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CITYVIEWMAG.COM JULY AUGUST 2015
Artisans and Artists
Mountain crafters are what brought
the very first shoppers to Gatlinburg, and they’ve maintained a stronghold there
ever since. The beauty of the Arts & Crafts Community (established in 1937) is that
it encourages visitors to meet the crafts- people selling their goods and also watch them as they work. Be sure to peek in on third-generation broom makers David and Tammie Ogle, who tie brooms (as well as carve wooden canes and walking sticks) the old-fashioned way. The community, down the road a bit from the downtown area, also features some eclectic restaurants such as the Wild Plum Tea Room and an authentic British pub called the Fox & Parrot.
If you’re more of a one-stop shopper, then Arrowcraft—the oldest giftshop
in Gatlinburg—is a must. Owned by the Southern Highlands Craft Guild, this downtown shop sells crafts only from the top regional artisans. (Don’t miss, too, the equally famous Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, right next door.)
Several Smoky Mountain painters have also become local legends. Vern Hippen- steal’s gallery isn’t the only place where you
can find this painter’s work—he also owns and operates the Vern Hippensteal Moun- tain View Inn (where you are welcome to buy framed prints right off the walls). Jim Gray (the creator of the bronze statue of a young Dolly Parton sitting in front of the Sevier County Courthouse) recently moved out of state, but his family still operates his gallery in a 100-year-old former church. Robert Tino (whose interview is featured later on in this special section) works out of his Sevierville home, an antebellum house he transformed into a studio and gallery about 25 years ago.
Human Treasures
As you might well expect, perhaps the biggest treasures of all are the peo- ple who have made the park and its family-friendly gateway communities what they are today. Some have lived there since before the Smokies was a park, some have worked in the tourism industry, while others have played a major role in the national park service. Some are artists and artisans, while oth- ers are public servants. What all of them have in common, however, is incredible
drive, vision, and passion for the Smoky Mountains and the surrounding area. Cityview was fortunate enough to
talk with six of these Smoky Mountain treasures, each of whom generously shared their time and thoughts with us for this special section. We asked each of them to share a treasured memory with us, and then we asked them for some of their top suggestions for what to see and do in the area. On the following pages, not only have we reported the highlights of those dis- cussions, but we also dug back into our Cityview archives to offer some recom- mendations of our own from stories we’ve run since we started regularly covering the Smokies just over three years ago.
The result is an intriguing smorgas- bord of top-notch sights and experi- ences that can help you make some spe- cial memories of your own on your next visit. So y’all listen up now, y’hear?
Katy Koontz, author of Family Fun in the Smokies as well as the Smoky Mountain Travel Guide app for smart- phones, writes regularly about the Smokies for Cityview.