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- [S106] The Mountain Press, 5 Oct 2009.
Homecoming celebrates Smoky Mountain Heritage
by ELLEN BROWN
Robert Tino’s Annual Smoky Mountain Homecoming, which began as more of a “fall open house” 17 years ago, has grown into more of a “heritage festival” over the past six years, said the artist’s wife, Mary John Tino.
“It all really began with neighbors sitting around and talking,” Mary John said Saturday at event, held at her family’s farm off of Highway 66. “We said, ‘Why don’t we take this fall festival and do something bigger for the community?’ Sevier County has really embraced Robert. Not everyone gets to live their dream, to make it as an artist. This is for the people who live here and the tourists who visit here. It helps us to remember where we came from.”
This year’s event, which continues today from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., includes the debut of Robert’s fall limited edition release “Silent Moon” and a juried antique show and sale, as well as live bluegrass music, barbecue, funnel cakes, an old-fashion farmer’s market and pottery making for children. There’s also white oak basket making, sheep-shearing and wool spinning, antique tractors and a 9:30 a.m. “down home” Sunday morning church service followed by gospel music.
“It’s great to have this for the community,” Robert said as he signed a guest’s copy of the Sevier Leadership Cookbook, of which he designed the cover. “I enjoy people coming out and meeting them.”
The self-taught artist also has plenty of old friends who visit him during the festivities, such as Vella Taylor of Seymour. Taylor has collected Robert’s work since he was in high school.
“You look younger than you used to!” she told him.
The Tinos are celebrating the 25th year of the Robert Tino Gallery, which has another location in Highlands, N.C.
“Robert has been here since he was 14,” Mary John said. “He was born in Bristol and has lived all around the Carolinas, but this is his home. He says, ‘I’ll paint a lifetime and I’ll never be able to capture it all.’”
“It’s true,” Robert said with a grin. “You have the four seasons here, and every day is different. It’s a gorgeous area, always changing.”
Karen Filip, a personal assistant at Norton Creek, attended the homecoming as a representative for Leadership Sevier.
“I came here last year as a customer, and I just loved it,” Filip said. “I raved about it to my boss.”
For Mary John and Robert, the event is all about celebrating home.
“This is my Mayberry,” Mary John said. “I can remember when you could buy a Coke for a dime from the hardware store. My grandmother (who owned and lived in what is now the art gallery) had tourists stay with her because the desk clerk at a hotel would call and say, ‘We have the nicest looking people here. Do you have a place for them to stay?’ This enables me to carry on the heritage.”
She is especially appreciative to all of the sponsors, vendors and volunteers who participate in her family’s homecoming.
“It’s wonderful that people want to come and spend the day with you.”
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