Upcoming events and things to do in Asheville, NC. Below is a list of events for festivals, concerts, art exhibitions, group meetups and more.

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Thursday, February 17, 2022
2022 WNC Regional Scholastic Art Awards Exhibition
Feb 17 @ 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum
Olivia Jones, Face Vessel, Ceramics & Glass, Silsa-Asheville High School, Grade 12. 2022 WNC Regional Scholastic Art Awards, Gold Key award.
The Asheville Art Museum has announced the regional award recipients of the 2022 Scholastic Art Awards and artworks will be on view at the Museum.
The regional program is judged in two groups: Group I, grades 7–8 and Group II, grades 9–12. Out of 540 total art entries, 190 works have been recognized by the judges, and Gold and Silver Key award-winning artworks are featured in this exhibition while honorable mentions will be featured digitally. The 2022 regional judges include local artists and educators Brandy Bourne, Jenny Pickens, and M. Paige Taylor.

Those works receiving Gold Keys have been submitted to compete in the 99th 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 2022 National Scholastic Art Awards. Award winners include students from public, private, homeschools, and charter schools in Buncombe, Burke, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Madison, McDowell, Rutherford.

Since the program’s founding in 1923, the Scholastic Art Awards have fostered the creativity and talent of millions of students, and include a distinguished list of alumni including Andy Warhol, who received recognition in the Awards when he was a teen.

National Gold Key medalists will be announced in March 2022 and honored during a special awards ceremony in June 2022.

For more information about the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers and the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, visit the Scholastic Newsroom: mediaroom.scholastic.com/artandwriting.

Citations (left to right): Wen Yaxuan, Shakivatou, Painting, Asheville School, Grade 12. 2022 WNC Regional Scholastic Art Awards, Gold Key award. | Gracie Hart, Fly, Drawing & Illustration, West Henderson High School, Grade 11. 2022 WNC Regional Scholastic Art Awards, Gold Key award.
About the Asheville Art Museum  
The Museum’s galleries, the Museum Store, Art PLAYce, and Perspective Café are open with limited capacity. The Frances Mulhall Achilles Art Research Library remains temporarily closed. The Museum welcomes visitors Wednesday through Monday from 11am to 6pm, with late-night Thursdays from 11am to 9pm. The Museum is closed on Tuesdays. General admission is always free for Museum Members, UNC Asheville students, active-duty military personnel with valid ID, and children under 6; $15 per adult; $13 per senior (65+); and $10 per student (child 6–17 or degree-seeking college students with valid ID). Admission tickets are available at ashevilleart.org/visit. Visitors may become Members at the welcome desk during their visit or online at ashevilleart.org/membership.
A Hand in Studio Craft: Harvey K. Littleton as Peer and Pioneer Exhibition
Feb 17 @ 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum

Harvey K. Littleton, Amber Maze, 1968, blown glass, 8 3/4 × 10 1/2 × 6 inches. Asheville Art Museum. © Estate of Harvey K. Littleton.
Asheville, N.C.A Hand in Studio Craft: Harvey K. Littleton as Peer and Pioneer highlights recent gifts to the Asheville Art Museum’s Collection and loans from the family of glass artist Harvey K. Littleton. This exhibition places Harvey and Bess Littleton’s collection into the context of their lives, as they moved around the United States, connected with other artists, and developed their own work. This exhibition—organized by the Asheville Art Museum and curated by Whitney Richardson, associate curator—will be on view in the Judith S. Moore Gallery at the Museum from January 19 through June 27, 2022.

Harvey K. Littleton (Corning, NY 1922–2013 Spruce Pine, NC) founded the Studio Glass Movement in the United States in 1962 when, as a teacher, he instituted a glass art program at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, the first of its kind in the United States. He taught the next generation of glass artists—who taught the next—and his influence can still be seen today. But before he dedicated himself to the medium of glass, Littleton studied industrial design, ceramics, and metalwork at the University of Michigan and the Cranbrook Academy of Art in the late 1930s and early 1940s. He met his wife Bess Tamura Littleton, a painting student, at the University of Michigan. Over the course of their careers, Harvey and Bess collected artwork by their fellow artists and amassed an impressive collection from the early days of the Studio Glass Movement and the height of the American mid-century Studio Pottery Movement.

“This exhibition offers the viewer an exciting opportunity to see some of Harvey K. Littleton’s early work in ceramic and metal—directly from his family’s collection—before he began making art in glass,” says Whitney Richardson, associate curator. “Best known for his glassworks, those will be on display alongside the work of his students and his peers making clear the influence he had on them and the Studio Glass Movement.” 

A Living Language: Cherokee Syllabary and Contemporary Art
Feb 17 @ 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum

Rhiannon Skye Tafoya (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), Ul’nigid’, 2020, letterpress (photopolymer and Bembo & Cherokee Syllabary metal type) printed on handmade & color plan paper with paperweaving, closed: 11 × 11 ¼ inches, assembled: 23 ½ × 11 ¼ × 5 ⁵⁄₈ inches. Courtesy the Artist. © Rhiannon Skye Tafoya, image Rhiannon Skye Tafoya.
 Living Language: Cherokee Syllabary and Contemporary Art features over 50 works of art in a variety of media by 30+ Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) and Cherokee Nation artists. The exhibition highlights the use of the written Cherokee language, a syllabary developed by Cherokee innovator Sequoyah (circa 1776–1843). Cherokee syllabary is frequently found in the work of Cherokee artists as a compositional element or the subject matter of the work itself. The exhibition will be on view at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian in Cherokee, NC from June 12, 2021 to October 31, 2021, and in the Asheville Art Museum’s Appleby Foundation Exhibition Hall from November 19, 2021 to March 14, 2022.

The Cherokee Syllabary is a system of writing developed by Sequoyah in the early 1800s prior to the Removal period. Through Sequoyah’s innovative work, Cherokee people embraced the writing system as an expedient form of communication and documentation. During the Removal period, the syllabary was used as a tactic to combat land dispossession. Cherokee people continue to use the syllabary as a form of cultural expression and pride, which is showcased in the contemporary artwork of the Cherokee Citizens in this exhibition.

“We’re pleased to host this gathering of works from contemporary Cherokee artists, who perfectly illustrate how our language is a living and evolving part of who we are. It’s moving to see how each artist finds inspiration in their own way from this language that connects us as Cherokee people,” said Shana Bushyhead Condill, executive director of the Museum of the Cherokee Indian.

“The Asheville Art Museum and the Museum of the Cherokee Indian have been long-term collaborators, and we are delighted to further our partnership by working together to manage an open call to Cherokee artists and subsequently curate this exciting exhibition of contemporary works that take inspiration from, celebrate, preserve and interpret the syllabary,” said Pamela L. Myers, executive director of the Asheville Art Museum. “On view at both museums, we hope the exhibition engages a wide and diverse audience in dialogue with these extraordinary works.”

A Living Language: Cherokee Syllabary and Contemporary Art is organized by the Asheville Art Museum and Museum of the Cherokee Indian, and curated by Hilary Schroeder, assistant curator at the Asheville Art Museum, with assistance from curatorial consultant Joshua Adams (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians). Special thanks to S. Dakota Brown, education director at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, and Alexis Meldrum, curatorial assistant at the Asheville Art Museum, for their support in the planning of this exhibition. This project is made possible in part by a grant from the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area Partnership, and sponsored in part by the Cherokee Preservation Foundation and Kevin Click & April Liou in memory of Myron E. Click.

Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians artists include Joshua Adams, Jody Lipscomb Bradley, Nathan Bush, Kane Crowe, John Henry Gloyne, Shan Goshorn, Luzene Hill, Christy Long, Louise Bigmeat Maney, Christopher McCoy, Tara McCoy, Joel Queen, Sean Ross, Jakeli Swimmer, Rhiannon Skye Tafoya, Mary Thompson, Stan Tooni Jr.,  Alica Wildcatt, and Fred Wilnoty.

Cherokee Nation artists include Roy Boney Jr., Jeff Edwards, Joseph Erb, Raychel Foster, Kenny Glass, Camilla McGinty, Jessica Mehta, America Meredith, Jane Osti, Lisa Rutherford, Janet L. Smith, Jennifer Thiessen, and Jennie Wilson.

About the Museum of the Cherokee Indian

Established in 1948, the Museum of the Cherokee Indian is one of the longest operating tribal museums. Recognized for its innovative storytelling, the Museum features exhibits, artwork, and hands-on technology that brings over 15,000 years of Cherokee history to life. Located in Cherokee, NC, the Museum is open daily except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. Learn more by visiting mci.org.

Ruminations on Memory Exhibition
Feb 17 @ 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum
Robert Rauschenberg, John from the Ruminations series, 1999, photogravure on paper, edition 3/46, publisher: Universal Limited Art Editions, Bay Shore, NY, 29 ½ × 38 7/8 inches. Asheville Art Museum. © Robert Rauschenberg Foundation / VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Ruminations on Memory contends with the act of remembrance and reflection, featuring a rare presentation of all nine prints from Robert Rauschenberg’s Ruminations portfolio, Judy Chicago’s Retrospective in a Box portfolio, and selections from the Museum’s Collection. Organized by the Asheville Art Museum and curated by Hilary Schroeder, assistant curator, this exhibition will be on view in Appleby Foundation Exhibition Hall at the Museum from November 19, 2021 through March 14, 2022 in conjunction with A Living Language: Cherokee Syllabary and Contemporary Art

Artworks are vessels for processing, recalling, and reflecting on the past. Artists often draw upon materials from their own pasts and grasp at fleeting moments in time in the creation of an object. For the viewer, observation of an artwork can draw out personal memories.

Artworks in a variety of media explore various ways of remembering, including individual memories that focus on the moments from an artist’s past; generational memory that looks back to one’s ancestors, whether recent or long past; and collective memory, wherein in an image might evoke bygone times that balance between constructed and real. Through these artworks that ruminate upon the past, viewers may discover the stirrings of their own thoughts and recollections prompted by the works before them.

Ruminations on Memory offers a unique opportunity to experience the entirety of a major print portfolio by American painter Robert Rauschenberg (Port Arthur, TX 1925–2008 Captiva, FL). Rauschenberg was a student at Black Mountain College in NC for the 1948–1949 and 1951–1952 academic sessions and for the 1951 and 1952 summers. His Ruminations series consists of nine color photogravures which were printed in 1999 and reflect on Rauschenberg’s early life, his friends and family, and the memories he held dear. The series represents especially significant mature work by Rauschenberg that looks back to his most formative moments as an artist including his time at Black Mountain College and the friendships and ideas formed there.

Also presented in the exhibition is an important series of prints by Judy Chicago (born Chicago, IL 1939). Five decades into her career, Chicago stands as one of the foremost artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, having committed to socially minded work, uplifting in particular experiences salient to her feminine and Jewish identities. Retrospective in a Box consists of seven prints and a portfolio created in collaboration with the master printers at Landfall Press, and provides an overview of her major motifs and ideas, including the print Spring the Dinner, a nod to her seminal 1979 work The Dinner Party.

In addition to the artworks from the Museum’s Collection, visitors will be able to experience Felix Gonzales-Torres’s “Untitled” (L.A.), on loan from the Art Bridges collection. “Untitled” (L.A.) is one of the artist’s iconic interactive candy installations where memories are engaged not only through sight but through sound, touch, taste, and smell as well.

Learn more about Ruminations on Memory and A Living Language: Cherokee Syllabary and Contemporary Art at ashevilleart.org.

Stained with Glass: Vitreograph Prints from the Studio of Harvey K. Littleton Exhibition
Feb 17 @ 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum
 
Left: Thermon Statom, Frankincense, 1999, siligraphy from glass plate with digital transfer on BFK Rives paper, edition 50/50, 36 1/4 × 29 3/8 inches. Asheville Art Museum. © Thermon Statom. | Right: Dale Chihuly, Suite of Ten Prints: Chandelier, 1994, 4-color intaglio from glass plate on BRK Rives paper, edition 34/50, image: 29 ½ × 23 ½ inches, sheet: 36 × 29 ½ inches. Asheville Art Museum. © Dale Chihuly / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Asheville, N.C.—The selection of works from the Asheville Art Museum’s Collection presented in Stained with Glass: Vitreograph Prints from the Studio of Harvey K. Littleton features imagery that recreates the sensation and colors of stained glass. The exhibition showcases Littleton and the range of makers who worked with him, including Dale Chihuly, Cynthia Bringle, Thermon Statom, and more. This exhibition—organized by the Asheville Art Museum and curated by Hilary Schroeder, assistant curator—will be on view in The Van Winkle Law Firm Gallery at the Museum from January 12 through May 23, 2022.

In 1974 Harvey K. Littleton (Corning, NY 1922–2013 Spruce Pine, NC) developed a process for using glass to create prints on paper. Littleton, who began as a ceramicist and became a leading figure in the American Studio Glass Movement, expanded his curiosity around the experimental potential of glass into innovations in the world of printmaking. A wide circle of artists in a variety of media—including glass, ceramics, and painting—were invited to Littleton’s studio in Spruce Pine, NC, to create prints using the vitreograph process developed by Littleton. Upending notions of both traditional glassmaking and printmaking, vitreographs innovatively combine the two into something new. The resulting prints created through a process of etched glass, ink, and paper create rich, colorful scenes reminiscent of luminous stained glass.

“Printmaking is a medium that many artists explore at some point in their career,” says Hilary Schroeder, assistant curator. “The process is often collaborative, as they may find themselves working with a print studio and highly skilled printmaker. The medium can also be quite experimental. Harvey Littleton’s contribution to the field is very much so in this spirit, as seen in his incorporation of glass and his invitation to artists who might otherwise not have explored works on paper. Through this exhibition, we are able to appreciate how the artists bring their work in clay, glass, or paint to ink and paper.” 

The Wyeths: Three Generations | Works from the Bank of America Collection
Feb 17 @ 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum
N. C. Wyeth, Eight Bells (Clyde Stanley and Andrew Wyeth aboard Eight Bells), 1937, oil on hardboard, 20 × 30 inches. Bank of America Collection

The Wyeths: Three Generations | Works from the Bank of America Collection provides a comprehensive survey of works by N. C. Wyeth, one of America’s finest illustrators; his son, Andrew, an important realist painter; his eldest daughter, Henriette, a realist painter; and Andrew’s son Jamie, a popular portraitist. Through the works of these artists from three generations of the Wyeth family, themes of American history, artistic techniques, and creative achievements can be explored. This exhibition will be on view in the Asheville Art Museum’s Explore Asheville Exhibition Hall February 12 through May 30, 2022.

N. C. Wyeth (1882–1945) has long been considered one of the nation’s leading illustrators. In the early 1900s, he studied with illustrator Howard Pyle in Delaware. In 1911, he built a house and studio in nearby Chadds Ford, PA. Later, he bought a sea captain’s house in Maine and in 1931 built a small studio, which he shared with his son, Andrew, and his daughters, Henriette and Carolyn. The exhibition includes illustrations for books by Robert Louis Stevenson and Washington Irving as well as historical scenes, seascapes, and landscapes.

Andrew Wyeth (1917–2009) is one of the United States’ most popular artists, and his paintings follow the American Realist tradition. He was influenced by the works of Winslow Homer, whose watercolor technique he admired, as well as by the art of Howard Pyle and his father, N. C. While Andrew painted recognizable images, his use of line and space often imbue his works with an underlying abstract quality. The exhibition includes important works from the 1970s and 1980s as well as recent paintings.

Henriette Wyeth (1907–1997) was the eldest daughter of N.C. Wyeth and an older sister to Andrew Wyeth. Like other members of her family, her painting style was realist in a time when Impressionism and Abstraction were popular in the early 20th century. She studied painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and was an acclaimed portraitist, though perhaps not as widely known as her father and brother. Most notably she painted the portrait of First Lady, Pat Nixon, which is in the collection of The White House.

