You stand in the Great Hall of a 1913 hotel, warmed by a stone fireplace big enough to walk into. Around you, collectors trade stories about a Roycroft lamp or a pegged oak settle. A furniture maker explains why he still builds the way it was done a century ago. That scene repeats every winter in Asheville, and it is the heart of the Arts and Crafts movement today.
The 2027 gathering matters because it is the 40th National Arts and Crafts Conference. It meets January 8 to 10, 2027, at the Omni Grove Park Inn. It is also unusual. This milestone year moves to January, for this year only, before the hotel begins an interior renovation that affects its meeting spaces.
Maybe you are a longtime attendee. Maybe you are curious about the arts and crafts conference Grove Park Inn guests talk about all year. The conference brings the movement's original objects and its living makers into the same rooms. That bridge between past and present is what makes it special, and it is why we are proud to support it.
What to Expect at the 40th Conference
Expect three days of seminars, demonstrations, and selling shows. They share one idea: people who understand the movement value it more deeply. Learning is the main event, with the shows close behind.
When and Where Is the 40th Anniversary Conference?
The 40th conference runs Friday, January 8, through Sunday, January 10, 2027, at the Omni Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina. According to the official conference site, the January date applies to this year only because of the hotel's planned renovation.
The milestone program includes eight seminars over three days, plus a special Saturday program. Topics range from the philosophy behind the style to American ceramics, hooked rugs, and furniture collecting.
How Do the Conference and Three Shows Fit Together?
The conference is the educational core, and three selling shows run alongside it each afternoon. Two of them carry the conference's central story:
- The antiques show: original furniture, pottery, metalwork, textiles, and art from the first Arts and Crafts era.
- The contemporary show: new work by living craftspeople, from furniture and ceramics to metalwork, textiles, fine art, and leatherwork.
Show hours are Friday 1 to 6 p.m., Saturday noon to 6 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Around the shows, attendees join small group discussions led by volunteers, a book club, and walking tours. A silent auction supports the Arts and Crafts Research Fund.
Leadership has passed to a new generation. Kate Nixon now directs the conference, and founder Bruce Johnson serves as advisor and director emeritus. One familiar event is missing this year: the historic house tours are not taking place in 2027.
How Today's Craftspeople Carry the Movement Forward
The contemporary show proves that the Arts and Crafts style is a living practice, not a museum period. The makers on the floor are continuing the movement's traditions, techniques, and philosophy in their own work.
Why Do Traditional Techniques Still Matter?
The old methods solved real problems, and they still do. A mortise-and-tenon joint locks two parts of a chair together with wood-on-wood contact. A pegged tenon keeps that joint tight for generations without relying on metal screws.
Wood choice works the same way. Gustav Stickley favored solid quartersawn white oak because the cut resists warping and shows bold ray fleck. Makers today still study grain the way the original craftsmen did.
The demonstrations make this visible. Furniture maker David Van Epps demonstrates Arts and Crafts furniture building across all three days. Ceramic artist Julie Calhoun-Roepnack shows slab vases and tile glazing. Watch a maker shape a single part by hand, and the history of the Morris chair starts to feel close at hand.
The conference also opens with pre-conference workshops in block printing, Arts and Crafts embroidery, and hand-hammered metalwork. Learning by doing is how the movement passed its skills along in the first place.
Why Mission Motif Supports the Conference
We are a paid sponsor of the 40th National Arts and Crafts Conference. We do not exhibit or hold a booth at the shows.
That distinction matters. The show floor belongs to the antiques dealers and contemporary craftspeople who are the conference's reason for being. Sponsorship is simply a way to stand behind a gathering that keeps the Arts and Crafts community connected, and to say thank you.
The connection is personal. Mission furniture grew out of this movement. The values celebrated in Asheville still guide good solid hardwood furniture: honest materials, visible joinery, and work meant to last. Supporting the conference means supporting both the people who carry those traditions forward and the history that taught them.
