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.
Preservers, Innovators, and Rescuers of Culture in Chiapas features eleven textiles by acclaimed Indigenous artisanas (artists) from Chiapas, Mexico commissioned by US-based fiber artists and activist Aram Han Sifuentes. As part of their 2022 Craft Research Fund Artist Fellowship, Han Sifuentes traveled to Chiapas to understand the function of garments and textiles within the social and cultural context of the area and to learn the traditional practice of backstrap weaving. Through the works on view, combined with a series of interviews Han Sifuentes conducted during her research, visitors learn about the artisanas and their role as preservers, rescuers, and innovators of culture and as protectors of Mayan ancestral knowledge. Together, these works present an approach to connecting and learning about culture through craft practices.
Han Sifuentes is interested in backstrap weaving because it is one of the oldest forms used across cultures. The vibrant hues and elaborate designs of each textile express the artisanas identities and medium to tell their stories. To understand how these values manifested in textiles made in Chiapas, Han Sifuentes invited the artisanas to create whatever weaving they desired over the course of three months. This is unique because most textiles in the area are created to meet tourist-driven and marketplace demands. Incorporating traditional backstrap weaving and natural dye techniques, some artisans created textiles to rescue or reintroduce weaving practices that are almost or completely lost in their communities, while others were created through material and conceptual experimentation. This range of approaches reflects how artistanas are constantly innovating while at the same time honoring and keeping to tradition.
Preservers, Innovators, and Rescuers of Culture in Chiapas is on view from November 17, 2023 to July 13, 2024.
Aram Han Sifuentes is a recipient of the Center for Craft’s 2022 Craft Research Fund Artist Fellowship. This substantial mid-career grant is awarded to two artists to support research projects that advance, expand, and support the creation of new research and knowledge through craft practice.
The featured artisanas include: Juana Victoria Hernandez Gomez from San Juan Cancuc, Maria Josefina Gómez Sanchez and Maria de Jesus Gómez Sanchez from Oxchujk (Oxchuc), Marcela Gómez Diaz and Cecilia Gómez Diaz from San Andrés Larráinzar, Rosa Margarita Enríquez Bolóm from Huixtán, Cristina García Pérez from Chalchihuitán, Susana Maria Gómez Gonzalez, Maria Gonzalez Guillén, and Anastacia Juana Gómez Gonzalez from Zinacantán, Angelica Leticia Gómez Santiz from Pantelhó, and Susana Guadalupe Méndez Santiz from Aldama
Every Wednesday morning, we open up the children’s activity room to give kids time for free play with puppets. Children must be under the supervision or a parent or guardian.
Sigal Music Museum’s current special exhibition, Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred, highlights items from the JoAnn and Frank Edwinn Collection, which hails from all over the world. Showing November 2023 – May 2024, Worlds Apart uses a diverse range of historical instruments, objects, and visuals to bring together musical narratives from seemingly disparate parts of the globe.
Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred aims to increase public access to historical instruments from around the world and improve visitors’ understanding of musical traditions at the global level. Expanding beyond the typical parameters of the Western musical canon, Worlds Apart seeks to expose audiences to musical instruments and customs that are often overlooked or exotified. The instruments and other exhibit materials will offer visitors new perspectives on global music and a chance to consider how music is used for prayer and leisure in cultures around the world. By celebrating these stories, the museum intends to further its mission to collect and preserve historical musical instruments, objects, and information, which engage and enrich people of all ages through exhibits, performances, and experiential programs.
Displaying various objects from the JoAnn and Frank Edwinn Collection, Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred focuses on international musical instruments and cultures, celebrating rites and traditions with ancient histories and contemporary legacies. Frank Edwinn, a successful basso in the mid-20th century, studied and toured internationally, eventually settling in North Carolina, where he taught music at the University of North Carolina Asheville. Throughout his life, he purchased various objects from around the world, aiming to expose students, and himself, to the wide and wonderful world of musical instruments. This impressive collection occupies a unique position for educating audiences unfamiliar with the vast scope of global music.
And, UNCA’s Ramsey Library Special Collections is now processing the Edwinn’s papers and a few recordings that will be accessible next semester!
