The Southern Highland Craft Guild presents The Details Have It, a new Focus Gallery exhibition which opened June 20 and continues through September 6, 2026, at the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Asheville. The exhibition highlights the remarkable craftsmanship of five Guild members whose work demonstrates that the smallest details often leave the greatest impression.

Featuring ceramics, glass, jewelry, wood, and fiber, The Details Have It celebrates artists whose careful attention to texture, pattern, surface, construction, and finish elevates their work from functional objects to extraordinary works of art.

Participating artists: Maya Stansbury - clay, Ronnie Hughes – glass, Ruthie Cohen and David Alberts - jewelry, Neil Carroll - wood, Laura Gaskin - fiber

Maya Sophie Stansbury is a Polish-American ceramic artist based in Asheville, North Carolina, and a new Southern Highland Craft Guild member (2024). Drawing inspiration from the biodiversity of the Appalachian Mountains, her intricately sculpted vessels blend naturalist folk art with contemporary ceramics. Through her ongoing body of work, The Art of Conservation, Stansbury celebrates endangered species and the delicate ecosystems they inhabit, encouraging viewers to appreciate the beauty of the natural world while reflecting on our shared responsibility to protect it.

Also in the exhibit is Ronnie Hughes, a self-taught glass artist from the Blue Ridge Mountains whose flame-worked borosilicate glass sculptures celebrate the native wildflowers of North Carolina. Inspired by discovering a field of Pink Lady's Slipper orchids during a hike in 1980, Hughes has devoted his career to capturing the intricate beauty of regional flora with remarkable botanical accuracy. Formed entirely by hand—without molds, paints, or adhesives—his luminous glass sculptures reveal an extraordinary attention to detail, transforming delicate wildflowers into enduring works that capture both the fragility and resilience of nature.

The Focus Gallery offers visitors an intimate opportunity to experience these works up close, revealing the countless decisions, techniques, and hours of craftsmanship embedded within each object. Located at Milepost 382 on the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Folk Art Center is home to the Southern Highland Craft Guild's Allanstand Craft Shop, three exhibition galleries, a craft library, and daily craft demonstrations from March through December. Admission is free.

For more information about the exhibition, Guild membership, or upcoming events, visit www.southernhighlandguild.org.

SHOP ONLINE and explore the exhibition by visiting https://southernhighlandguild.org/product-category/exhibits/focus/