What the Antiques Preserve
The antiques show holds the physical record of the movement. Its pieces show how furniture was made in the early 1900s, and they answer questions no book fully can.
What Stories Do Original Furniture and Objects Tell?
Every original piece records a choice. A Gustav Stickley chair shows his belief in honest construction, with joinery left visible on purpose. The history of Stickley furniture is a story about simple living, and his furniture was the argument made in oak.
Roycroft pieces tell a related story. Elbert Hubbard's community in East Aurora, New York, made furniture, books, and hammered copper under a shared craftsman's mark. Seeing Roycroft work beside Stickley helps you notice how Mission and Craftsman furniture overlap and differ.
How Can Visitors Look Beyond a Piece's Surface?
Look at construction first and finish second. The underside of a table or the back of a cabinet often reveals the most. Check for:
- Through tenons and pegs at joints, which show how a frame was locked together
- Ray fleck on quartersawn oak panels, a sign of careful lumber choice
- Dovetails in drawers
- Original hardware, often hand-hammered copper or iron
- Shop marks, paper labels, or branded decals
Textiles complete the picture. This year, David Cathers presents a seminar on the Arts and Crafts hooked rugs of New Hampshire and Maine. It is a reminder that these rooms needed more than furniture. The best place to see such a room whole is the hotel that hosts the conference.
Why the Omni Grove Park Inn Is Part of the Story
The Grove Park Inn opened in 1913 and was furnished in the Arts and Crafts style, so the venue is itself an exhibit. Its granite walls, massive stone fireplaces, and Roycroft furniture and lighting make the movement feel lived in rather than displayed.
Guided walking tours of the inn run hourly on Friday. Walking tours of Biltmore Industries, a 1905 cottage industry on the hotel grounds, run on all three days. Together, they show the regional craft tradition that made Asheville a natural home for this gathering.
Which Pass Fits Your Visit?
If the conference calls to you, the registration page lays out three main options:
- Show visitor: General admission is $10 at the door. It covers the shows for all three days, plus public demonstrations and the silent auction. Seminars are not included.
- Conference Events Pass: $175 per person for those staying off-site. It covers seminars, discussion groups, demonstrations, walking tours, and the conference catalog.
- Arts and Crafts Weekend Package: Friday and Saturday nights at the inn with conference registration. Rates are $851.63 for one person and $1,185.72 for two, before hotel taxes, with extra nights at $207.
To book the hotel package, call (877) 910-7878 and ask for a group reservations agent. For an events pass, call the conference office at (828) 628-1915.
Keeping the Past and Present in Conversation
The conference works because it puts a century-old oak table and a table made last month in the same building. You learn from the original, then meet the person who keeps its methods alive. Those who want the deeper story can read about the rise of the Arts and Crafts movement.
That bridge between preserving history and supporting today's makers is what Mission Motif is proud to support from the sidelines. If the weekend inspires you to bring that tradition home, visit our Atlanta showroom at 747 Miami Circle NE or call 404-370-1505.
Frequently Asked Questions
When Is the 2027 National Arts and Crafts Conference?
It runs January 8 to 10, 2027, at the Omni Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina. This is the 40th conference. The January date is for this year only, ahead of a hotel renovation.
Can I Visit the Shows Without Attending the Seminars?
Yes. General admission is $10 at the door and covers the shows for all three days. It includes public demonstrations and the silent auction, but not seminars.
What Is the Difference Between the Antiques and Contemporary Shows?
The antiques show sells original pieces from the first Arts and Crafts era. The contemporary show sells new work by living craftspeople working in the same tradition. A third selling show runs alongside them.
Do I Need to Stay at the Omni Grove Park Inn to Attend?
No. Attendees staying elsewhere can buy the $175 Conference Events Pass. It covers seminars, discussion groups, demonstrations, and walking tours. The weekend package is for those who want to stay at the inn.
Where Can I Find Current Ticket and Schedule Information?
The conference posts schedules, speakers, and registration details on its official website. You can also call the office at (828) 628-1915, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern.