A Woven History: Frances Fox Through the Decades

Join us for the Exhibition Reception on November 20, 2025 from 4:30PM-7PM, featuring a talk with Frances Fox at 6PM!

A Gatlinburg native and pillar in the arts and crafts community here, Frances Fox has been a part of Arrowmont since before Arrowmont was Arrowmont. She can trace her weaving heritage back at least five generations. She attended the Pi Beta Phi Settlement School as a child and moved away for a short time as an adult. She took her first weaving class here in 1980 and, in 1981, moved back to Gatlinburg. 

Frances has had many classes of concentrated studies in weaving at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, and worked for three years as Assistant Designer under the Master Weaver for the cottage weaving industry of Arrowcraft Shop, beginning in 1983. She also worked for two years at a retreat center where she was “basically paid to sleep”, leaving her free to go home to weave during the day. 

In 1988, Frances and six other weavers formed Fiber Creations Inc., a weaving cooperative with shares, that sold their textiles in three different locations in the Craft Community. This eventually became Cliff Dwellers in 1990, a popular and frequented shop in the Glades, still open today. Frances, along with Claudette Pridemore, owned and operated Fox Hill Gallery (now the Red Oak Bistro) in the Glades from 2008 – 2013. 

Also a trained historian, Frances has given history talks for at least 20 years as a step-on guide for tour buses in the area, while she also worked as a real estate agent. She continues to give history talks here at Arrowmont on Tuesday mornings after breakfast during the workshop season.

As an artist, her wall hangings, which generally depict scenes of the mountains she knows and loves, have been featured in many shops and galleries of Appalachia. Over the decades, she has been commissioned by public firms and individuals to produce handwoven, warm, and earthy-colored hangings and soft sculptures. Just this year, she has completed a wall piece for Hotel Indigo, across the road from Arrowmont.

She also produces a wearable garment, the soft and beautifully draped cocoon, and several variations of the vest. Using bright and subtle shades of luxury yarns, silks, wools, mohair, alpaca, and fine cottons, she handweaves the fabric and constructs the cocoons and vests. A selection of these handcrafted garments can be found here in the Arrowmont Showcase and Supply, as well as Smoky Mountain Spinnery.