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.
Our annual month of classic anime returns on Friday, January 4th featuring the best movies from Studio Ghibli and animation legend Hayao Miyazaki!
THE MOVIES & DATES ARE…
Jan. 4 – 7: Spirited Away
Jan. 8 – 10: Kiki’s Delivery Service – 30th Anniversary
Jan. 11 – 14: Princess Mononoke
Jan. 15 – 17: Porco Rosso
Jan. 18 – 21: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind – 35th Anniversary
Jan. 22 – 24: Grave of the Fireflies (NOT FOR YOUNG VIEWERS)
Jan. 25 – 28: My Neighbor Totoro
Jan. 29 – 31: The Cat Returns
Feb. 1 – 4: Howl’s Moving Castle – 15th Anniversary
Feb. 5 – 7: Castle in the Sky
SHOWTIMES:
There will be two matinees and a 10:00 pm show every day for each movie. We’ll post specific showtimes for each movie here and on our website’s movie page.
SPECIAL BONUS… At the final 10:00 pm show of each movie we will show the original Japanese version with English subtitles! All other shows will be the English dubbed version.
TICKET INFO:
Tickets are only $3.00, and sales operate on our normal ticket policy of going on sale 24 hours before your desired show date.
For example, Friday movie tickets go on sale Thursday, the day before.
https://www.facebook.com/events/359072128006762/?event_time_id=359072144673427
Join us every weekend and enjoy one of America’s greatest art forms – live Jazz – along with your favorite glass of effervescent goodness outside on our dog-friendly patio. It’s what we consider the perfect amalgamation for a blissful weekend.
Noon – 2pm – Drayton & Friends
2:15pm – 4:30pm – Swingsations
BRUNCH, LUNCH, AND BEYOND!
Enjoy our select weekend menu, available only Friday – Sunday. All items are served with a fruit salad with sweet cream and today’s rotating side salad.
*Individual Quiche from Rhu Bakery. $12
A delicious savory quiche from Rhu. Bakery with egg, cheese and vegetables in homemade pastry. Ask server for today’s quiche selections
*Gourmet Grilled Cheese Panini. Choice of:
Triple Grilled Cheese with Muenster, White Cheddar and Swiss. $12
Grilled White Cheddar with tomato and bacon: $14
Grilled Brie with Ham and side of fig jam: $14
Grilled White Cheddar and Apple: $12
Soup of the Day; Bowl: $5 / Cup: $3
https://www.facebook.com/events/369983746880315/?event_time_id=369983763546980
This audition will include a 30 min check-in and warmup followed by a 1.5 hour ballet and pointe class. If you are not en pointe, please stay in flat shoes. Dancers may be considered for our Ballet, Contemporary, and Jazz Intensives.
Online audition applications available here: https://form.jotform.com/SC_Summer_Dance_Conservatory/audition-application-form-2019
Scholarship applications available here:
https://form.jotform.com/SC_Summer_Dance_Conservatory/scholarship-application-form-2019
https://www.facebook.com/events/281132862498389/
Highlands Ice Rink is located at Kelsey Hutchinson Founders park in Highlands, NC 28741. The Ice rink’s open hours are:
Thursdays 1-8pm
Fridays-Saturdays 1-10pm
Sundays 1-5pm
all open hours depend on weather conditions.
https://www.facebook.com/events/478232852670311/?event_time_id=478232929336970
We NEED you! Each quarter we are hosting a Period Packing Party for the Homeless Period Project. It is a great way to serve, laugh and get to know one another. We could use your time and / or donations:
For example, if our goal is to make 200 packs we will need to raise:
*1000 tampons (25 boxes)
*1000 pads (21 boxes)
*1000 liners. (21 boxes)
And we need beautiful humans to pack these care packages. Many hands create light work. We hope to see you here!
https://www.facebook.com/events/338324426991719/
Sunday Sound Bath
Let’s bring in the New Year with a clean slate. Setting intentions and creating a blueprint for the hearts desire! Breathe in new energy and bring the mind, body and SOUL into balance. This is a time to let go of the old and bring in the NEW with the divine vibrations of the Crystal and Tibetan Bowls. Drift into a realm of bliss where happiness, meaning and truth converge.
Sliding scale $10-20
❤️
https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/classic/ws?studioid=630417&sclassid=606&sDate=1/6/2019&sLoc=1&sTG=24&sType=1
https://www.facebook.com/events/371212306984504/
Come with a design in mind, or let us help you come up with one.
$25 per painter
Each painter receives:
2 wine glasses
Use of all painting supplies
Instruction from our artist
We encourage you to RSVP. Walk ins are welcome while glasses last.
https://www.facebook.com/events/324718624794470/
Come tap into your inner brilliance and light with 108 Sun Salutations to greet the Winter Solstice! You are ready to fully bloom into what you are capable of and witness your capacity when you soften and ground through your breath and movement into this energizing practice. Time to shine! This is the third workshop in the Winter Solstice Series at Pure Yoga Asheville.
Cost is $18 with PYIC 10% discount. Register for your spot at www.pureyogaavl.com/events.
https://www.facebook.com/events/312537502864373/
Ales & Tales book club, held at Homeplace Beer Company and co-hosted by Yancey County Public Library. On Sunday, January 6, the book discussion will be centered around “The Great Alone” by Kristin Hannah.
The remainder of the year’s schedule and books are as follows:
Sunday, February 3rd – *Brave New World, Aldous Huxley (Scifi)
Sunday, March 3rd – Becoming, Michelle Obama (Memoir)
Sunday, April 7th – *The Guernsey Literacy Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Schaffer (Historical Fiction)
Sunday, May 5th – *Masters of Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov (Fiction/ Satire)
Sunday, June 2nd – News of Our Loved Ones, Abigail DeWitt (Historical Fiction)
Sunday, July 7th – Hidden Scars, Mark de Castrique (WNC
Historical Fiction)
Sunday, August 4th – *The Handmaids Tale, Margaret Atwood (Scifi)
Sunday, September 1st – *Zita the Space Girl, Ben Hatke (Graphic Novel)
Sunday, October 6th – *The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman (Juvenile Fiction)
Sunday, November 3rd – Run with the Horseman, Ferrol Sams (Fiction)
Sunday, December 2nd – *Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole (Fiction/Satire)
* Indicates the books the library is borrowing from the Transylvania Library Booksets Program.
We will have 10+ copies available for checkout, on top of what we have in our collection. You will be able to get these books from us a month and a half before the club meets!
For example: if you want to start reading February’s book, Brave New World, we have the books available now.
https://www.facebook.com/events/270273483644807/
HEALTHY COOKING CLASS
Our classes have a simple objective: teach home cooks a few basic techniques, strategies and perspectives so healthy cooking is fun, creative and entirely doable. To achieve this objective, classes emphasize healthy everyday cooking.
Time: 2-3pm
Cost: $10.00/person
Location: Fitness Center, 2186 Lynn Road, Columbus, NC
Learn to compliment your weight loss or fitness routine by learning how to fuel your body the right way with these nutrition and cooking classes.
Space is limited – reserve your spot today by calling 828-859-5004!
https://www.facebook.com/events/1727424000700710/?event_time_id=1727424024034041
RESCHEDULED to January 13!
Due to the government shutdown, this event is rescheduled to the snow date of January 13th. If the shutdown continues to the 13th, the event will be cancelled.
Carl Sandburg Home NHS will host its first community storytelling slam on Carl Sandburg’s Birthday, Sunday, January 6, 2019. Storytellers from across the region will share true five-minute stories with a live audience at Blue Ridge Community College Bo Thomas Auditorium from 2:00 – 4:00 pm. The event is free and open to the public, and suitable for all ages. American Sign Language interpreters will also translate the stories for the audience.
A call for storytellers went out in November, with finalists notified in December. Each storyteller was asked to submit a true story reflecting the theme of “dream,” based on a line Carl Sandburg wrote in a poem, “nothing happens unless first a dream.” The audience will enjoy listening to finalists’ true stories of “dream” through actual dreams, goals achieved, surprises, and dreams waylaid by struggle and hardship. There will be laughter, tears, and a sense of relating to the very personal experiences of the storytellers.
“Carl Sandburg worked with people from all walks of life and learned from their perspectives. His genuine interest and care for others is what made him such a strong voice for the people. A storytelling event, featuring everyday people, is a powerful way to celebrate his birthday and legacy,” said Park Superintendent Polly Angelakis.
