The Center for Craft, Creativity and Design (CCCD) is a regional center of the University of North Carolina with a strong nonprofit support organization. It is located on the fifty-acre UNC Asheville Kellogg Center in Hendersonville, North Carolina. CCCD convenes national meetings, supports research in the area of craft and design, and curates exhibitions for a small gallery space and the sculpture and public art on the property's one-mile Rudnick Nature Trail. CCCD also manages an adjacent Conference Center, a multimedia rental facility serving area nonprofits, educational and corporate needs.

Mission:
The mission of the regional UNC center is to advance the understanding of craft by encouraging and supporting research, scholarship, and professional development.

The mission of the nonprofit is to support the regional center through funding, programs and outreach to national and regional artists, craft organizations, schools, and the local community.

History:
Both the regional center and the nonprofit grew out of a 1994-1995 study commissioned by the Educational Committee of HandMade in America, a nonprofit organization serving the makers of the handmade object in Western North Carolina. The study recommended a new organization with a broad vision of craft, creativity and design as interrelated components applied through education, industry and commerce. It also recognized the strength of collaboration between the University of North Carolina system, with emphasis on the three mountain campuses, and the region's nationally recognized craft schools, guilds, museums, and working craftspeople and artists. If the valuing of studio craft was to equal that of "fine art," it had to be so recognized in academia. Where better to begin the transformation than in the region of the country most recognized for its' outstanding craft industry - Western North Carolina? In April 2001 the Center for Craft, Creativity and Design program moved from offices in the Conference Center (opened in 1997) into an adjacent new facility with galleries, an education room and offices. The Policy and Nonprofit boards meet together bi-monthly to guide the mission and goals of the Center for Craft, Creativity and Design.

Programs:
CCCD supports research in craft and design through national convenings at the Kellogg Conference Center, regional workshops and conferences, and publications of regional and national significance. Workshops, residencies and curriculum development reflect its educational mission through active collaboration with University of North Carolina faculty. The area community is served through exhibits, monthly talks relating to work in the exhibits, and the Perry N. Rudnick Nature Trail that features public art.

Public Served
There are four categories of audience served by CCCD programs: university students, faculty, practicing professionals, and the general public. University students and faculty participate in workshops and sponsored residencies of international artists, are featured in exhibitions, and benefit from curriculum development in craft studies, public art and community design. Workshops, exhibitions and national research sponsored by CCCD, elevating the value of craft, benefit the professional craft artist. The general public walks the nature trail, attends talks and workshops, and visits exhibits. The Conference Center provides a high tech, multimedia meeting space for regional education, nonprofit and corporate use.