Appalachian Institute promises some serious brainpower

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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The News & Observer has a story on a new ventured called the Appalachian Institute. Sounds like some serious high-minded brainpower’s coming to the mountains:

What would summer camp for scholarly adults look like? Ward Purrington has a bead on it.
Purrington, long a political and cultural force in Raleigh, is combining his love of Western civilization with the lure of a mountain retreat in a venture that will begin this summer, modeled after the venerable Chautauqua Institution in southwestern New York.

“It was an idea I had about 30 years ago,” says Purrington, a former state revenue secretary who was instrumental in creating Carolina Ballet. “I’d take the kids to camp, pull out of the campground and think, ‘Gosh, I wish I could stay.'”

The result is the Appalachian Institution, which will launch in August at an Episcopal conference center on Lake Logan near Canton in the southwest corner of North Carolina. There will be two five-day retreats, each built around one of two lecturers: Thomas F.X. Noble, director of the Medieval Institute at Notre Dame University, and Alan Charles Kors, a University of Pennsylvania history professor and expert on the Age of Enlightenment.

Mornings will be spent in appreciation of Western civilization’s history, accomplishments, values and opportunities, says Purrington. Afternoons can be spent hiking, fly-fishing, golfing, playing tennis or taking courses on art history, floral design, jewelry design and Spanish or French for travelers. The evenings will be given over to classical and bluegrass concerts and Shakespearean theater.

Alfred E. Sturges, director of choral music at N.C. State University and of the N.C. Master Chorale in Raleigh, has signed up to be music director at the Appalachian Institution. Purrington, who has retired from his law practice, is the founder and primary financial backer of the nonprofit enterprise.

Purrington says he recently mailed about 15,000 postcards and bought advertising in regional publications to attract participants. He hopes that interest will build over the years and the institution can expand to pair speakers engaged in scholastic debate and someday outgrow the facilities.