Arts, Crafts & Southern Heritage: Cultural Immersion in Winston-Salem

If you're anything like me, you'll find yourself running your fingers along the joinery of 18th-century Moravian buildings before you even realize what you're doing. Old Salem Museums & Gardens isn't just another historical village — it's a living testament to German-influenced craftsmanship that's survived centuries.

The timber framing techniques used in these structures made my builder's heart skip a beat. Unlike modern construction where we hide structural elements, the Moravians celebrated them, creating a visual rhythm of exposed beams and posts that still feels contemporary. What impressed me most was the half-timber construction method called fachwerk — where they filled the spaces between wooden frames with brick nogging (a technique I've only seen in restoration projects back in Christchurch).

I spent hours chatting with the costumed interpreters who demonstrate traditional trades. The tinsmith showed my friend's kids how to punch decorative patterns into small tin ornaments — a hands-on experience that kept them engaged far longer than I expected. The bakery, meanwhile, uses the original brick ovens to create Moravian cookies and sugar cake that taste exactly as they would have 250 years ago.

Bring along a decent pocket knife if you're keen on whittling — there's plenty of inspiration here, and several benches where you can sit and carve while the kids explore.

I've toured my fair share of historic homes, but Reynolda House Museum of American Art offers something special — a perfect marriage between architectural significance and artistic expression. This 1917 bungalow estate built by tobacco magnate R.J. Reynolds manages to feel both grand and surprisingly intimate.

As someone who's spent years restoring historic buildings, I was immediately drawn to the craftsmanship details. The quarter-sawn oak paneling throughout the house shows a level of material selection we rarely see in modern construction. The original Ludowici clay roof tiles are still performing beautifully after more than a century — a testament to choosing quality materials from the start.

What makes Reynolda particularly brilliant for families is how they've balanced preservation with engagement. My mate's kids were given art detective cards that turned our tour into a scavenger hunt for specific artistic elements. Meanwhile, I could geek out over the construction details to my heart's content.

The surrounding gardens follow the original 1913 design by landscape architect Thomas Sears, creating outdoor rooms that extend the architecture into the landscape. As a Kiwi who appreciates good outdoor flow, I found this integration particularly thoughtful.

If there's one thing I've learned from restoration work, it's that the most interesting buildings often blend respect for tradition with forward-thinking design. Winston-Salem's Innovation Quarter and the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) embody this philosophy perfectly.

The Innovation Quarter represents adaptive reuse at its finest — former tobacco warehouses and manufacturing facilities transformed into creative spaces, tech hubs, and educational facilities. As someone who's converted a few buildings in my time, I appreciate how they've preserved industrial elements like exposed brick, massive timber beams, and steel trusses while introducing modern interventions. The juxtaposition creates spaces with soul and story.

SECCA, meanwhile, occupies the former James G. Hanes estate and presents cutting-edge art within a historic 1929 Tudor-style mansion. The contrast between traditional architecture and contemporary installations creates a dialogue between past and present that I found particularly compelling.

For families, both locations offer engaging programs. SECCA's Saturday art workshops let kids create alongside practicing artists, while the Innovation Quarter's weekend makers markets showcase local craftspeople demonstrating everything from blacksmithing to digital fabrication.

I recommend bringing a good camera to capture the interesting architectural contrasts. My trusty Sony caught the beautiful interplay of light between old and new structural elements that my phone camera simply couldn't handle.

As a builder who started out learning traditional techniques, I've always believed that cultural preservation happens through doing, not just viewing. That's why the Sawtooth School for Visual Art and the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA) were highlights of my Winston-Salem visit.

Sawtooth School occupies a former industrial space in the Downtown Arts District and offers workshops in everything from woodworking to glassblowing. What makes it special for families is their approach to teaching traditional crafts through contemporary applications. My friend's 12-year-old daughter took a two-hour pottery workshop and came away with both a handmade mug and an understanding of clay traditions that date back centuries.

For the adults, I highly recommend their woodworking sessions. I joined a half-day introduction to traditional joinery and found myself swapping techniques with the instructor who was fascinated by some of the Māori carving methods I've picked up over the years. Kei te pai! (That's all good!)

MESDA takes a more academic but equally engaging approach to craft traditions. Their collection of early American furniture, ceramics, and textiles is displayed alongside information about the makers and their techniques. What impressed me was their focus on the craftspeople themselves, including the often-overlooked contributions of enslaved artisans whose skill and creativity shaped Southern material culture.

For families with budding craftspeople, I recommend picking up a beginner's whittling kit before visiting. After seeing the intricate carvings at MESDA, your kids will be inspired to try their hand at creating something tangible.

If there's one universal language that bridges cultures, it's food — and Winston-Salem speaks this language fluently. The city's culinary scene reflects its multicultural heritage, from Moravian traditions to Southern soul food to contemporary farm-to-table innovations.

Start your culinary exploration at the historic Moravian Winkler Bakery in Old Salem, where they've been using the same recipes and methods since 1800. The paper-thin Moravian cookies and sweet-yet-tangy Moravian sugar cake offer literal tastes of history. I found myself drawing parallels between these preserved food traditions and some of our Māori hangi techniques — both showing how food preparation becomes a form of cultural storytelling.

For a deeper dive into Southern foodways, the Cobblestone Farmers Market (Saturday mornings in Old Salem during spring) connects you directly with local producers. I spent a fascinating hour chatting with a fifth-generation apple grower about heritage varieties that have nearly disappeared from commercial production.

What surprised me most was Winston-Salem's thriving craft beverage scene. Foothills Brewing offers family-friendly tours that explain the brewing process (fascinating from an architectural and engineering perspective), while smaller spots like Fair Witness Fancy Drinks create cocktails using locally foraged ingredients and traditional preservation methods.

For cooking enthusiasts, I recommend picking up a Southern cookbook as a souvenir. After tasting authentic Southern dishes, you'll want to recreate some of these flavors back home — I've already attempted (with mixed success) to recreate the sweet potato biscuits I had at Krankies Coffee.