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.

Exhibition: NEO MINERALIA

Apr 24 @ 10:00 am – 6:00 pm

Center for Craft

Photo credit:

Sae Honda. Courtesy of the Artist.

NEO MINERALIA suggests that recent rock formations no longer fit within the traditional groups: Igneous, Metamorphic, and Sedimentary. Instead, the Anthropocene, the era of human influence on the climate and environment, has introduced two post-natural rocks: Synthetic and Digital.

NEO MINERALIA presents a selection of new geological specimens crafted by ten international artists exploring rocks as reflections of our effects on human and nonhuman ecologies. By embedding synthetic materials (plastics, e-waste) and layers of data points (critical, financial, social) into the craftsmanship of these artifacts, the artists transgress the definition of rocks, turning them from passive aggregates of minerals into metaphorical aggregates of data. Within their apparent “rockness” we can decode hopes, warnings, and speculative future scenarios.

The featured works stemming from places as varied as Mexico, Japan, Poland, and Australia (including a curated artists’ books library), collectively signal a new era of planetary and geological consciousness where we are asked to read, feel, and listen to rocks in new ways.

Categories: Art & Craft

Exhibition: Something earned, Something left behind

Apr 24 @ 10:00 am – 6:00 pm

Center for Craft

Photo credit:

J Diamond, “Pony II,” 2022. Courtesy of the Artist

Something earned, Something left behind is an exhibition of objecthood; a critical analysis of the transactional and political languages of everyday and culturally significant objects. This exhibition challenges a history of exclusion and inclusion of People of Color (POC) and their narratives from the canon of craft based on subject matter. It dissects this history’s origins and precedent as an economic transaction to gain access to white spaces.

Racial and ethnic identity influences the way individuals perceive themselves, the way others perceive them, and the way they choose to behave. For this reason, People of Color are expected to perform certain roles in order to fit into hegemonic institutions. These roles can be an active shrinking of themselves and the racialized part of them, or a personal exploitation of their racialized selves. This exhibition addresses and redresses the ways narrowed populations have been included, and the ways in which they have been asked to participate.

Together, this work creates space for and legitimizes POC narratives with depth and care. The exhibiting artists’ practices work against institutionalized expectations of POC work, expanding discourse and inserting new subjectivity into the canon of craft art. It engages with a community hungry for the revitalization and resuscitation of non-Western voices within art spaces. This exhibition challenges the expectations of art from artists of marginalized backgrounds and embraces a new subjectivity of interrogating one’s inherited experiences.

Categories: Art & Craft

Exhibition: Crafting Denim

Apr 24 @ 10:00 am – 6:00 pm

Center for Craft

Photo credit:

Photograph by Bowery Blue Makers

Jeans – with their standardized pockets, rivets, and denim – are so much a part of everyday wardrobes that they are easy to overlook. Yet, in workshops across the nation, independent makers are reevaluating the garment and creating jeans by hand, using antiquated equipment and denim woven on midcentury looms. Crafting Denim explores how and why jeans have come to exist at the intersections of industry and craft, modernity, and tradition.

A product of industrial factory production for over a century, jeans are being recast by a new cohort of small-scale makers including craftspeople like Ryan Martin of W.H. Ranch Dungarees, Takayuki Echigoya of Bowery Blue Makers, and Sarah Yarborough and Victor Lytvinenko of Raleigh Denim, who favor choice materials and small-batch fabrication. The jeans they make merge craft traditions with industry and extend the conversation between hand and machine.

Each maker creates a distinctive product but shares a deep appreciation for materials, tools, history, and denim. These jeans are in dialogue with the past and in line with contemporary interests in sustainability. The small workshops featured here are sites of innovation and preservation, and visitors are invited to take a close look at an everyday item and imagine alternative contexts for making and living in our own clothes.

Categories: Art & Craft

Italian Renaissance Alive

Apr 24 @ 10:00 am

Biltmore Estate

Explore Biltmore House with an Audio Guide that introduces you to the Vanderbilt family and their magnificent home’s history, architecture, and collections of fine art and furnishings.