Jamie Wyeth (born 1946), like his father and grandfather, paints subjects of everyday life, in particular the landscapes, animals, and people of Pennsylvania and Maine. In contrast to his father—who painted with watercolor, drybrush, and tempera—Jamie works in oil and mixed media, creating lush painterly surfaces. The 18 paintings in the exhibition represent all periods of his career.

This exhibition has been loaned through the Bank of America Art in our Communities® program.

Winter Photo Contest – “Winter Trees”
Feb 17 @ 12:00 pm – 11:45 pm
Chimney Rock State Park

Image result for Chimney Rock Park

It’s the Year of the Tree in North Carolina State Parks, and we are encouraging guests to celebrate trees all year long! Start off in the winter months while branches are bare and capture some unique tree shapes or the beauty of frosty evergreens. You may win a prize for your efforts!

GREAT PRIZES WILL BE AWARDED TO 3 WINNING ENTRIES

1st Prize: The winning photo will be our Facebook cover photo for two weeks, and the photographer will receive two annual passes to Chimney Rock State Park, two boat tour tickets from Lake Lure Tours, and dinner for two at the Old Rock Café.

2nd Prize: After the first place photo, the second place photo will be our Facebook cover photo for one week. The photographer will receive two annual passes to Chimney Rock State Park and dinner for two at the Old Rock Café.

3rd Prize: The third place photographer will receive two adult day passes (or one family pack of day passes) to Chimney Rock State Park and dinner for two at the Old Rock Café.

CONTEST RULES:

  1. There is no fee to enter the contest. All photographs must be taken of Chimney Rock at Chimney Rock State Park only in areas accessible to guests between January 1, 2022 – February 28, 2022.
    The contest is open to amateur and professional photographers.
  2. Up to three photos per person can be submitted via any of the following ways to be eligible to win:
    • Facebook: First, like the Chimney Rock at Chimney Rock State Park page. Next, send us a private message including your contact information specified in rule #3.
    • E-mail: If you don’t have access to social media, you may email your digital photo with your contact information specified in rule #3 to [email protected].
  3. Every entry should be clearly labeled with the photographer’s name, city & state, a brief photo caption, an email address and the best phone number to reach you.
  4. Photos should be available at a minimum resolution of 1200 x 1600 pixels (1 MB minimum) to be eligible to win. Photos taken via smart phones, tablets and other mobile devices are welcome if they meet minimum requirements.
  5. For entries showing human faces, you must list their name(s) and have written permission from any photographed person(s) to use their image.
  6. Entries should reflect the photographer’s interpretation of the theme. Emphasis will be placed on quality, composition and creativity. All entries may be used in promotions of Chimney Rock and park-related activities.
  7. Digital images can be optimized but not dramatically altered with photo editing software. Black and white photographs are welcome.
  8. Finalists will be chosen by Chimney Rock staff and the winner will be voted on by the public. Decisions regarding winners are final.

Winners will be notified personally and announced on Chimney Rock’s social media. For more information, call 1-828-625-9611, ext. 1812 or email us at [email protected].

Elementary After School Mentor and Artist Volunteer- Creative Peacemakers
Feb 17 @ 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Deaverview Apartment Community Center

Before you even begin thinking about volunteering, ask yourself – Am I well enough to volunteer?

Your safety and limiting the spread of COVID-19 is everyone’s main priority. We encourage you to review and adhere to the recommendations on the Buncombe County readiness site on how best to avoid COVID-19 and what to do if you think you might have it.


Creative Peacemakers is an after-school program sponsored by St.George’s Episcopal Church serving children from the Deaverview Apartment Community. The mission of Creative Peacemakers is to bring peace to communities by helping children practice peacemaking through cooperative play, loving relationships, and creative expression. We provide opportunities for nurture, healing, empowerment, and building resilience.

We are seeking volunteers to assist us in our small after school program for children in West Asheville in low-income housing.  We provide a safe and nourishing environment, healthy snacks, and creative activities.  Our program currently meets during the school year on most Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 3:00-5:00pm.   You may volunteer for one or two days a week. 

Volunteer Responsibilities:

  • Assist with serving snacks
  • Interact with children during activity time
  • Supervise games and outdoor free time
  • For people with background in education, there is also an opportunity to assist with curriculum development and program planning and administration

Requirements:

  • Background check
  • Orientation booklets will be provided
  • Masks are required if unvaccinated

Location:

Deaverview Apartment Community Center
275 Deaverview Rd.
Asheville, NC 28806

Health & Safety:

  • Hand washing stations are available
  • Hand sanitizer is available
Lectures/Performances with Jamie Laval
Feb 17 @ 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm
Hybrid: Tryon Fine Arts Center and Zoom

World-renown Celtic musical artist Jamie Laval presents a behind-the-scenes view of how he creates music. Months of research, creative inspiration, skilled application of technological tools and diligent practicing go into each new song before it is ready to be shared with the public. Learn about the process from inception to manifestation in this three-part lecture/performance series.

TFAC will follow CDC and Polk County COVID recommendations. Participants will have space to social distance and appropriate face masks are strongly recommended. The program will also be available via Zoom.

Description

Registrations are for ONE HOUSEHOLD.

All sessions will be held on Thursdays, from 4:30-5:30.  For those desiring to participate by Zoom, a link will be sent out the morning of the call.

Schedule: 

  • February 10:  Celtic Music: Cultural History and Performance Practice
  • February  17:  How I use Technology to Create Music
  • February 24:  Violins to Bagpipes and Beyond: All about Musical Instruments
Evening for Educators: A Living Language: Cherokee Syllabary and Contemporary Art
Feb 17 @ 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum

Rhiannon Skye Tafoya (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), Ul’nigid’, 2020, letterpress (photopolymer and Bembo & Cherokee Syllabary metal type) printed on handmade & color plan paper with paper-weaving, closed: 11 × 11 ¼ inches, assembled: 23 ½ × 11 ¼ × 5 ⁵⁄₈ inches. Courtesy the Artist. © Rhiannon Skye Tafoya, image Rhiannon Skye Tafoya.

In conjunction with our current exhibition A Living Language: Cherokee Syllabary and Contemporary Art, we invite Western North Carolina K–12 visual arts teachers to participate in a casual and collaborative professional-development workshop. This workshop will include an in-gallery talk with the exhibition curator, Zoom presentation and Q&A with exhibition artist Skye Tafoya, and related artmaking with museum educators in our studio. Evening for Educators is an opportunity to network with other art educators, share and learn as both teacher and student, and connect with your own creative process. Generous funding for A Living Language programming is provided by Blue Ridge National Heritage Area and Cherokee Preservation Foundation.

Visual arts teachers/coordinators are invited to register to participate in this professional development at the ticket link above. CEU credits are available. Lesson plan included.

Please note:

  • Professional development takes place indoors in the Museum’s John & Robyn Horn Education Center.
  • Masks and social distancing are required.

TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The Museum is committed to providing engaging and educational experiences for pre-K–12 teachers in WNC schools. Our professional-development opportunities include curriculum-based and exhibition-inspired workshops led by Museum educators and/or special guests that provide teachers with tools to facilitate object-based learning. These workshops are interactive, hands-on, and incorporate artmaking. Come excited to learn together with your colleagues, and leave inspired with ideas to incorporate into your classroom and personal practice!

You Can’t Buy Love But You Can Adopt It Photo Contest Reception
Feb 17 @ 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Dry Falls Brewing Company

Join us as we celebrate the love of a pet and the winners of our annual Pet Photo Contest.

Contest submissions are accepted through February 6th, with winners notified by February 11th. This year’s contest is sponsored by Wag! A Unique Pet Boutique, who will also be providing award prizes!

For complete contest details, check out the contest page here!

Public Tour: The Wyeths: Three Generations
Feb 17 @ 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum

N. C. Wyeth, Rip Van Winkle, 1921, cover illustration, 50 × 36 inches. Bank of America Collection.

The Wyeths: Three Generations has been loaned through the Bank of America Art in our Communities® program.

