Great Road Style

Great Road Style

The counties that make up southwestern Virginia and northeastern Tennessee are linked historically, culturally, and geographically. Connected by a shared decorative arts tradition the, “Great Road Style,” so called because of the region’s historical importance as a stage route connecting the eastern seaboard with the western frontier, the material culture of this region is evidenced in distinctive forms of furniture, ceramics, textiles, and metalwork. Yet until now, a systematic documentation of its decorative artifacts has never been conducted.

The first substantive effort to conduct primary research in a largely undocumented territory, Great Road Style: The Decorative Arts Legacy of Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee, by Betsy White involved thousands of hours’ worth of fieldwork conducted across Tennessee and Virginia in an attempt to offer the most detailed accounting possible of handmade objects produced along the Great Road before 1940.

The eventual product of that exhaustive research was an archive of photographs, slides, and data sheets on more than two thousand objects representing diverse sectors of the survey area. In organizing and providing a narrative for this treasure trove of material, White and her research team have defined and delineated for the first time what constitutes Great Road Style.

Cultural Heritage Project

The ongoing Cultural Heritage Project at the William King Regional Art Center seeks to document the cultural and artistic legacy of Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee from 1780 to 1940, and to foster a full and accurate appreciation of the region's role in American decorative and folk arts. To date, field researchers have identified more than 2,000 objects made by hand in the region, and eight exhibitions have been mounted from that research. Reproductions of selected heritage items can be purchased online at the William King Regional Art Center Looking Glass Museum Store. Documentation and research is ongoing. For more information, contact the Arts Center at 276-628-5005 or infoATwkrac.org.