895 Biltmore House, but the 1905 Biltmore Industries on the grounds of the Grove Park Inn, which George and Edith Vanderbilt supported. Founded in 1905, Biltmore Industries was one of the longest lasting Arts and Crafts cottage industries, making and carving furniture, bowls, bookends, trays, picture frames, and much more. In 1917 the workshops were moved onto the grounds of the Grove Park Inn, where the Arts and Crafts buildings have been restored as a museum, gallery, cafe, and artisan studios. Step back in time on one of these daily one-hour tours.

4:00 pm – The National Arts & Crafts Shows draw to a close…

Sign up for the February 2026 conference if you have a favorite room! You can make reservations over the phone or with the Grove Park Inn staff while you’re here! In the meantime, our shows will immediately close at 4:00pm and exhibitors will begin the long process of teardown, so it’s important that all customers vacate the halls by 4:00 pm. We thank you for your understanding in this matter.