Register so we can reach out and contact you as we prepare for our first meeting! Books will be distributed at the first meeting. This book club is for adults 18+.

Meetings will be on Tuesday evenings from 5:30-7pm (meeting location will be emailed once attendance is finalized)

Below are all the meeting dates:
December 5th
December 12th
December 19th
Skipping December 26th
January 2nd
January 9th
January 16th
Skipping January 22nd
January 30th

Our VOICE will be hosting a book club beginning this winter! Fill out the form to sign up as we have a limited amount of space!. Our first book selection will be Creating Consent Culture by Erica Scott and Marcia Baczynski. Books will be distributed at the first meeting and bus passes will be provided. This club will be offered in English, but we are looking to provide more opportunities in the future!

Books will be distributed at the first meeting. This book club is for adults 18+.

Meetings will be on Tuesday evenings from 5:30-7pm (meeting location will be emailed once attendance is finalized)

Below are all the meeting dates:
December 5th
December 12th
December 19th
Skipping December 26th
January 2nd
January 9th
January 16th
Skipping January 22nd
January 30th

Exhibition and Public Programming

Vera B. Williams, an award-winning author and illustrator of children’s books, started making pictures almost as soon as she could walk. She studied at Black Mountain College in a time where summer institutes were held with classes taught by John Cage and Merce Cunningham. Williams studied under the Bauhaus luminary Josef Albers and went on to make art for the rest of her life. At the time of her death, The New York Times wrote: “Her illustrations, known for bold colors and a style reminiscent of folk art, were praised by reviewers for their great tenderness and crackling vitality.” Despite numerous awards and recognition for her children’s books, much of her wider life and work remains unexplored. This retrospective will showcase the complete range of Williams’ life and work. It will highlight her time at Black Mountain College, her political activism, and her establishment, with Paul Williams, of an influential yet little-known artist community, in addition to her work as an author and illustrator.

Author and illustrator of 17 children’s books, including Caldecott medal winner, A Chair for My Mother, Vera B. Williams always had a passion for the arts. Williams grew up in the Bronx, NY, and in 1936, when she was nine years old, one of her paintings, called Yentas, opens a new window, was included in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. While Williams is widely known for her children’s books today, this exhibition’s expansive scope highlights unexplored aspects of her artistic practice and eight decades of life. From groundbreaking, powerful covers for Liberation Magazine, to Peace calendar collaborations with writer activist Grace Paley, to scenic sketches for Julian Beck and Judith Malina’s Living Theater, to hundreds of late life “Aging and Illness” cartoons sketches and doodles, Vera never sat still.

Williams arrived at Black Mountain College in 1945. While there, she embraced all aspects of living, working, and learning in the intensely creative college community. She was at BMC during a particularly fertile period, which allowed her to study with faculty members Buckminster Fuller and Josef Albers, and to participate in the famed summer sessions with John Cage, Merce Cunningham, M.C. Richards, and Robert Rauschenberg. In 1948, she graduated with Josef Albers as her advisor and sculptor Richard Lippold as her outside examiner. Forever one of the College’s shining stars, Vera graduated from BMC with just six semesters of coursework, at only twenty-one years old. She continued to visit BMC for years afterward, staying deeply involved with the artistic community that BMC incubated.

Anticipating the eventual closure of BMC, Williams, alongside her husband Paul Williams and a group of influential former BMC figures, founded The Gate Hill Cooperative Artists community located 30 miles north of NYC on the outskirts of Stony Point, NY. The Gate Hill Cooperative, also known as The Land, became an outcropping of Black Mountain College’s experimental ethos. Students and faculty including John Cage, M.C. Richards, David Tudor, Karen Karnes, David Weinrib, Stan VanDerBeek, and Patsy Lynch Wood shaped Gate Hill as founding members of the community. Vera B. Williams raised her three children at Gate Hill while continuing to make work.

The early Gate Hill era represented an especially creative phase for the BMC group. For Williams, this period saw the creation of 76 covers for Liberation Magazine, a radical, groundbreaking publication. This exhibition will feature some of Williams’ most powerful Liberation covers including a design for the June 1963 edition, which contained the first full publication of MLK’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Williams’ activism work continued throughout her life. As president of PEN’s Children Committee and member of The War Resisters league, she created a wide range of political and educational posters and journal covers. Williams protested the war in Vietnam and nuclear proliferation while supporting women’s causes and racial equality. In 1981, Williams was arrested and spent a month in a federal prison on charges stemming from her political activism.

In her late 40’s, Williams embarked in earnest on her career as a children’s book author and illustrator, a career which garnered the NY Public Library’s recognition of A Chair for My Mother as one of the greatest 100 children’s books of all time. Infinitely curious and always a wanderer at heart, Williams’ personal life was as expansive as her art. In addition to her prolific picture making, Williams started and helped run a Summerhill-based alternative school, canoed the Yukon, and lived alone on a houseboat in Vancouver Harbor. She helped to organize and attended dozens of political demonstrations throughout her adult life.

Her books won many awards including the Caldecott Medal Honor Book for A Chair for My Mother in 1983, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award– Fiction category– for Scooter in 1994, the Jane Addams Honor for Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart in 2002, and the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature in 2009. Her books reflected her values, emphasizing love, compassion, kindness, joy, strength, individuality, and courage.

Images:

Cover of Vera B. Williams’ A Chair for My Mother, published in 1982.

Vera B. Williams, Cover for Liberation Magazine, November 1958.

Join us at the distillery for a fun and creative night of painting. An instructor with Crafted Clarity Sip & Paint will walk you through the steps to create your very own masterpiece.

Each ticket holder will receive a prepared (16×20”) canvas with a pre-sketched drawing and all painting materials at the start of the class.

We ask that each guest makes at least one drink purchase during the event to help support the venue.

Join chef Sergio Castro for an elegant French dinner paired with specially curated French wines. The evening begins with a charcuterie spread and Champagne followed by four courses ranging from lobster bisque to pots de crème.

To reserve your spot please call 828.500.1450 or email [email protected]

Every Wednesday Trivia Night

Exhibition and Public Programming

Vera B. Williams, an award-winning author and illustrator of children’s books, started making pictures almost as soon as she could walk. She studied at Black Mountain College in a time where summer institutes were held with classes taught by John Cage and Merce Cunningham. Williams studied under the Bauhaus luminary Josef Albers and went on to make art for the rest of her life. At the time of her death, The New York Times wrote: “Her illustrations, known for bold colors and a style reminiscent of folk art, were praised by reviewers for their great tenderness and crackling vitality.” Despite numerous awards and recognition for her children’s books, much of her wider life and work remains unexplored. This retrospective will showcase the complete range of Williams’ life and work. It will highlight her time at Black Mountain College, her political activism, and her establishment, with Paul Williams, of an influential yet little-known artist community, in addition to her work as an author and illustrator.

Author and illustrator of 17 children’s books, including Caldecott medal winner, A Chair for My Mother, Vera B. Williams always had a passion for the arts. Williams grew up in the Bronx, NY, and in 1936, when she was nine years old, one of her paintings, called Yentas, opens a new window, was included in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. While Williams is widely known for her children’s books today, this exhibition’s expansive scope highlights unexplored aspects of her artistic practice and eight decades of life. From groundbreaking, powerful covers for Liberation Magazine, to Peace calendar collaborations with writer activist Grace Paley, to scenic sketches for Julian Beck and Judith Malina’s Living Theater, to hundreds of late life “Aging and Illness” cartoons sketches and doodles, Vera never sat still.

Williams arrived at Black Mountain College in 1945. While there, she embraced all aspects of living, working, and learning in the intensely creative college community. She was at BMC during a particularly fertile period, which allowed her to study with faculty members Buckminster Fuller and Josef Albers, and to participate in the famed summer sessions with John Cage, Merce Cunningham, M.C. Richards, and Robert Rauschenberg. In 1948, she graduated with Josef Albers as her advisor and sculptor Richard Lippold as her outside examiner. Forever one of the College’s shining stars, Vera graduated from BMC with just six semesters of coursework, at only twenty-one years old. She continued to visit BMC for years afterward, staying deeply involved with the artistic community that BMC incubated.

Anticipating the eventual closure of BMC, Williams, alongside her husband Paul Williams and a group of influential former BMC figures, founded The Gate Hill Cooperative Artists community located 30 miles north of NYC on the outskirts of Stony Point, NY. The Gate Hill Cooperative, also known as The Land, became an outcropping of Black Mountain College’s experimental ethos. Students and faculty including John Cage, M.C. Richards, David Tudor, Karen Karnes, David Weinrib, Stan VanDerBeek, and Patsy Lynch Wood shaped Gate Hill as founding members of the community. Vera B. Williams raised her three children at Gate Hill while continuing to make work.

The early Gate Hill era represented an especially creative phase for the BMC group. For Williams, this period saw the creation of 76 covers for Liberation Magazine, a radical, groundbreaking publication. This exhibition will feature some of Williams’ most powerful Liberation covers including a design for the June 1963 edition, which contained the first full publication of MLK’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Williams’ activism work continued throughout her life. As president of PEN’s Children Committee and member of The War Resisters league, she created a wide range of political and educational posters and journal covers. Williams protested the war in Vietnam and nuclear proliferation while supporting women’s causes and racial equality. In 1981, Williams was arrested and spent a month in a federal prison on charges stemming from her political activism.

In her late 40’s, Williams embarked in earnest on her career as a children’s book author and illustrator, a career which garnered the NY Public Library’s recognition of A Chair for My Mother as one of the greatest 100 children’s books of all time. Infinitely curious and always a wanderer at heart, Williams’ personal life was as expansive as her art. In addition to her prolific picture making, Williams started and helped run a Summerhill-based alternative school, canoed the Yukon, and lived alone on a houseboat in Vancouver Harbor. She helped to organize and attended dozens of political demonstrations throughout her adult life.

Her books won many awards including the Caldecott Medal Honor Book for A Chair for My Mother in 1983, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award– Fiction category– for Scooter in 1994, the Jane Addams Honor for Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart in 2002, and the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature in 2009. Her books reflected her values, emphasizing love, compassion, kindness, joy, strength, individuality, and courage.

Images:

Cover of Vera B. Williams’ A Chair for My Mother, published in 1982.

Vera B. Williams, Cover for Liberation Magazine, November 1958.

Taste of Asheville is presented by Cheney Brothers, with Sponsor/VIP Hour brought to you by Performance Foodservice.

Exhibition and Public Programming

Vera B. Williams, an award-winning author and illustrator of children’s books, started making pictures almost as soon as she could walk. She studied at Black Mountain College in a time where summer institutes were held with classes taught by John Cage and Merce Cunningham. Williams studied under the Bauhaus luminary Josef Albers and went on to make art for the rest of her life. At the time of her death, The New York Times wrote: “Her illustrations, known for bold colors and a style reminiscent of folk art, were praised by reviewers for their great tenderness and crackling vitality.” Despite numerous awards and recognition for her children’s books, much of her wider life and work remains unexplored. This retrospective will showcase the complete range of Williams’ life and work. It will highlight her time at Black Mountain College, her political activism, and her establishment, with Paul Williams, of an influential yet little-known artist community, in addition to her work as an author and illustrator.

Author and illustrator of 17 children’s books, including Caldecott medal winner, A Chair for My Mother, Vera B. Williams always had a passion for the arts. Williams grew up in the Bronx, NY, and in 1936, when she was nine years old, one of her paintings, called Yentas, opens a new window, was included in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. While Williams is widely known for her children’s books today, this exhibition’s expansive scope highlights unexplored aspects of her artistic practice and eight decades of life. From groundbreaking, powerful covers for Liberation Magazine, to Peace calendar collaborations with writer activist Grace Paley, to scenic sketches for Julian Beck and Judith Malina’s Living Theater, to hundreds of late life “Aging and Illness” cartoons sketches and doodles, Vera never sat still.

Williams arrived at Black Mountain College in 1945. While there, she embraced all aspects of living, working, and learning in the intensely creative college community. She was at BMC during a particularly fertile period, which allowed her to study with faculty members Buckminster Fuller and Josef Albers, and to participate in the famed summer sessions with John Cage, Merce Cunningham, M.C. Richards, and Robert Rauschenberg. In 1948, she graduated with Josef Albers as her advisor and sculptor Richard Lippold as her outside examiner. Forever one of the College’s shining stars, Vera graduated from BMC with just six semesters of coursework, at only twenty-one years old. She continued to visit BMC for years afterward, staying deeply involved with the artistic community that BMC incubated.

Anticipating the eventual closure of BMC, Williams, alongside her husband Paul Williams and a group of influential former BMC figures, founded The Gate Hill Cooperative Artists community located 30 miles north of NYC on the outskirts of Stony Point, NY. The Gate Hill Cooperative, also known as The Land, became an outcropping of Black Mountain College’s experimental ethos. Students and faculty including John Cage, M.C. Richards, David Tudor, Karen Karnes, David Weinrib, Stan VanDerBeek, and Patsy Lynch Wood shaped Gate Hill as founding members of the community. Vera B. Williams raised her three children at Gate Hill while continuing to make work.

The early Gate Hill era represented an especially creative phase for the BMC group. For Williams, this period saw the creation of 76 covers for Liberation Magazine, a radical, groundbreaking publication. This exhibition will feature some of Williams’ most powerful Liberation covers including a design for the June 1963 edition, which contained the first full publication of MLK’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Williams’ activism work continued throughout her life. As president of PEN’s Children Committee and member of The War Resisters league, she created a wide range of political and educational posters and journal covers. Williams protested the war in Vietnam and nuclear proliferation while supporting women’s causes and racial equality. In 1981, Williams was arrested and spent a month in a federal prison on charges stemming from her political activism.

In her late 40’s, Williams embarked in earnest on her career as a children’s book author and illustrator, a career which garnered the NY Public Library’s recognition of A Chair for My Mother as one of the greatest 100 children’s books of all time. Infinitely curious and always a wanderer at heart, Williams’ personal life was as expansive as her art. In addition to her prolific picture making, Williams started and helped run a Summerhill-based alternative school, canoed the Yukon, and lived alone on a houseboat in Vancouver Harbor. She helped to organize and attended dozens of political demonstrations throughout her adult life.

Her books won many awards including the Caldecott Medal Honor Book for A Chair for My Mother in 1983, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award– Fiction category– for Scooter in 1994, the Jane Addams Honor for Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart in 2002, and the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature in 2009. Her books reflected her values, emphasizing love, compassion, kindness, joy, strength, individuality, and courage.

Images:

Cover of Vera B. Williams’ A Chair for My Mother, published in 1982.

Vera B. Williams, Cover for Liberation Magazine, November 1958.

Plan to collaborate with other musicians at Sideways Farm & Brewery in Etowah. Bring your instruments and voices and enjoy making music and networking with other artists, while enjoying the beautiful scenery. Food truck is on site and beverages available for purchase from Sideways (small
batch craft beers, hard jun, ciders, wine, and non alcoholic drinks). Family, fans, friends, and leashed dogs are all welcome!
During winter months enjoy playing under the covered, sheltered, heated porch! And during the summer months enjoy
collaborating in the fields, on the stage, or under the patio

Every Friday Modelface Comedy brings you the best comedians from all over the country. This week we bring you Josh Bates and a gaggle of Charleston’s best comics!

Josh Bates is a Colorado native and retired military veteran who somehow ended up in Charleston, SC. His 2023 album, Pancake Carpet, debuted as the number 1 comedy album on Apple and Billboard. He has performed with the likes of Sean Patton, Shane Torres and Sam Tallent. Josh hosts Lowcountry Lowlifes Podcast with the Helium Podcast Network and owns Charlestons only soon to be comedy club, Wits End. He also is a fan of cheese.

Featuring
Sara Nichols, Hagan Ragland and Sarah Hartmann

ages 18+
Doors at 6:30, show at 7pm

Tickets $15 advance, $18 day of

Beginning in January 2024, ASAP (Appalachian
Sustainable Agriculture Project) will partner with Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture and MountainWise
to expand Double SNAP for Fruits and Vegetables programs to more farmers markets, farmstands,
and groceries in Western North Carolina. This group has established the WNC Double SNAP Network
in order to bring together existing programs and expand to new sites, making SNAP incentives more
accessible throughout the region.
SNAP programs that center local food and farms can significantly improve individual and community
health. They make fresh fruits and vegetables more accessible, keep food dollars in the local
economy, and connect participants with positive food and social environments in their communities.
“ASAP, Mountainwise, and Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture currently operate successful SNAP
incentive programs at 26 sites, which connect participants with fresh food and farms in their
communities,” said Mike McCreary, ASAP’s Farmers Market Program Manager. “By combining efforts
and resources, we’ll not only be able to deepen the impact of our existing programs, but also create
adaptive programs that meet the needs of communities that don’t currently have access.”

The first phase of the project focuses on strengthening existing programs across sites operating
January through March, including:

● Asheville City Winter Market, 52 N. Market St., Saturdays, 10 a.m.–1 p.m.
● Winter King Street Market, 252 Poplar Grove Rd., Saturdays, 10 a.m.–1 p.m.
● Columbus Winter Market, 35 Locust St., 1st and 3rd Saturdays, 10 a.m.–1 p.m.
● High Country Food Hub, 252 Poplar Grove Rd., Boone, online ordering with Wednesday pick-up,
12–6:30 p.m.
● Jackson County Winter Farmers Market, 110 Railroad Ave., Sylva, 10 a.m.–1 p.m.
● Jarrett Brothers IGA, 191 Main St., Rosman, daily, 7 a.m.–9 p.m.
● North Asheville Tailgate Market, 275 Edgewood Rd., Saturdays, 10 a.m.–1 p.m.
● River Arts District Farmers Market, 350 Riverside Dr., Asheville, 3–5:30 p.m.
● Rutherford County Winter Farmers Market, 146 North Main St., Rutherfordton, 1st and 3rd
Saturdays, 10 a.m.–1 p.m.
● Saluda Winter Market, 64 Greenville St., 2nd and 4th Saturdays, 10 a.m.–1 p.m.
● Transylvania Farmers Market, 200 E. Main St., Brevard, Saturdays, 10 a.m.–12 p.m.
● Weaverville Tailgate Market, 60 Lakeshore Dr., Saturdays, 3–6 p.m

Beginning in January 2024, ASAP (Appalachian
Sustainable Agriculture Project) will partner with Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture and MountainWise
to expand Double SNAP for Fruits and Vegetables programs to more farmers markets, farmstands,
and groceries in Western North Carolina. This group has established the WNC Double SNAP Network
in order to bring together existing programs and expand to new sites, making SNAP incentives more
accessible throughout the region.
SNAP programs that center local food and farms can significantly improve individual and community
health. They make fresh fruits and vegetables more accessible, keep food dollars in the local
economy, and connect participants with positive food and social environments in their communities.
“ASAP, Mountainwise, and Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture currently operate successful SNAP
incentive programs at 26 sites, which connect participants with fresh food and farms in their
communities,” said Mike McCreary, ASAP’s Farmers Market Program Manager. “By combining efforts
and resources, we’ll not only be able to deepen the impact of our existing programs, but also create
adaptive programs that meet the needs of communities that don’t currently have access.”

The first phase of the project focuses on strengthening existing programs across sites operating
January through March, including:

● Asheville City Winter Market, 52 N. Market St., Saturdays, 10 a.m.–1 p.m.
● Winter King Street Market, 252 Poplar Grove Rd., Saturdays, 10 a.m.–1 p.m.
● Columbus Winter Market, 35 Locust St., 1st and 3rd Saturdays, 10 a.m.–1 p.m.
● High Country Food Hub, 252 Poplar Grove Rd., Boone, online ordering with Wednesday pick-up,
12–6:30 p.m.
● Jackson County Winter Farmers Market, 110 Railroad Ave., Sylva, 10 a.m.–1 p.m.
● Jarrett Brothers IGA, 191 Main St., Rosman, daily, 7 a.m.–9 p.m.
● North Asheville Tailgate Market, 275 Edgewood Rd., Saturdays, 10 a.m.–1 p.m.
● River Arts District Farmers Market, 350 Riverside Dr., Asheville, 3–5:30 p.m.
● Rutherford County Winter Farmers Market, 146 North Main St., Rutherfordton, 1st and 3rd
Saturdays, 10 a.m.–1 p.m.
● Saluda Winter Market, 64 Greenville St., 2nd and 4th Saturdays, 10 a.m.–1 p.m.
● Transylvania Farmers Market, 200 E. Main St., Brevard, Saturdays, 10 a.m.–12 p.m.
● Weaverville Tailgate Market, 60 Lakeshore Dr., Saturdays, 3–6 p.m.

Exhibition and Public Programming

Vera B. Williams, an award-winning author and illustrator of children’s books, started making pictures almost as soon as she could walk. She studied at Black Mountain College in a time where summer institutes were held with classes taught by John Cage and Merce Cunningham. Williams studied under the Bauhaus luminary Josef Albers and went on to make art for the rest of her life. At the time of her death, The New York Times wrote: “Her illustrations, known for bold colors and a style reminiscent of folk art, were praised by reviewers for their great tenderness and crackling vitality.” Despite numerous awards and recognition for her children’s books, much of her wider life and work remains unexplored. This retrospective will showcase the complete range of Williams’ life and work. It will highlight her time at Black Mountain College, her political activism, and her establishment, with Paul Williams, of an influential yet little-known artist community, in addition to her work as an author and illustrator.

Author and illustrator of 17 children’s books, including Caldecott medal winner, A Chair for My Mother, Vera B. Williams always had a passion for the arts. Williams grew up in the Bronx, NY, and in 1936, when she was nine years old, one of her paintings, called Yentas, opens a new window, was included in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. While Williams is widely known for her children’s books today, this exhibition’s expansive scope highlights unexplored aspects of her artistic practice and eight decades of life. From groundbreaking, powerful covers for Liberation Magazine, to Peace calendar collaborations with writer activist Grace Paley, to scenic sketches for Julian Beck and Judith Malina’s Living Theater, to hundreds of late life “Aging and Illness” cartoons sketches and doodles, Vera never sat still.

Williams arrived at Black Mountain College in 1945. While there, she embraced all aspects of living, working, and learning in the intensely creative college community. She was at BMC during a particularly fertile period, which allowed her to study with faculty members Buckminster Fuller and Josef Albers, and to participate in the famed summer sessions with John Cage, Merce Cunningham, M.C. Richards, and Robert Rauschenberg. In 1948, she graduated with Josef Albers as her advisor and sculptor Richard Lippold as her outside examiner. Forever one of the College’s shining stars, Vera graduated from BMC with just six semesters of coursework, at only twenty-one years old. She continued to visit BMC for years afterward, staying deeply involved with the artistic community that BMC incubated.

