Visiting Artist Guide Book
TOSS

Regional Context

Located in Morganton, NC, TOSS is embedded in the Western Piedmont region, historically known as the textile capital of the world. Along with this rich tradition of furniture and textile production comes the steep decline of prosperity when NAFTA was ratified in the 1990s; Rural, southern communities such as Morganton face many challenges including population decline and poverty due to disinvestment: The median household income in Burke County is $42,516, one in five people have not graduated high school, and our poverty rate is 18.1% (as compared to the 13.1% national average). While there are numerous manufacturing and healthcare jobs in our rural community of 17,500, these are not often “quality jobs.” As the median household income is 40% below the national average and 26.1% of residents live in poverty, tensions began to rise during the 1990s as Guatemalan and Hmong refugees began to relocate to Morganton, taking these jobs for less pay and working in worse conditions.

Learn more about Rural Appalachia 

• What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia 

• Rural Development Hubs Report 

Your Host

The Industrial Commons (TIC)

The Industrial Commons (TIC) founds and scales employee owned social enterprises and industrial cooperatives, and supports frontline workers to build a new southern working class that erases the inequities of generational poverty and builds an economy and future for all. We are currently building a new campus and will be complete with the first phase in 2026. See our work in action: Short documentary & Vision Statement

The Old School Studio (TOSS)

TOSS (The Old School Studio) is a program of The Industrial Commons and leads all the arts education and public art projects. The mission of this program is to foster and share the values of The Industrial Commons around the future of work, environmental sustainability, and racial justice. Harnessing the power of art and community organizing, we work toward personal and institutional transformation for and with working class families.
We envision a homegrown network of emerging artists and students connected to the resources they need to reach their full potential. These practitioners are the next generation of leaders, entrepreneurs, and creatives revitalizing and sustaining the rural South. TOSS grows student and community initiatives to promote our values. Whether it is our after-school program, mural projects such as Realidades del Sur, or our Artist in Residency (AiR) program, these values are the thru-line across all our activities.

Learn More:

• Overview

• Annual Report

Why do we care about public art?

Morganton, like many Southern communities, has a tendency to suppress racial, political, and economic tensions but in 2020, when civil unrest splintered in a heated, armed protest (surrounding a confederate monument in our downtown) we knew something must be done. We recognized that very few institutions or businesses offered diversity, equity, and inclusion training and so we developed an art-based walking tour of Downtown Morganton where Morganton’s most marginalized communities could share their story and illuminate the power of public signs and symbols.

Whether it is the two, giant confederate flags placed prominently on either side of the county off our highway or the confederate monument downtown, the majority of symbols are white-centric. For example, Forest Hill Elementary (with 78.9% minority student enrollment) has murals throughout its facility depicting white, upper-to-middle class themes and people. Etta Baker (memorialized through a statue by our municipal auditorium) is described in accompanying literature as an African American musician untouched by race or class, which is a true erasure of her struggles, degenerating her triumphs. According to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, North Carolina has some of the highest workplace discrimination claims in the country. Racism is a significant issue in all sectors of our community.

We desperately need new forums that elevate the claim of equality for all in our communities, increase social capital  for minority groups, and reframe the narrative that they are not welcome in Burke County. We believe our mural initiative, equipping the next generation of creative entrepreneurs, will help us synthesize complex stories and engage authentically with multifaceted communities to lead our rural community into a more equitable future.

Long-term, systems change will occur as our murals are brought into our peer program, Hometown Walkabout. Hometown Walkabout provides companies and institutions with a quarterly, eight-hour training to analyze the nuances of equitable placemaking to better present, promote, and celebrate diversity and advance inclusivity. Launched in 2019, Hometown Walkabout completed its training with 21 cohorts last year, providing classes to our local hospital system (HealthCare System Blue Ridge), our City Council, community college, and students along with the staff of the North Carolina School of Science and Math in Morganton. Each institution has agreed to incorporate Hometown Walkabout into their overall Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives. Within two years of our murals’ completion, hundreds in our community will have completed this training and engaged in civil dialogue about racial justice, centered around the murals.

Much as Hometown Walkabout brings culture care to Burke through discursive analysis, we will create a complimentary curriculum for K-12 grade students centered around the murals. This program will reach 1,500 students each year. It will also be made available to public school teachers, free of charge.

Learn More: Hometown Walkabout 

• Context for the Courthouse Square

• Context for the Brown Mountain Lights

• Personal Account - The Hmong of Morganton (More accounts are available but we need permission from the story tellers to share. Please do not share this link.)

Key Contacts

• Kathryn Ervin | Creative Director of TOSS: 828-448-1734; kathryn@tosstudio.org

• Jeronimo Martin | Studio Lead: 828-405-3508; jeronimo@tosstudio.org

• Sara Chester | Co-Executive Director of The Industrial Commons: 828-674-3141; sara@theindustrialcommons.org

• Becca Wilcox | HR Manager: 828-228-6689; becca@theindustrialcommons.org

At the Studio: Amenities, Materials, and Tools

• Wifi | There is high speed Wifi internet available at the studio

• Air conditioning/heat | There is central AC & Heat in the studio and loading dock. Typically, the loading dock doors are opened and closed throughout the day and it remains warmer due to this necessity.

