Old Kentucky Home -The Thomas Wolfe Memorial

American Novelist Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938)

Considered by many to be one of the giants of 20th-century American literature, Thomas Wolfe immortalized his childhood home in his epic autobiographical novel, Look Homeward, Angel. Wolfe’s colorful portrayal of his family, his hometown of “Altamont” Asheville, North Carolina, and “Dixieland” the Old Kentucky Home boardinghouse, earned the Victorian period house a place as one of American literature’s most famous landmarks.

House tours are offered daily at half past each hour. Last tour leaves at 4:30 pm.
Group tours by reservation.

Adult – $5.00
Student (ages 7-17) – $2.00
Adult Group (10+) – $2.50 each
Student Group – $2.00 each
6 & under – Free

Hours of Operation

Bender Gallery is excited to present “A Clear Choice,” a solo exhibition of stunning abstract sculptures by internationally recognized master glass artist Karsten Oaks. “A Clear Choice” opens on Saturday, September 3rd with an artist’s reception with Oaks present from 6 – 9 PM, and runs through September 25th. Using specialized optical glass, Oaks creates sculptures that bend light and color via their unique forms. Reminiscent of graffiti marks, his forms are instantly recognizable and are made with meticulous perfection. When viewing, a discernible object often appears from a momentary perspective creating a vision that allows the viewer to connect on a more personal level with the piece. This mystery inspires a deeply personal relationship between viewer and object and sets Oaks’ work apart from that of his contemporaries. We hope to see you there!

Mon – Sat 10 – 6 Sun 12 – 5

Extension Master Gardener^SM volunteers maintain a composting demonstration site at the Western NC Farmers Market, at the Jesse Israel & Sons Garden Center. After a two-year hiatus, due to Covid, the site is reinstituting public demonstrations, beginning April 9, 2022.

When to Visit?
The site is staffed and provides demonstrations from 10:00am to 1:00pm on the second Saturday each month, April through September.

What Will You See?
There are five different composting methods on display at the site. There is a single bin unit, a tumbling composter, a wood pallet bin and a classic 3-bin system — we also usually bring an example of vermiculture on each demo day.  The site is stocked with informational pamphlets on the how-to and why of composting and they complement the information available in the composting video on this website. Click here to view the video: Making and Using Compost at Home.

An additional Composting demonstration area is located at The Learning Garden at the Extension Office, 49 Mount Carmel Road, Asheville, NC 28806.  Click here for details about The Learning Garden.

Kids have great imaginations – this is the place to let it loose! Our youngest students will learn to bring fun stories and characters to life. Through games and play, they’ll get comfortable expressing with their voices and bodies. And, their confidence will grow as they perform with other kids! Join us for play and creativity!

Registration begins on Wednesday, July 20, 2022 at 10:00 am. Tuition will be $175 – Scholarships are available.

NOTE: If applying for a scholarship, please fill out the Scholarship Application INSTEAD of filling out registration. If your application is approved, we will be in touch with you to register.

Improv teaches performers spontaneity, creativity, and to think outside the box! In this class, students will learn the basics of improv with techniques designed to get them comfortable with performing, quick thinking, and being present on stage. They’ll be laughing and learning with fun games, warm-ups, “Yes And” exercises, and a showcase for family and friends during the last class.

Registration begins on Wednesday, July 20, 2022 at 10:00 am. Tuition will be $225 – Scholarships are available.

NOTE: If applying for a scholarship, please fill out the Scholarship Application INSTEAD of filling out registration. If your application is approved, we will be in touch with you to register.

“LIFE ART LIFE William Bernstein 50 year retrospective” exhibition August 6-October 9, 2022 at the Toe River Arts’ Kokol Gallery, Spruce Pine, NC, features the paintings and glass of this artist who has been on the forefront of the studio glass movement.

Graduating 1968 from the Philadelphia College of Arts and just married, Bernstein moved to Penland School of Crafts to be their second glass resident artist from 1968-70. He was a co-founder of the Glass Arts Society (GAS) that formed to bring together the glass community so people could work together and learn from each other. Receiving numerous awards, fellowships and grants, he has exhibited internationally and has artwork in many private and public collections. Bernstein has lived most of his professional life in the rural Celo community of Yancey, North Carolina along with his family and artist wife, Katherine Bernstin. This retrospective provides a great opportunity for one to imagine a life surrounded by art.

This has been not only been a year-long process of curating pieces for an exhibit, but a lifetime of making art that connects with all things about one’s life. Bernstein’s work in glass and paint showcases just that: his family, his pets, friends, his environs, his moods and so much more. A life well-lived in creating art. More on Bernstein Glass www.bernsteinglass.com

William Warmus (A Fellow and former curator of Modern Glass at the Corning Museum), writes for the exhibition catalog, “Bernstein is a minimalist whose style is based upon the dedication to the concepts of honesty, modesty, and humility. It has a feel of its surroundings and of the people of the region.”

The Toe River Arts Kokol Gallery is located at 269 Oak Avenue, Spruce Pine, NC 28777. The exhibition dates: August 6 – October 9, 2022. Hours: Tuesdays-Saturdays from 10:30 – 5:00 pm. 828-765-0520, www.toeriverarts.org

Public receptions on Fridays: August 12 and October 7, both 5:00-7:00 PM. Artist gallery talk Friday, August 12, 4:00 pm. The exhibition travels to Cary Arts Center November 30 – January 21, 2023.

Coinciding with the United Nations’ Year 2022 as the Year of Glass and the 60th Anniversary of the Studio Glass Movement, this has been made possible by Toe River Arts, the North Carolina Arts Council, the Cary Art Center, Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass, the Blumenthal Foundation, and Mountain Electronics in Micaville, NC.

Buncombe County Public Libraries is hosting a new book club beginning in September.

Books to Action is an issue-focused book club that will explore books centered on topics facing our community. Each book discussion will take place in conjunction with a community service project, educational field trip, or presentations from local experts active in these key issues. This book club is open to anyone over age 16 and hopes to spotlight the work of community organizations and provide an engaging opportunity to get involved on a local level.

On Sept. 10, the Book To Action club will meet at 10:30 am at the Stephens-Lee Center to discuss Ibram X. Kendi’s How to be Antiracist. After the book discussion, we will walk to Eagle Street to begin our Hood Huggers tour.

Hood Hugger walking tours explore the past, present, and future of African Americans in Asheville

Our tour will include: the East End Valley Street in downtown Asheville, home to shops and galleries featuring African American artisans and artists; the YMI Cultural Center; the Stephens Lee Community Center; The Block, and significant African American architecture in this vibrant historic neighborhood.

This event is free, but you do need to register. Please visit the library web page and use the link on the calendar for this program to sign up.

Future meetings will include book discussions and volunteer activities with Habitat for Humanity, the Family Justice Center, and Asheville Greenworks. Check the library calendar for updates on coming books and community projects.

TFAC invites all artists: painters, sculptors, writers, performers & more — to a casual weekly drop-in gathering on Saturday mornings at 9 AM to share your works in progress, alert others, and chat about art and what’s happening in your community. The first weekly Coffee is Saturday, August 20 at 9 am. No RSVP needed, just drop by! Free parking available on Melrose Avenue, behind and alongside TFAC.

The West Asheville Garden Stroll is an annual volunteer-organized community event that opens selected neighborhood gardens to the public, featuring a selection of beautiful, creative, and funky gardens. Participants can pick up a map guide, hear some announcements, and peruse the community tables at the Kickoff Location.
GreenWorks Bee City USA – Asheville will have a table with information on pollinators and pollinator habitats.

