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Haywood Arts Council to request COVID relief funds
BY BOYD ALLSBROOK C ONTRIBUTING WRITER
During the Haywood County Arts Council’s annual meeting, Executive Director Leigh Forrester recently outlined the extensive losses the art community has suffered due to COVID-19.
“We find ourselves in the red,” said Forrester during the Zoom meeting. Limited funding from the Tourism Development Authority, canceled events and gallery closings have contributed to especially tough times for artists in Haywood County. A midAugust survey of nine Haywood County arts and culture organizations showed $973,000 lost for pandemic reasons.
Even more devastating — more than 365 artists had contracts terminated in recent months. These losses prompted the HCAC to pen a letter to the Haywood County Board of Commissioners requesting CARES Act funding.
“The arts develop and supply a creative workforce that is essential to Haywood County’s economy, employing 365 people. This sector is too vital to lose,” Forrester wrote in the letter. “On your behalf we
WCU library expands historic Swain photo collection
Western Carolina University has obtained a rare photographic glimpse of Bryson City and Swain County in the early 1900s, thanks to a recent donation to Hunter Library’s renowned Special and Digital Collections.
The nearly 100 images from early 20thcentury Swain County were taken by Frank Emmett Fry, a mining superintendent and later hotel operator who lived from 1877 to 1939. The black and white photos come from glass plate negatives and have been digitized for online viewing.
The collection was donated to Hunter Library by Jean Sandlin Douthit, a granddaughter of Fry. Douthit also is a member of the Friends of the Bryson City Cemetery, a nonprofit group that helped facilitate the donation.
The photos taken by Fry include his family, friends and neighbors; the unincorporated community of Hewitt, where he was superintendent of the North Carolina Talc and Mining Company; and the county seat of Bryson City, where he and his wife, Martha “Mattie” Pender Fry, later owned and operated the Entella Hotel, as well as mountain landscapes and agricultural scenes.
“Frank Fry’s photographs have lovely composition, are expertly executed, and remain in near-perfect condition after well over a century of existence, which makes them quite rare and of great value to researchers,” said Jason Brady, interim chief serve more than seven arts organizations and hundreds of artists countywide. The arts in Haywood County enrich the lives of county residents, educate our children, and reach our disenfranchised. What’s more they have both healing and inspirational effects.”
The letter asks for $160,000 of Haywood County’s $2,473,363 in CARES Act funding. If granted, the HCAC would be responsible for distributing funds to artists in need. Making sure the money is distributed quickly is vital. The longer an organization stays closed, the harder it is to reopen.
“All funds will be distributed by December 31, 2020,” wrote Forrester. “Time is not our friend here.”
In the meantime, the HCAC will continue moving forward under the new normal. Community members are strongly encouraged to support the arts safely, and to give generously.
“We need your support if the Haywood County Arts Council is to survive this year,” said Forrester. A calendar of their upcoming events is available at
www.haywoodarts.org/events.
Frank and Mattie Fry with two of their children, from the Fry Collection at WCU.
Donated photo
of Special and Digital Collections. “They also offer the only views of the village of Hewitt, in Swain County, that I have ever seen, which makes the collection very exciting.
“We are so fortunate to be able to share these fascinating images and owe a debt of gratitude to both their donor, Mrs. Jean Douthit, and to the Friends of the Bryson City Cemetery, who helped facilitate the donation and identified people and places in the photographs,” Brady said.
The collection can be viewed at digitalcollections.wcu.edu. For more information, contact Hunter Library’s Special and Digital Collections at 828.227.7474 or specialcollections@wcu.edu.
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Best in the West: A two-day N.C.-11 candidate forum
Republican Madison Cawthorn and Mountain Xpress contributor Mark Barrett and Democrat Moe Davis, candidates for the North Pete Kaliner, longtime N.C. political reporter, Carolina radio host congresand podsional caster. seat left Topics will vacant by include White internaHouse tional, Chief of national, Staff state and Mark urban Meadows, issues. have both The agreed to second appear at event, to a two-day be held at joint Western forum Carolina hosted by three of Moe Davis Madison Cawthorn University in Cullthe disowhee, will trict’s largest media outlets. include WCU political science and public affairs
On the evenings of Friday, Sept. 4, and department chair Chris Cooper, WCU professor Saturday, Sept. 5, candidates will join moderaof economics and director of WCU’s Center for tor Cory Vaillancourt and a diverse panel of the Study of Free Enterprise Edward Lopez and guests for “Best in the West: North Carolina’s Principal Chief Richard G. Sneed, Eastern Band 11th Congressional District Forum.” of Cherokee Indians. Topics will include rural
The first event, to be held at Western issues, native issues and education. Carolina University’s Biltmore Park instructional Due to venue capacity limits currently in site, will feature questions by Lenoir-Rhyne place, events will not be open to the public, but University Equity and Diversity Institute program will be livestreamed. Watch live at 7:30 p.m. developer Aisha Adams, former Asheville both nights at Citizen-Times political reporter and current www.facebook.com/blueridgepublic.
Despite pandemic, WCU sets new enrollment record
For the ninth time in the last 10 years, Western Carolina University is starting the year with a record high enrollment — despite earlier concerns that the Coronavirus Pandemic could cause a decrease in enrollment.
“I believe that Western Carolina University’s reputation for offering a highquality college education at an affordable price has helped us weather the storm that many institutions across the nation are facing this fall because of the pandemic,” said WCU Chancellor Kelli R. Brown. “We also are seeing a larger than usual number of applications for the coming spring semester, which I believe indicates that some students have opted to stay on the sidelines this fall to see how things shake out with the pandemic.”
As of the 10th day of classes Aug. 27, 12,243 students were enrolled at the school, a slight increase over the 12,167 students enrolled at the same point last year.
The growth is driven in part by an alltime high retention rate, with 81.57 percent of last year’s freshman class returning for the fall semester, up from the previous record retention rate of 80.06 percent.
An increase in graduate and distance learning students has also contributed to the high enrollment. The number of distance learning students rose from 2,460 in fall 2019 to 2,594 this year for a 5.45 percent increase. Meanwhile, graduate enrollment increased by 1.65 percent, a boost that is likely due in part to the new master’s degree program in experiential and outdoor education, which now enrolls 21 students. Increased graduate enrollment is likely to continue through the spring. Currently 521 graduate students are enrolled for the spring semester, 80 more than at the same point last year.
The overall increase in enrollment comes despite a substantial drop in firsttime, first-year students and transfer students. The number of first-time, first-year students plummeted 14.5 percent from last year’s tally to 1,780, and transfer student enrollment dipped by 7 percent to 929.
The enrollment numbers are from official census statistics compiled by WCU’s Office of Institutional Planning and Effectiveness and released late Friday, Aug. 28. Although classes began Monday, Aug. 17, enrollment is not official until after the 10th day of classes, referred to as “census day.” Even then, the numbers are not considered final until any errors have been corrected and the files have been submitted to the University of North Carolina System offices.
