A group of Northern Neck region business owners, local officials and interested citizens is partnering with the Artisan Center of Virginia’s Artisan Trail Network to develop the Northern Neck Artisan Trail. What is the ACV Artisan Trail Network? The Artisan Center of Virginia (ACV) developed the Artisan Trail Network to offer a unique opportunity to form strategic alliances with artisans, venues, galleries and retailers across the state, while connecting points of interest, restaurants, and accommodation locations in the related communities in order to enhance regional tourism activity. The Artisan Trail Network is an innovative program to leverage ACV’s broad-based grassroots membership into a coordinated marketing and outreach campaign to strengthen local communities while strengthening Virginia’s artisan industry. Who can participate in an Artisan Trail? Trail participation is open to Virginia artisans, farms and craft venues that are members of the Artisans Center of Virginia and meet certain criteria (businesses that provide food, lodging or are a point of interest qualify to apply as a Supporting Trail Site. The Artisan Trail Network with its community loops are designed to attract visitors to artisan studios, agri-artisan farms and local craft businesses. Trail participation is comprised of the following categories:
• Craft Artisan: Individual Virginia craft artisan studio businesses that make hand-crafted objects without the use of kits, commercial models and whose primary components are not manufactured.
• Agri-Artisan (aka Agro-Artisan, Aqua-Artisan) : Agricultural-based Virginia businesses that rely on natural resources of the land such as family farms, vineyards, wineries, breweries, orchards, organic farming, roadside stands, etc. These enterprises produce food, fiber, unique crops or livestock, waterman culture products, add value to traditional agricultural products, or offer recreational, education, nature or other farm based activities.
• Craft Related Business or Venue: Venues, businesses and organizations who are primarily engaged in selling, exhibiting or promoting locally made crafts. This can include schools, museums, galleries and cultural/historic sites that have a direct connection to artisan aspects and cultural heritage.
• Supporting Sites: Businesses or sites that enhance the artisan trail. These sites offer visitors places to eat, sleep or unique places to visit and include, but are not limited to bed and breakfasts, restaurants, agri-tourism venues that represent agri-artisans, entertainment venues and other points of interest. What services does ACV offer to communities implementing an Artisan Trail? ACV provides an organizational structure and back office support for the implementation process. Among other things, this includes working with the community to form a management team which guides the implementation, providing training for trail ambassadors who interpret the project to the broader community, production of print and web-based marketing, and helping to identify and secure funding sources. How is the implementation of an Artisan Trail funded? While a final budget for trail implementation is determined by the trail management team, ACV estimates that the two-year implementation costs approximately $25,000. Most implementations are funded through a variety of sources, including private donations, tourism matching grants, government allocations and trail participant fees. Does the Northern Neck region have a critical mass of potential participants to sustain an Artisan Trail? We've identified over 50 potential trail sites. An Artisan Trail would be an excellent way to get the word out about all that the Northern Neck region has to offer. Email [email protected] for more information and/or to volunteer to help out with this project.