PLUS: Immersive, multi-sensory Italian Renaissance Alive exhibition created by Grande Experiences

PLUS: FREE next-day access to Biltmore’s Gardens and Grounds

This visit includes access to:

Italian Renaissance Alive at Amherst at Deerpark®
8,000 Acres of Gardens and Grounds for two consecutive days
Antler Hill Village & Winery
Complimentary Wine Tastings at the Winery
Tastings require a Day-of-Visit Reservation, which can be made by:
- Scanning the QR Code found in your Estate Guide
- Visiting any Guest Services location
Complimentary parking

Art Exhibition: Italian Renaissance Alive

This fascinating experience takes you on a spellbinding tour of Italy, fully immersing you in the beauty and brilliance of iconic masterworks from the greatest artistic period in history

Categories: Art & Craft

LAZOOM: CITY COMEDY TOUR

Apr 24 @ 10:00 am

LaZoom Room

Learn Asheville’s history, discover hidden gems, and laugh at LaZoom’s quirky sense of adventure.

Guided comedy tour bus of historical Asheville
90-Minutes – tours run daily
15-minute break at Green Man Brewing
$39 per person (ages 13+ only)

Categories: Comedy Tours

Wooden Flutes | Live Demo at the Folk Art Center

Apr 24 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

Folk Art Center

Lee Entrekin will be demonstrating how he turns long pieces of wood into beautiful musical instruments – and he’ll play for you, too! Lee will be in the lobby of the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Visitors are encouraged to watch and ask questions while the demonstrators work and talk about their creative process! Call ahead for the latest updates: 828-298-7928.

Categories: Art & Craft

Art Exhibit: RAUSCHENBERG: A Gift in Your Pocket

Apr 24 @ 11:00 am – 5:00 pm

Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center

RAUSCHENBERG: A Gift in Your Pocket From the Collections of Friends in Honor of Bradley Jeffries

Robert Rauschenberg, Autobiography, 1968

In the late 70s, Bradley Jeffries had a chance meeting with Robert Rauschenberg outside his home on Captiva Island, and they bonded immediately. Bradley was hired to be the artist’s business and life manager. Her employment with him for over 30 years, until his death in 2008, involved many roles on the Board of Directors of Change, Inc and The Rauschenberg Foundation. Bradley’s travels with Rauschenberg took her on incredible adventures all over the world and exposed her to extraordinary opportunities. Throughout their friendship and work together, Rauschenberg gifted Bradley with many of his original artworks.

The family and friends of Bradley Jeffries will use her expansive and never previously exhibited Rauschenberg collection as a means of memorializing Bradley through this traveling exhibition. “Rauschenberg: A Gift in Your Pocket” opens on April 25, 2022 at the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery at Florida Southwestern State College in Ft. Myers for display throughout the summer. After which her collection will travel to The University of Kentucky Art Museum followed by its culminating exhibition at BMCM+AC.

Once her collection of Rauschenberg’s artwork completes its planned memorial exhibitions, pieces will be donated to each of the involved institutions in an ongoing memorial to Bradley and her legacy of promoting the arts and artists.

Curated by Jade Dellinger, Director of the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery at Florida Southwestern State College.

Categories: Art & Craft

Luzene Hill: Revelate

Apr 24 @ 11:00 am – 6:00 pm

Asheville Art Museum

An enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Luzene Hill advocates for Indigenous sovereignty—linguistically, culturally, and individually. Revelate builds upon Hill’s investigation of pre-contact cultures. This has led Hill to incorporate the idea of Ollin, the Nahuatl word for the natural rhythms of the universe, in Aztec cosmology in her work. Before Europeans arrived in North America, Indigenous societies were predominantly matrilineal. Women were considered sacred, involved in the decision-making process, and thrived within communities holding a worldview based on equilibrium.

Ollin emphasizes that we are in constant state of motion and discovery. Adopted as an educational framework, particularly in social justice and ethnic studies, Ollin guides individuals through a process of reflection, action, reconciliation, and transformation. This exhibition combines Hill’s use of mylar safety blankets alongside recent drawings. Capes constructed of mylar burst with energy and rustle with subtle sound, the shining material a signifier of care, awareness, displacement, and presence. Though Hill works primarily in sculpture, drawing has increasingly become an essential part of her practice as she seeks to communicate themes of feminine and Indigenous power across her entire body of work. The energy within her drawings extends to the bursts of light reflecting from her capes or the accumulation of materials in other installation works.

Luzene Hill was born in Atlanta, GA, in 1946. She received her bachelor of fine art and master of fine art from Western Carolina University. She lives and works on the Qualla Boundary, Cherokee, NC.

Categories: Art & Craft

Natural Collector | Gifts of Fleur S. Bresler

Apr 24 @ 11:00 am – 6:00 pm

Asheville Art Museum

Natural Collector is organized by the Asheville Art Museum. IMAGE: Christian Burchard, Untitled (nesting bowls), 1998, madrone burl, various from 6 × 6 × 6 to ⅜ × ⅜ × ⅜ inches. Gift of Fleur S. Bresler, 2021.76.01.

