What it is

SFMS Workshops at Wildacres are the Southeast Federation of Mineralogical Societies (SFMS) week-long Federation Workshop sessions held at Wildacres Retreat in the North Carolina mountains near Little Switzerland. The official registration home page frames annual Federation Workshop Weeks for beading, cabochons, lapidary, silver, cold connection, chain, opals, and related jewelry/craft media — taught by volunteer instructors, with lodging packages on campus. About page: Wildacres is a privately owned conference center on about 1,600 acres atop Pompey’s Knob at roughly 3,300 feet near the Blue Ridge Parkway; facilities host nonprofit educational/cultural programs including lapidary. It is not a jewelry retail storefront and not a local membership gem club with monthly meetings as its primary identity.

Who it’s for

Adults (and approved youth with a responsible adult) who want immersive week-long federation classes in lapidary and jewelry arts at a mountain retreat; SFMS club members (1st priority), other AFMS federation members (2nd priority, space available), and unaffiliated students (3rd priority, with the printed nonmember add-on). About: students under 18 need workshop-director and instructor approval and must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Returning artisans use tracks such as Special Projects (advanced metals) alongside silver casting, metal clay, titanium, stained glass, leather, and related 2026 media.

Why it’s listed

This is a first-party lapidary / jewelry workshop program with printed 2026 week dates, a published Class Costs lodging/tuition table, registration deposit rules, a Wildacres campus location narrative, and a dated class catalog — not a scraped directory card and not Amazon / jewelry-mall retail.

Campus framing (About — checked 2026-09-16): Wildacres Retreat near Little Switzerland, North Carolina (Pompey’s Knob / Blue Ridge Parkway). Check-in for Wildacres: Monday afternoon. Registrar contact printed on Registration Info: Wildacres Registrar Jennah Bowman, phone (865) 321-7593; Assistant Registrar Linda Matvy, phone (865) 357-7917. Checks payable to SFMS Workshops.
2026 Federation weeks (home / Wildacres Classes — checked today): Week 1 — August 10–16, 2026; Week 2 — September 7–13, 2026.
Curriculum framing (home — checked today): Beading // Cabochons // Opals // Silver // Cold Connection // Chain // Much more… — week-long federation teaching, not a retail shop blur.
Sample 2026 Week 1 class titles (Wildacres Classes nav — checked today): All About Titanium; Bead Weaving Ropes; Capturing the Beauty of Nature in Metal Clay; Natural Dyeing; Silver Casting; Stained Glass Combination; Special Projects. Sample Week 2 titles: Fun with Leather Crafting; SouthWest Hand Stamped Metal & Leather Bracelet; Trash to Treasure. Sample lab/materials fees on class pages checked today: Silver Casting lab $50 (kits/tools/supplies; casting grain sold per gram) with estimated materials $150–$500; Special Projects lab $65 (prerequisite: previous metals class); Titanium page notes a class fee package ($120 total fee language on page) with lab fee line $1.
Class Costs / Wildacres accommodations & school fees (Class Costs — checked today; 2026 SFMS Workshops only): Student (shared room) $575; Commuter $375; Single Occupancy $880. Nonmembers add $50.00 to all tuition fees. Minimum non-refundable deposit $50 per person per class; remaining balance due one month before class (no reminders). Refunds at committee/director discretion; none once the workshop has started; $50 administrative fee retained if a refund is granted; no fee if a class is cancelled. Materials/lab fees charged by volunteer instructors are not part of workshop tuition. Registration Info also notes a 3.5% convenience fee on PayPal amounts above the $50 deposit.

Week dates, lodging dollars, deposits, lab fees, and class seats above are what the official SFMS Workshops pages showed on the check date. Catalog offerings change by year. Use the live Wildacres Classes, Class Costs, and Registration Info pages before treating any figure or seat as fixed.

Official URL

https://www.sfmsworkshops.org/

Wildacres Classes (2026 weeks & catalog): https://www.sfmsworkshops.org/wildacres-classes

Class Costs (lodging / tuition table): https://www.sfmsworkshops.org/class-costs

Registration Info (deposit & payment steps): https://www.sfmsworkshops.org/registration-info

About (Wildacres campus & priorities): https://www.sfmsworkshops.org/about

Week 1 registration: https://www.sfmsworkshops.org/wa1-reg-page

Week 2 registration: https://www.sfmsworkshops.org/wa2-reg-page

Southeast Federation (parent federation site linked from SFMS Workshops): https://www.southeastfed.org/

Location

Wildacres Retreat — North Carolina mountains near Little Switzerland, NC (Pompey’s Knob / Blue Ridge Parkway area; ~3,300 ft elevation per About). Federation Workshop Weeks August 10–16, 2026 and September 7–13, 2026. Exact lodging building assignment and driving directions: confirm on Wildacres Retreat materials linked from the SFMS Workshops About page.

This is a residential workshop / class campus address for week-long federation curriculum, not a jewelry retail counter and not a monthly gem-club meeting hall.

Notes

Category is Workshops. Week-long federation teaching weeks with published lodging/tuition packages and a class catalog (cabochons/lapidary/jewelry framing on the home page). Not a Clubs membership gem society and not a Suppliers equipment/rough shop.
Shared $575 / Commuter $375 / Single $880, $50 deposit, $50 nonmember add-on, and 2026 week dates are transcribed from official pages checked on 2026-09-16 and may change.
Optional logo not saved for this listing (Google Sites assets; no stable first-party badge file comparable to Wave 1 PNG badges).
Not affiliated with Lapidary Plaza.
No Lapidary Plaza contact, purchase, booking, or publication action was taken.

FAQ

Q: What does a Wildacres Federation week cost?
A: Class Costs page (checked 2026-09-16): Student shared room $575; Commuter $375; Single Occupancy $880. Nonmembers add $50 to tuition. $50 non-refundable deposit per person/class. Instructor lab/materials fees are separate. Confirm live Class Costs and the specific class page before registering.

Q: What subjects are taught?
A: Home page frames beading, cabochons, opals, silver, cold connection, chain, and more. Dated 2026 Week 1/Week 2 catalogs list titanium, bead weaving, metal clay, dyeing, silver casting, stained glass, special projects, leather, stamped metal, and related media. Confirm the live Wildacres Classes tree for the week you want.

Q: Is this a jewelry store or a local gem club?
A: No. SFMS Workshops at Wildacres is listed here as Workshops — week-long federation curriculum at a mountain retreat. It is not a retail jewelry shop and not a monthly membership club meeting. For club meetings, see Clubs; for equipment/rough mail-order, see Suppliers.