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Did you know Tyrrell County is North Carolina’s smallest county by population? County leaders and the county’s web site boast the community is unspoiled, uncrowded, uncomplicated.
The seafood industry helped sustain the area over the years. Now, like many other rural communities, the county seat of Columbia needs something else to boost the local economy.
Art Keeney is the President and CEO of East Carolina Bank and a board member for Pocosin Arts Folk School.
“The trick is for economic development for Columbia is to get someone to stop. And then tell their friends when they get home, we spotted this nice little place where you might want to spend some time the next time you go to the beach, ” says Keeney.
Wedged between the Scuppernong and Alligator Rivers, and the Albemarle Sound this water town is rich in history and rich in support for the Pocosin Arts Folk School on Main Street. Here, aspiring potters, carvers and young dancers can develop their talents.
Columbia leaders like Town Manager Rhett White want Columbia to become a destination for artists and art enthusiasts. “We’d like to think Pocosin Arts is a magnet to attract arts and crafts kind of people, and arts and crafts business.”
As his knife chews into the wood, carver Rick Smith explains the Columbia-Pocosin connection. “When you say Columbia and Pocosin Arts it’s pretty much synonymous. It’s the one thing you think of when you here Columbia if you have any knowledge of Columbia at all.”
Smith’s training at Pocosin is helping him transform his hobby into a sideline business.
“There’s a sense of accomplishment. It’s nice to be able to work on the wood and be able to do something you can look on, something tangible.”
Pottery classes provide stress release and cultural opportunities for middle school principal Jana Rawls. “When rural communities are able to provide things other than hunting and fishing, and farming, it offers something absolutely beautiful for people to see that even though a community doesn’t have all the big businesses and high rise buildings, it still has character. This adds character to Columbia.”
And it adds value for the people who live and work here says Pocosin’s Executive Director Feather Phillips. “It isn’t just measuring how many jobs you created or how much of a waitress’s salary you are directly supporting, but what are you doing to make this community an attractive healthy place to visit and live and settle.”
Three jobs have been created from the Pocosin Folks Arts School according to Phillips. Most of the 200 thousand dollar operating budget for the center comes from an annual crab cook and auction held in September. In 2008, Pocosin Arts grossed a record 70 thousand dollars to offset operating costs and pay for scholarships for art classes.
Phillips adds, “I know in my heart we’re having a positive impact on the communities that we cover.”
Watch the NC Now Feature
An interview with Feather Phillips