The Arrowmont School was established by Pi Beta Phi, a national women’s fraternity. It was originally conceived in 1912 as a settlement school whose function was to provide education to the residents of the remote east Tennessee region of the Appalachians. Since its formal inception in 1945, it has become a renowned not-for-profit educational institution as well as an internationally recognized arts center, serving the artist/craftsman throughout the United States and the world.

This exhibition celebrates fifty years of arts and crafts by the Arrowmont faculty, encouraging discussion on the role of the Arts and Crafts Movement in this country and its effect on regional artists and craftsmen. "With the coming of the Industrial Revolution and its many changes, fear grew that time-honored craft traditions would be lost," says Joey Rice, Curator of the Walter Anderson Museum of Art."When the decorative arts began to move into the realm of fine arts, the new Arts and Crafts Movement placed a premium on the manual labors of the skilled artisan over the mass-produced factory goods. These valued traditions have been handed down, embellished and are still carried on today."

Members of the Pi Beta Phi fraternal organization, which continues to be the primary financial support for the school, will offer their expertise as docents, or museum guides, during the Arrowmont exhibition. 

Also on display will be "A Cottage Industry: Arts and Crafts in the Home of Walter Anderson," an installation of the many domestic works Walter Anderson created as a proponent of the nation’s rich Arts and Crafts Movement. Anderson’s "Elephant Chest," "Blue Jay Table," and "Pelican Chair" were created out of inspiration and necessity, and were designed for everyday use. Period drawings, some never before displayed, will also be exhibited.