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.

Wednesday, January 17, 2024
Policy on Tap
Jan 17 @ 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Wicked Weed

In our first Policy on Tap of 2024, we’re talking about business improvement districts (BIDs). Come learn how BIDs can address identified needs in a defined district and about the effort to create a BID in Downtown Asheville.

Our panel includes Downtown Planning Manager Dana Frankel, Asheville Downtown Association Executive Director Hayden Plemmons, and Thrive Asheville Executive Director Casey Gilbert.

Registration is required due to limited seating.

Policy on Tap is the Chamber’s quarterly discussion series highlighting topics that matter to our business community with insights shared by key leaders and experts.

Ginger Pinholster and Mark Hummel
Jan 17 @ 6:00 pm
Live Stream

This is a dual author event featuring Ginger Pinholster and Mark Hummel. The live streamed virtual event is free but registration is required.

Please click here to register. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event.

If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!


Ginger Pinholster likes to say that turtles find her. A volunteer member of Florida’s Volusia Turtle Patrol, she earned her M.F.A. degree from Queens University of Charlotte and a B.A. from Eckerd College. Her first novel, “City in a Forest,” won a Gold Royal Palm Literary Award from the Florida Writers Association in 2020. A resident of Ponce Inlet, she serves as vice president for communications at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach. Previously, she was the long-time chief communications officer for the American Association for the Advancement of Science, where she became an elected Fellow. Long ago and far away, she was a journalist. To learn more, visit: www.gingerpinholster.com

Mark Hummel is a novelist, editor, and teacher. He is the author of the novel In the Chameleon’s Shadow, the story collection Lost and Found, and, writing as Mark Leichliter, the crime novel The Other Side. His work regularly appears in literary journals including The Bloomsbury ReviewDogwoodFugueTalking River ReviewWeber: The Contemporary West, and Zone 3. He is the editor of the nonfiction magazine bioStories. Mark lives in Bigfork, Montana.

Thursday, January 18, 2024
Business After Hours
Jan 18 @ 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm
HomeTrust Bank

Mark Your Calendars and Seize the Opportunity to Build Great Connections!

Experience the Chamber’s Business After Hours – an event designed for real connections and genuine conversations. Mix and mingle with fellow professionals and broaden you network, meet potential clients and create a new referral source!
Enjoy a lively atmosphere filled with fantastic food and beverages, courtesy of our monthly host sponsor, with the chance to win fabulous door prizes – a perfect blend of business and enjoyment!

Plus don’t miss the chance to try your luck in our 50/50 raffle!
No cost to attend, just pre-register.

January is hosted by HomeTrust Bank!
My Adopted Aunts: Eleanor Vance, Charlotte Yale, and Biltmore Industries” w/ local author Bruce Johnson
Jan 18 @ 5:30 pm
First Congregational Church
–  “My Adopted Aunts: Eleanor Vance, Charlotte Yale, and Biltmore Industries” with local author Bruce Johnson at First Congregational Church
YPA Professional Development on AI Opportunities
Jan 18 @ 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm
Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce - 2nd Floor Boardroom

All Young Professionals are invited to this professional development session to hear an overview of AI with a healthy discussion about governace and ethical use. Artificial Intelligence is permeating every aspect of our careers and personal lives. Come learn what it is, how to use, and how to get an advantage in many tools before you are left behind. This introductory talk on AI will give you the tools and frameworks to get started using AI today. This professional development workshop is led by Venture Asheville’s Director, Jeffrey Kaplan. Jeffrey speaks on AI reguraly, ranging from statewide audiences to local meetups. He was formerly Governor Roy Coopers appointee to the NC Board of Science, Technology, and Innovation and is a technology entrepreneur himself. Prior to a life in entrepreneurship, Jeffrey was a multi-media educator and built the Digital Media and New Technology Graduate Certificate Program at Indiana University.

Please register for this event in order to help us plan accordingly.

