EXPLORE. IMAGINE. CREATE.

Introducing the Mitford Discovery Center.

The Mitford Discovery Center invites visitors to discover their unique talents through exploration, imagination, and creation. Our founder’s vision for the center includes a hands-on workshop and art space, traveling museum exhibitions from organizations like the Smithsonian, and the Mitford Oral History Library preserving the stories of our local and global communities.

MITFORD’S NEWEST CHAPTER

In the Mitford novels, Dooley and Lace are children who fell through the cracks. Thank heaven, people like Father Tim and Olivia Harper are there to catch them–to let Dooley know he’s worthy and to encourage Lace’s artistic gifts.

In today’s world, children often struggle to find a soft place to land when they face challenges. The Mitford Discovery Center is just such a place.

Our founder and #1 New York Times bestselling author Jan Karon’s first grade teacher, Nan Downs, was the first to acknowledge Jan’s creativity. Her beloved teacher took the time to not only recognize Jan’s talents but to lift them up for others to see. While we can’t give everyone their own Nan Downs, we can give them the Mitford Discovery Center.

We will offer workshops, exhibits, and activities that invite participants–youth and adults–to explore their unique gifts. With the addition of the Discovery Center, the museum is writing a new chapter in its mission to bring together literacy, creativity, and community.

But we can’t do it without your support. Just imagine how many Dooleys and Laces we could reach if every Mitford fan pitched in to help. After-school art classes, curriculum-based workshops in partnership with local schools, programs to bring seniors together with youth, traveling museum displays through the Smithsonian and Metropolitan Museum of Art, oral history recordings that will be preserved through the Folklife Center at the Library of Congress . . . and so much more.

Help Us Transform Lives.

When you support the Mitford Discovery Center, you’re investing in:

✓ Children’s futures—with programs that ignite creativity and improve educational
outcomes.
✓ Community enrichment—with spaces for storytelling, the arts, and lifelong learning.
✓ Economic revitalization—drawing visitors and supporting local businesses in our former cotton mill town.

TRANSFORM LIVES TODAY

We’ve raised just over $1.5 million of the $2.4 million needed to make this vision a reality. Please consider how you can partner with us to bring the transformative power of creativity to our region.

Helpful Donation Amounts:

$35 sponsors a child participating in a workshop.
$125 covers supplies for a week-long workshop/activity.
$250 supports the Candace Freeland Photography of Merit Award.
$500 covers visiting artist’s fees for a youth workshop.
$1,500 sponsors a traveling exhibition for one month.
For larger gifts or naming opportunities, contact Museum Director Sarah Thomas at 828-572-5898 or sthomas@themitfordmuseum.org.

TIMELINE

Early 2023 – The Mitford Museum invested in a nearby property. Thanks to a visionary donor, we were able to make the purchase debt-free.

Early 2024 – Dalgliesh, Gilpin & Paxton Architects in Charlottesville, VA, donated their services to develop initial renderings. John M. Suddes of Suddes Partners in Atlanta, GA, was engaged as fundraising counsel to help develop and fulfill a capital campaign.

Late 2024 – Museum staff and the board engaged with NVERSE Architects and Moss-Marlow Building Co. to complete schematic drawings and initial sitework in preparation for construction to begin as early as mid-2025.

Early 2025 – With 62.5% of funds raised as of January 2025, our goal is to open The Mitford Discovery Center as early as the fall of 2026.