Natural Collector | Gifts of Fleur S. Bresler features around 15 artworks from the collection of Fleur S. Bresler, which include important examples of modern and contemporary American craft including wood and fiber art, as well as glass and ceramics. These works that were generously donated by contemporary craft collector Bresler to the Asheville Art Museum over the years reflect her strong interest in wood-based art and themes of nature.

According to Associate Curator Whitney Richardson, “This exhibition highlights artworks that consider the natural element from which they were created or replicate known flora and fauna in unexpected materials. The selection of objects displayed illustrates how Bresler’s eye for collecting craft not only draws attention to nature and artists’ interest in it, but also accentuates her role as a natural collector with an intuitive ability to identify themes and ideas that speak to one another.”

This exhibition presents work from the Collection representing the first generation of American wood turners like Rude Osolnik and Ed Moulthrop, as well as those that came after and learned from them, such as Philip Moulthrop, John Jordan, and local Western North Carolina (WNC) artist Stoney Lamar. Other WNC-based artists in Natural Collector include Anne Lemanski, whose paper sculpture of a snake captures the viewer’s imagination, and Michael Sherrill’s multimedia work that tricks the eye with its similarity to true-to-life berries. Also represented are beadwork and sculpture by Joyce J. Scott and Jack and Linda Fifield.

Categories: Art & Craft

Pulp Potential: Works in Handmade Paper

Apr 24 @ 11:00 am – 6:00 pm

Asheville Art Museum

Paul Wong, Carbon, silver and gold, 2016, pigmented linen and cotton pulp, publisher: Dieu Donné, New York, edition 3/25, 18 × 11 inches. Gift of Dieu Donné, New York, 2022.27.06. © Paul Wong.

On View March 8 through July 24, 2023
The Van Winkle Law Firm Gallery • Level 1

Paper is an essential part of the art-making process for many artists, serving as the base for drawing, painting, printmaking, and other forms of art. As a substrate, paper can vary in weight, absorbency, color, size, and other aspects. Since industrialization, paper has primarily been produced through mechanical means that allow for consistency and affordability.

What happens, then, when an artist chooses to return to the foundations of paper, wherein it is made by hand using pulps, fibers, and dyes that reflect the human element through variations, inconsistencies, flaws, and surprises? Certain artists have sought out these qualities and embraced them, making paper not just a support on which to work, but fully a medium in and of itself.

Pulp Potential: Works in Handmade Paper is organized by the Asheville Art Museum and curated by Hilary Schroeder, former assistant curator, with assistance from Alexis Meldrum, curatorial assistant. Special thanks to Dieu Donné, New York, NY.

Categories: Art & Craft

Stained with Glass: Vitreograph Prints from the Studio of Harvey K. Littleton Exhibition

Apr 24 @ 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.”

Categories: Art & Craft

The Vanderbilts at Home and Abroad

Apr 24 @ 11:00 am – 7:00 pm

Biltmore Estate

Included with admission

Back by popular demand, The Vanderbilts at Home and Abroad exhibition offers guests:

An opportunity to view rarely-seen treasures from the Biltmore collection
A first-hand look at the Vanderbilts’ lifestyle
Deeper insights into George, Edith, and Cornelia’s personalities, both at home and on their extensive travels

Access to exhibitions at The Biltmore Legacy is included with Biltmore daytime admission.

Categories: Tours

Too Much Is Just Right: The Legacy of Pattern and Decoration

Apr 24 @ 11:00 am – 6:00 pm

Asheville Art Museum

In the past 50 years in the United States and beyond, artists have sought to break down social and political hierarchies that include issues of identity, gender, power, race, authority, and authenticity. Unsurprisingly, these decades generated a reconsideration of the idea of pattern and decoration as a third option to figuration and abstraction in art. From 1972 to 1985, artists in the Pattern and Decoration movement worked to expand the visual vocabulary of contemporary art to include ethnically and culturally diverse options that eradicated the barriers between fine art and craft and questioned the dominant minimalist aesthetic. These artists did so by incorporating opulence and bold intricacies garnered from such wide-ranging inspirations as United States quilt-making and Islamic architecture.

Too Much Is Just Right: The Legacy of Pattern and Decoration features more than 70 artworks in an array of media from both the original time frame of the Pattern and Decoration movement, as well as contemporary artworks created between 1985 and the present. The artworks in this exhibition demonstrate the vibrant and varied approaches to pattern and decoration in art. Artworks from the 21st century elucidate contemporary perspectives on the employment of pattern to inform visual vocabularies and investigations of diverse themes in the present day.

