Our Story

We are turning an environmental liability into an economic and community asset.

The facility started back in 2006 by the Jackson County, North Carolina, Government as an initiative to combat the release of contaminants from one of its local landfills. Rather than flaring or burning off the daily produced methane gases from this landfill, the Jackson County Green Energy Park would redirect and use the energy produced to help fuel a first-of-its-kind creative arts center.

Over the course of 15 years, the JCGEP or Park, as many here call it, continued to develop its facilities in ways that support the creative art practices and needs of regional artists, students, and community members. Focusing primarily on two disciplines, Glassblowing and Blacksmithing, both powered fully from recaptured landfill methane. Now, as we approach the new year of 2026 and under new leadership, the team seeks to evolve and encompass new aspects of identity and creative pursuits. While we are unique in our foundation and links to sustainability/environmental stewardship. The Dillsboro Creative Arts Center, as it will now be known, will focus not only on sustainability through landfill gas recovery and use but also on the sustainability of regional arts, crafts, and culture. Access to creative arts education and facilities is central to the community's well-being. Our organization also has a strong calling to enhance our community through the propagation of the arts, art events, and the potential supportive role we can play in regional education.

Creativity through sustainability, stewardship, and community!

Our Team

Morgan Kennedy - Project Manager

New to this position, Morgan has 25 years of teaching sculpture at several higher education universities across the country and abroad. He has a strong love of arts education, community engagement, and creative placemaking—a 10th-generation Scots-Irish Appalachian from Southwest Virginia. Morgan was raised in Northern Virginia, where he first got into the Arts through a love of oral and anthological traditions. He started his career as a vernacular builder working in the Scottish highlands (Highland Folk Museum- Newtonmore, Scotland), then shifted to degrees in sculpture from George Mason University(BA) and Virginia Commonwealth University(MFA). He has exhibited nationally and internationally and received many awards, fellowships, and grants for his creative endeavors. Story-telling, Performance art, Builder, Installation art, Place-making, and Sculptural practices are all terms that define his creative pursuits.- https://justinmorgankennedy.com

Kevin McNiff - Studio & Park Operations Technician

I am a studio technician at the Jackson County Green Energy Park, where I maintain the equipment for the glass-blowing studio and mobile glassblowing rig, the blacksmithing studios, our wood fire kilns, and our gas extraction system that we use to pull methane off of the old landfill to fire our equipment. I have a love of the technical aspects of our different equipment and knowing how things work, as well as traditional modes of making.

My first venture into ceramics was in the 6th grade, and it has stuck with me since then. I continued my exploration of ceramics throughout my high school years into my undergraduate studies at Ferrum College and my graduate school studies at Western Carolina University, where I completed my Master of Fine Arts with a focus on ceramics. I have had a continued interest throughout my studies in different firing techniques, focusing on the surface and atmospheric effects available through different firing methods.—https://www.stonehousepotsnc.com/artists/kevin-mcniff

Chelsea Miller- Programming Assistant

Born and raised in Homestead (FL), Chelsea graduated from Western Carolina University in December 2014 with degrees in fine arts and education. She is highly knowledgeable in the areas of glass blowing and blacksmithing, having taken classes from master teachers. She is devoted to the community and enjoys giving back - she started working with the GEP as a volunteer in 2010.

Cole Johnson - Part-Time Park Assistant

A North Carolina Native and graduate of Western Carolina University. Cole began his creative arts practice as a glass-blowing intern while attending WCU in 2015. Over the past 10 years, since the inception of his glassblowing education here at the Park, Cole has continued to grow and develop as a glass artist. He has attended and assisted at many premier glass centers around the world, such as Pilchuck, Haystack, Penland, Corning Glass, and the Jam Factory in Adelaide, Australia. Cole currently resides in our community and continues to use the park here in Dillsboro as his main base of creative operation.-https://www.colejohnsonglass.com