During the fifty years from 1890 to 1940, in Europe and America," country colonies" of artists and writers emerged where creative professionals congregated. In the South, the most important was Tryon, North Carolina. Mike McCue will explain how two nationally-known authors, playwright William Gillette and novelist Payne Erskine, were catalysts for attracting hundreds of writers and visual artists here during that period. He'll focus on eight prominent artists " every Tryonite ought to know about" showing examples of their artworks and describing why they came to Tryon, excerpts from biographies McCue authored for The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, published by University of North Carolina Press.