Calendar of Events

Enrollment is now open for two adult improvisation acting classes offered by Hendersonville Theatre (HT). Classes will be taught by professional improvisation actor and comedian Emily Swindal. Both classes are open to anyone over the age of 18, regardless of experience level.

Improv Level One: Communicate. Collaborate. Play. meets on Wednesdays from April 5 to May 24. Tuition is $180. In the class, students will work at getting comfortable on stage while having fun doing it. Students will learn to have compassion for themselves and their classmates as performers as they learn the fundamentals of improvisation and develop support and spontaneity. Together, they will learn the importance of “yes-and-ing,” heightening the absurdity and raising the stakes. They will also cover the differences between short form and long form improv. This is a short form class similar to Whose Line Is It Anyway?

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

Volunteer Responsibilities:

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

Requirements:

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

You’re invited to an evening of food, fun, and fundraising in honor of the UNC Asheville STEAM Studio’s SkillSet Program!

Join us on Thursday, May 18, from 5 – 7 p.m. to tour the studio, take part in a silent auction, and enjoy hors d’oeuvres and beverages.

Tickets for the event are $30 through Eventbrite

Proceeds will benefit the scholarship fund for SkillSet, an outreach program of UNC Asheville’s STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) Studio.
SkillSet provides access to life-changing skills through maker-based education. Through SkillSet, community members of all ages can participate in summer camps and day classes, learning everything from making custom electric guitars to programming robotics and building furniture. Students of all skill levels become familiar with tools and develop the technical skills and resilience to create these objects.

SkillSet primarily serves under-resourced communities, female-identified, and gender-expansive students to ensure visibility of diverse identities in STEAM fields and inspire students to consider new interests and career paths.

Over 50% of our families receive financial assistance in the form of pay-what-you-can tuition. Monies raised from this event will help send a kid to summer camp! Help us meet our goal of raising $8000 for the summer 2023 scholarship fund.

Learn more about the STEAM Studio SkillSet Program at www.skillset.tools

ARP’s art instructors provide supplies and nature provides inspiration for painting in the park.

Debunk some common misconceptions about native snakes you could meet at home or in the schoolyard. Meet one of our ambassador animals and explore outside, looking for evidence of snakes in the wild. Access to The North Carolina Arboretum is free for event participants and family members. Event spaces are limited and pre-registration is required. Each registered ecoEXPLORER will receive 5 points for attending. Questions? Reach out to [email protected]!

Awake and Bold is sponsoring the 2023 Town Hall on child trafficking. They work to increase awareness around child trafficking and support organizations that rescue child trafficking victims. Keynote speaker- Leigh Dundas, Human Rights Atty, Bryan Prather from Vets for Child Rescue, Shelia Dale – Hendersonville School Board, Hara Taicher – Co-founder of Awake and Bold, and more. Art Auction, Prevention Class & Panel Discussion

Join us at Catawba Brewing for an afternoon of improv comedy! “Move” workshop is focused on turning off your inner critic and embracing the moment. Joe Carroll will lead exercises that utilize movement and sound to get out of your head. Improv is a great way to build self-confidence, public speaking skills, and to connect with this awesome community. It’s also a lot of fun!

Open to all improv levels

ages 18+

Signup $40*

*sliding scale available

Instructor Bio:

Joe Carroll currently teaches improv Levels 1-4 at the Black Mountain Center for the Arts. He began improvising at Appalachian State University in 2007 and taught workshops and classes at the Asheville Improv Collective. Joe has performed at the Dirty South Improv Festival, NC Comedy Arts Festival, Asheville Yes Fest, AIC Fest, Hell Yes Fest, the Asheville Fringe Festival, the Secret City Festival, and Chicago’s Annoyance Theater. He currently performs in his one man show “JOLO”, the all-star ensemble “The No-See-Ums”, and comedy duo “Mabel’s Baby”.

