Ms. Adrienne Crowther

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  www.nomispublications.com/ybnews_online/ybarticle.cgi?i - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 7/1/2008    Last Visited: 7/2/2008  

  Adrienne Crowther, owner of Shine On Brightly, believes that "art has the power to heal, to unite, to express feeling when words sometimes can't be found.Art can pay tribute to someone and serve as a constant symbol of the unique spirit within.What a perfect way to memorialize a life."
  
  Western North Carolina is renowned for some of the finest craft available worldwide.Shine On Brightly is based in Asheville, and represents many of the master artisans who work here."The idea is to expand the selection as we grow," notes Crowther.

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  www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=ne - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 10/7/2008    Last Visited: 5/13/2008  

  ASHEVILLE - Adrienne Crowther, formerly executive director of the Asheville Area Arts Council, has started a business selling individually designed and crafted products to memorialize the lives of loved ones.

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  www.mountainx.com/news/2008/081308gone_but_not_forgotte - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 8/13/2008    Last Visited: 8/13/2008  

  Ashes to ashes: Adrienne Crowther displays some specially handcrafted cremation urns marketed through her Asheville-based business, Shine on Brightly.
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  Asheville resident Adrienne Crowther, however, believes she's found a way to inject a ray of light into what many would consider a bleak and even morbid topic.
  
  Her Web-based business, Shine on Brightly, went live in April.The primary focus is artisan-crafted cremation urns for both humans and pets ranging in price from $90 to $5,000; another product line offers other ways to memorialize loved ones in such media as glass, textile art and quilts, books and text, sculpture and jewelry.All are created by highly skilled Western North Carolina artisans and artists and a handful of other Southeastern artists, says Crowther, who headed the Asheville Area Arts Council for more than eight years.
  
  Art and elegance are the key words here, she emphasizes.Although many funeral homes and Web sites sell urns and other memorial products, the vast majority are mass-produced."They're not at all personal or aesthetically pleasing," she maintains.
  
  Crowther's tenure at the Arts Council laid the groundwork for her new business, she explains.
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  "I just thought, wow, here's a really good need for some really beautiful, hand-crafted items, and this would be a perfect application of fine craft," says Crowther."That's how the idea evolved.Then when I started talking to artists locally, so many told me that they are commissioned to do this type of work privately and don't have the time or interest in marketing it.So most were really happy to jump on board."
  
  This "all-star lineup," says Crowther, includes a diverse array of artists, as follows.
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  Crowther splits the proceeds with the artists 50-50.The urns and other products are either sold on consignment or commissioned by clients who work directly with the artists to produce truly one-of-a-kind pieces, she says.
  
  A New Jersey native who moved to Asheville 11 years ago from Rhode Island, Crowther says she's never run a business before, "but I come from a big family of entrepreneurs."As a sole proprietor, Crowther has had to navigate a steep learning curve in running a Web-based enterprise.Primarily, that means mastering search-engine optimization so her site will pop up near the top of the list.For now, most of her business is local, coming either through her site or through marketing herself to local funeral homes, though she's hatching plans to reach out to an international clientele.
  
  And though North Carolina is not among the top states for cremation, "There are pockets that are really high," she notes.

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  www.ashevillearts.com/index.php/7 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 3/14/2007    Last Visited: 3/14/2007  

  Adrienne CrowtherExecutive Director
  
  Adrienne oversees the Arts Council operations, and serves as the liaison between the staff and Board of Directors.She plays a primary role in our arts advocacy efforts, working to increase awareness and appreciation of the arts within our community.Adrienne has been with the AAAC since 2000, and has directed the Arts-in-Education program since its inception.Her passion lies in making the arts accessible to everyone, especially through education and partnerships.She can be reached at 258-0710 x102, or by email at adriennecrowther@ashevillearts.com.

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  www.mtnmicro.org/directory_subsector.php?id=28 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 10/7/2008    Last Visited: 6/20/2008  

  Adrienne CrowtherP.O. Box 18193Asheville, NC 28814Phone: (828)348-0455Email: acrowther@shineonbrightly.com

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  www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007706 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 6/26/2007    Last Visited: 6/26/2007  

  ASHEVILLE - Adrienne Crowther, executive of the Asheville Area Arts Council, has resigned to start her own business.
  
  Crowther will leave her job Aug. 31 after having been with the arts council since 2000.She is starting a business representing artists who create works of art for cremation remains.
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  Crowther said she is not moving and will remain active in the Asheville arts community.She serves on the board of directors of HandMade in America, an Asheville-based initiative to promote the art of craft in Western North Carolina.
  
  Crowther started at the arts council as an intern in 2000.She was given the project of starting the council's successful arts-in-education program.She served as director of that program until 2005, when she became executive director.

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  www.newsobserver.com/business/story/1086148.html - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 5/27/2008    Last Visited: 5/27/2008  

  The site is the brainchild of Adrienne Crowther, who formerly headed the Asheville Area Arts Council, where she worked with Burr and other artisans in Western North Carolina.Crowther, 51, of Asheville, wanted to start a business aimed at art-loving baby boomers like herself.She came up with what she sees as a growth industry -- selling handcrafted urns and other end-of-life products to baby boomers and their loved ones.She's hoping to cash in on two trends.Cremations are steadily increasing, both in the Carolinas and across the country.And experts say boomers are revolutionizing the death industry, focusing on celebrating the lives of loved ones with intensely personal memorials.Crowther has lined up 18 artisans, mostly from the Asheville area.Her Web site will offer urns for human and pet remains as well as commemorative items such as quilts, glass, jewelry and hand-crafted books.Crowther says most baby boomers she knows are losing their parents and beginning to ponder their own mortality.
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  It's not personal, and it looks like it's imported from somewhere."An online search shows hundreds of sites for ordering urns, ranging from businesses that advertise less-expensive, mass-produced products to others similar to Crowther's, offering hand-crafted designs.Shine on Brightly will also compete with funeral businesses that sell urns along with caskets.Crowther thinks that her business will stand out because of the quality that the artisans bring to it.

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  www.ashevillearts.com/index.php/4 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 3/14/2007    Last Visited: 3/14/2007  

  Adrienne Crowther, Executive Directoradriennecrowther@ashevillearts.com828-258-0710 x102

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  www.mountainx.com/news/2007/080107artsfuture - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 8/1/2007    Last Visited: 8/1/2007  

  "I think that we're in danger of not being able to entice artists to move here already, much less 20 years from now," says Adrienne Crowther, executive director of the Asheville Area Arts Council.She compares today's Asheville to the SoHo area of Manhattan, which was once popular with artists but became so hip and trendy that eventually few of them could afford to live there.She's concerned that the Asheville of 2027-or of 2010, for that matter-will have an all-too-similar story.
  
  "Increasingly, artists can't afford to live here, so they keep having to move further and further out of the city," she says.
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  In spite of these challenges, Crowther, Lucas and Watson see a bright future for the city.

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  www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007707 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 7/18/2007    Last Visited: 7/18/2007  

  "If we (in the arts industry) are that strong with the very little public funding we get, just imagine where we could be if the community and local and state legislators invested in the arts," said Adrienne Crowther, Asheville Area Arts Council's executive director."People are moving here because of our reputation for the arts, and these numbers prove that."
  
  The $65.1 million total includes $16.7 million in spending by arts organizations and $48.4 million in event-related spending by arts audiences, excluding the cost of admission.The $48.4 million reflects an average of $39.65 per person in spending for hotels, restaurants, parking, souvenirs, refreshments or other similar costs (nonlocal attendees spend nearly twice as much as local attendees - $60.01 compared with $26.46).
  
  "The findings from this study should carry the same weight as economic data analysis of any other industry, such as manufacturing or tourism," Crowther said.

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