Bank of America Logo

PUBLIC TOURS

Join docents for tours of the Museum’s Collection and special exhibitions. No reservations are required.

Friday, February 18, 2022
Asheville Gallery of Art’s February 2022 Exhibit; New Members Show
Feb 18 all-day
Asheville Gallery of Art

Asheville Gallery of Art’s February show, “Time for Renewal” will feature works by three new gallery members: Kathy Goodson, Margie Kluska, and Johnnie Stanfield. The show will run February 1-28 during gallery hours, 11am-6pm. An event to meet the artists will be held at the gallery on First Friday, February 4, from 5-8pm at 82 Patton Avenue.

This show represents a seasonal reset. What is to come will be better. We have had our time to pause, and now it is time to refresh. For the earth, this is Spring, a time for new growth. In February, the light begins to change, and shadows shift. Underlying it all is the promise of our renewal.

Kathy Goodson
Color is one of Kathy’s visual languages. She captures the drama of her botanical flowers and leaves so they appear to leap off the painting…a visual feast in silk and dye or encaustic. The thrill of creating something unexpected is an elixir to her, with reds and fuchsia being her favorites. When creating an abstract, she begins by thinking about color, then a story begins to grow, which leads to a visual symbol or image, loaded with meaning related to the story. All of this happens before she puts the first brush stroke on the silk or
the wood. Her process is interactive, and she lets the painting create, then lead her.
“Color captivates me especially when winter begins to change into spring. The Lenten Rose is the first to emerge in late winter, with subtle and muted colors…unlike the later flowers of spring and summer.”

Margie Kluska
Margie has been drawing since she was a child. She enjoys studying the works of the classical artists and Hudson River School painters, and she has only recently taken up oil painting. Her inspiration is taken from nature, landscapes, wildlife, and flora. Living surrounded by the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains has inspired her to paint views that take one’s breath away. Distant mountain ranges, glorious sunsets, soaring hawks, and ever-changing weather patterns offer her extensive references which she captures on canvas. Her style, “loose realism”, captures the reality of each scene with a slight bent towards Impressionism.
“Light affects our moods. Whether it’s a sunrise, sunset, or storm clouds parting to expose a blue sky, our moods are instantly transformed.”

Johnnie Stanfield
An award-winning artist, Johnnie is known for her colorful, vivid watercolor and acrylic paintings of horses, fishing lure studies, and local landscapes. She is inspired by the emotion created when she sees an object or something in nature that recalls a past memory. She is then compelled to paint it, to convey and share that feeling with the viewer. Johnnie will paint a subject in watercolor to give it a softer feel so the viewer can devote their own emotion to the painting or add to the emotion she has created. If it is detailed, she will usually use acrylic or oil. Her paintings hang in private collections throughout the Southeast.
”Sheltering in Place” was inspired by my cat, during the shelter in place mandate in Spring, 2020. Like all of us, we waited for the sunshine, to renew our spirit and celebrate its warmth, while wondering when we could go back out into the world and resume our life as usual.”

For further information about this show, please contact the Asheville Gallery of Art at (828) 251-5796, visit the gallery’s website at www.ashevillegallery-of-art.com, or go to the gallery’s Facebook page.

BE THE CHANGE, BUY A MURAL
Feb 18 all-day
online

Buy one of these murals for yourself or to donate to a local organization (make sure you check with them first), and keep the good work going! All proceeds from this auction will be split evenly between The Martin Luther King, Jr. Association of Asheville and Buncombe County’s COPE Program and the Asheville Area Arts Council’s Arts Build Community Grant. Auction ends February 28.

Following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, MN, on May 25, 2020, protests broke out across the nation. Floyd was killed after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly 9 minutes. In response, hundreds of protestors gathered in downtown Asheville from May 29- June 6, 2020, with cries for justice and change.

During this time, Lowe’s Home Improvement generously donated plywood for downtown business owners to cover their storefronts while Asheville had its own reckoning. Business owners and artists seized this opportunity to lend their support for needed changes by painting murals on the plywood covering downtown businesses. Local muralists Gus Cutty, Kathryn Crawford, and Dustin Spagnola were the driving force behind this initiative.

When it came time for the murals to come down, local artists Evar Hecht and Ben Nelson had the foresight to collect and temporarily store these works, gathering over 150 pieces of plywood. The Asheville Area Arts Council, with the help of Dogwood Health Trust, then stepped in to move the murals to a secure, climate-controlled storage facility and worked with Aisha Adams of Equity Over Everything to determine next steps.

After several COVID setbacks, the arts council is proud to have partnered with the Martin Luther King Jr Association of Asheville and Buncombe County to present this virtual exhibition, auction and speaker series. It is our hope that the proceeds from the auction will support continued change and healing  in our community.

Thank you to Dogwood Health Trust for generously providing the funding to make this project possible, and to the artists and business owners for donating their time and energy to capture this moment in our history.

A video about the exhibition is featured as part of the 41st Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration.

GIVE + GROW LEAF Membership
Feb 18 all-day
online
Student Poetry Contest – “Ambition”
Feb 18 all-day
online

January through April

Actors performing Sandburg's works on stageActors portray characters from Carl Sandburg’s Rootabaga Story “Three Boys with Jugs of Molasses and Secret Ambitions.”

NPS Photo

Educators in grades 3-12 are invited to submit original poems written by their students in February. The poems will be judged and winners announced in April. Find the 2022 Poetry Contest Information and submission guidelines here. The theme “Ambition” is from one of Carl Sandburg’s Rootabaga Stories, to celebrate it’s 100th year of being published. “An ambition…creeps in your heart night and day, singing a little song, ‘Come and find me, come and find me.”

Students are invited to submit a poem to Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site’s annual Student Poetry Contest. The contest encourages youth to explore writing their own poetry, and is open to students nationwide!

Submissions are accepted from grades 3-12 and must be postmarked by March 1, 2022. See below for submission rules.

Winners will be notified by April 8, 2022, and will be invited to participate in a special virtual program on April 22.


2022 Contest Rules

Theme – “Ambition”
Carl Sandburg wrote millions of words reflecting on the American experience of the 20th century. Though his words often focused on war, labor, and social injustice, as a father of three, he also wrote imaginative, zany, and fantastical children’s stories, called “Rootabaga Stories.” Carl Sandburg’s “Rootabaga Stories” were first published in 1922 and celebrate 100 years of entertaining readers of all ages this year. The theme “Ambition” is from one of these stories. “An ambition…creeps in your heart night and day, singing a little song, ‘Come and find me, come and find me.” Read the story here.

Poems submitted for the 2022 contest should reflect the theme of “Ambition.” By definition, a strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work. Or setting goals to achieve success.

Submission Rules

  • Poetry accepted from 3-12th grades only. Poems will be grouped for judging by 3-5th, 6-8th, and 9-12th.
  • Poems must be submitted by a teacher (traditional classroom or homeschool teacher).
  • No more than three poems per class. Teachers with multiple classes, can submit up to three poems per class period.
  • Poem will be judged on its ability to communicate the theme.
  • Poem can be written in any style, but must not exceed one-page in length. No illustrations.
  • Poems must be typed, no handwritten entries, using standard computer fonts, like Times, Arial, etc…
  • Do not place any identifying information (name, school, grade, etc…) on poem sheet, that will go on the accompanying submission form.
  • Submission form must be complete to be accepted:
    • Paperclipped to poem, no staples
    • Must be signed by parent, student and teacher
    • Submissions must be postmarked, faxed, or e-mailed to [email protected], by March 1, 2022. Emailed submissions must be docs, .pdfs or scans. Low resolution pictures of the submission will not be accepted.

Judging
Judges from the literary community will make the decision for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place within each grade category (3-5th, 6-8th, 9-12th).

Poetry Partners
The 2022 Poetry Contest is a result of tremendous community support including the Friends of Carl Sandburg at Connemara, and literary volunteers who serve as judges. Thank you.

Poetry Resources
You may also find curriculum resources to use in the classroom at the park’s website: www.nps.gov/carl/learn/education/index.htm.

