Creative Places You Should Check Off Your List in Southwest Virginia

There are many wonderful places to visit in Southwest Virginia, particularly if you love handmade works of art or want to get your creative juices flowing.

To make it a little easier to check them off your bucket list, we’ve compiled a list of venues we know you’ll love visiting. 

Southwest Virginia Cultural Center & Marketplace
This beautiful state-of-the-art facility is the gateway to Southwest Virginia’s rich culture and creative economy. Here you can enjoy the beautiful work of regional artisans as the Cultural Center & Marketplace houses one of the area’s largest art collections. 

You’ll find everything from home décor to fashion jewelry here as the artisans produce handcrafted works in clay, fiber, glass, jewelry, man-made metal, mixed media, natural material, wood, and two-dimensional art. 

The Cultural Center & Marketplace, located in Abingdon, is also home to The Crooked Road, Southwest Virginia’s heritage music trail, where you can hear old-time, bluegrass, and gospel music from local artists. 

William King Museum of Art
The William King Museum of Art in Abingdon is a visual arts and cultural heritage museum that serves residents of Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee and visitors to the area. The museum provides arts education, exhibits fine art, and strives to preserve the region’s cultural heritage. 

The museum displays exhibitions of world fine art, material culture from Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee, and contemporary art by regional artists. It is also an institution of scholarship and education for visitors and students who walk through its galleries, attend a lecture, or take a class. The American Alliance of Museums accredited the museum in 2004 and is Virginia’s only nationally accredited museum west of Roanoke. 

Wayne C. Henderson School of Appalachian Arts
The Wayne C. Henderson School of Appalachian Arts in Marion offers an array of hands-on opportunities to learn the traditional music, arts, and craft heritage of Southwest Virginia.

The Henderson offers drop-in classes as well as week-long all-inclusive workshops. It inhabits a historically significant local landmark on the highest point in historic downtown Marion, a three-story brick structure known as the “1908 Schoolhouse.” 

Visitors have the opportunity to tour the building, attend ongoing classes, and explore Gerald Anderson Lutherie, which honors the school’s namesake, Wayne Henderson. Anderson is a celebrated guitar instrumentalist and luthier who represents the music, heritage, and culture of the Southern Appalachians worldwide. Additionally, visitors can learn about the different stages of guitar making, observe the fully equipped wood shop, and visit the Burke Print Shop to witness a functioning vintage letterpress.

Rose Cottage School of Art
Rose Cottage’s goal is to promote art and music in the Wythe County community by offering fine art and music lessons, camps, and paint nights. The school also hosts a variety of visiting artisans for workshops.

Located in downtown Wytheville, this creative paradise also offers group art lessons, pottery classes, summer art camps, and monthly workshops taught by our talented regional artisans. 

If you are musically inclined, Rose Cottage also offers lessons in drum and guitar and bass, as well as summer camps and group lessons.

Chestnut Creek School of the Arts

The Chestnut Creek School of the Arts, located in downtown Galax, looks to preserve and promote the cultural heritage of Southwest Virginia by offering classes and events year-round for all ages and skill levels in traditional music, heritage crafts, and contemporary arts.

With a goal of enriching the lives of individuals through skilled teaching, everyone is welcome – from beginner to master artists and musicians – as well as the curious observer. The school offers a learning environment that is stimulating, beautiful, and peaceful, giving students the resources and time to create new work and hone skills. It is a place where people are encouraged to work, discover, experiment, and refine.

Moss Arts Center (Virginia Tech)
Located at the crossroads of Virginia Tech and downtown Blacksburg, Virginia, on the corner of Main Street and Alumni Mall, the Moss Arts Center is a thriving community where the arts are a catalyst for engagement, inspiration, and discovery.

The center operates as both a presenting organization and as a 150,000-square-foot, top-caliber arts center. Since opening in 2013, the center has brought innovative, significant, and diverse programming to the campus and the region. The facility includes a 1,260-seat performance hall, visual arts galleries, an amphitheater, a four-story experimental Cube, and multiple studios. The center also offers a multimedia studio, production control room, newsroom, and associated classroom in support of the Department of Communication.

The Moss Arts Center is named in tribute to artist and philanthropist Patricia Buckley Moss, who committed $10 million toward the construction of the facility on the campus of Virginia Tech. 

Reynolds Homestead (Patrick County)

The Reynolds Homestead is located in Critz, Virginia.

The Reynolds Homestead is located in a rural area of eastern Patrick County, Virginia, near the village of Critz. 

The estate house, which was a plantation, is a two-story brick building with a hip roof, from which an older two-story ell extends. Outbuildings of the plantation complex include a large corn crib, a brick kitchen, a milkhouse, and an icehouse. 

Explore the historic residence and its property by visiting the Reynolds cemetery. You can also take a stroll to the Friendship Garden and enjoy a picnic. Attend a program, tour, or class that suits your interests in the Continuing Education Center. The classes range from arts and crafts, history, and literature, to plays, concerts, festivals, and art exhibitions. Witness the Jeb Stuart Art Show winner’s exhibition annually at the homestead and join in the Victorian Christmas celebration. Everyone is welcome to participate in the center’s workshops and classes.

The property is now managed by Virginia Tech and includes a continuing education center managed by its Department of Outreach and International Affairs. It hosts educational and cultural events, and the house is open for tours for both individuals and groups.