The story slam will be moderated by storyteller Johnny Thomas Fowler. Fowler is from Boiling Springs, SC. He is an award winning banjo and harmonica player and recipient of the South Carolina Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Award, the highest honor given to folk artists in South Carolina. He is one of sixteen storytellers featured in the book, Southern Appalachian Storytellers. Fowler co-hosts an old-time radio show, This Old Porch, and hosts and produces WORD STAGE, a weekly storytelling series. Both can be heard on North Carolina Public Radio station WNCW.
A panel of judges will rate the stories, with first place awarded $100, second place $75, and third place, $50. All finalists will receive a small thank you gift for participating.
In case of inclement weather, the snow date will be January 13, from 2:00 – 4:00 pm. We will notify finalists and post information on our website, www.nps.gov/carl, Facebook page, and via media advisory if the story Slam has to be rescheduled.
Support for the Slam is provided by the Friends of Carl Sandburg at Connemara, the park’s fundraising partner, and by Eastern National, the partner that manages our bookstore.
https://www.facebook.com/events/750413501994772/
Don’t miss Carolina Community Chorus’s entertaining holiday concert conducted by Susan Lyle and accompanied by Pam McNeil, piano! You’ll love hearing your favorite international carols plus some fun arrangements of old standards like The Night Before Christmas and a stunning arrangement of Lo How a Rose combined with The Rose, as well as Christmas selections from the Messiah! The concert will also feature The Cathedral Brass and Carolina Carolers.
Bring family and friends and join us for this concert of seasonal music that entertains the spirit and satisfies the soul!
Tickets are available at the door, day of concert, or from a chorus or Rotary Club of Tryon member.
https://www.facebook.com/events/663769707351000/
Jack of the Wood : Sunday-Irish Session
Sundays
1 till who knows when?
Traditional Irish music is kept alive at Jack of the Wood with our unplugged Sunday session.
Jack of the Wood
95 Patton ave
Asheville, NC 28801
(828) 252.5445
Kickin’ 2019 Celebrating our students and the completion of the last 7 weeks of classes and newly acquired improv skills! Come cheer them on with us, Sunday, January 6th starting at 3pm, doors at 2:30pm. See full line-up below.
Wednesday’s Level 1 Class: 3:00pm – 4:00pm
Sunday’s Level 1 Class: 4:30pm – 5:30pm
Tuesday’s Level 2 Class: 6:00pm – 7:00pm
Sunday’s Level 4 (Graduate) Class: 7:30pm – 8:30pm
Each showcase is only $5. Come early and stay late!
https://www.facebook.com/events/380995745783457/
Vivian Leva and Riley Calcagno are tapping into the deepest parts of American music, taking old songs that have seldom been heard and presenting them next to their own timeless and visceral originals. When they are not performing as duo, they’re often found sitting knee to knee, playing under the canopy of trees at fiddle festivals across the country, such as the gathering where they met in June of 2016. Across any campground, or concert venue, the echos of their vibrant and magnetic harmonies ring out.
Leva, of Lexington, Virginia grew up playing and performing with her parents, Carol Elizabeth Jones and James Leva, learning traditional songs from their sources and honing her rhythmic guitar style. In June, 2017 Vivian recorded her debut album Time is Everything in close collaboration with Calcagno during an inspired session at Studio 808A in the small town of Floyd, VA. She released this album of original music on March 2nd, 2018 on Free Dirt Records to critical acclaim, including being one of Rolling Stone Country’s “10 New Artists You Need to Know.”
Riley, of Seattle, WA spent his earlier years playing with the widely recognized band The Onlies, described as “masterful” and “deliciously well-crafted” (Kithfolk) and developing his own distinct authenticity on the fiddle and banjo.
Together, Vivian and Riley have toured across the country, in living rooms and concert halls. As individuals, they have shared the stages with and played, both nationally and internationally, in the bands of Elvis Costello, Rhiannon Giddens, The Lost Tribe Of Country Music, and Bruce Molsky to name just a few. To this collaboration they bring both the steady hands of experience and a refined taste for American music, yet still a youthful abandon that can’t be forced. In 2018 and 2019, they will be on tour internationally to support Vivian’s new release and bring their distinct brand of old-time and country to a festival, hall, bar, or fireplace gathering near you.
$5.00 Cover at the door (plus an opportunity to fill up the Tip Jar)
https://www.facebook.com/events/540516716359770/
Come enjoy the holiday season and all its wonder while playing alongside the Broad River and the fully decorated Mini Golf Course!
