Writing a review for Penland is kinda difficult for me personally. The Penland campus and…read morefacilities are absolutely gorgeous and amazing. The food is reallllly delicious and way better than I could've imagined, the school is overflowing with creativity and passion and the people are innovative and fun! On the other hand, the class that I took at Penland was extremely disappointing and the teacher did not inspire or challenge me at all. After hearing for years and years that Penland is an incredible place that will challenge you as an artist to the extreme and you will be totally immersed in an art experience, it was really quite disappointing to spend much of my class time bored and working on my own art that I brought from home because there wasn't much else provided for us to do. I'm not sure what sort of vetting/interviewing process they do for instructors as I've had a few other people who attended Penland in previous years tell me similar stories. Regardless of my negative experience with my class, I'm still giving Penland 5 stars because I could feel the creative energy flowing through this school every day and every waking hour. There are students ranging from 18 to 80 years old, some with very little experience and others professional artists. For the most part, the teachers are excellent and challenge their students. I visited the other studios almost every day for inspiration and to see what the other workshops were working on and I was blown away by the incredible work being made. There is a clay studio, painting and drawing studio, printmaking, paper, photography, metals, wordworking and textile studios. As I mentioned above, the food is, wow, soooo delicious. They provide three meals a day which are all very healthy, hearty and thoughtful. The kitchen staff are friendly, make sure all the foods are stocked, and do their best to provide awesome food for everyone, regardless of food restrictions. There are many different types of housing ranging from dorm housing with like 15 beds in one room to solo rooms and everything in between. Their beds are really surprisingly comfortable and I recommend bringing your own fan and an extra pillow. Although this campus is incredibly gorgeous, it is not very handicap accessible.

I attended a two week class here this summer. The campus is inspiring and beautiful. The…read moreinstructors were kind and seemed to have great interest in what they were teaching. There was art everywhere and combined with the perfect location (overlooking a mountain) it made it feel like a retreat. My biggest beef with Penland is the cost of classes. Not just that but how much room and board & food is. Most people are unable to afford $1600 for two weeks (that doesn't include food or a room) and I wouldn't have been able to had it not been for my doing a GoFund Me and my friends and supporters giving me money. I stayed at a B&B off campus in a room for $30 a night (Bakersville B&B, which I recommend!) I also did the numbers food and with their plan it was around $11-$12 a meal. Umm no thanks. It's convenient but if you're looking for a way to save money-bring your own snacks and go out to local restaurants. They are several just 20 minutes from Penland! Also, as a nonprofit founder I would've liked to get away from fundraising and large events but being at Penland didn't allow me to because they were prepping for their big annual fundraiser while I was there. It wasn't enough that I paid around $2200 for a two week class (class, food, board) but a few people came into our class to ask if we want to donate work to the auction. I'm sorry but no. I'd like to keep what I've worked really hard on and paid for to create. I appreciate this school is a nonprofit but at the same time they could offer more scholarships (I applied for one and didn't get it and no I'm not upset about it because I went and everything was fine), they could also cut costs of classes so more disadvantaged people can have the opportunity to attend. One main building was being rebuilt while I was there and the noise was extremely disruptive. There is no AC but we had fans in the studio-still pretty warm sometime. I was hungry for lunch and had forgotten my food and asked the lunch attendant how much it would be to eat lunch that day and he said $19. WUT? I also didn't realize there would be so many rules related to studio use. We had to sign paperwork and had to help clean up afterward. The studio assistant was only told that she could leave once someone had decided the entire space was clean enough. I don't think students attending a two week workshop need to feel so much pressure from an organization to donate and volunteer. I wanted to take a damn break but turns out that my breaks happened when I left campus and went back to my B&B and the surrounding towns. The studios were nice although one of the new studios had problems and I heard students weren't very pleased they do have a variety of classes. The quality of the teachers is outstanding and that's not in question at ALL. You will receive good solid instruction with highly qualified people.