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An interactive story time for the whole family featuring books, rhymes, and songs in Spanish and English. These early literacy programs for kids and their caregivers are designed to develop a joy for learning through books, songs, and activities. Ms. Kate will host story time in the community room at the library. This will not be a ticketed event. |
The Museum recognizes Western North Carolina youth for their original artworks
Award winners will be featured in a student exhibition in the Museum’s Van Winkle Law Firm Gallery and Multipurpose Space from January 24–March 25, 2024. All regional award recipients will be honored at a closing reception on March 21.
The Asheville Art Museum and the Asheville Area Section of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) are the Western North Carolina (WNC) regional Affiliate Partners of the National Scholastic Art Awards. This ongoing community partnership has supported the creative talents of our region’s youth for 44 years. The WNC regional program is open to students in grades 7–12, ages 13-18, across 24 counties.
“I’m thrilled to witness the incredible talent showcased in the 2024 Western North Carolina Scholastic Art Awards exhibition,” said Susan Hendley, School & Teacher Programs Manager at the Asheville Art Museum. “This is a celebration of original works by students across the WNC region and highlights the profound impact of arts education.”
The regional program is judged in two groups: Group I, grades 7–9 and Group II, grades 10–12. Out of more than 500 total art entries, over 200 works have been recognized by the judges; Gold and Silver Key awards are featured in this exhibition, with select Honorable Mentions displayed digitally. The 2024 regional judges include Victoria Bradbury, Associate Professor and Chair of New Media at UNC Asheville, Andrew Davis, Studio Technician and instructor at Winthrop University, and Jenny Pickens, a native Asheville artist and educator.
Those works receiving Gold Keys have been submitted to compete in the 101st Annual National Scholastic Art Awards Program in New York City. Of the Gold Key Award recipients, five students have also been nominated for American Visions, indicating their work is the Best in Show of the regional awards. One of these American Visions Nominees will receive an American Visions Medal at the 2024 National Scholastic Art Awards.
Visit the Museum’s website for more information about the student exhibition.
Thanks to our sponsors, Jon and Ann Kemske, Russell and Ladene Newton, and Frugal Framer.
Download Student Artworks
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| Images: Left: Minna Wright Citron, Squid Under Pier, 1948, color etching, soft-ground, and engraving on paper, edition 42/50, 15 x 17 7/8 inches, 2010 Collections Circle purchase, Asheville Art Museum. © Estate of Minna Citron/Licensed by VAGA at ARS, New York. Right: Dorothy Dehner, Woman #2, 1954, watercolor and ink on paper, 22 3/4 x 18”, courtesy of Dolan Maxwell. |
The Asheville Art Museum is pleased to announce the upcoming exhibition American Art in the Atomic Age: 1940–1960, which explores the groundbreaking contributions of artists who worked at the experimental printmaking studio Atelier 17 in the wake of World War II. Co-curated by Marilyn Laufer and Tom Butler, American Art in the Atomic Age which draws from the holdings of Dolan/Maxwell, the Asheville Art Museum Collection, and private collections will be on view from November 10, 2023–April 29, 2024.
Atelier 17 operated in New York for fifteen years, between 1940 and 1955. The studio’s founder, Stanley William Hayter (1901–1988) established the workshop in Paris but relocated to New York just as the Nazi occupation of Paris began in 1940. Hayter’s new studio attracted European emigrants like André Masson, Yves Tanguy, and Joan Miró, as well as American artists like Dorothy Dehner, Judith Rothschild, and Karl Schrag, allowing for an exchange of artistic ideas and processes between European and American artists.
The Asheville Art Museum will present over 100 works that exemplify the cross-cultural exchange and profound social and political impact of Atelier 17 on American art. Prints made at Atelier 17—including those by Stanley William Hayter, Louise Nevelson, and Perle Fine—will be in conversation with works by European Surrealists who were working at the studio in the 1940s and 1950s. The exhibition will also feature a selection of domestic mid-century objects that exemplify how the ideas and aesthetics of post-war abstraction became a part of everyday life.
The Asheville Gallery of Art is excited to present its February exhibit, “Reflections,” which features the virtuoso works of three new gallery artists: Carol Fetty, Annie Gustley, Sandra Brugh Moore. This exhibit of visual poetry runs February 1 to 28.