• Mail | All incoming resident mail should be sent to the studio at 647 Hopewell Road Morganton, NC, 28655. 

• Food | There is a kitchen and artists are welcome to store items in the fridge or cabinet areas. Make sure you label your things so they don’t get tossed or eaten.

Da Rules

• On-Site Policies and Procedures

• As a visiting artist, you will need to complete a background check - please email Kathryn this completed form before your arrival.

• Any damage sustained to TIC and TOSS property made due to or through the residency will require the resident to fix or replace the property or items damaged.

• Do not tamper with electrical outlets, permanent fixtures, or make temporary/permanent alterations to TIC/TOSS property and spaces. 

• Personal Property

• The use of fireworks, firearms, candles, incense, illegal drugs, alcohol, and smoking are not allowed on the residency property.  

• Pets are not allowed at TOSS. If you need to bring a service animal please let us know in advance.

• Code of Conduct

• Hospitality | Residents are required to foster a hospitable, respectful, and collaborative environment in the studio during their residency. Visitors are encouraged and hours should be set for such. If project deadlines are not being met, TOSS may choose to minimize studio visitors to help maximize efficiencies.

• Dress Code | While we have no formal dress code, please keep in mind the image you present to students and the community who might be meeting a professional artist for the first time.

• Music | Please play music at a comfortable volume and refrain from playing explicit music especially when students are participating in summer camp.

• Think environmentally | We try to turn off lights if they are not in use, recycle. Please consider using supplies in the studio before purchasing anything new!

• Discrimination | Discrimination based on age, sexual orientation, gender, ethnicity, race, religion or disability are not tolerated.

• Cleaning

• A cleanup crew cleans our bathrooms and kitchen, but please help us keep the other spaces neat and clean. Here are some good rules of thumb:

1. Rinse your own dishes and put them away.

2. Keep your studio space clean and presentable as folks may need to access supplies in the loading dock. Do not block access to totes along the walls.

3. Clean the coffee machine if you're the last one to use it in the morning.

4. If you use a common space, leave it the way you entered it.

5. Let us know if something needs to be refueled (paper towels, soap, etc.)

Interacting with Students

At TOSS, teaching, inspiring, and guiding students is a big part of our mission. It’s likely you will interact with students during your stay. Our teaching philosophy is deeply inspired by experience-based learning, (adapted from Popular Education theorists and the Reggio Emilia Approach) and reciprocal learning, (as practiced by Room 13). Whenever possible we integrate STEAM into our values-aligned curriculum which prioritizes learning standards around 1) the Future of work, 2) Racial Justice, and 3) environmental sustainability. 

Keep these safety precations in mind when interacting with students:

• Safety Protocols 

1. No running is allowed in the studio.

2. TOSS staff and residents are not allowed to be alone with students without another adult present. 

3. Students may not go unaccompanied into the parking lot or anywhere on the property without supervision.

• Emergency Procedures 

1. Call 911 in the event of an emergency; Contact Kathryn Ervin if she is not present and she will contact the parent or guardian(s) to be concerned in the incident. 

2. See Emergency Plan

Accommodations & Travel

• Airports | The closest airports are the Charlotte and Asheville airport (both an hour away). You can request pickup and drop-off from the TOSS team or rent a car.

• Host list and other Housing Recommendations

• What to pack | It will be between 80-100 degrees in Burke County during the summer. Dress comfortably and bring shoes for hiking and walking if you care to visit Linville Gorge, or our other wilderness areas.

Our Ecosystem 

• Poder Emma This nonprofit, based in Asheville, stewards three Cooperative Networks. These networks provide space for peer learning, shared resources and leveraging of economic collective power. This work is centered around the belief that communities have the wisdom and experience needed to create powerful collective solutions to address the structural barriers to create community power and equity.

• Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina

Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina inspires conservation in Western North Carolina by permanently protecting land and water for the benefit of people and all living things.

• Little Guatemala

Morganton, NC has a large Guatemalan population, and now anyone can experience it at Little Guatemala!  We roast Guatemalan coffee, craft bean-to-bar Guatemalan chocolate, host indoor soccer games and leagues, provide traditional Guatemalan crafts, and offer delicious Guatemalan street food.  We can ship our products anywhere in the United States, but if you happen to be in Morganton, visit our building for the soccer, craft market, and street food!  (Building to open by summer of 2020!)

• Burke County Literacy Council

The Burke Literacy Council is a non-profit organization formed in 1988. Our mission is to teach adults and their families to read and/or improve their literacy skills and to instill in all those served a commitment to life-long learning!

• NVERSE architects, pllc

NVERSE architects, pllc is an architectural design firm in Morganton, NC founded on the principle that design is a collaborative process that should yield inspiring spaces for the people that inhabit them. The process of design requires the duality of diving deep and thinking broadly.

• Burke County Public Library 

Through partnerships, the Burke County Public Library develops readers, communities, and cultural awareness by providing informational, educational, and creative opportunities.

• Select 2000

Through education, advocacy, and research, Select 2000 works with employers to enhance racial and cultural diversity among recruits and hires for administrative and professional positions.

• Simply Green Recycling

Simply Green Recycling is a curbside recycling service based in Morganton servicing residents and businesses in Burke, Caldwell and McDowell counties.