$6.50 to play and kids under 5 are FREE!
https://www.facebook.com/events/1473877239423624/?event_time_id=1473877259423622
Join Susan Enderle in this 28 day Sugar Cleanse program!
We will meet on January 6th for an introductory class, learning about the different types of sugars and how they affect our health. We will understand why many people who attempt a cleanse fail as well as be educated on how to effectively have a successful detox experience.
During the next few weeks, we will stay connected via Facebook group to support one another in our detox journey with tools and guidelines given by Susan.
On February 3rd, we will regroup and share our experiences during our 28 day sugar cleanse.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Susan is a Brennan Healing Science Practitioner, Shaman Medicine Practitioner, and a Chemical Engineer. She has completed over 2500 hours of advanced energy healing, focusing on both hands-on healing and shamanism. Her work combines the magic and expansiveness of energy work, with the grounded practicality of engineering.
Her greatest passion and the focus of her work is to support clients in finding clarity. peace and fulfillment, step by step.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
12 1/2 Wall Street
Check in at Suite B
5:30pm
$25 for the Introductory class
$100 for the complete 28 day program
https://www.facebook.com/events/277229956478383/
Let Your Soul Shine…Vibrations For The New Year!
Let’s bring in the New Year with a clean slate. Setting intentions and creating a blueprint for the heart’s desire! Breathe in new energy and bring the mind, body and SOUL into balance. This is a time to let go of the old and bring in the NEW with the divine vibrations of the Crystal and Tibetan Bowls. Drift into a realm of bliss where happiness, meaning and truth converge.
$20 drop-in // $25 at door // Space is limited: to save yours, register on our class calendar – or call 828.246.6570 – or email [email protected]
https://www.facebook.com/events/209775853285120/
$12 Advance / $12 Day of Show
Emmy has a uniquely soulful voice and puts on an engaging show performing original indie pop and folk tunes. She’ll keep the audience enthusiastic and enlightened as her music is reminiscent of Wolf Alice, Cat Power, Daughter and Ellie Goulding.
Seated Lounge Show:: Limited Tables Available with a Dinner Reservation :: All Other Seating is First Come First Serve General Admission :: Please Call Venue for Dinner (Table) Reservations
https://www.facebook.com/events/731219783914557/
Due to inclement weather, tomorrow’s holiday concert has been postponed to Sunday, January 6, 2019 at 7 pm. Stay safe!
Revel in the bright and hopeful sounds of children and teenagers singing songs of the season! The four ensembles of the Asheville Youth Choirs will be joined by harpist, Lelia Lattimore, in presenting this festive holiday concert.
• Sunday, January 6, 2019
• First Baptist Church of Asheville, Sanctuary
• Free and open to the public!
https://www.facebook.com/events/1046877065494855/
Asheville’s Newest Singles Dating Events @ Archetype Brewing in West Asheville. Archetype is a great party venue with award-winning Brews (and also a lovely selection of non-alcoholic drinks.)
Join DATE.PLAY.LOVE the first Sunday of every month for an inclusive singles night full of games, great beer, and connections!
Our next event is January 6, 2019, from 7 to 9pm. Come meet other open-minded singles in Asheville in a no-pressure, super-chill environment with games, great conversation and lots of laughs.
Tickets and additional information is available at Dateplaylove.org. Follow link above to get your tickets ahead of time!
https://www.facebook.com/events/1043240099182072/
$20 Advance / $20 Day of Show
Join us as six of Asheville’s favorite local female singer/songwriters perform the works of iconic female artists. This year’s artists will pay tribute to the iconic works of Dolly Parton, Stevie Nicks and Kate Wolf.
In 2018, four of Asheville’s predominant singer/songwriters got together and payed tribute to three celebrated icons in a sold out and highly praised show. This year, the show has grown and now includes six local favorites; Jane Kramer, Aubrey Eisenman, Anya Hinkle, Anna Kline, Amanda Anne Platt and Hannah Kaminer have teamed up to cover the works of Dolly Parton, Stevie Nicks and Kate Wolf in a full sound delivery! All six artists front locally-based, touring bands and have been recognized as wonderful song writers. Their performances will include works of the iconic artists but also stories about their history and rise.