Anticipating the eventual closure of BMC, Williams, alongside her husband Paul Williams and a group of influential former BMC figures, founded The Gate Hill Cooperative Artists community located 30 miles north of NYC on the outskirts of Stony Point, NY. The Gate Hill Cooperative, also known as The Land, became an outcropping of Black Mountain College’s experimental ethos. Students and faculty including John Cage, M.C. Richards, David Tudor, Karen Karnes, David Weinrib, Stan VanDerBeek, and Patsy Lynch Wood shaped Gate Hill as founding members of the community. Vera B. Williams raised her three children at Gate Hill while continuing to make work.

The early Gate Hill era represented an especially creative phase for the BMC group. For Williams, this period saw the creation of 76 covers for Liberation Magazine, a radical, groundbreaking publication. This exhibition will feature some of Williams’ most powerful Liberation covers including a design for the June 1963 edition, which contained the first full publication of MLK’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Williams’ activism work continued throughout her life. As president of PEN’s Children Committee and member of The War Resisters league, she created a wide range of political and educational posters and journal covers. Williams protested the war in Vietnam and nuclear proliferation while supporting women’s causes and racial equality. In 1981, Williams was arrested and spent a month in a federal prison on charges stemming from her political activism.

In her late 40’s, Williams embarked in earnest on her career as a children’s book author and illustrator, a career which garnered the NY Public Library’s recognition of A Chair for My Mother as one of the greatest 100 children’s books of all time. Infinitely curious and always a wanderer at heart, Williams’ personal life was as expansive as her art. In addition to her prolific picture making, Williams started and helped run a Summerhill-based alternative school, canoed the Yukon, and lived alone on a houseboat in Vancouver Harbor. She helped to organize and attended dozens of political demonstrations throughout her adult life.

Her books won many awards including the Caldecott Medal Honor Book for A Chair for My Mother in 1983, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award– Fiction category– for Scooter in 1994, the Jane Addams Honor for Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart in 2002, and the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature in 2009. Her books reflected her values, emphasizing love, compassion, kindness, joy, strength, individuality, and courage.

Images:

Cover of Vera B. Williams’ A Chair for My Mother, published in 1982.

Vera B. Williams, Cover for Liberation Magazine, November 1958.

Join us Saturday January 27th for our Second annual WINTERFEST festival! An all day extravaganza hosted by the Warriors Of Ash and Fae Nectar, this exciting Axe & Sword Fighting Event will be accompanied by a roaring bonfire, working blacksmiths, live music, axe throwing, pony rides, and a village of Artisans from lands near and far.

Liven up the quiet winter months by watching some authentic medieval combat with the Warriors of Ash in our tournament arena. Or try your hand at axe throwing while you enjoy the mystical battle music of Chris Welsh and his Sun and Moon Dance band. And don’t forget to browse our Artisan Village which features live blacksmithing demos, handmade jewelry, leathercraft, fantasy garb, and more!

Artisan Market – 11am to 5pm
Sword Fighting & Viking Battle Music – 12pm, 2pm, and 4pm

Our festive mead hall will be serving delicious mead and cider aplenty, beer, hot cocoa, and delicious food options including turkey legs and Irish stew!

