Calendar of Events
Upcoming events and things to do in Asheville, NC. Below is a list of events for festivals, concerts, art exhibitions, group meetups and more.
Interested in adding an event to our calendar? Please click the green “Post Your Event” button below.
It is with great excitement that we announce our opening schedule for 2020. We have not been able to reopen since March, when the Covid -19 pandemic hit and North Carolina shut down. Now the State of North Carolina is transitioning into Phase 2.5 of Governor Cooper’s phased reopening plan. Phase 2.5 allows museums to open at 50% capacity. This means the Swannanoa Valley Museum will be open starting Labor Day weekend. We will allow 10 visitors in the museum per hour. Opening hours are Thursday – Saturday from 10am – 5pm. Visitors can sign up on our website for a self-guided tour time or sign up at the museum. We are looking forward to seeing our visitors once more! To book a self-guided tour time click on this link. SVM Self-Guided Tour Reservation
COVID-19 Visiting Policy
Masks are required when entering the museum. This is for the safety of our visitors and our docents. Exceptions will be made according to ADA instructions. Visitors must make a reservation to visit the museum. Self Guided tour reservations are available Thursday – Saturday from 10am – 5pm. To make a reservation you can call (828) 669- 9566, register at the front desk, or click here.
ACCESSIBILITY
The first floor houses our traveling exhibit gallery and our second floor houses “Our Pathways” exhibit. The first and second floor are accessible by ADA standards. A lift is available to take visitors to the second floor.
Asheville Gallery of Art’s September show, “Natural Beauty,” features Elinor Bowman, known for her watercolor figures, and Olga Michelson, known for soft, ethereal landscapes. . You can also make arrangements for a private tour by emailing a request to [email protected]
We will discuss our feelings about the book, what we learned along with pre-made discussion questions.
Show everyone that you are an Arts Ally and help fund programs and services that support the entire local arts community.
+ Individual ($8.50/mo or $100/yr)
+ Dual ($17/mo or $200/yr)
+ Corporate ($500-$1,000/ yr)
Your membership funds programs and services that support the entire local arts community.
Advocacy
- Successfully advocated for Grassroots Arts Program grants to be used for operating support instead of programs this year
- Successfully advocated for nonprofits to be eligible for One Buncombe funding
- Worked closely with Arts NC and the NC Arts Council to support the arts at the state and local level
- Kept Asheville City Council and Buncombe County Commissioners informed of impacts to the arts sector
- Launched the #AVLArtsMatter campaign
- Launched the #WNCArtsMatter campaign
- Attended ongoing meetings of the Western Arts Agencies of NC, Asheville Area Arts Council Arts Advisory Council, Buncombe County Schools Arts Advisory Council, Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce Business Association Committee, and BCTDA’s Tourism Partner Organization Committee
- Leadership Asheville panelist- Asheville Open for Business? – Next Steps (6/24)
- Grants Presentation for the Asheville African American Business Association (8/18)
- Asheville Rotary Club speaker- State of the Arts Sector (8/27)
Coming soon
- Keynote speaker for Olli’s Arts Day- State of the Art Sector (11/3)
The 38th Annual Asheville Quilt Show! Sept.25 & 26, 9-5; Sept. 27, 10-4:30.
Over 300 quilts from around the country. Over $11,000 in prize money, 25 Vendors, Demonstrations, Gift Shop, Silent Auction, Special Exhibits, Kids Sewing Station, Quilts for Sale, Opportunity Quilt, Food on Site. Handicap accessible, free parking.
Craft Futures Fund
The Craft Futures Fund will support craft communities throughout the United States and their creative responses to COVID-19. These one-time, unrestricted grants of $5,000 will be disbursed to craft-based education projects that seed resilience, foster community, and amplify impact.
This activity can be done using common materials found in your home. But we’ve also constructed kits that are available for pick-up at the Smith-McDowell House Museum at 283 Victoria Road. Fill out the form below to reserve a kit. First come, first served.
Now available as Video On Demand!
All tickets are $25.00 plus taxes and fees and benefit ACT.
Asheville Community Theatre’s annual fundraiser Costume Drama: A Fashion Show is a fashion show where designers create garments from unconventional materials. Twelve designers competed in this year’s challenge, four were chosen as category winners – and one was named the Best in Show winner.
As in years past, Best in Show will receive a $500 prize, and the other 3 winners will each receive a $250 prize. Winners are revealed at the end of the broadcast!
Costume Drama: A Fashion Show originally aired on Saturday, August 8, 2020. Video On Demand of this show will be available for purchase until September 30, 2020 at 11:59 pm.
Apply to become a Featured Artist
https://sandhillartists.com/featured-artists/
28806, 28715, 28728, 28716, and 28810 are the eligible zip codes for entry.
| The Omni Grove Park Inn is revolutionizing the National Gingerbread House Competition – the largest in the world! – for the 2020 holiday season to ensure that the competition’s legacy built on design, innovation and tradition continues safely for future generations.
