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Hiddenite celebrates arts at weekend event
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Published: September 22, 2008
The annual Hiddenite Celebration of the ARTS will be unveiled on Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. and concluding at 4 p.m.
The time change is new this year! The entire week of Sept. 20-27 is officially known by people of Alexander County as CELEBRATION WEEK. The Hiddenite Center has been presenting activities for the people of this region with great success.
The celebration features arts and crafts, North Carolina folk ways, Hispanic and Hmong folk ways, entertainment, food, a half-marathon and lots of fun. Rock and Gem Show will complement the day on Saturday and Sunday in the Center's Educational Complex. The Lucas Mansion Gallery focuses on Alexander County's illustrious furniture industry - both historic and contemporary.
Saturday will feature entertainment, artists and craftspersons, food, folk demonstrations and much more. Special emphasis this year is being placed on hands-on experiences in traditional art forms for all celebration-goers.
An exciting addition to this year's festivities is the second annual Hiddenite Half-Marathon - a 13-mile road race and the first ever 10K road race which commences at the Pleasant Hill Baptist Church and winds through the rolling hills outside Hiddenite, before reaching the finish line in front of the James Paul Lucas Mansion. Rick French and the staff of the Alexander County Recreation Department have worked for more than a year putting together this event. The public is encouraged to line the route for the race to cheer the participants to do their best. Awards will be presented on the Lucas Mansion Stage at 10:00 a.m. to winners and runners-ups in their various age groups.
The Lucas Mansion Gallery Exhibit for Celebration focuses on the "Art in Iron: Forging a Tradition" which features and exhibit of work by blacksmiths through the years. This exhibit celebrates one of the pieces of the heritage which is part of Alexander County history. Iron workers or blacksmiths were very involved in the everyday life of our forefathers. The blacksmith created shoes for the horses who worked the fields, provided old shoes for the boys and men to pitch, and created implements that make the workload of the family more manageable. From plows to cooking utensils, the blacksmith made it all.
The Hiddenite Celebration of the ARTS is made possible in part through the generous funding of the Alexander County government, the Eileen and R. Y. Sharpe Family Foundation, the Sharpe Chair of Fine and Applied Arts at Appalachian State University, the North Carolina Arts Council's Grassroots and General Operating Grants Categories and the National Endowment for the Arts.
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