Artworks drawn from the Asheville Art Museum’s Collection join select major loans and feature Pattern and Decoration artists Valerie Jaudon, Joyce Kozloff, Robert Kushner, and Miriam Schapiro, as well as Anni Albers, Elizabeth Alexander, Sanford Biggers, Tawny Chatmon, Margaret Curtis, Mary Engel, Cathy Fussell, Samantha Hennekke, John Himmelfarb, Anne Lemanski, Rashaad Newsome, Peter Olson, Don Reitz, Sarah Sense, Billie Ruth Sudduth, Mickalene Thomas, Shoku Teruyama, Anna Valdez, Kehinde Wiley, and more.

This exhibition is organized by the Asheville Art Museum and guest curated by Marilyn Laufer & Tom Butler.

Categories: Art & Craft

LAZOOM Tours: GHOST COMEDY BUS TOUR

Apr 24 @ 7:00 pm

LaZoom Room

GHOST COMEDY BUS TOUR

Grab a local beer, crucifix and a rubber chicken* —You might survive this hour long hilarious haunted ghost tour of Asheville.

Guided comedy bus tour of Haunted Asheville
60 minutes; tours run nightly after dark
$33 per person (Ages 17+ only)
Departs from 76 Biltmore Avenue

*Legal Note: Crucifix not required to board the bus; we do not condone exorcisms, chickens, rubber, or any combination of the three.

Categories: Comedy Tours

Science Fiction Book Club

Apr 24 @ 7:00 pm

Malaprop's Bookstore

Science Fiction Book Club

Join host and former Malaprop’s Bookseller Allison to dive into the wreck of the wily and wonderful world of science fiction, fantasy, weird fiction, speculative fiction, and literary horror with a healthy mix of underappreciated classic and contemporary books. Meets the last Monday of every month at 7pm on Zoom. Also meets the second Monday of every month at 7pm to discuss the film adaptations of the books we read. To learn more or join the club, email [email protected].

Monday, January 30, 2023 – 7:00pm

Monday, February 27, 2023 – 7:00pm

Monday, March 27, 2023 – 7:00pm

Monday, April 24, 2023 – 7:00pm

Join host and Malaprop’s Bookseller Allison to dive into the wreck of the wily and wonderful world of science fiction, fantasy, weird fiction, speculative fiction, and literary horror with a healthy mix of underappreciated classic and contemporary books. Meets the last Monday of every month at 7 pm on Zoom. Also meets on the second Monday of every month at 7 pm to discuss the film adaptations of the books we read. Click here to see a full schedule of what the club is reading and contact the club host to join. Club attendees get 10% off the book at Malaprop’s!

Categories: Bookclubs

AN EVENING WITH NATALIE MERCHANT

Apr 24 @ 7:30 pm

Peace Concert Hall

Over her forty-year career, Natalie Merchant has attained a place among America’s most respected recording artists. She has earned a reputation for being a songwriter of quality and a captivating stage performer and has distinguished herself as a social justice and environmental activist. Merchant began her musical career as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the pop music band 10,000 Maniacs and released one platinum, two double-platinum, and one triple-platinum records with the group. Merchant left the group in 1994 and has subsequently released nine albums as a solo artist with a combined sales of seven million copies. Merchant’s ninth solo studio album Keep Your Courage will be released on April 14, 2023.

Merchant has collaborated with a wide range of artists, including Billy Bragg, Gavin Bryars, David Byrne, The Chieftains, Cowboy Junkies, Philip Glass, Kronos Quartet, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Mavis Staples, REM, and Wilco. She served on the New York State Council on the Arts from 2007–2011 at the appointment of Governor Elliot Spitzer and was recently appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Library of Congress’ American Folklife Center by New York State Senator and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Merchant’s awards include: The Library Lion Award from the New York Public Library (2011), The American Society of Authors Composers & Publishers (ASCAP) Champion Award, and The John Lennon Real Love Award.

Categories: Music

THE MOTH Presents: Asheville StorySLAM – “Clean”

Apr 24 @ 7:30 pm

The Grey Eagle

– PARTIALLY SEATED SHOW
– GA SEATING IN FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED.

THE MOTH resumes their recurring monthly Asheville StorySLAM at The Grey Eagle at 7:30pm! This month’s theme is….