Main Stage Seated :: Limited Tables Available with a Dinner Reservation :: All Other Seating is First Come First Serve General Admission :: Please Call Venue for Dinner (Table) Reservations
https://www.facebook.com/events/374311469980140/
Join us for free hot chocolate at the Killian Front Terrace and the General Studies Courtyard at the Henderson County Campus.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1961367817313384/?event_time_id=1961367823980050
We are offering massages at half price this week. Massage is a very important part of preventative health care, and goes hand-in-hand with chiropractic. Call our office a few weeks in advance to schedule, or anytime for more information. We do offer massage all the time, however this week it will be half the normal cost.
https://www.facebook.com/events/2154848468103193/?event_time_id=2154848484769858
Breakfast at Black Mountain Butcher Bar starts Monday, January 7th!
NOTE: This event is ongoing. We kick off January 7th with a new breakfast offering at Black Mountain Butcher Bar.
Join us for breakfast EVERY weekday from 8am-11am, featuring Foothills house-made breakfast meats like rotating beef and pork bacon, beef brisket, country fried steak and more.
Enjoy scratch-made buttermilk biscuits, pancakes, Dynamite Roasting Company coffee, Four Sisters Bakery pastries & treats and more delicious breakfast items from $4 to $14!
(And yes, we’re still serving brunch on Saturday and Sundays with $5 mimosas and Bloody Mary’s.)
Early riser, late sleeper…when it comes to the most important meal of the day, we’ve got you covered.
Join us at the Butcher Bar for breakfast, lunch and dinner, 7 days a week starting January 7th!
For more info, visit foothillslocalmeats.com.
https://www.facebook.com/events/300129374182707/
When reflecting on the current state of the environment, it seems that we have entered into times of seismic sorrows. Carbon emissions, water pollution, fracking, and changing climate patterns all point to a troubling reality with serious consequences for human and non-human populations. Through weavings, installations, sculpture, and print, artists Rena Detrixhe and Tali Weinberg (Tulsa, OK) explore the complex relationship between humans and the planet, offering insights, expressing grief, and creating space for resilience and change.
In Time of Seismic Sorrows is curated by Marilyn Zapf and organized by the Center for Craft. The Center for Craft is supported in part by the N.C. Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
Monday Morning routine elevated! ?♀️☕? Get ZEN with an uplifting, all-levels strength-building vinyasa flow, then enjoy local coffee!
Meet us at Primal Studios at 10:30am for yoga with Mauni Tomlo, then coffee from Fractals Coffee Shop and Cafe, a local Asheville neighborhood shop. Beans are roasted by Pennycup Coffee CO, an Asheville based small-batch roaster.
You likely already know the benefits of yoga for your body and your mind, but what about the perks of drinking coffee? In addition to helping you wake up or shake off grogginess, recent research shows that coffee has some pretty great health benefits. Coffee is full of antioxidants, which help ward off disease. In moderation, coffee & yoga can coexist as a part of a healthy routine.
➳ 60 minute class
➳ $12 drop in/ Pre-register on Mindbody app- Primal Studios to reserve your space + speed up the sign in process!
➳ We have Buti Yoga B-aligned mats for your use!
About the Yoga Class:
Embark on a short mindfulness meditation to identify the intention you wish to cultivate, then move through an alignment-based, steady-paced, strength-building vinyasa practice that challenges your body and encourages the embodiment of your vital essence to to emerge in a peaceful yet powerful way.
Next, enjoy a gentle, therapeutic deep stretching flow that will open the heart, lengthen the muscles and ease the hamstrings, hips and lower back.
End your practice with an essential oil infused savasana that encourages an inspirational morning.
We can’t wait to see you! ✨ All are welcome!
? Instructor Mauni Tomlo is an experienced 200 hr RYT Yoga Instructor trained in a classic Baptiste style of yoga. Her dynamic classes hit the sweet spot between peace and power.
✨ Primal Studios is a Yoga/Buti Yoga/Movement studio that inspires you to move outside your comfort zone, and connect & thrive in the community as we evolve together! Visit us at 457 N. Louisiana Ave. in West Asheville, right inside the TRIBE Dance & Pole building! www.primalstudiosasheville.com ✨
https://www.facebook.com/events/585360665260047/?event_time_id=597079184088195
Monday Morning routine elevated! ?♀️☕? Get ZEN with an uplifting, all-levels strength-building vinyasa flow, then enjoy local coffee!