The competition will continue virtually without a public display of Gingerbread Houses at the historic hotel due to social distancing requirements surrounding COVID-19. Considering this, the hotel is generating engaging experiences in place of a physical display, including socially distanced alternatives for hotel guests and fans at-home to view the Gingerbread finalists, to be announced in the coming weeks. Gingerbread lovers of all ages and skillsets are encouraged to enter the competition beginning August 26, 2020 and dream up the ultimate confectionary creation for the chance to win cash and prizes. A renowned group of food, arts and media professionals – including Food Network star Carla Hall – will formally judge the Gingerbread designs both virtually and in-person. Additionally, in lieu of an in-person August Gingerbread Workshop, the hotel will release a Digital Gingerbread Tool Kit including tips and tricks on how to digitally showcase their creations as well as the rules for entry in the new competition format. |
| Please visit The Omni Grove Park Inn’s website for competition updates:
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The Bird Who Sang Beethoven is a children’s book in rhyme about a baby bird born in the concert hall at the Brevard Music Center just as Beethoven’s Fifth is being played and he thinks that is what birds sing! His offspring continue the tune for generations and spread it far and wide!
About the Author: Harper Howze is a freshman at Sumner Academy in Kansas City, Kansas, and an aspiring writer. This is his first published work. Lucille Chaveas, his co-author and “Grand” (mother), is a Brevard resident and avid supporter of the Brevard Music Center.
Price: $12.00
Authors: Harper Howze, Lucille Chaveas
Illustrator: Megan Robertson
“As we continue to press into Hope, we continue to hear from supporters, and the message is loud and clear – they also feel the Hope connected to our mission, and want to keep supporting us.” Discovering new ways to sustain The Village Potters Clay Center during this season is the primary job now for the resident potters at TVPCC. As Sarah continues to apply for loans and grants, other potters are choosing hope each day by taking the torch from her to carry on the mission with a second “chapter” of Vessels of Hope.
The Village Potters are Sarah Wells Rolland, George Rolland, Judi Harwood, Lori Theriault, Julia Mann, Christine Henry, and Tori Motyl. They comprise an intentional Collective of potters who share a commitment to nurture creative exploration through education, experience, and community. The Village Potters includes a fine craft gallery, a Teaching Center offering ongoing classes in wheel and hand building for adults, an Advanced Ceramic Studies Program, and online demonstration and workshops. The Village Potters Clay Center is an educational member of The Craft Guild of the Southern Highlands, and is an official distributor for Laguna Clays.
Art on Main features fine art and fine craft by gathering distinctive local artists, as well as highly qualified artists from the southeast region of the U.S. More than 100 juried artists sell fine art paintings, in addition to works in clay, metal, wood, fiber, photography, jewelry, etc. For more information call 828-693-8504.
Art on Main features fine art and fine craft by gathering distinctive local artists, as well as highly qualified artists from the southeast region of the U.S. More than 100 juried artists sell fine art paintings, in addition to works in clay, metal, wood, fiber, photography, jewelry, etc. For more information call 828-693-8504.
Best of Show
“Between Heaven and Earth”
Audra Rasnake
Asheville Quilt Show. Free Parking!
The 38th Annual Asheville Quilt Show! Sept. 25 & 26, 9-5; Sept. 27, 10-4:30. Over 300 quilts from around the country. Over $11,000 in prize money. 25 Vendors, Demonstrations, Gift shop, Silent Auction, Special Exhibits, Kids Sewing Station, Quilts for Sale, Opportunity Quilt, Food on Site. Handicap Accessible, Free Parking.
Ready for a change of scene, but not ready to travel in the age of COVID-19? The library has just what you need. Check out Passport Around the World. Call BCPL’s Ask a Librarian line (828) 250-4700, email [email protected], or call or email your local library, and tell us where you would like to virtually visit. Your librarian will select 5-10 items about your destination of choice, anything from documentaries, folktales, and cookbooks to travel guides, poetry, and children’s books. We will notify you when your items are ready. Pick up your Passport bundle at the curbside pickup location of your choice. Bon Voyage!
Era of Ignition by Amber Tamblyn. Free.
2020 A YEAR OF COVID, TURMOIL, UNCERTAINTIES, HEROES & HOPE
The year 2020 for better or worse will go down in American history as a pivotal moment. It has been often said that history is written for and by the victors.
But nowadays in a world overwhelmed with 2-second tweets, forgettable social media, conspiracy theories and online rages; modern history seems to be written by the distracted, the delusional and the destructive.
Mountain Made, a local arts & crafts boutique in Grove Arcade, is taking a different approach. We are creating a public history journal of poetry, personal musing, thoughtful insights and yes, rants on “The Year 2020”. They could be funny or serious.
We have setup two interactive art stations inside the gallery:
* The first one is where you can quickly put down your thoughts on some blank paper (the original “i-pad”) and leave it with us.
* The other is a shared, public painting series where you can lay brush to canvas if you are more a visual person.
Hello Queer Loves!