Send Submissions to:
Carl Sandburg Home NHS
Attn: Poetry Contest
81 Carl Sandburg Lane
Flat Rock, North Carolina 28731
Fax 828-693-4179
Email: [email protected]

Van Gogh Alive at Biltmore Estate
Feb 18 all-day
Biltmore Estate

See the source image

Various times

His masterworks have been displayed around the world for over a century… but never like this. Described as “an unforgettable multi-sensory experience,” Van Gogh Alive is a powerful and vibrant symphony of light, color, sound, and scent that compels you to leave the world behind and immerse yourself in Van Gogh’s paintings. Simultaneously enchanting, entertaining, and educational, Van Gogh Alive stimulates all the senses and opens the mind.

“Weaving Across Time”
Feb 18 @ 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Center for Craft

Bringing thousands of years of tradition into conversation with contemporary practice, the Center for Craft’s exhibition ᎢᏛᏍᎦ ᏫᏥᏤᎢ ᎠᎵᏰᎵᏒ Weaving Across Time showcases the works of nine Eastern Band Cherokee basket makers. Touching on the dynamic evolution of lineage, sustainability, and cultural expression, the exhibition opens on December 13. This exhibition is supported in part by the Cherokee Preservation Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and AARP, Mountain Region North Carolina.

The artists’ work with two of the oldest materials in Cherokee basket making tradition, mountain rivercane and white oak, both of which have been used for thousands of years by Southeastern tribes. The end results are both beautiful and functional – entries in an evolving craft tradition that began tens of thousands of years ago and is experiencing a resurgence. The labor-intensive process of basket making, which includes harvesting materials, gathering plants for dyes, and deciding on intricate patterns, itself becomes a key component of the final object, which interweaves ecology, culture, land, and identity.

These plants, particularly rivercane, are at the heart of Cherokee tradition and culture. The subject of serious conservation efforts, rivercane is also a vital plant for water quality and erosion mitigation, as well as a habitat for riparian species. Despite its importance, the effects of climate change and continually encroaching development in rivercane habitats has contributed to its depletion, both as a material for artists and a plant essential for environmental health. Basket makers harvesting rivercane for splints approach the plant with deep reverence and knowledge of its centrality to the ecosystem, sometimes traveling hundreds of miles to harvest it sustainably.

Other materials, selected with just as much care, reveal elements of process and the natural environment, including the plants available to harvest in particular seasons. White oak can be gathered year-round, but is easiest to process in spring and summer when sap runs up the tree. Dyes used for the baskets, sourced from plants including bloodroot, butternut, and walnut, add rich color to final pieces while also revealing information about harvest time and supply. The laborious, intensive process links generations of basket makers across centuries.

As Cherokee lands have been stolen or transformed beyond recognition, materials are harder to come by, but the rewards are rich. As basket maker ᏚᏍᏓᏯᎫᎾᏱ Gabriel Crow, explains, “When you’re taking that extra step, going out and doing this completely by hand, you’re a basket maker, not just a weaver. My hands are rough and calloused over because I make the splints myself.” Crow makes an average of just 20 baskets a year and, like other basket makers, wastes no scraps, instead making mats, miniature pieces, or, as a last resort, using them for kindling.

The baskets in the exhibition, all of which were created in the last two decades, connect lineages across time and space in a vibrant, living tradition. Patterns based on rhythmic numerical sequences are passed down from teacher to student. Basket makers also borrow from contemporaries and innovate to create pieces in their own recognizable styles. Basket maker ᎺᎵ ᏔᎻᏏᏂ Mary W. Thompson, who is also the consulting artist for The Basket public art parklet, finds inspiration in designs she sees on her travels to visit other tribes in North and South America. For her, baskets are symbolic of Cherokee resilience. “The Cherokee have always been able to change and adapt with time,” she says, “so our artwork and art forms have changed and evolved along with us.”

The exhibition will be on view until April 22. Visitors can reserve 30-minute time slots for unguided visits to explore the current exhibitions, learn more about the Center’s national impact, and enjoy interactive activities. The Center is open to the public Monday – Friday, 10 am – 6 pm. Hours of operation may be subject to change.

Center for Craft is monitoring the effects of COVID-19 on the community and following the instruction of federal, state, and local health departments. Our top priority is always the health and safety of our staff, coworkers, and visitors. At this time, the Center requires the use of masks or face coverings by all visitors, including children. The Center reserves the right to refuse entry to any visitor that will not comply.

A Catalog Card Community Art ShowShow
Feb 18 @ 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
The Black Mountain Center for the Arts

Check This Out!.png

Check this out!

Do you remember card catalogs?  What happened to all those analog “cards” once they were replaced with computers?  The Black Mountain Center for the Arts, in collaboration with the Black Mountain Library has obtained a few hundred old catalog cards and we want to use them to make art!  We invite everyone in our community to participate.  After creating your artwork on a catalog card, drop it off at BMCA or the BM Library to be included in our community art show entitled “Check This Out!”

Pick Up Your Catalog Card at BMCA, the BM Library, or Chifferobe December 13 – February 4

(or until we run out)

All artwork must be submitted by February 7 @ 5:00 pm to be included in the show.

Billie Jean King Cup 2022: “Parade of Racquets” Program
Feb 18 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Harrah's Cherokee Center - Asheville

Parade of Racquets Will Offer 50 Hardwood Racquets to Local Businesses, Organizations, & Youth/School Groups to Participate

Each decorated racquet will be auctioned off at the April 15-16, 2022, event to benefit Asheville Tennis Association’s youth outreach programs.

With the Billie Jean King Cup (formally known as Fed Cup) returning to Asheville for a third time, the United States Tennis Association (USTA)  is looking to infuse the local community like never before. We’re asking artists, school groups, and teams  to create racquet artwork with the spirit of Asheville and tennis for the 2022 Billie Jean King Cup on April 15-16, 2022. The  racquet artwork will serve as an iconic visual to commemorate the return of Team USA to Asheville, NC.

The Harrah’s Cherokee Center will provide the 2′ x 4′ wooden racquets to be decorated with the spirit of  Asheville and Tennis at no cost, on a first come, first served basis while supplies last. Approximately 60  racquets will be available via pre-registration here: https://paradeofracquets-bjkc2022.eventbrite.com—  while supplies last. Pick up information will be emailed directly to registrants. All decorated racquets  must be returned to the venue no later than Tuesday, March 1, 2022 for display.

ABOUT BILLIE JEAN KING CUP
The U.S. Billie Jean King Cup team will return to Asheville, N.C. for the third time in five years in April with a  spot in the 2022 Billie Jean King Cup by BNP Paribas Finals at stake.

The USTA has selected Harrah’s Cherokee Center as host for the team’s qualifying tie against Ukraine, which  is scheduled to be played from April 15-16. Team USA previously played at Harrah’s Cherokee Center—  Asheville in 2018 and 2019, when the competition was called Fed Cup. The two events combined generated  more than $8 million in economic impact for the region and spurred increases in tennis participation at the  grassroots level.

EVENT HISTORY 
The Billie Jean King Cup, the premier international women’s tennis team competition formerly known as  the Fed Cup, was officially rebranded in honor of the legendary Billie Jean King in late 2020. Some of the  greatest tennis players in the history of the game have suited up for Team USA, helping it win a record  18 titles in the competition since the event began in 1963.

2022 WNC Regional Scholastic Art Awards Exhibition
Feb 18 @ 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum
Olivia Jones, Face Vessel, Ceramics & Glass, Silsa-Asheville High School, Grade 12. 2022 WNC Regional Scholastic Art Awards, Gold Key award.
The Asheville Art Museum has announced the regional award recipients of the 2022 Scholastic Art Awards and artworks will be on view at the Museum.
The regional program is judged in two groups: Group I, grades 7–8 and Group II, grades 9–12. Out of 540 total art entries, 190 works have been recognized by the judges, and Gold and Silver Key award-winning artworks are featured in this exhibition while honorable mentions will be featured digitally. The 2022 regional judges include local artists and educators Brandy Bourne, Jenny Pickens, and M. Paige Taylor.