Meet us at Primal Studios at 10:30am for yoga with Mauni Tomlo, then coffee from Fractals Coffee Shop and Cafe, a local Asheville neighborhood shop. Beans are roasted by Pennycup Coffee CO, an Asheville based small-batch roaster.
You likely already know the benefits of yoga for your body and your mind, but what about the perks of drinking coffee? In addition to helping you wake up or shake off grogginess, recent research shows that coffee has some pretty great health benefits. Coffee is full of antioxidants, which help ward off disease. In moderation, coffee & yoga can coexist as a part of a healthy routine.
➳ 60 minute class
➳ $12 drop in/ Pre-register on Mindbody app- Primal Studios to reserve your space + speed up the sign in process!
➳ We have Buti Yoga B-aligned mats for your use!
About the Yoga Class:
Embark on a short mindfulness meditation to identify the intention you wish to cultivate, then move through an alignment-based, steady-paced, strength-building vinyasa practice that challenges your body and encourages the embodiment of your vital essence to to emerge in a peaceful yet powerful way.
Next, enjoy a gentle, therapeutic deep stretching flow that will open the heart, lengthen the muscles and ease the hamstrings, hips and lower back.
End your practice with an essential oil infused savasana that encourages an inspirational morning.
We can’t wait to see you! ✨ All are welcome!
? Instructor Mauni Tomlo is an experienced 200 hr RYT Yoga Instructor trained in a classic Baptiste style of yoga. Her dynamic classes hit the sweet spot between peace and power.
✨ Primal Studios is a Yoga/Buti Yoga/Movement studio that inspires you to move outside your comfort zone, and connect & thrive in the community as we evolve together! Visit us at 457 N. Louisiana Ave. in West Asheville, right inside the TRIBE Dance & Pole building! www.primalstudiosasheville.com ✨
https://www.facebook.com/events/585360665260047/
We are honored to share our passion for our Beloved Black Bears in our exhibit at the “FW Gallery” in Woolworth Walk – downtown Asheville. We are grateful to have been chosen to be their Featured Artists. We want to also thank the many lovely people who work at Woolworth Walk and have supported and assisted us with the exhibit.
The FW Gallery exhibit will end Tuesday, January 29th at 6pm. Our permanent artist booth #229 downstairs “Beloved Black Bear” has over 50 black bear canvases 11×14 at $75 each. We hope you will stop by to visit.
We are happy to say that many black bear canvases have been sold and are now adorning many homes. Our wish is for all of us to share our compassion for the black bear with our friends, family, and neighbors and create connections with the bears giving them a voice.
Love, April Johnson & Jeff Miller
https://www.facebook.com/events/300039080626478/?event_time_id=300039103959809
As Virginia Woolf said, “one cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” Food and water are essential for survival, but mankind’s relationship to food has transformed over time from one of sustenance to one laden with personal and cultural significance.
A Matter of Taste explores depictions of food and drink in art and reveals how images of fruits and vegetables can function as complex metaphors for excess, status, memory, and politics. Drawn from southern museums and private collections, this exhibition showcases over 35 paintings, decorative arts, and works on paper by artists such as Andy Warhol, Wayne Thiebaud, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Claes Oldenburg.
This show spans 400 years and multiple continents, revealing the evolving role of food and drink in various media and cultural contexts. While depictions of fruit and vegetables appeared in ancient times, still life painting as an independent genre dates to 16th-century Holland.
In 19th-century America, still life paintings remained popular but evolved in terms of subject matter, media, and message. Painters such as Thomas Wightman, George Forster, and De Scott Evans embraced Dutch still lifes and used food as commentary on the current political climate and the transient state of the human condition.
Illustrated newspapers led to an increase of cartoons by artists such as Winslow Homer and William Hogarth, who utilized food and drink as social satire. The 20th-century modern art movement further changed the perception of food. The culture of mass production enabled Pop artists to elevate seemingly mundane foodstuffs to high art. Yet, other contemporary artists explored the symbolic and nostalgic role of food seen in works by Tim Tate, Linda Armstrong, and Laquita Thomson.
Visitors will also experience an elaborately set dining table fit for a sumptuous feast. Dining became its own art form over time and communicated one’s social standing and wealth. Each of the table’s six place settings represent a different culture and offer a glimpse into global dining customs. Selective drinkware will accompany this section revealing how tea sets and even punch bowls reflected an owner’s prestige.