CLEAN: Prepare a five-minute story about spotlessness. Leaving your vices behind, purity through virtue, or coming out unscathed. Germaphobes or slobs. Colossal messes or confessions. The tidy and the untainted. Mr. Clean in the house!

Public Onsale Begins:

Monday, April 3, 2023 3:00 PM

Categories: Poetry

Connect Beyond Volunteer Opportunities

Apr 24 @ 8:00 pm

Harrah’s Cherokee Center - Asheville

We have three opportunities for you to help Connect Beyond AND see some music! We need volunteers to assist with wristbands for three shows this summer at Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville in Downtown Asheville, N.C. Shifts are roughly (3) hours and all participating volunteers will also receive (1) free ticket to stay after and watch the show. The following dates and shows are available:

May 7th: Gojira and Mastodon

June 13th: boygenius

August 12th: Motionless in White

Categories: Music Volunteers

Tuesday, April 25, 2023

2023 NC Stage Co. Community Tour Auditions

Apr 25 all-day

online w/ NC Stage Co,

Performances are coordinated with and performed for audiences in non-traditional spaces such as homeless shelters, correctional facilities, community centers, low income senior centers and locations throughout rural Western North Carolina. For schools, the Community Tour offers student workshops with teaching artists from the Ensemble.

The Community Tour also includes a series of ticketed performances for audiences at NC Stage. Performances at NC Stage are staged in an intimate setting with all the lights on so our audiences may enjoy the performances as it is experienced at each tour location.

Categories: Auditions Theatre

ASAP’s 2023 Local Food Guide

Apr 25 all-day

online

The free, definitive resource for finding local food and farms also features farm stories and recipes.

The 2023 Local Food Guide, ASAP’s annual free publication for finding local food and farms, hits newsstands this week. This definitive resource lists hundreds of Appalachian Grown certified farms, farmers markets, restaurants, groceries, travel destinations, and more throughout Western North Carolina and surrounding counties in Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina. A digital version of the print Guide may be viewed at asapconnections.org/guide.

In addition to the listing content, the 2023 edition features stories that highlight the variety of farming across the region. Jake Puckett, of Crow Fly Farms in Marion, NC, details his passion for holistic animal management. Malcolm Banks, of Yellow Mountain Gardens in Franklin, NC, describes his mission to teach his neighbors—and the world—to grow their own food. Gwen and Jay Englebach, of Black Trumpet Farm in Leicester, NC, talk about building a business and customer relationships. Rounding out the issue are seasonal recipes from chefs at Cultura, Little Chango, The Montford, and Red Fiddle Vittles.

Find Local Food Guide copies at farmers markets, visitors centers, libraries, community centers, groceries, restaurants, and other partner businesses throughout the region. They are also available to pick up in the lobby of ASAP’s office in Asheville at 306 W. Haywood St., Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Contact ASAP if you need help locating a copy in your area.

In addition to the print Guide, ASAP maintains the online Local Food Guide at appalachiangrown.org. This database, with more than 1,400 listings, is updated throughout the year and is searchable by products, locations, activities, and more.

The 2023 Local Food Guide is made possible in part with support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) through the Agricultural Marketing Service and Beginning Farmer Rancher Development Fund, as well as the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina and Asheville Regional Airport.

Categories: Community Food & Drink Garden

Asheville Art Museum 75th Anniversary Spring Annual Fund

Apr 25 all-day

online w/ Asheville Art Museum

Celebrate with us by contributing to the future of the arts in Western North Carolina.

Make your 75th Anniversary Spring Annual Fund donation today!

! The Diamond Anniversary is a time to honor our rich heritage and—more importantly—envision our future as the premier visual arts organization in this vibrant, creative region.

Founded in 1948 by a group of local artists to showcase the scope and depth of creativity in Western North Carolina (WNC), the Museum brings art of international significance to the region and encourages lively, diverse dialogue.

The Museum’s original home was a modest, unheated, three-room building on Charlotte Street in the former sales office of Dr. E.W. Grove. The building was designed by Richard Sharp Smith and provided to the Museum by the City of Asheville. Exhibitions by local painters and sculptors could only be staged in warmer weather, and Sunday afternoon receptions gave the community an opportunity to view original art and to listen to artists talk about their work. By the 1950s, the Museum had become an invaluable part of Asheville’s cultural life. It also began acquiring artworks for its Collection.

Three quarters of a century later, the Museum has evolved into the preeminent cultural and educational hub for WNC—welcoming tens of thousands of visitors annually, hosting several major exhibitions each year, holding scores of special programs, and housing its Collection of more than 7,500 works in its state-of-the-art Pack Square location. From its humble beginnings on Charlotte Street to its breathtaking permanent home in the heart of downtown Asheville, the Museum has remained dedicated to Its mission to engage, enlighten, and inspire individuals and enrich the community through dynamic experiences in American art of the 20th and 21st centuries.

The Asheville Art Museum was built, cherished, and supported by the community throughout the past 75 years. Our anniversary celebration will give back through community partnerships and special programs, and by creating new reasons to visit or become a Member. We hope you’ll join us at one (or all) of our Diamond Anniversary special events: the 2023 Gala on June 17th, the 75th Anniversary Community Day Celebration in August, and the 75th Anniversary Dance Party in November!

Categories: Art & Craft Fundraisers

Asheville Community Theatre Raffle: Trip to NYC 2023

Apr 25 all-day

online

Raffle: Trip to NYC 2023

Enter to win a fabulous trip for two to New York!

Raffle tickets on sale through Sunday, August 6, 2023!

Tickets are $50 and only 500 will be sold.

Travel package for Thanksgiving 2023, with check-in on Wednesday, November 22, 2023 and check-out on Sunday, November 26, 2023.

Prize includes:

Two round-trip Business Class tickets to New York from Asheville Regional Airport
Transfers to and from the airport to your hotel
Accomodations for four nights in Midtown at The Lotte New York Palace, with a choice of one king bed or two double beds
VIP Macy’s Parade Day experience, including brunch and complimentary drinks, access to indoor and outdoor VIP viewing areas, and access to the Inflation Celebration of parade balloons on Wednesday afternoon
Orchestra seating tickets to the Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular
Tickets to a Broadway show
Up to $500 to spend on guided tours or additional theatre tickets
Personal consultation with Foothills Travel to customize your trip
On-site concierge provided through MyBucketListEvents

The drawing will take place the week of August 7, 2023. Winner will be notified by phone call and email.

Categories: Raffle

Asheville Regional Airport: art exhibit highlighting local artists

Apr 25 all-day

Asheville Regional Airport (AVL)

Edge, the newest exhibit showing in the airport art gallery, is open to the public now through July 21, 2022. The local art is unique, bold and is sure to capture the imaginations of its viewers.

The local artists’ work featured in this exhibit consist of many different mediums. Diane Bronstein creates complex and mesmerizing pieces with photographs, embroidery floss and other materials. Susan Devitt uses bold colors and vivid details to capture the beauty and possibilities of nature with her acrylic paintings. Jen Pacicci crafts peaceful and majestic collages of landscapes using watercolor and torn paper. Kurt Ross designs clay vessels of varying materials and glazes that are each unique in their thoughtful and clean design. Paul Silverman presents ceramic figures of various tools and vintage items that trick the eye in their realistic appearance and awe with their attention to detail.

“The Edge exhibit welcomes travelers and residents to Asheville with a vibrant and unique display this spring at AVL,” said Alexandra Ingle, Brand and Experience Designer at AVL and curator of the gallery. “We are excited at each gallery opening to bring a fresh taste of our talented WNC art community into the airport.”

Artwork can be purchased from the gallery by emailing [email protected]. Details about the program and how to apply can be found on the airport’s website at flyavl.com.

Categories: Art & Craft

Auditions for Bat Boy: The Musical

Apr 25 all-day

Asheville Community Theatre

For musical auditions, see specifics below for each show. In general, please prepare 16 bars of music and bring your sheet music to the audition in the key in which you will be singing. We will provide an accompanist. No one may sing along to a CD or other recording.

MAINSTAGE

Bat Boy: The Musical

Musical

Book by: Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming; Music and Lyrics by: Laurence O’Keefe

Directed by: Stephanie Hickling Beckman

AUDITION DATES: The evenings of Monday April 24 & Tuesday April 25, 2023. Sign up here for your audition slot.

PRODUCTION SCHEDULE:

Read-Thru MAY 19 6:30-9:30 pm

Rehearsals 2-4 nights per week beginning May 23 6:30-9:30.

Performance Dates: Friday-Sun July 21-August 6 Fri-Sat 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2:30 pm

DIRECTOR SEEKS: All actors over 17 will be considered for all roles with no limitation on gender or race.

CHARACTERS (17)

NON DOUBLING

Bat Boy
Meredith Parker
Dr. Thomas Parker
Shelley Parker
Sheriff Taylor

DOUBLING ENSEMBLE

Rick, Lorraine, Mr. Dillon
Ron Taylor, Maggie, Clem
Ruthie Taylor, Ned
Mrs, Taylor, Roy
Rev. Billie Hightower, Institute Man, Bud
Daisy, Pan, Doctor

Crowd/ Chorus 4M 2F

AUDITION MATERIAL: Audition sides from the play will be provided, and available on the ACT website prior to auditions. Memorization is not expected. This is a rock musical. Please prepare one song selection, in the style of the show, of no more than 45 seconds. Please do not prepare songs from the play itself.

An audition accompanist will not be provided. A speaker will be provided in lieu of live accompaniment. We will have a laptop and aux cord to accommodate your digital backing track (mp3 file, youtube karaoke track, etc.).

AUDITION SIDES:

Bat Boy: Pg 80-81 – Hightower
Bat Boy: Pg 83 – Batboy
Bat Boy: Pg 86-87 – Parker
Bat Boy: Pg 92 – Sheriff
Bat Boy: Pg 15 – Sheriff
Bat Boy: Pg 27 – Rick
Bat Boy: Pg 20 – Meredith and Shelley

THE STORY: Based on a story in The Weekly World News, BAT BOY: THE MUSICAL is a rock musical comedy/horror show about a half boy/half bat creature who is discovered in a cave near Hope Falls, West Virginia. For lack of a better solution, the local sheriff brings Bat Boy to the home of the town veterinarian, Dr. Parker, where he is eventually accepted as a member of the family and taught to act like a “normal” boy by the veterinarian’s wife, Meredith, and teenage daughter, Shelley. Bat Boy is happy with his new life, but when he naively tries to fit in with the narrow-minded people of Hope Falls, they turn on him, prodded by the machinations of Dr. Parker, who secretly despises Bat Boy. Shelley and Bat Boy, who have fallen in love, run away together from the ignorant townfolk and have a blissful coupling in the woods, but their happiness is shattered when Meredith arrives and reveals a secret. Soon the entire town arrives and hears the shocking story of Bat Boy’s origin.

Categories: Auditions Music Theatre

Biltmore Blooms

Apr 25 all-day

Biltmore Estate Gardens

Spring at Biltmore, one of the estate’s most glorious seasons, invites you to experience a spring break mountain escape with all the charm of a European retreat. Immerse yourself in thousands of colorful tulips as Biltmore Blooms transforms our gardens and grounds. Explore Italian Renaissance Alive and Ciao! From Italy. Savor our Winery’s award-winning vintages and, of course, the timeless elegance of Biltmore House.

Daytime access to 8,000 acres of gardens and grounds, including:
- 75+ Acres of formal and informal gardens
- 20+ Miles of hiking, biking, and walking trails
Antler Hill Village & Winery
Complimentary Wine Tasting
Complimentary Parking

Gardens & Grounds admission does NOT include Biltmore House entry.

Categories: Family Fun Garden Outdoors Tours

CALL FOR ARTISTS! Story Parlor’s Story/Arts Residency

Apr 25 all-day

online w/ Story Parlor

Offered for BIPOC, LGTBQIA+, and individuals from other historically marginalized communities—the residency invites artists to present a three-week performance featuring the core elements of storytelling through art, collaboration, and exploration of the human condition.
Applications due April 30.

About the STORY/ARTS RESIDENCY

Story Parlor’s residencies exist to champion the creative work of locally-based artists and art groups hailing from BIPOC, LGTBQIA+, and other historically marginalized communities in the quest to amplify and bridge together the diverse fabric of voices in Asheville.

Specifically, the Story/Arts residency aims to provide a platform that showcases the transformative and healing powers of storytelling through all art mediums, while tending to the core values of Story Parlor’s mission, which include:

• Connecting audiences and artists from varying creative backgrounds and interests

• Informing, inspiring, and invigorating through the arts

• Promoting and fostering self-inquiry and mindfulness

• Cultivating creative exchange and cultural insight

• Fostering authenticity and inclusiveness

In addition to public performances and/or workshops, artists-in-residence receive dedicated rehearsal time in the space; an artist stipend; creativity coaching sessions; marketing and promotion; and more.

Applications for the 2023 summer residency are below and due no later than April 30, with preference given to applicants who cross disciplines, embrace collaboration, and present a residency proposal that embodies the core elements of storytelling through all art forms.

Categories: Art & Craft

Chamber Challenge: Asheville’s Annual 5k Celebrating Workplace Wellness Registration Open

Apr 25 – Apr 24 all-day

online

Grab your colleagues, your friends, even your family, and celebrate workplace wellness in this fun 5k. You might walk every step or sprint to the finish – either way we know you’re up to the challenge!