Beginning in January 2024, ASAP (Appalachian
Sustainable Agriculture Project) will partner with Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture and MountainWise
to expand Double SNAP for Fruits and Vegetables programs to more farmers markets, farmstands,
and groceries in Western North Carolina. This group has established the WNC Double SNAP Network
in order to bring together existing programs and expand to new sites, making SNAP incentives more
accessible throughout the region.
SNAP programs that center local food and farms can significantly improve individual and community
health. They make fresh fruits and vegetables more accessible, keep food dollars in the local
economy, and connect participants with positive food and social environments in their communities.
“ASAP, Mountainwise, and Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture currently operate successful SNAP
incentive programs at 26 sites, which connect participants with fresh food and farms in their
communities,” said Mike McCreary, ASAP’s Farmers Market Program Manager. “By combining efforts
and resources, we’ll not only be able to deepen the impact of our existing programs, but also create
adaptive programs that meet the needs of communities that don’t currently have access.”
The first phase of the project focuses on strengthening existing programs across sites operating
January through March, including:
● Asheville City Winter Market, 52 N. Market St., Saturdays, 10 a.m.–1 p.m.
● Winter King Street Market, 252 Poplar Grove Rd., Saturdays, 10 a.m.–1 p.m.
● Columbus Winter Market, 35 Locust St., 1st and 3rd Saturdays, 10 a.m.–1 p.m.
● High Country Food Hub, 252 Poplar Grove Rd., Boone, online ordering with Wednesday pick-up,
12–6:30 p.m.
● Jackson County Winter Farmers Market, 110 Railroad Ave., Sylva, 10 a.m.–1 p.m.
● Jarrett Brothers IGA, 191 Main St., Rosman, daily, 7 a.m.–9 p.m.
● North Asheville Tailgate Market, 275 Edgewood Rd., Saturdays, 10 a.m.–1 p.m.
● River Arts District Farmers Market, 350 Riverside Dr., Asheville, 3–5:30 p.m.
● Rutherford County Winter Farmers Market, 146 North Main St., Rutherfordton, 1st and 3rd
Saturdays, 10 a.m.–1 p.m.
● Saluda Winter Market, 64 Greenville St., 2nd and 4th Saturdays, 10 a.m.–1 p.m.
● Transylvania Farmers Market, 200 E. Main St., Brevard, Saturdays, 10 a.m.–12 p.m.
● Weaverville Tailgate Market, 60 Lakeshore Dr., Saturdays, 3–6 p.m

Jack’s Bluegrass Brunch kicks off every Sunday at 12 noon — with lively bluegrass tunes courtesy of The Jack of the Wood Bluegrass Brunch Boys from 1-3pm. Sip a Bloody Mary or Mimosa or a warm Irish coffee. Tasty brunch specials alongside our regular menu and 18 taps of rotating craft brews! Sláinte, y’all!

Jack’s long-running Traditional Irish Music Session is the perfect way to enjoy the Celtic-influenced sounds of talented pluckers from all over WNC & further afield! Stop in to enjoy a pint or afternoon Irish coffee with the music! Sláinte!

JLloyd & Jim Arrendell present: A Birthday Tribute to Bob Marley featuring musicians from Culture, Midnite, Mishka, Dubconscious, Cadillac Jones, Empire Strikes Brass & More!

JLloyd (of the JLloyd MashUp) and long time Asheville curator/ musician, Jim Arrendell, come together to present this amazing cast of musicians honoring the music of Bob Marley. Marley’s Birthday is February 6th and would be 79 this year.

The full casts is made up of:

Jim Arrendell (The Business) – Vocals

Jonathan Lloyd (JLloyd MashUp/Dubconscious/Cadillac Jones) – Vocals/ Trombone

Kneah Francois from St. Lucia (Midnite/Rocksteady Revue) – Guitar/Vocals

Ryan Wilson from St. Croix (Culture/Rocksteady Revue) – Bass/Vocals

Juhanis Darroux from Dominica (Mishka/Rocksteady Revue) – Drums/Vocals

James Keane (Dubconscious) – Guitar

Debrissa McKinney (Empire Strikes Brass/Free Radio) – Vocals

Reggie Headen (Artist at large) – Vocals

Will Scruggs (Cadillac Jones/Rocksteady Revue) – Sax

Lenny Pettinelli (Empire Strikes Brass) – Keys

Jonathan Cole (Dirty Logic/Electrolust) – Sax

“Sing your heart out every Sunday with Lyric Jones at our laidback basement bar. Whether you’re a classic crooner or want to relive your glam metal glory days, find your moment to shine between 8pm and 11pm. Remember: what happens at karaoke night, stays at karaoke night.

People in the biz get half off select appetizers and burgers all night!”