The 13th West Asheville Garden Stroll is Saturday, September 10 from 11AM to 4 PM. With the theme “Connecting Neighbors,” the Stroll links two historic West Asheville neighborhoods – Burton Street and Brucemont-Dorchester. The kick-off begins at 10:30 on the grounds of Trinity United Methodist Church, 587 Haywood Road. Stroll Guides with a map and garden descriptions will be available at the church from 11:00 until 3:30. The Garden Stroll is free, and all are welcome to join in this community event, rain or shine.

This year’s Stroll features 14 creative, quirky, wonderfully West Asheville gardens, including three distinctive community gardens. The gardens showcase solutions for sunny and shady environments and for large and small yards, as well as strategies for growing vegetables, fruit, herbs, and ornamentals that include eclectic art and innovative hardscaping.

The family-friendly kickoff at Trinity Methodist includes songs, the Faerie Kin stilt-walkers who celebrate Mother Earth and uplift hearts, and Street Creatures’ giant Tree-Hugger puppet, ready to give hugs to all tree lovers. Local organizations will be on hand to offer resources for gardeners and possibly some items for sale.

Get into the spirit of the era and step back in time  to that unforgettable summer in the Catskills and join us where it all began in the breathtaking mountains of Western North Carolina. Filled with excitement and nostalgia, fans can experience  the  the moves, music and memories from our all time favorite movie and fancy the chance to channel their inner “Baby & Johnny.”

This year’s one-day  festival showcases film-inspired entertainment and activities for all ages that will be treasured with friends and family for a lifetime. You’ll go crazy for  Swayze, enjoy some great entertainment, and weep with joy attempting the famous lake lift scene all while keeping the awareness on the fight against Pancreatic Cancer strong.

It’s time to dress up as your favorite character, dust off your Keds, and really  shake it down
​where Johnny & Baby once did the Mambo!

​
Only 2500 will be available for this year’s festival so get yours early to ensure  entry!
​More than 800 tickets were sold in the first week!

Our committee is still in the planning stages,  so check back frequently and visit our Facebook page for more information as it becomes available.

Get into the spirit of the era and step back in time  to that unforgettable summer in the Catskills and join us where it all began in the breathtaking mountains of Western North Carolina. Filled with excitement and nostalgia, fans can experience  the  the moves, music and memories from our all time favorite movie and fancy the chance to channel their inner “Baby & Johnny.”

This year’s one-day  festival showcases film-inspired entertainment and activities for all ages that will be treasured with friends and family for a lifetime. You’ll go crazy for  Swayze, enjoy some great entertainment, and weep with joy attempting the famous lake lift scene all while keeping the awareness on the fight against Pancreatic Cancer strong.

It’s time to dress up as your favorite character, dust off your Keds, and really  shake it down
​where Johnny & Baby once did the Mambo!
 The Chamber of Hickory Nut Gorge is happy to announce the return of the   Dirty Dancing Festival  of Lake Lure!
This year’s  festival will  be a ONE-DAY event  certain to be “the time of your life!”

Start making your plans to attend the Festival AND participate in the various pre and post-festival activities
being offered at local establishments.

​
Only 2500 will be available for this year’s festival so get yours early to ensure  entry!
​More than 800 tickets were sold in the first week!

Our committee is still in the planning stages,  so check back frequently and visit our Facebook page for more information as it becomes available

Tracey Morgan Gallery is pleased to present Uncharted, a joint exhibition by multiple-disciplinary artists Georgia Deal and Tom Ashcraft. Incorporating both individual and collaborative works, the exhibition will in-clude wooden and cast bronze boat sculptures, prints on hand-made paper, and photographs, all centered around ideas of physical and psychological transitions.

The isolation of the pandemic and the ensuing global geo-political tumult compelled Deal and Ashcraft to re-examine their studio practices. The individual and collaborative works in this exhibition reference a liminal space, that transitional point between “what was” and “what’s next.”

For Deal, the pandemic afforded time to examine ideas of solitude and anticipation and her work echoes the imagery brought on by that period of stasis. Ashcraft’s sculptures, selected versions from his collection of 200+ handmade wooden boats, gather ideas of migration, observation, scale, and object-making. Their col-laborative piece, Uncharted, undertakes these overlapping themes, dealing with both the psychic and antici-patory nature of movement, especially when that movement is only possible through imagination

Deal and Ashcraft each conduct significant individual studio practices and have been committed to the ethic of collaborative art for over 35 years. They are core members of Workingman Collective, founded in 2005 as a cooperative group of artists and other professionals whose membership and objectives evolve to fit each new project. They are interested in process, invention, chance, and the public.

Georgia Deal is Professor Emeritus and former Chair of the Printmaking and Papermaking Program at the Corcoran School of Art & Design of George Washington University in Washington DC. Her work is in multiple collections including the Philadelphia Museum, the Library of Congress, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and Yale University Library. She currently lives in Asheville, NC and is proprietor of the papermaking studio, Swannanoa Paper.

Tom Ashcraft’s diverse practice is rooted in object-making, public and participatory artwork. He and Work-ingman Collective have exhibited and produced work in the U.S., Europe, the Caribbean and Africa. Awards include a National Endowment for the Arts Design Grant and a Ford Foundation Fellowship, among others. He recently completed a student / artist collaborative work “Public Practice” which was a three-year course focused on creating two permanent artworks for the US Embassy in Niamey, Niger, commissioned by Art in Embassies, US Department of State. Ashcraft is currently based in Asheville, North Carolina and is the MFA Director and Distinguished Professor at the School of Art + Design, Western Carolina University.

Useful and Beautiful: Silvercraft by William Waldo Dodge features a selection of functional silver works by Dodge drawn from the Museum’s Collection. Organized by the Asheville Art Museum and curated by Whitney Richardson, associate curator, this exhibition will be on view in the Debra McClinton Gallery at the Museum from February 23 through October 17, 2022.

William Waldo Dodge Jr. (Washington, DC 1895–1971 Asheville, NC) moved to Asheville in 1924 as a trained architect and a newly skilled silversmith. When he opened for business promoting his handwrought silver tableware, including plates, candlesticks, flatware (spoons, forks, and knives), and serving dishes, he did so in a true Arts and Crafts tradition. The aesthetics of the style were dictated by its philosophy: an artist’s handmade creation should reflect their hard work and skill, and the resulting artwork should highlight the material from which it was made. Dodge’s silver often displayed his hammer marks and inventive techniques, revealing the beauty of these useful household goods.

The Arts and Crafts style of England became popular in the United States in the early 1900s. Asheville was an early adopter of the movement because of the popularity and abundance of Arts and Crafts architecture in neighborhoods like Biltmore Forest, Biltmore Village, and the area around The Grove Park Inn. The title of this exhibition was taken from the famous quotation by one of the founding members of the English Arts and Crafts Movement, William Morris, who said, “have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” Not only did Dodge follow this suggestion; he contributed to American Arts and Crafts silver’s relevancy persisting almost halfway into the 20th century.

“It has been over 15 years since the Museum exhibited its collection of William Waldo Dodge silver and I am looking forward to displaying it in the new space with some new acquisitions added,” said Whitney Richardson, associate curator. Learn more at ashevilleart.org.

Verner Center for Early Learning is a nonprofit agency providing high quality, affordable early care and education to children birth to five years of age throughout Buncombe County. The mission of Verner Center is to foster holistic learning environments where young children and families thrive. The organization embraces a philosophy that includes excellence in early childhood practices, diversity among children and families, and partnerships and collaboration with families and communities. This philosophy is demonstrated through provision of high quality education, family services, health and nutrition services, and professional development for teachers.

We are currently looking for compassionate volunteers to support our experiential garden.