Those works receiving Gold Keys have been submitted to compete in the 99th 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 2022 National Scholastic Art Awards. Award winners include students from public, private, homeschools, and charter schools in Buncombe, Burke, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Madison, McDowell, Rutherford.

Since the program’s founding in 1923, the Scholastic Art Awards have fostered the creativity and talent of millions of students, and include a distinguished list of alumni including Andy Warhol, who received recognition in the Awards when he was a teen.

National Gold Key medalists will be announced in March 2022 and honored during a special awards ceremony in June 2022.

For more information about the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers and the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, visit the Scholastic Newsroom: mediaroom.scholastic.com/artandwriting.

Citations (left to right): Wen Yaxuan, Shakivatou, Painting, Asheville School, Grade 12. 2022 WNC Regional Scholastic Art Awards, Gold Key award. | Gracie Hart, Fly, Drawing & Illustration, West Henderson High School, Grade 11. 2022 WNC Regional Scholastic Art Awards, Gold Key award.
About the Asheville Art Museum  
The Museum’s galleries, the Museum Store, Art PLAYce, and Perspective Café are open with limited capacity. The Frances Mulhall Achilles Art Research Library remains temporarily closed. The Museum welcomes visitors Wednesday through Monday from 11am to 6pm, with late-night Thursdays from 11am to 9pm. The Museum is closed on Tuesdays. General admission is always free for Museum Members, UNC Asheville students, active-duty military personnel with valid ID, and children under 6; $15 per adult; $13 per senior (65+); and $10 per student (child 6–17 or degree-seeking college students with valid ID). Admission tickets are available at ashevilleart.org/visit. Visitors may become Members at the welcome desk during their visit or online at ashevilleart.org/membership.
A Hand in Studio Craft: Harvey K. Littleton as Peer and Pioneer Exhibition
Feb 18 @ 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum

Harvey K. Littleton, Amber Maze, 1968, blown glass, 8 3/4 × 10 1/2 × 6 inches. Asheville Art Museum. © Estate of Harvey K. Littleton.
Asheville, N.C.A Hand in Studio Craft: Harvey K. Littleton as Peer and Pioneer highlights recent gifts to the Asheville Art Museum’s Collection and loans from the family of glass artist Harvey K. Littleton. This exhibition places Harvey and Bess Littleton’s collection into the context of their lives, as they moved around the United States, connected with other artists, and developed their own work. This exhibition—organized by the Asheville Art Museum and curated by Whitney Richardson, associate curator—will be on view in the Judith S. Moore Gallery at the Museum from January 19 through June 27, 2022.

Harvey K. Littleton (Corning, NY 1922–2013 Spruce Pine, NC) founded the Studio Glass Movement in the United States in 1962 when, as a teacher, he instituted a glass art program at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, the first of its kind in the United States. He taught the next generation of glass artists—who taught the next—and his influence can still be seen today. But before he dedicated himself to the medium of glass, Littleton studied industrial design, ceramics, and metalwork at the University of Michigan and the Cranbrook Academy of Art in the late 1930s and early 1940s. He met his wife Bess Tamura Littleton, a painting student, at the University of Michigan. Over the course of their careers, Harvey and Bess collected artwork by their fellow artists and amassed an impressive collection from the early days of the Studio Glass Movement and the height of the American mid-century Studio Pottery Movement.

“This exhibition offers the viewer an exciting opportunity to see some of Harvey K. Littleton’s early work in ceramic and metal—directly from his family’s collection—before he began making art in glass,” says Whitney Richardson, associate curator. “Best known for his glassworks, those will be on display alongside the work of his students and his peers making clear the influence he had on them and the Studio Glass Movement.” 

A Living Language: Cherokee Syllabary and Contemporary Art
Feb 18 @ 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum

Rhiannon Skye Tafoya (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), Ul’nigid’, 2020, letterpress (photopolymer and Bembo & Cherokee Syllabary metal type) printed on handmade & color plan paper with paperweaving, closed: 11 × 11 ¼ inches, assembled: 23 ½ × 11 ¼ × 5 ⁵⁄₈ inches. Courtesy the Artist. © Rhiannon Skye Tafoya, image Rhiannon Skye Tafoya.
 Living Language: Cherokee Syllabary and Contemporary Art features over 50 works of art in a variety of media by 30+ Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) and Cherokee Nation artists. The exhibition highlights the use of the written Cherokee language, a syllabary developed by Cherokee innovator Sequoyah (circa 1776–1843). Cherokee syllabary is frequently found in the work of Cherokee artists as a compositional element or the subject matter of the work itself. The exhibition will be on view at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian in Cherokee, NC from June 12, 2021 to October 31, 2021, and in the Asheville Art Museum’s Appleby Foundation Exhibition Hall from November 19, 2021 to March 14, 2022.

The Cherokee Syllabary is a system of writing developed by Sequoyah in the early 1800s prior to the Removal period. Through Sequoyah’s innovative work, Cherokee people embraced the writing system as an expedient form of communication and documentation. During the Removal period, the syllabary was used as a tactic to combat land dispossession. Cherokee people continue to use the syllabary as a form of cultural expression and pride, which is showcased in the contemporary artwork of the Cherokee Citizens in this exhibition.

“We’re pleased to host this gathering of works from contemporary Cherokee artists, who perfectly illustrate how our language is a living and evolving part of who we are. It’s moving to see how each artist finds inspiration in their own way from this language that connects us as Cherokee people,” said Shana Bushyhead Condill, executive director of the Museum of the Cherokee Indian.

“The Asheville Art Museum and the Museum of the Cherokee Indian have been long-term collaborators, and we are delighted to further our partnership by working together to manage an open call to Cherokee artists and subsequently curate this exciting exhibition of contemporary works that take inspiration from, celebrate, preserve and interpret the syllabary,” said Pamela L. Myers, executive director of the Asheville Art Museum. “On view at both museums, we hope the exhibition engages a wide and diverse audience in dialogue with these extraordinary works.”

A Living Language: Cherokee Syllabary and Contemporary Art is organized by the Asheville Art Museum and Museum of the Cherokee Indian, and curated by Hilary Schroeder, assistant curator at the Asheville Art Museum, with assistance from curatorial consultant Joshua Adams (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians). Special thanks to S. Dakota Brown, education director at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, and Alexis Meldrum, curatorial assistant at the Asheville Art Museum, for their support in the planning of this exhibition. This project is made possible in part by a grant from the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area Partnership, and sponsored in part by the Cherokee Preservation Foundation and Kevin Click & April Liou in memory of Myron E. Click.

Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians artists include Joshua Adams, Jody Lipscomb Bradley, Nathan Bush, Kane Crowe, John Henry Gloyne, Shan Goshorn, Luzene Hill, Christy Long, Louise Bigmeat Maney, Christopher McCoy, Tara McCoy, Joel Queen, Sean Ross, Jakeli Swimmer, Rhiannon Skye Tafoya, Mary Thompson, Stan Tooni Jr.,  Alica Wildcatt, and Fred Wilnoty.

Cherokee Nation artists include Roy Boney Jr., Jeff Edwards, Joseph Erb, Raychel Foster, Kenny Glass, Camilla McGinty, Jessica Mehta, America Meredith, Jane Osti, Lisa Rutherford, Janet L. Smith, Jennifer Thiessen, and Jennie Wilson.

About the Museum of the Cherokee Indian

Established in 1948, the Museum of the Cherokee Indian is one of the longest operating tribal museums. Recognized for its innovative storytelling, the Museum features exhibits, artwork, and hands-on technology that brings over 15,000 years of Cherokee history to life. Located in Cherokee, NC, the Museum is open daily except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. Learn more by visiting mci.org.