Welcome to our first queer book club with the book Belonging by Toko-pa Turner.
We’ll begin with introductions and shared group agreements, and then move into a discussion on on the first five chapters with a focus on chapters 4 (False Belonging) and 5 (The Inner Marriage).
The group will be facilitated by Stacia Thompson and Jodi McLaren. Stacia is a psychotherapist who loves spirituality and earth magick. Jodi McLaren is a singer-songwriter and music therapist who dance and express big feelings.
We welcome all queer-identified folks to join for a meaningful inviting conversation at Woodfin Riverside Park at the octagon tables. If it rains we will meet under the open shelter.
We will be spaced appropriately, please bring/wear masks and do not come if you’ve been exposed to covid-19.
Now available as Video On Demand!
All tickets are $25.00 plus taxes and fees and benefit ACT.
Asheville Community Theatre’s annual fundraiser Costume Drama: A Fashion Show is a fashion show where designers create garments from unconventional materials. Twelve designers competed in this year’s challenge, four were chosen as category winners – and one was named the Best in Show winner.
As in years past, Best in Show will receive a $500 prize, and the other 3 winners will each receive a $250 prize. Winners are revealed at the end of the broadcast!
Costume Drama: A Fashion Show originally aired on Saturday, August 8, 2020. Video On Demand of this show will be available for purchase until September 30, 2020 at 11:59 pm.
2020 A YEAR OF COVID, TURMOIL, UNCERTAINTIES, HEROES & HOPE
The year 2020 for better or worse will go down in American history as a pivotal moment. It has been often said that history is written for and by the victors.
But nowadays in a world overwhelmed with 2-second tweets, forgettable social media, conspiracy theories and online rages; modern history seems to be written by the distracted, the delusional and the destructive.
Mountain Made, a local arts & crafts boutique in Grove Arcade, is taking a different approach. We are creating a public history journal of poetry, personal musing, thoughtful insights and yes, rants on “The Year 2020”. They could be funny or serious.
We have setup two interactive art stations inside the gallery:
* The first one is where you can quickly put down your thoughts on some blank paper (the original “i-pad”) and leave it with us.
* The other is a shared, public painting series where you can lay brush to canvas if you are more a visual person.
Instructor: Paul Gisondo
Mondays, 11am – 1:30pm
August 31st – Spetember 28th
Create dramatic wheel thrown forms with Raku in mind and in preparation for an incendiary day of hand-on firing with Raku Guru Paul Gisondo. Students will learn faceting and how to create trapped air forms, as well as how to throw towering vases in 2 parts. We will use tape and wax resist design techniques and glaze our work with a variety of crackle, iridescent luster and matte glazes. For adventurous intermediate (and above) wheel throwers.
Level: Intermediate and Advanced
Tuition: $200 + $35 Lab Fee
This club will meet virtually via zoom during the Covid-19 pandemic. Please email [email protected] for the link to join!
Join host and Malaprop’s Bookseller Allison Beatty to dive into the wreck of the wily and wonderful world of sci-fi, weird fiction, speculative fiction, literary horror, and disturbing fiction with a healthy mix of underappreciated classic and contemporary books. The club normally meets at Malaprop’s on the last Monday of every month at 7:00pm.
Click here to see a full schedule of what the club is reading. Club attendees get 10% off the book at Malaprop’s!
4 state exhibit – SC, NC, TN, GA
The entries have been chosen for this year’s annual juried exhibition. Thank you to all who entered.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there will not be an awards reception this year, but we will make the awards announcements online at 11:00am on 26 September.
The exhibit can be viewed in our Solomon Gallery 15 September – 17 October, during normal business hours.
Tues – Sat 10am – 4pm
2020 A YEAR OF COVID, TURMOIL, UNCERTAINTIES, HEROES & HOPE
The year 2020 for better or worse will go down in American history as a pivotal moment. It has been often said that history is written for and by the victors.
But nowadays in a world overwhelmed with 2-second tweets, forgettable social media, conspiracy theories and online rages; modern history seems to be written by the distracted, the delusional and the destructive.
Mountain Made, a local arts & crafts boutique in Grove Arcade, is taking a different approach. We are creating a public history journal of poetry, personal musing, thoughtful insights and yes, rants on “The Year 2020”. They could be funny or serious.
We have setup two interactive art stations inside the gallery:
* The first one is where you can quickly put down your thoughts on some blank paper (the original “i-pad”) and leave it with us.
* The other is a shared, public painting series where you can lay brush to canvas if you are more a visual person.
Instructor: Paige Janeri
Ages 8-12
Tuesdays, 4 – 6pm
September 1st – September 29th
The process of working with clay is fun, creative, and expressive! “Muddy Makers” is great for students looking to meet other creative kids, while shaping, sculpting, and decorating projects you can take home and use. We will also get a chance to work on the potter’s wheel! Join Paige on this journey to learn the basics of clay, make friends, and have fun in the studio!
Tuition: $225
$25 discount for siblings enrolled in the same class. Discount code “claycamp25”