So you’ve been to the Mill Spring Agricultural Development Center and you enjoyed the tour. Maybe you flashed back memories of old classroom scenes. Maybe you enjoyed the food. But have you entered from downstairs through The Blue Door?
Dot Pearce, a stained glass artist, recently hosted her open house and welcomed the public to her studio behind The Blue Door from the ground floor of the center.

Pearce requested this special space and renovated it to house the large-scale mosaics she creates.
Pearce’s work requires a lot of space.
She dreams big. After all, she builds walls. That’s right, mosaic walls.
Having worked in the medium of stained glass for more than 35 years, she said, “I am now claiming my niche as a mosaic artist, specializing in donor walls and memory walls.”
A donor wall commemorates a project. The art is designed to incorporate small plaques with the names of those who gave support to the project. A memory wall can symbolically and artfully represent the memory of a loved one or an event.
Pearce’s first walls were the “Sunset Wall” and the “Tree Wall” created for Hospice of Rutherford County.
“Then by word of mouth,” said Pearce, “came the opportunity to design and create another donor wall, this time for Community Clinic in Spindale.”
When you visit Pearce’s studio, you will enjoy much more than walls. You will see lawn decorations, wall hangings, sconces, jewelry, lamps and much more.
After spending most of her life creating in private and for individuals, Pearce is now enjoying art in community spaces and creating art for public spaces. She teaches art classes for the Polk County campus of Isothermal Community College. Pearce studies at Adawehi Institute and Healing Center, a community that teaches health and wholeness in body, mind, emotions and spirit.
Pearce sums up her creative path: “Our communities are growing, and my inspiration and creativity are growing through community.”
Pearce’s studio hours are by appointment by calling her at 828-894-8682.
– article submitted