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

Volunteer Responsibilities:

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

Requirements:

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

Join the Asheville Museum of History Tuesday, May 23 at 6pm via Zoom for the second program in our foodways month. This event airs live and will be recorded.

James G.K McClure Jr.,, an Illinois-born Presbyterian minister and experienced livestock handler, visited Asheville on his 1916 honeymoon and quickly decided to purchase and operate Sherill’s Inn and the surrounding farm in Fairview. McClure drew heavily on the social gospel movement advocating for the poor and disadvantaged, as well as the previous attempts at farmer cooperation when he founded the Fairview Farmer’s Federation in 1920.

McClure preached cooperation and improvement to local farmers. He attributed the poor state of WNC agriculture to inferior seed and livestock breeds, erosion, lack of fertilization, and lack of cooperation in marketing. The Federation encouraged farmers to standardize their breeds and seeds, producing “Federation potatoes” and the more-profitable Duroc-Jersey hogs. The Federation, with the investments of Cornelia Vanderbilt and E.W. Grove, was able to pay consistent dividends to stockholders while boosting the livelihoods of local farmers.

About the Speaker:

John Ager is a former state legislator and also land manager of the Hickory Nut Gap Farm. He and his wife live in Fairview and manage the functioning Sherill’s Inn as a wedding venue. Their family has lived and operated farms in the area for five generations. John is also a co-founder of the Fairview Library and Drover’s Road Scenic Byway and the author of We Plow Gods Fields, a biography of James G. K. McClure and the History of the Farmers Federation.

Tickets: $5 for members/ $10 for General Admission. We also have no-cost, community-funded tickets available. We want our events to be accessible to as many people as possible. If you are able please consider making a donation along with your ticket purchase. These donations are placed in our Community Fund, which allows us to offer tickets at no cost to those who would not be able to attend otherwise.

Viewing: Registrants will receive a Zoom link with which to view the program. It will also be recorded and later available on our website.

(Image: Federation warehouse in Fairview from John Ager, We Plow God’s Fields: The Life of James G.K. McClure, 1991)

For questions, email Trevor Freeman at [email protected]

Inspiring, revealing, and deeply relatable, Being a Ballerina is a first-hand look at the realities of life as a professional ballet dancer. Through episodes of her own career, Gavin Larsen describes the forces that drive a person to study dance; the daily balance that dancers navigate between hardship and joy; and the dancer’s continual quest to discover who they are as a person and as an artist.

Join us for this very special event as we welcome author and dancer Gavin Larsen for readings from her book Being a Ballerina: The Power and Perfection of a Dancing Life. In addition to the reading, the audience will also be treated to a performance of excerpts from the ballet Giselle.

This program is for an audience of all ages, and Malaprops will be on hand to sell copies of Gavin’s book after the event is over.

with Rachel Meriwether

Learn all about how to make more plants – from seeds as well as from parts of full grown plants themselves! In this hands-on class we will cover several forms of plant propagation: seed starting, stem cuttings, root cuttings, air layering, and a basic overview of grafting. No experience necessary – You only need to bring a keen interest in learning more about plants!

$25.00 Registration limit: 10!

Enrollment is now open for two adult improvisation acting classes offered by Hendersonville Theatre (HT). Classes will be taught by professional improvisation actor and comedian Emily Swindal. Both classes are open to anyone over the age of 18, regardless of experience level.

Improv Level One: Communicate. Collaborate. Play. meets on Wednesdays from April 5 to May 24. Tuition is $180. In the class, students will work at getting comfortable on stage while having fun doing it. Students will learn to have compassion for themselves and their classmates as performers as they learn the fundamentals of improvisation and develop support and spontaneity. Together, they will learn the importance of “yes-and-ing,” heightening the absurdity and raising the stakes. They will also cover the differences between short form and long form improv. This is a short form class similar to Whose Line Is It Anyway?

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

Volunteer Responsibilities:

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

Requirements:

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