11am – 5pm Tuesday through Saturday
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Joseph Fiore (1925-2008) first enrolled at Black Mountain College for the Summer Session of 1946, the summer that Josef Albers invited Jacob Lawrence to teach painting at BMC. Over the next three years, Fiore also studied with Ilya Bolotowsky, Willem de Kooning, and Jean Varda. In 1949, after Josef and Anni Albers’ departure, Joe was invited to join the faculty, and he taught painting and drawing until 1956 when the college leaders decided to close.
After BMC closed, Joe and his wife Mary, whom he met and married at BMC, moved to New York City. There he became involved with the 10th Street art scene of the late 1950s and 1960s, a group of galleries that exhibited the work of young artists on the rise. Eventually he resumed his teaching career at the Philadelphia College of Art, Maryland Institute College of Art, and the National Academy.
In May of 2001, Joseph Fiore was awarded the Andrew Carnegie Prize at the National Academy of Design in New York. The Carnegie Prize is awarded “for painting” at the National Academy’s Members’ Show.
This exhibition consists of paintings in our collection donated by the artist and by The Falcon Foundation. All of the paintings were made at Black Mountain College and show Fiore’s distinctive use of color and his ability to work comfortably in the spaces between abstraction and representation.
Curated by Alice Sebrell, Director of Preservation
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.
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Western North Carolina is important in the history of American glass art. Several artists of the Studio Glass Movement came to the region, including its founder Harvey K. Littleton. Begun in 1962 in Wisconsin, it was a student of Littleton’s that first came to the area in 1965 and set up a glass studio at the Penland School of Craft in Penland, North Carolina. By 1967, Mark Peiser was the first glass artist resident at the school and taught many notable artists, like Jak Brewer in 1968 and Richard Ritter who came to study in 1971. By 1977, Littleton retired from teaching and moved to nearby Spruce Pine, North Carolina and set up a glass studio at his home. Since that time, glass artists like Ken Carder, Rick and Valerie Beck, Shane Fero, and Yaffa Sikorsky and Jeff Todd—to name only a few—have flocked to the area to reside, collaborate, and teach, making it a significant place for experimentation and education in glass. The next generation of artists like Hayden Wilson and Alex Bernstein continue to create here. The Museum is dedicated to collecting American studio glass and within that umbrella, explores the work of Artists connected to Western North Carolina. Exhibitions, including Intersections of American Art, explore glass art in the context of American Art of the 20th and 21st centuries. A variety of techniques and a willingness to push boundaries of the medium can be seen in this selection of works from the Museum’s Collection. |
Learn how to work with polymer clay with the guidance of the Blue Ridge Polymer Clay Guild. Newcomers welcome to drop in to observe and practice. No supplies needed. Adults and teens 16 and above welcome. No registration required.
The foundation of personal and professional success lies in understanding yourself, understanding others, and realizing the impact of personal behavior on others. For nearly thirty years, more than 30 million people have unlocked the door to productive communication and increased performance through the DiSC® of Behavior & Communication Styles learning approach.
This workshop offers small business owners, sales professionals, and managers a dynamic and personalized learning experience, engineered to increase awareness of customer & sales interactions and increase results, generating lasting connections that bolster your bottom line.
Program Benefits:
- Practical Application: Learn actionable strategies to apply DiSC Sales knowledge in real-world scenarios.
- Enhanced Communication with customers.
- Increased Sales Effectiveness: Understand and adapt to different customer communication styles to boost sales success.
- Deeper Customer Connections: Forge stronger relationships with customers by understanding their unique communication preferences.
- Improved Customer Service: Deliver tailored service based on customer communication styles and needs.
- Enhanced Sales Team Collaboration: Foster better teamwork and communication within the sales team.
About the Presenter:
E.G. Sebastian, co-founder of LOYCAL – Loyal to Local, is a Business-Development & Performance Consultant, and an international speaker. He’s been helping management and sales teams improve their performance since 2004.
He is the author of Communication Skills Magic – used in several college courses in the US and Canada – and is the co-author of multiple books, including “Back Off! – Your Kick-Ass Guide to Ending Bullying at Work,” and “Bushido Business” – co-authored with Brian Tracy and Steven MR Covey.
Sebastian believes in delivering content through Eduteinment – Education + Entertainment – using humor and interaction with the audience. His presentations often are among the highest rated at professional events.
Connect with him on LinkedIn, at www.linkedin.com/in/egSebastian and on Alignable: www.alignable.com/hendersonville-nc/loycal-loyal-to-local
Registration is required so we may plan accordingly.
This event is offered as a benefit for Chamber membership. We also believe these are important topics for everyone, so we are opening this event to non-members for $15. We welcome you to come and check us out! Please contact Jessica Kanupp, our Member Development Specialist, at [email protected] if you’re considering a Chamber membership.
Sing with our Choir at a progressive church
Come join us! Contact Mark Acker for more information ([email protected]).
Rehearsals on Wednesday’s, 3:30-4:45
Volunteers are needed to attend all Buncombe County Board of Elections board meetings. Our presence demonstrates our support for the board, reduces the likelihood of intimidation by election deniers and will insure the board proceedings are documented in a timely manner.
We have a number of members attending these meetings, and they alternate who will be taking notes. Please sign up if you’re willing to attend and take a turn with note-taking.
As the March 5th primary nears, you’ll see that the hours of board meetings are long and we are not expecting anyone to stay beyond 2 hours. We are encouraging our attendees to coordinate shifts with each other. Please sign up for the days you can attend and plan for some flexibility please.
This is such an important contribution to protecting our democracy and honoring Buncombe County’s excellent Board of Elections!
Beginning & Intermediate youth music classes on traditional and ol’ time instruments including but not limited to, fiddle, mandolin, banjo and guitar. Students will attend 40 minutes of music enrichment, including multiple flat-footing sessions led by Alice Kexel, story-telling, visits from guest musicians, as well as learn about the heritage of the music and the region. They will have 40 minutes of group music classes, and 40 minutes of singing or JAM rehearsal.
Advanced students will have 40 minutes of group instrument lessons, followed by 30 minutes of advanced singing including harmony and shape-note singing, and finish with 50 minutes of coached, small-ensemble rehearsal.
Classes are $15/session, for a total of $210 for the first student, and a 20% discount of $168 for each additional sibling. Parents may choose to split payments when registering. Inquire with Julie Moore at [email protected] or 864-420-6407 about scholarships.
Youth Classes
Wednesdays, 4-6 pm
Students will learn all about teamwork as they work together with their classmates and a professional Teaching Artist to perform scenes and songs from a short musical. Each actor will receive their own part with lines and songs to learn. Class time will be used for rehearsal and a performance complete with costumes and props will take place on the final class day.
Wednesdays
4:30-5:30pm
2/7, 2/14, 2/21, 2/28,
3/6, 3/13, 3/20, 3/27,
4/10, 4/17, 4/24,
5/1, 5/8
**No Class 4/3/2024
Dress Rehearsal: 5/1 5:45-7:15pm (Combined with older class)
Performance: 5/8/2024 6:30pm
Tuition: $250
Students will learn all about teamwork as they work together with their classmates and a professional Teaching Artist to perform scenes and songs from a short musical. Each actor will receive their own part with lines and songs to learn. Class time will be used for rehearsal and a performance complete with costumes and props will take place on the final class day.
Spring Musical 2024 3rd-6th Grades
Finding Nemo KIDS
Wednesdays
5:45-7:15pm
2/7, 2/14, 2/21, 2/28,
3/6, 3/13, 3/20, 3/27,
4/10, 4/17, 4/24,
5/1, 5/8
**No Class 4/3/204
Dress Rehearsal: 5/1 5:45-7:15pm (Combined with younger class)
Performance: 5/8/2024 6:30pm
Tuition: $325
Sing and dance your way through an entire mini musical! This high-energy, low-pressure virtual class explores the plot and characters of a Broadway musical as young actors learn songs and dances from the show. With fun activities and games emphasizing creative play, movement, voice, and improvisation, this process-based class will build theatre skills and allow a fun outlet for your bite-sized Broadway star. No experience is necessary. We will end the semester with a performance for family and friends at our end of session Spring Fling on Saturday April 20!
Dates: February 7-April 17
Grades: 6th-8th Grade
Day & Time: Wednesdays 4:30-6:00
Instructor: Lauren Hopkins & Lenora Thom
Grab some dinner and a pint while enjoying our long-running Old-Time jam! Featuring many talented musicians from the local WNC area, our traditional Appalachian mountain music jam runs from 5-9pm every Wednesday night at Jack of the Wood!