Volunteer Opportunity Includes:

• Pulling weeds
• Cleaning out garden beds
• Prepping new garden beds
• Building small projects
• Mowing
• Weed eating
• Laying mulch
• Watering

Volunteer Requirements:

• Respond to the shift
• Comfortable working in various weather conditions
• Comfortable bending, stooping, twisting
• Ability to stand for 1-2 hours at a time

Chow Chow’s 2022 programming includes fun, delicious, immersive, meaningful, and educational events that celebrate and enrich the unique foodways of Southern Appalachia. All events take place in the beautiful city of Asheville, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

This event is family friendly! Tickets are required for children 5 and over. Children under 5 admitted free. This is a cocktail style Flights & Bites event, featuring up to 7 chefs creating 3 small dishes each, as well as up to 7 craft beverage makers, offering an array of delicious drink samples. 

Menu sneak peek! This event is the most vegetarian forward of the summer – 18 of 21 dishes are vegetarian! These talented chefs are cooking up an exciting selection of dishes! Menu options being discussed are: elderberry glazed beets, smoky eggplant soup, homemade lebanese ashta cream with pistachio crumble, French country bread with goat cheese spread, pork rillettes, Northern Thai sausage, corn & peach salad, marinated shrimp salad, mini zaatar manoushe with cashew shanklish, tuxapeno corn grit breadstick, rye, apple & black walnut cake, heirloom tomato caprese, coconut curry soup, macadamia cake with pineapple relish, shakshuka, Jerusalem poutine, whipped labneh with pistachio brittle and pomegranate molasses and more to come!

Before the Industrial Revolution, when the greater part of the world’s population was engaged in agriculture, cottage industry was a common hedge against hunger. Farmers and their families used the lean months of winter, after their crops had been harvested and sold, to earn money by selling preserved goods and handicrafts, or doing piecework for others. Culinary and craft makers continue to embrace this concept of working from home, and there is a thriving contemporary cottage industry. Often showcasing their goods alongside farmers at local markets, these makers and homesteaders contribute another valuable experience borne of the local agricultural community. For this event, we’ll gather together several entrepreneurial chefs, makers and beverage producers whose business model is based on, or originated from, bringing their delicious craft from their home to yours.

Featured Chefs: Madeline Redo & Trevor Musick – Cassia, Elijah Je Bailey & Sydney Rubin – Hominy Farm, Jametta Raspberry – House of Gristle, Regan Stachler – Bramble Events, Dune Pierre Michel – French Broad Pantry, Hector & Julia Revilla – Mamones, Gabe McIntosh & Mei Kawamura – Better Thymes, Nicole Case – Coco’s Bake Shop

Featured Beverage: Cultivated Cocktails Distillery, Archetype Brewing, Hillman Beer, Seedlip, Chemist Spirits, Top of the Monk, Botanist & Barrel, Savor Shrub, Shanti Elixirs, Embrew Tea, Devil’s Foot Beverage Company, Sarilla Sparkling Tea, Blue Ridge Mountain Water sponsored by Biltmore

Makers Market: Botanical Bones, Loom Imports, Matcha Nude, Provisions Mercantile, Organic Growers School, Goddess Ghee, Red Fiddle Vittles, Embrew Tea

Hi-Wire’s annual Oktoberfest is moving to the River Arts District Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022 games, beer, food, and music.

The Make Noise Pop-Up at 821 includes parties, a Pop-Up Store with demos, workshops, artist Mini-Residencies, and a month-long raffle benefiting REVOLVE and the Bob Moog Foundation!
This is the first time people will be able to buy our brand new stereo oscillator XPO! Also available will be desktop units, modules, our new XPO t-shirt, and music made by the Make Noise Crew and Artists in Residence.

PUFFS (A One Act For Young Wizards) Ages: 7 – 18 Rehearsals Start: Monday, September 12th Rehearsal Times: Every Monday from 1:00-3:00 pm (Please note we will take a break around the holidays) Tech Week: Week of February 6, 2022  (please note, all rehearsal this week are mandatory) Shows: February 10-12, 2023