Read "Celebrating Creativity" article by CoastWatch

In the riverside hamlet of Columbia on the Scuppernong, there is a renaissance of art and culture shaping up on Main Street. One block from the Town Dock, aromas of jasmine and rosemary mingle together in Shoe String Alley, the brick-lined path to Pocosin Arts.

In the Main Street Gallery, fine art and folk craft are sold, the hand-made work of students, teachers and mentors. In the studio, exposed brick walls and high ceilings are the stage set for a hive of creativity. Wheels are turning — potters wheels and spinning wheels. Hands are muddied and moist with native Tyrrell County clay. Heads are bent over quilted squares, embellishing, in whispers, and hand-carved white cedar walking canes tap out the stories, today's and yesterday's, told by the people of the pocosin wetland region about the pocosin way of life.

Pocosin Arts collects these folkways by connecting this indigenous culture to its natural environment through the interdisciplinary arts process, glorifying the rich cultural heritage found in eastern North Carolina.

Throughout the year classes, workshops and residencies are held in pottery, metalsmithing & jewelry-making, carving, book-making, weaving, spinning, quilting, embellishing, soap making, glass slumping and fusing, blacksmithing, pit firing, story telling, dancing and roots music.

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