Ruminations on Memory Exhibition
Feb 18 @ 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum
Robert Rauschenberg, John from the Ruminations series, 1999, photogravure on paper, edition 3/46, publisher: Universal Limited Art Editions, Bay Shore, NY, 29 ½ × 38 7/8 inches. Asheville Art Museum. © Robert Rauschenberg Foundation / VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Ruminations on Memory contends with the act of remembrance and reflection, featuring a rare presentation of all nine prints from Robert Rauschenberg’s Ruminations portfolio, Judy Chicago’s Retrospective in a Box portfolio, and selections from the Museum’s Collection. Organized by the Asheville Art Museum and curated by Hilary Schroeder, assistant curator, this exhibition will be on view in Appleby Foundation Exhibition Hall at the Museum from November 19, 2021 through March 14, 2022 in conjunction with A Living Language: Cherokee Syllabary and Contemporary Art

Artworks are vessels for processing, recalling, and reflecting on the past. Artists often draw upon materials from their own pasts and grasp at fleeting moments in time in the creation of an object. For the viewer, observation of an artwork can draw out personal memories.

Artworks in a variety of media explore various ways of remembering, including individual memories that focus on the moments from an artist’s past; generational memory that looks back to one’s ancestors, whether recent or long past; and collective memory, wherein in an image might evoke bygone times that balance between constructed and real. Through these artworks that ruminate upon the past, viewers may discover the stirrings of their own thoughts and recollections prompted by the works before them.

Ruminations on Memory offers a unique opportunity to experience the entirety of a major print portfolio by American painter Robert Rauschenberg (Port Arthur, TX 1925–2008 Captiva, FL). Rauschenberg was a student at Black Mountain College in NC for the 1948–1949 and 1951–1952 academic sessions and for the 1951 and 1952 summers. His Ruminations series consists of nine color photogravures which were printed in 1999 and reflect on Rauschenberg’s early life, his friends and family, and the memories he held dear. The series represents especially significant mature work by Rauschenberg that looks back to his most formative moments as an artist including his time at Black Mountain College and the friendships and ideas formed there.

Also presented in the exhibition is an important series of prints by Judy Chicago (born Chicago, IL 1939). Five decades into her career, Chicago stands as one of the foremost artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, having committed to socially minded work, uplifting in particular experiences salient to her feminine and Jewish identities. Retrospective in a Box consists of seven prints and a portfolio created in collaboration with the master printers at Landfall Press, and provides an overview of her major motifs and ideas, including the print Spring the Dinner, a nod to her seminal 1979 work The Dinner Party.

In addition to the artworks from the Museum’s Collection, visitors will be able to experience Felix Gonzales-Torres’s “Untitled” (L.A.), on loan from the Art Bridges collection. “Untitled” (L.A.) is one of the artist’s iconic interactive candy installations where memories are engaged not only through sight but through sound, touch, taste, and smell as well.

Learn more about Ruminations on Memory and A Living Language: Cherokee Syllabary and Contemporary Art at ashevilleart.org.

Stained with Glass: Vitreograph Prints from the Studio of Harvey K. Littleton Exhibition
Feb 18 @ 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum
 
Left: Thermon Statom, Frankincense, 1999, siligraphy from glass plate with digital transfer on BFK Rives paper, edition 50/50, 36 1/4 × 29 3/8 inches. Asheville Art Museum. © Thermon Statom. | Right: Dale Chihuly, Suite of Ten Prints: Chandelier, 1994, 4-color intaglio from glass plate on BRK Rives paper, edition 34/50, image: 29 ½ × 23 ½ inches, sheet: 36 × 29 ½ inches. Asheville Art Museum. © Dale Chihuly / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Asheville, N.C.—The selection of works from the Asheville Art Museum’s Collection presented in Stained with Glass: Vitreograph Prints from the Studio of Harvey K. Littleton features imagery that recreates the sensation and colors of stained glass. The exhibition showcases Littleton and the range of makers who worked with him, including Dale Chihuly, Cynthia Bringle, Thermon Statom, and more. This exhibition—organized by the Asheville Art Museum and curated by Hilary Schroeder, assistant curator—will be on view in The Van Winkle Law Firm Gallery at the Museum from January 12 through May 23, 2022.

In 1974 Harvey K. Littleton (Corning, NY 1922–2013 Spruce Pine, NC) developed a process for using glass to create prints on paper. Littleton, who began as a ceramicist and became a leading figure in the American Studio Glass Movement, expanded his curiosity around the experimental potential of glass into innovations in the world of printmaking. A wide circle of artists in a variety of media—including glass, ceramics, and painting—were invited to Littleton’s studio in Spruce Pine, NC, to create prints using the vitreograph process developed by Littleton. Upending notions of both traditional glassmaking and printmaking, vitreographs innovatively combine the two into something new. The resulting prints created through a process of etched glass, ink, and paper create rich, colorful scenes reminiscent of luminous stained glass.

“Printmaking is a medium that many artists explore at some point in their career,” says Hilary Schroeder, assistant curator. “The process is often collaborative, as they may find themselves working with a print studio and highly skilled printmaker. The medium can also be quite experimental. Harvey Littleton’s contribution to the field is very much so in this spirit, as seen in his incorporation of glass and his invitation to artists who might otherwise not have explored works on paper. Through this exhibition, we are able to appreciate how the artists bring their work in clay, glass, or paint to ink and paper.” 

The Wyeths: Three Generations | Works from the Bank of America Collection
Feb 18 @ 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum
N. C. Wyeth, Eight Bells (Clyde Stanley and Andrew Wyeth aboard Eight Bells), 1937, oil on hardboard, 20 × 30 inches. Bank of America Collection

The Wyeths: Three Generations | Works from the Bank of America Collection provides a comprehensive survey of works by N. C. Wyeth, one of America’s finest illustrators; his son, Andrew, an important realist painter; his eldest daughter, Henriette, a realist painter; and Andrew’s son Jamie, a popular portraitist. Through the works of these artists from three generations of the Wyeth family, themes of American history, artistic techniques, and creative achievements can be explored. This exhibition will be on view in the Asheville Art Museum’s Explore Asheville Exhibition Hall February 12 through May 30, 2022.

N. C. Wyeth (1882–1945) has long been considered one of the nation’s leading illustrators. In the early 1900s, he studied with illustrator Howard Pyle in Delaware. In 1911, he built a house and studio in nearby Chadds Ford, PA. Later, he bought a sea captain’s house in Maine and in 1931 built a small studio, which he shared with his son, Andrew, and his daughters, Henriette and Carolyn. The exhibition includes illustrations for books by Robert Louis Stevenson and Washington Irving as well as historical scenes, seascapes, and landscapes.

Andrew Wyeth (1917–2009) is one of the United States’ most popular artists, and his paintings follow the American Realist tradition. He was influenced by the works of Winslow Homer, whose watercolor technique he admired, as well as by the art of Howard Pyle and his father, N. C. While Andrew painted recognizable images, his use of line and space often imbue his works with an underlying abstract quality. The exhibition includes important works from the 1970s and 1980s as well as recent paintings.

Henriette Wyeth (1907–1997) was the eldest daughter of N.C. Wyeth and an older sister to Andrew Wyeth. Like other members of her family, her painting style was realist in a time when Impressionism and Abstraction were popular in the early 20th century. She studied painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and was an acclaimed portraitist, though perhaps not as widely known as her father and brother. Most notably she painted the portrait of First Lady, Pat Nixon, which is in the collection of The White House.

Jamie Wyeth (born 1946), like his father and grandfather, paints subjects of everyday life, in particular the landscapes, animals, and people of Pennsylvania and Maine. In contrast to his father—who painted with watercolor, drybrush, and tempera—Jamie works in oil and mixed media, creating lush painterly surfaces. The 18 paintings in the exhibition represent all periods of his career.

This exhibition has been loaned through the Bank of America Art in our Communities® program.

Winter Photo Contest – “Winter Trees”
Feb 18 @ 12:00 pm – 11:45 pm
Chimney Rock State Park

Image result for Chimney Rock Park

It’s the Year of the Tree in North Carolina State Parks, and we are encouraging guests to celebrate trees all year long! Start off in the winter months while branches are bare and capture some unique tree shapes or the beauty of frosty evergreens. You may win a prize for your efforts!