Join us for Citizen Swing, our new twice-monthly Wednesday jazz nights. Come through for a night of excellent, curated local jazz talent and classic cocktails. The fun starts at 6pm when we spin up some cool, old jazz vinyl, and then continues at 7pm with live sets by Connor Law and Thomson Knoles. Free!
CONNOR LAW: Connor Law is a freelance bassist, bandleader and composer based in Asheville, NC. He got his start in the music business after graduating from UNCA in 2017 by going on the road as a tour manager for the progressive bluegrass band, Jon Stickley Trio. After leaving that position he realized his passion was in performance, and more specifically, jazz performance. He began working as a full time musician in Asheville in 2018 and has been performing with many of the top musicians in the area since then.
THOMSON KNOLES: Thomson Knoles is an accomplished jazz pianist, seamlessly blending instrumental hip-hop and funk into his repertoire. His passion for music ignited at age 8, growing stronger over the years. Operating from his fully-equipped home studio, this Berklee College of Music graduate (’16) specializes in enriching projects with masterful keyboard, organ, and synth contributions. He recently scored the music to Nike’s Fathers Day appreciation campaign for their US website and has been producing music under his name, thommyknoles, since 2020.
Free Basic CPR Class if you live or work in the town of Mills River.
Event Details
Energetic & Spiritual Defense Workshop
Embark on a transformative journey with our immersive workshop where the mystical meets the practical and you discover the art of fortifying your energy and spirit. Join us for a captivating experience that goes beyond the ordinary as we delve into the secrets of energetic and spiritual defense.
This workshop isn’t just about defense; it’s about empowerment. Elevate your energetic awareness strengthen your spiritual foundation and step into a life where you navigate the world with confidence and resilience. Join us for an unforgettable experience that transcends the ordinary—where your energy becomes your greatest ally. Embrace the extraordinary within and let the journey begin!
Course Information: This event will host a maximum of 20 attendees and will be part a 3 part series. To participate with Series 2 and 3 all attendees must attend the first Series 1.
Who Is This Workshop For?
This class is for people who have already been on a path of study of energy spirituality consciousness. This is not a beginners class.
These classes are for participants who are familiar or comfortable in with working in the energetic or spiritual realms.
Energetically or spiritually sensitive people who are seeking tools on how to manage and defend against challenging situations and relationships.
People who want to create energetic and spiritual shelters to staff off harmful collective patterns and intrusive energies.
Frontline high stress pressured public facing work environments that cause energetic and spiritual exhaustion.
Challenging interpersonal or family dynamics that cause energetic or spiritual drop outs.
Dynamics We Will Cover
Emotional and Energetic Dumping
Energetic Powerlessness In Conflict
Energetic & Spiritual Boundary Crossing
Money & Relationship Interference
Managing Challenging Dynamics With Others Who Are: Badgering Guilt Ridden Demanding Entitled Dominant and Abusive
What Participants Will Understanding Energetic Boundaries
Mindfulness Practices
Energy Management Tools
Visualization Techniques:
Identifying and Clearing Negative Energies:
Creating Your Sacred Space
Practical Applications in Daily Life
Group Energetic Dynamics
Self-Care and Energetic Hygiene
* Classes are limited to 20 participants per class. Please arrive no later than @ 5:50 to get settled and ready for a fast moving and exciting class. Teaching will begin at 6:00 sharp!. Short breaks are given to help participants process the information and solidify these teachings.
Weekly mountain music JAM with
players in a round, where the session is focused on regional fiddle tunes and songs, You are welcome to come and listen or to
learn and join in. This event supports the Henderson County Junior Appalachian Musician (JAM) Kids Program, Free but
donations are accepted.
Journalist Katherine Snow Smith returned to her native North Carolina after her last child left the nest and a 24-year marriage ended. With more baggage and less time on the clock, she thought of fellow Tar Heel Thomas Wolfe’s book: You Can’t Go Home Again. She writes with vulnerability and humor about forging an unexpected path, parenting, dating, reporting, aging, loss and launching the next act in a full life. Oh yeah, she stepped on a blender minutes before leaving Florida for this latest chapter. Sometimes you just have to prop your bloody foot on the dashboard and put it in drive.
Raleigh native Katherine Snow Smith has lived throughout the south as a newspaper reporter, editor, daughter, sister, mother, wife, divorcee and friend. She’s worked at small town papers and business journals, but spent most of her career at the esteemed Tampa Bay Times. A few decades (no need to count them) after graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill with a degree in journalism, she’s getting her master’s at her alma mater so she can teach on a college level. Katherine, who has three 20-something children, divides her time between Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and St. Petersburg, Florida.
This is a hybrid event with limited in-store seating and the option to attend online.
The event is free but registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance.
Dr. John Wilson Community Garden in Black Mountain will host this celebration. “Imbolc” translates as “the belly of the mother.” It is the time when the living world begins to stir and stretch beneath the dark earth in preparation for spring. All winter and last season they have been pruning fruit and nut trees and clearing invasive species from various areas of the garden. Join them to gather around a fire to burn the brush and mark the coming spring.
Bring a mug for tea and a blanket or chair to sit on.
Are you wanting to hone your talent and become a true triple threat? This class will focus on acting through songs, scene work, and choreography. This process-based class will build your musical theatre skills and help you become more confident through your performing. We will end the semester with a performance for family and friends at our end of session Spring Fling on Saturday April 20.
Dates: February 7-April 17
Grades: 9th-12th Grades
Day & Time: Wednesdays 6:15-7:45
Instructor: Lauren Hopkins & Lenora Thom
The Music of Linda Ronstadt
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Hosted by the Asheville Guitar Bar, a discussion series
provides deeper understanding and greater enjoyment of classic albums and recording artists.
Led by Asheville speaker, author and music journalist Bill Kopp, Music to Your Ears is an
interactive experience that shines a light on important music and people. Music to Your Ears is
a 90-minute conversation, held at the Guitar Bar, a music magnet in Asheville’s historic River
Arts District. The February 7 event is a listening party and discussion focusing on the music of
Linda Ronstadt, the 1970s’ most popular female singer.
Linda Ronstadt is a renaissance woman of popular music. The Arizona-born interpretive singer
is best known for her prominent role in the folk-rock and country-rock movements of the 1960s
and ‘70s, but her artistry has always been too expansive to fit neatly into the confines of those
scenes. Her chart success underscores Ronstadt’s genre-spanning commercial appeal: more than
20 Top 40 hits on the US pop chart, nearly 30 on the Adult contemporary chart, 10 on the
country singles chart and 5 on the Latin singles chart.
But chart success and raw numbers only tell part of the story. Ronstadt has made compelling and critically-acclaimed forays into Cajun,
jazz, rock, opera, roots, traditional pop and other styles. A 13-time Grammy winning artist (with at least 16 additional nominations),
Ronstadt’s myriad accomplishments include her status as the most successful female singer of the 1970s.
A 2019 Kennedy Center Honoree, Ronstadt retired from music in 2011, but her importance endures. A Grammy-winning documentary,
Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice premiered in 2019. She remains busy today: her memoir, Feels Like Home: A Song for the
Sonoran Borderlands was published just over a year ago.
In 2017 – with longtime friend and musical collaborator Paula Hanke – Asheville-based singer Peggy Ratusz launched a popular concert
series, Women Who Make Music History. The two vocalists – both of whom have musical careers in their own right – chose the life and
music of Linda Ronstadt at the subject of the first entry in that series. Describing the concept in an interview at the time, Ratusz said, “We
want the subtleties of our message in each song to be heard, because we tell the story of these women while we’re singing.”
Join host and music journalist Bill Kopp for an evening in discussion with Peggy Ratusz about Linda
Ronstadt. We’ll listen to key tracks and encourage questions from the audience. The evening is the latest
installment of the popular “Music to Your Ears” discussion series, hosted by Asheville Guitar Bar and
sponsored by AshevilleFM.
ABOUT THE DISCUSSION SERIES
Music to Your Ears is Bill Kopp’s monthly discussion series hosted by Asheville Guitar
Bar and co-sponsored by AshevilleFM. On the first Wednesday of each month, music
enthusiasts gather to discuss an important album, artist or musical movement. An
interactive evening, MTYE isn’t a lecture; it’s a discussion led by experts and designed to
enrich the listening experience.
ABOUT BILL KOPP (blog.musoscribe.com)
With over 500 bylines in regional publications (Mountain Xpress, Bold Life, WNC Magazine and more), Asheville-based speaker, author
and music journalist is an acknowledged expert on popular music. Author of two books – Reinventing Pink Floyd: From Syd Barrett to
The Dark Side of the Moon and Disturbing the Peace: 415 Records and the Rise of New Wave – Bill Kopp writes for publications across
the country and abroad. A contributing editor at Goldmine Magazine, he has authored more than 30 album liner note essays and conducted
more than 1000 interviews. He regularly hosts discussions on artists and albums of historical importance, and is a frequent guest on music-
focused radio programs and podcasts.
ABOUT PEGGY RATUSZ (https://shorturl.at/jmnG5)
Peggy Ratusz has been a professional musician for decades; her career stretches back to her late ‘70s days in a Tucson-based folk-rock
trio. More recently, her work in blues, pop, soul and other styles has brought success and critical praise: with collaborator Aaron Price,
Peggy has been a semi-finalist in the Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge no less than three times: in 2008, 2010 and 2016.
Her advocacy for women in music has been recognized by a Mountain Xpress readers’ poll and exemplified by her successful Women
Who Make Music History concert series. And of course she can be seen and heard regularly in Asheville’s finest live music outlets.
The Wednesday Night Book Group, hosted by Jay Jacoby, explores a diverse selection of fiction and nonfiction books determined by member suggestion. Click here to see a full schedule of what the club is reading. Club attendees get 10% off the book at Malaprop’s!
The club meets the first Wednesday of every month at 7:00 PM and alternates between meeting via Zoom and in-person at a private Asheville location.
To join the club, please email the host at [email protected].
Help us relaunch the Westie scene in a premier venue showcasing spacious dance floors, high ceilings, and a vintage vibe. If you are new to West Coast Swing, come check out for yourself the popular dance style that can be done to a wide variety of music, including pop, country, blues, and contemporary music! For those looking to advance their skills, the Hendersonville WCS community is excited to welcome Pro Instructor Ryan Pflumm to Continuum!
As always, the dress is casual and no partner is needed. Join us for an incredible night of connecting and dancing with our MONTHLY event every FIRST Wednesday!
PRIVATE LESSONS
If you would like to book a private lesson with Ryan for $75 per hour, please message Continuum with the following:
- Which timeslot(s)
- number of people attending
Times:
3:30-4:30pm
4:30-5:30pm
5:30-6:30pm
first come, first served
CLASSES
7:00-8:00pm Intermediate w/ Ryan Pflumm!
7:00-8:00pm Beginner w/ Rachel Harris
8:00-10:00pm Social Dance
Each class is $10 and includes a pass to the social dance. The social dance is $7 without a lesson. Music will be DJ’d by Pro Instructor Ryan Pflumm.
Bring your own beer/wine. Liquor and other beverages above 16% alcohol content are strictly prohibited.
Masks are encouraged but, not required.
Cash, cards, Venmo, PayPal, and Cash app are accepted.
“BOB DYLAN’S SONGS HAVE NEVER SOUNDED SO HEARTBREAKINGLY PERSONAL AND UNIVERSAL.” – THE NEW YORK TIMES
GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY is the Tony Award®-winning new musical that the Chicago Tribune declares is “a Broadway revelation!”
Written and directed by celebrated playwright Conor McPherson and featuring Tony Award®-winning orchestrations by Simon Hale, Girl From the North Country reimagines 20 legendary songs of Bob Dylan as they’ve never been heard before, including “Forever Young,” “All Along The Watchtower,” “Hurricane,” “Slow Train Coming,” and “Like A Rolling Stone.”
On a small corner lot in southeast Portland, Oregon, Jeffrey Martin holed up through the winter recording his quietly potent new album Thank God We Left The Garden. Long nights bled into mornings in the tiny shack he built in the backyard, eight feet by ten feet. What began as demos meant for a later visit to a proper studio became the album itself, spare and intimate and true. Recorded live and alone around two microphones, Jeffrey often held his breath to wait for the low diesel hum of a truck to pass one block over on the busy thoroughfare. During the coldest nights, he timed recording between the clicks of the oil coil heater cycling on and off.