Megan Dunahay

Click here for updates on this story

Asheville, NC (WLOS) — Located in the River Arts District, the Silver River Center for Chair Canning is home to the nation’s only dedicated full-time chair-knitting school and museum.

Co-owners Brandy Clements and Dave Klingler call themselves “chair maniacs” and have amassed over 300 chairs. “They all have their own histories and characteristics that make them really fun and endlessly fascinating,” says Brandy.

she continues. Grand She had 12 chairs when she opened, and it’s been that way ever since. Over time, the waiting list goes from 3 months to 6 months to 8 months, too busy. And overuse injuries are starting to occur. I really thought we needed more chair weavers, so I started a school!”

Brandy is the fourth generation chair weaver. She learned from her Aunt Linda and passed on her passion to Dave. They love teaching other “chair geeks” how to weave and create new designs. Brandy added, “‘She didn’t pay $300 to fix this chair, she fixed it!

Dave is an engineer at heart and loves creating new tools to aid in the process of weaving chairs. he said: Not only do we have to do it, but we have to explain it to people who learn in different ways. ” Dave is also passionate about woodworking and the chair manufacturing process.

During the pandemic, Brandy and Dave have turned their attention to producing videos for their YouTube channel. He is also co-authoring a book with Blue Hills Press in Nashville, Tennessee. It is scheduled to appear in 2023.

The Silver River Center for Chair Canning is the official educational center of the Southern Highlands Craft Guild. They are also proud to be part of the River Arts District artist community and are members of the Sheet Weaver Guild, the national organization of sheet weavers.

Brandy said: People from Sweden, Austria and Australia. We are a very close-knit group and communicate regularly on social media. “

Note: This content is subject to a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you cannot use it on any platform.