GREAT PRIZES WILL BE AWARDED TO 3 WINNING ENTRIES

1st Prize: The winning photo will be our Facebook cover photo for two weeks, and the photographer will receive two annual passes to Chimney Rock State Park, two boat tour tickets from Lake Lure Tours, and dinner for two at the Old Rock Café.

2nd Prize: After the first place photo, the second place photo will be our Facebook cover photo for one week. The photographer will receive two annual passes to Chimney Rock State Park and dinner for two at the Old Rock Café.

3rd Prize: The third place photographer will receive two adult day passes (or one family pack of day passes) to Chimney Rock State Park and dinner for two at the Old Rock Café.

CONTEST RULES:

  1. There is no fee to enter the contest. All photographs must be taken of Chimney Rock at Chimney Rock State Park only in areas accessible to guests between January 1, 2022 – February 28, 2022.
    The contest is open to amateur and professional photographers.
  2. Up to three photos per person can be submitted via any of the following ways to be eligible to win:
    • Facebook: First, like the Chimney Rock at Chimney Rock State Park page. Next, send us a private message including your contact information specified in rule #3.
    • E-mail: If you don’t have access to social media, you may email your digital photo with your contact information specified in rule #3 to [email protected].
  3. Every entry should be clearly labeled with the photographer’s name, city & state, a brief photo caption, an email address and the best phone number to reach you.
  4. Photos should be available at a minimum resolution of 1200 x 1600 pixels (1 MB minimum) to be eligible to win. Photos taken via smart phones, tablets and other mobile devices are welcome if they meet minimum requirements.
  5. For entries showing human faces, you must list their name(s) and have written permission from any photographed person(s) to use their image.
  6. Entries should reflect the photographer’s interpretation of the theme. Emphasis will be placed on quality, composition and creativity. All entries may be used in promotions of Chimney Rock and park-related activities.
  7. Digital images can be optimized but not dramatically altered with photo editing software. Black and white photographs are welcome.
  8. Finalists will be chosen by Chimney Rock staff and the winner will be voted on by the public. Decisions regarding winners are final.

Winners will be notified personally and announced on Chimney Rock’s social media. For more information, call 1-828-625-9611, ext. 1812 or email us at [email protected].

Jesse Daniel Edwards & Band Return
Feb 18 @ 8:00 pm – 9:30 pm
White Horse Black Mountain

Jesse Daniel Edwards is an acclaimed songwriter and radio charting artist hailing from the small mountain town of Cuyamaca, CA (pop. 60). As a child, Jesse and his 6 siblings grew up without television, internet, or significant exposure to the outside world- they went without electricity until he was age 12. He spent his time learning to sing harmony to gospel tracks and tinkering on hand-me-down instruments with his grandpa. Leaving home at 16, he spent his late teen years busking on street corners around the US and abroad. He eventually grew to perform upon the festival and university circuits full-time after a chance encounter with Al Bunetta (John Prine), sharing the stage with Morrissey, Lucinda Williams, and John Prine. His songs have been featured in radio, TV, streaming movies, video games, and 2 independent films.

He spent the lockdown working odd jobs, moving back to the American South. There, he picked up the guitar again after a near 2 year hiatus. He began reinventing his music, writing and recording in his home studio profusely, and ultimately planning to hit the stage again as the world reopened. Now he appears for a limited engagement with his 3-piece band of A list players.

Saturday, February 19, 2022
Asheville Gallery of Art’s February 2022 Exhibit; New Members Show
Feb 19 all-day
Asheville Gallery of Art

Asheville Gallery of Art’s February show, “Time for Renewal” will feature works by three new gallery members: Kathy Goodson, Margie Kluska, and Johnnie Stanfield. The show will run February 1-28 during gallery hours, 11am-6pm. An event to meet the artists will be held at the gallery on First Friday, February 4, from 5-8pm at 82 Patton Avenue.

This show represents a seasonal reset. What is to come will be better. We have had our time to pause, and now it is time to refresh. For the earth, this is Spring, a time for new growth. In February, the light begins to change, and shadows shift. Underlying it all is the promise of our renewal.

Kathy Goodson
Color is one of Kathy’s visual languages. She captures the drama of her botanical flowers and leaves so they appear to leap off the painting…a visual feast in silk and dye or encaustic. The thrill of creating something unexpected is an elixir to her, with reds and fuchsia being her favorites. When creating an abstract, she begins by thinking about color, then a story begins to grow, which leads to a visual symbol or image, loaded with meaning related to the story. All of this happens before she puts the first brush stroke on the silk or
the wood. Her process is interactive, and she lets the painting create, then lead her.
“Color captivates me especially when winter begins to change into spring. The Lenten Rose is the first to emerge in late winter, with subtle and muted colors…unlike the later flowers of spring and summer.”

Margie Kluska
Margie has been drawing since she was a child. She enjoys studying the works of the classical artists and Hudson River School painters, and she has only recently taken up oil painting. Her inspiration is taken from nature, landscapes, wildlife, and flora. Living surrounded by the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains has inspired her to paint views that take one’s breath away. Distant mountain ranges, glorious sunsets, soaring hawks, and ever-changing weather patterns offer her extensive references which she captures on canvas. Her style, “loose realism”, captures the reality of each scene with a slight bent towards Impressionism.
“Light affects our moods. Whether it’s a sunrise, sunset, or storm clouds parting to expose a blue sky, our moods are instantly transformed.”

Johnnie Stanfield
An award-winning artist, Johnnie is known for her colorful, vivid watercolor and acrylic paintings of horses, fishing lure studies, and local landscapes. She is inspired by the emotion created when she sees an object or something in nature that recalls a past memory. She is then compelled to paint it, to convey and share that feeling with the viewer. Johnnie will paint a subject in watercolor to give it a softer feel so the viewer can devote their own emotion to the painting or add to the emotion she has created. If it is detailed, she will usually use acrylic or oil. Her paintings hang in private collections throughout the Southeast.
”Sheltering in Place” was inspired by my cat, during the shelter in place mandate in Spring, 2020. Like all of us, we waited for the sunshine, to renew our spirit and celebrate its warmth, while wondering when we could go back out into the world and resume our life as usual.”

For further information about this show, please contact the Asheville Gallery of Art at (828) 251-5796, visit the gallery’s website at www.ashevillegallery-of-art.com, or go to the gallery’s Facebook page.

BE THE CHANGE, BUY A MURAL
Feb 19 all-day
online

Buy one of these murals for yourself or to donate to a local organization (make sure you check with them first), and keep the good work going! All proceeds from this auction will be split evenly between The Martin Luther King, Jr. Association of Asheville and Buncombe County’s COPE Program and the Asheville Area Arts Council’s Arts Build Community Grant. Auction ends February 28.

Following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, MN, on May 25, 2020, protests broke out across the nation. Floyd was killed after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly 9 minutes. In response, hundreds of protestors gathered in downtown Asheville from May 29- June 6, 2020, with cries for justice and change.

During this time, Lowe’s Home Improvement generously donated plywood for downtown business owners to cover their storefronts while Asheville had its own reckoning. Business owners and artists seized this opportunity to lend their support for needed changes by painting murals on the plywood covering downtown businesses. Local muralists Gus Cutty, Kathryn Crawford, and Dustin Spagnola were the driving force behind this initiative.

When it came time for the murals to come down, local artists Evar Hecht and Ben Nelson had the foresight to collect and temporarily store these works, gathering over 150 pieces of plywood. The Asheville Area Arts Council, with the help of Dogwood Health Trust, then stepped in to move the murals to a secure, climate-controlled storage facility and worked with Aisha Adams of Equity Over Everything to determine next steps.

After several COVID setbacks, the arts council is proud to have partnered with the Martin Luther King Jr Association of Asheville and Buncombe County to present this virtual exhibition, auction and speaker series. It is our hope that the proceeds from the auction will support continued change and healing  in our community.

Thank you to Dogwood Health Trust for generously providing the funding to make this project possible, and to the artists and business owners for donating their time and energy to capture this moment in our history.

A video about the exhibition is featured as part of the 41st Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration.