Southwest Virginia Cultural Center & Marketplace — Attraction in Abingdon

While heading towards Abingdon, I unexpectedly came across the Southwest Virginia Cultural Center & Marketplace, formerly known as Heartwood during my initial visit years ago. Although it wasn't initially on my itinerary for this trip, it caught my attention as I made my way to the Abingdon Muster Grounds, so I quickly made a detour to see what had changed.

Known as The Southwest Virginia Artisan Gateway, this cultural center showcases the diverse artistic talents of the counties of Bland, Buchanan, Carroll, Dickenson, Floyd, Franklin, Giles, Grayson, Lee, Montgomery, Patrick, Pulaski, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Wise, and Wythe, and the cities of Bristol, Galax, Norton and Radford. It brings so many of the traditions and culture of Southwest Virginia together under one roof, housed in a thoughtfully designed museum inspired by the region's agricultural and farm buildings. Within its wooden walls, multiple shops offer all sorts of handcrafted products, ranging from quilts and paintings to soap, knit crafts, and organic farm goods. The center does an amazing job of displaying the unique culture heritage of the area, including its traditions, music and crafts. It also hosts a music venue that is part of the Crooked Road Music Heritage Trail, however on that day no one was playing on its octagonal stage.

One of the displays I liked the most was the map of the world with pins to stick in it, showing where everyone who visited the cultural center had come from -- there were pins stuck in from all over the world. It's really fascinating to know just how far people have traveled in order to stand where I was standing right then and there. Unfortunately, there were no more pins for me. Alas, I just had to join in spirit with the other pins that were placed on Richmond, Virginia.

This was also where I learned about the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road which answered my question I always had about why the cities out in Western Virginia are so equally spaced and follow i-81 in a straight line. They were stops about a day away from each other via wagon along the road as settlers made their way into the Appalachian region. I like finally understanding that bit of trivia, especially since I've visited each of those cities this year.

This visitor center also provides a wealth of information through its extensive collection of brochures, highlighting all the cities and numerous places to stop and hundreds of things to see and do and eat. Despite originally going on this vacation to cross some items off my bucket list, since it's now sitting at just under 300 spots in Virginia I want to visit, I couldn't help grabbing pamphlets by the armfuls, until the front desk guy was laughing and asking if I could carry them all. What's another couple of hundred more places to visit in this state anyway? As my favorite saying goes, "I'll add it to the list!"

Once I made it outside with my souvenirs and an armful of paper pamphlets, I took one more photo of the LOVE sign and then I was off again, further into the city of Abingdon and more...

Very disappointed.

I am native to Southwest Virginia and I decided to go to the cultural center to buy a gift that represents the area for an out-of- town friend. The whole main floor of the center is a very large gift shop but there were very few items that actually promoted our culture.

The shop seemed to consist of mainly overpriced plastic or resin jewelry and artwork that had nothing to do with SWVA culture. There were some beautiful quilts but you'd have to be a fool to pay $400 or more for them (especially since they are tiny).

The artists and artisans who are featured are very talented, no doubt, but the majority of their artwork or crafts are not appropriate for the SWVA cultural museum. Just because they may live in the area doesn't mean their art is representative of SWVA.

I would like for the cultural museum to be a source of true local goods, canned foods, art of our beautiful area - possibly featuring our parks, quaint towns, music, and beautiful farmland.

The restaurant at this location was closed also (July 2021) but I believe they are in the process of finding someone to run...

My wife and small daughter thought it would be nice to drop in to Heartwood since our mandolin-playing, guitar-making, master artisan craftsman friend was visiting from Floyd, VA. We went during a torrential downpour and were greeted immediately and warmly. The director of the Crooked Road invited our friend to play a few tunes, notable "Sweet Georgia Brown." My wife and daughter had the opportunity to dance and sing and run about, we found a children's book illustrated by a local artist and written by my favorite author, Neil Gaiman. The structural design and art were beautiful. A fantastic visit, free of charge. We took away wonderful memories, and a bit of great footage. Visit my Google+ page to see a little impromptu picking and grinning.

PS I didn't have any food, but I had to complete the food rating to post. I put a 3 but I cannot verify...