The Young Professionals of Asheville (YPA) provides outstanding professional leadership development opportunities through educational seminars, service opportunities and networking for Asheville professionals between the ages of 21 and 40. For more information or to join, please visit Young Professionals

 

YPA Professional Development: AI – The Boundless Opportunities
Jan 18 @ 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce

All Young Professionals are invited to this professional development session to hear an overview of AI with a healthy discussion about governace and ethical use. Artificial Intelligence is permeating every aspect of our careers and personal lives. Come learn what it is, how to use, and how to get an advantage in many tools before you are left behind. This introductory talk on AI will give you the tools and frameworks to get started using AI today. This professional development workshop is led by Venture Asheville’s Director, Jeffrey Kaplan. Jeffrey speaks on AI regularly, ranging from statewide audiences to local meetups. He was formerly Governor Roy Coopers appointee to the NC Board of Science, Technology, and Innovation and is a technology entrepreneur himself. Prior to a life in entrepreneurship, Jeffrey was a multi-media educator and built the Digital Media and New Technology Graduate Certificate Program at Indiana University.

 

5:30-6:30 – Social Hour (snacks and beverages provided)

6:30-7:30 – PD Session

 

Please register for this event in order to help us plan accordingly.

The Young Professionals of Asheville (YPA) provides outstanding professional leadership development opportunities through educational seminars, service opportunities and networking for Asheville professionals between the ages of 21 and 40. For more information or to join, please visit Young Professionals

Friday, January 19, 2024
2024 Legislative Update
Jan 19 @ 8:15 am – 10:00 am
UNC Asheville's Wilma M. Sherrill Center

Hosted by Brian Lewis and Skye David, the dynamic duo behind the Do Politics Better podcast, the event will feature a conversation that delves into the intricate workings of the North Carolina legislature.

Speakers:

  • Brian Lewis: A seasoned lobbyist and expert in state politics, Brian leads strategy and messaging at New Frame, a bipartisan lobbying and communications firm. His extensive experience will provide valuable insights into the legislative landscape.
  • Skye David: With a background in policy, legal, and regulatory issues, Skye has become a trusted figure at New Frame. Her work has garnered attention in major media outlets, and her expertise will contribute to a comprehensive understanding of legislative matters.

The discussion will highlight key aspects such as a reflection on the 2023 NC General Assembly session and forward-thinking insights into the expectations for the 2024 short session.

Agenda:

  • 8:15-8:45 a.m.: Registration & Networking (Enjoy light pastries and coffee)
  • 8:45-10 a.m.: Program

Don’t miss this opportunity to gain first-hand insights, network and stay ahead of the legislative curve.

Sunday, January 21, 2024
Dani Shapiro in conversation with Maia Toll
Jan 21 @ 11:30 am – 2:00 pm
location will be provided to ticket holders

HappyWomenDinners invites you to an exclusive brunch, booksigning, and discussion with NY Times Bestselling Author Dani Shapiro in Conversation with Author Maia Toll.

This is a private event in Asheville, open to a limited number of guests. Click here for more information and to register via email to [email protected].
The registration deadline is January 7th. The location will be provided to ticket holders.
Tickets are $125 and include:
~ Entry to the event
~ Brunch
~ A signed copy of Signal Fires, by Dani Shapiro. 

Malaprop’s will be on hand with previous books by Dani Shapiro available for purchase.


Signal Fires cuts a gleaming window into our alternate lives so meticulously and gloriously that it is quite nearly a primer on how to not only live in the present, but in the past and future as well. Shapiro has crafted a stunning future classic.” – Lisa Taddeo, author of Three Women

“A haunting, moving, and propulsive exploration of family secrets.” —Meg Wolitzer

Dani Shapiro is the author of eleven books, and the host and creator of the hit podcast Family Secrets. Her most recent novel, Signal Fires, was named a best book of 2022 by Time MagazineWashington Post, and others, and is a national bestseller. Her most recent memoir, Inheritance, was an instant New York Times Bestseller, and named a best book of 2019 by Elle, Vanity Fair, Wired, and Real Simple. Dani’s work has been published in fourteen languages and she’s currently developing Signal Fires for its television adaptation. Dani’s book on the process and craft of writing, Still Writing, is being reissued on the occasion of its tenth anniversary in 2023. She occasionally teaches workshops and retreats, and is the co-founder of the Sirenland Writers Conference in Positano, Italy.

