Bill Waller Craft Center

Classes, camps, and demonstrations are part of the organization's wider program, so treat any live demonstration as a bonus rather than something to expect on an ordinary visit.

• The Guild's permanent collection, browsable alongside the gallery floor
• A working retail gallery of pottery, gourd craft, and many other kinds of handmade work by artists and craftspeople from across the Southeast
• The building itself, which regular visitors single out: even the reception desk reads as a work of art
• Behind the public areas, the facility also holds classrooms, studios, a visitor information desk, administrative space, and an event venue

The center is a modern building set in a natural wooded setting. Look for the low pale concrete wing, the central glass-fronted entrance, and the large dark metal open-sided gabled hall, all surrounded by mature hardwoods. The contrast of hard modern materials against the tree canopy is the reason many travelers remember the stop.

The craft center is the destination, but it sits in useful company. A wheelchair-accessible boardwalk runs from the nearby Brashear's Stand and Old Trace trailhead to the Craft Center, and includes a view of the Old Trace. The same lot also provides parking and access to the Chisha Foka multi-use trail, which continues well beyond the craft center grounds. Keep the two experiences distinct: the boardwalk and Old Trace view are a short linked walk, not part of the gallery itself.

This is primarily a shop and collection rather than a conventional museum. Interpretive exhibit material is limited, so travelers arriving expecting a full museum-scale narrative about Mississippi craft history may be disappointed. Come for the objects, the artisans' work, and the building.

The Guild began in 1973 with about 35 members and grew to several hundred artists and craftspeople from across the Southeast. It moved from a log cabin on the Parkway to this Rice Road facility in 2007, and the building was later named for former Governor Bill Waller.