Register by April 2 for early registration rates, and by April 16 to get your race shirt.

Join us for free trainings starting March 21st

Hosted by the YMCA of Western North Carolina
Tuesdays starting March 21st • 5:30-6:30 p.m.
Meet in the Asheville Chamber parking lot top level (36 Montford Ave.)

• Open to everyone: share this info with co-workers or another business and encourage them to join a training.
• All fitness levels welcome: from first-time 5k walkers to active runners who want to improve.

The Chamber Challenge is designed to promote community wellness through friendly competition between businesses in the Asheville area. Encourage your co-workers, family and friends to participate. Whether you walk every step or sprint to the finish, we know you’re up to the challenge!

Register for the 2023 Chamber Challenge

Register by April 16th for your free race shirt. After April 16th, limited quantities of shirts may be available for $10.

Registration fee:

$35 – Early Registration until April 2rd

$40 – April 3-30

$45 – Late Registration May 1-5

Categories: Business and Networking Community Sports

City of Asheville: Plastic Reduction Survey

Apr 25 all-day

online

City of Asheville
logo The City of Asheville is seeking feedback from businesses and residents on how we can curb the use of single-use plastics, particularly plastic bags and styrofoam foodware containers, in our community.

This short survey should take less than ten minutes to complete and will ask residents and businesses to share their experiences with these products, what actions they would like to see the City take and what kind of support would be necessary to reduce the consumption of these single-use plastic products.

The survey will remain open through April 30 and results will inform City Staff’s recommendation on next steps to City Council in October, 2023. Staff will also share results and any additional engagement opportunities with the community on the project page.

Categories: Community

Food Scraps Drop Off: Oakley Community Center

Apr 25 all-day

Murphy Oakley Community Center and Library

Food Scraps Drop Off

The City of Asheville, in partnership with Buncombe County and the Natural Resources Defense Council, is offering a FREE Food Scrap Drop-Off program in two locations for all Buncombe County residents. This organic matter will be collected and turned into good clean compost, keeping it OUT of our landfill and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Need a handy kitchen countertop food scrap bin? Let us know on the registration form! We’ll be having bin giveaways at city and county facilities and would love to give you one.

Locations

Murphy Oakley Community Center and Library – “Food Scrap Bin Shelters” on the east side of the parking lot

749 Fairview Road, Asheville

- Dawn – Dusk

Stephens-Lee Recreation Center “Food Scrap Shed” next to the Community Garden on the North side of the parking lot

30 Washington Carver Avenue, Asheville

- Monday – Friday, 7 a.m. – 6 p.m.
- Saturday, 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.
- Sunday, 12 – 4 p.m.

West Asheville Library – “Food Scrap Bin Shelters” on the south side of the building

942 Haywood Road, Asheville

- Library open hours
- Buncombe County Landfill – Convenience Center
  85 Panther Branch Road, Alexander
  - - Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
    - Saturday, 8 a.m. – 12:30 pm

Kanopy Available Free

Apr 25 all-day

online

The popular on-demand film streaming service Kanopy is now available for free with a Buncombe County Library card. Films can be streamed from any computer, television, mobile device, or platform by downloading the Kanopy app for iOS, Android, AppleTV, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, or Roku.

With the motto of “thoughtful entertainment,” Kanopy showcases more than 30,000 of the world’s best films, including award-winning documentaries, rare and hard-to-find titles, film festival favorites, indie films, classics, and world cinema. Explore a world of movies with no wait, no fines, and no borrowing limits.

“Streaming video—and the Kanopy service in particular—is something our patrons have been asking for,” adds Library Director Jason Hyatt. “We’re excited to provide this service as part of our ever-growing digital library.”

To access Kanopy, visit the library website, or download the app to your phone, TV, or digital device. If you have any questions, contact your local library.

Categories: Community Festivals Film

April 2023 Apr 2023

Calendar of Events

GHOST COMEDY BUS TOUR

Science Fiction Book Club

Public Onsale Begins:

Monday, April 3, 2023 3:00 PM

Raffle: Trip to NYC 2023

Enter to win a fabulous trip for two to New York!

MAINSTAGE

Bat Boy: The Musical

Musical

Book by: Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming; Music and Lyrics by: Laurence O’Keefe

Directed by: Stephanie Hickling Beckman

Join us for free trainings starting March 21st

Food Scraps Drop Off