Maia Toll is the author of Letting Magic InThe Night School, and the Wild Wisdom series, which includes The Illustrated Herbiary, The Illustrated Bestiary, The Illustrated Crystallary, and Maia Toll’s Wild Wisdom Companion. After earning degrees at the University of Michigan and New York University, Toll apprenticed with a traditional healer in Ireland, where she spent extensive time studying the growing cycles of plants, the alchemy of medicine making, and the psycho-spiritual aspects of healing. She is the co-owner of the retail store Herbiary, with locations in Asheville, NC and Philadelphia, PA. You can find her online at maiatoll.com.
Kate O’Hara is the illustrator of the Wild Wisdom series, and a freelance illustrator based in Reno, Nevada. She received a BFA in Illustration from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Her work combines intricate nature drawings with decorative hand-lettering and rich color schemes. She can be found online at kate-ohara.com.

Event address:
In Person-Location TBA
Tuesday, January 23, 2024
The Book + Bee Cafe + Tea
Jan 23 @ 11:00 am – 12:30 pm
The Book & Bee Cafe & Tea

This charming English-style cafe and tea room features literary decor and a wonderful menu. If you like tea 🫖 and books 📚 you will love this cafe! I’m looking forward to having a nice, hot pot of tea during the cold and dreary month of January. Come join me!

To see the menu and photos of this charming cafe go to thebookandbee.com.

For lunch it’s first come/first serve.

Hybrid | The Nourishing Asian Kitchen with Sophia Nguyen Eng
Jan 23 @ 6:00 pm
Malaprop's Bookstore

This is a hybrid event with limited in-store seating and the option to attend online.

The event is free but registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance. 

Please click here to register for the VIRTUAL event. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event. 

Please click here to register for the IN-PERSON event. Note the important event details on the RSVP form.

This event includes a book signing. If you would like a signed book but can’t attend in person, you may order a signed copy online below. If you would like to have your book personalized, please order online or call the store at least two hours before the start of the event. When ordering online, use the comments field to provide a name for personalization, e.g. “To Paul.” NOTE: We do our best to get books personalized when requested but personalization is not guaranteed.

If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!


Featuring over 100 delicious recipes that utilize whole foods, classic ferments, hearty broths, and healing herbs and spices, The Nourishing Asian Kitchen presents an innovative approach to experiencing Asian cuisine while promoting nutritious, garden-to-place meals that are easy to make.

Sophia Nguyen Eng is a first-generation Vietnamese-American who left a successful career in growth marketing in Silicon Valley to start a five-acre permaculture farm in the Appalachian region of eastern Tennessee. During her time in the tech industry, Eng led successful growth marketing campaigns for startups and Fortune 500 companies like WorkDay, InVision, and Smartsheet, which led to opportunities to develop a certificate training program with CXL Institute and being a founder of the tech organization Women in Growth. A sought-after speaker, she has presented at Google HQ, GrowthHackers, and the global SaaStalk tech conferences. Now she draws on her experiences speaking on stage and her knowledge of food, farming, and health to present at homesteading conferences. Eng is also a Weston A. Price Chapter Leader and the founder of the website Sprinkle with Soil. With her husband, Tim, she raises grass-fed dairy cows, beef cattle, laying hens, broilers, ducks, sheep, goats, turkeys, and grows a variety of produce for her multi-generational family and local community. Sally Fallon Morell is the founding president of the Weston A. Price Foundation and author or coauthor of many acclaimed books, including Nourishing Traditions, The Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby & Child Care, and Nourishing Broth.

Terry Roberts
Jan 23 @ 6:30 pm
Fairview Library

Join us for an evening of readings and conversation with award-winning novelist Terry Roberts.

Terry Roberts is the author of five celebrated novels: A Short Time to Stay Here (winner of the Willie Morris Prize for Southern Fiction and the Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction); That Bright Land (winner of the Thomas Wolfe Literary Award, the James Still Award for Writing About the Appalachian South and the Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction); The Holy Ghost Speakeasy and Revival (Finalist for the 2019 Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction); My Mistress’ Eyes are Raven Black (Finalist for the 2022 Best Paperback Original Novel by the International Thriller Writers Organization); and most recently, The Sky Club, released in July of 2022.

Roberts is a lifelong teacher and educational reformer as well as an award-winning novelist. He is a native of the mountains of Western North Carolina—born and bred. His ancestors include six generations of mountain farmers, as well as the bootleggers and preachers who appear in his novels. He was raised close by his grandmother, Belva Anderson Roberts, who was born in 1888 and passed to him the magic of the past along with the grit and humor of mountain story telling.

Roberts is the Director of the National Paideia Center and lives in Asheville, North Carolina with his wife, Lynn.

Thursday, January 25, 2024
Women Confidence Builders
Jan 25 @ 8:30 am – 11:30 am
Greenville Convention Center

🌟 Ignite Your Success: January Jumpstart 🌟

Embark on a transformative journey with us as we kick off the new year with workshops, boundless enthusiasm, and invigorating opportunities for personal and professional growth. The January Jumpstart event is a captivating gathering of exceptional business leaders, visionaries, and industry pioneers, all coming together to ignite your success and empower you to reach new heights in 2024.

WCB MEMBERS ONLY – USE DISCOUNT CODE: MEMBER24 (not a member yet? Click the link below and join us)

https://www.womenconfidencebuilders.com/members-home

📅 Date: January 25th, 2024

🌍 Location: Greenville Convention Center

🚀 Unleash Your Potential:

Prepare to unleash your untapped potential as we embark on an inspiring exploration of fresh starts and unlimited possibilities. January symbolizes new beginnings, and this event will serve as the catalyst to ignite your aspirations and set you on a remarkable trajectory towards success.

🎯 Engaging Sessions:

Engage in thought-provoking sessions led by renowned business leaders who have carved their path to greatness. Drawing from their exceptional experiences, they will share invaluable insights, strategies, and wisdom to guide you towards achieving your goals, no matter how audacious they may be.

🌱 Cultivate Growth:

Discover the secrets to continuous growth and personal development as our esteemed speakers unveil their own tales of triumph and lessons learned. Gain profound knowledge on how to navigate challenges, embrace change, and adapt to an ever-evolving business landscape. Immerse yourself in an environment brimming with inspiration, motivation, and the collective energy of like-minded individuals striving for greatness.

💡 Visionary Networking:

Forge connections with a diverse network of ambitious professionals, entrepreneurs, and industry experts. Exchange ideas, collaborate on innovative projects, and cultivate lasting partnerships that will propel your career and business forward. The power of networking cannot be overstated, and this event provides the perfect platform to establish meaningful connections that can shape your future.

🎟️ Limited Seats Available:

The January Jumpstart event has limited seats available, ensuring an intimate and immersive experience for all attendees. Early registration is highly encouraged to secure your spot and avoid missing out on this extraordinary opportunity. Don’t delay in taking the first step towards a remarkable journey of growth and success.

🌈 Embrace the Future:

January is a time of renewal, a chance to leave behind the past and embrace the future with unwavering determination. Join us at the January Jumpstart event and let the collective wisdom, guidance, and inspiration of exceptional business leaders fuel your passion and propel you towards extraordinary achievements in 2024.

🎉 Are you ready to leap into a world of endless possibilities? Reserve your seat today and unlock the door to a future filled with success, innovation, and personal fulfillment. Let the January Jumpstart event be the catalyst that propels you towards greatness! 🎉

Ribbon Cutting for The Collider
Jan 25 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
The Collider

The Collider is an event venue with co-working and private office space rentals centered in the middle of Downtown Asheville. Come celebrate The Collider’s Ribbon Cutting with hors d’oeuvres and drinks within a pleasant networking environment. Business After Hours to follow!!

Tween Book Club
Jan 25 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Pack Memorial Library

In celebration of the year of the dragon, let’s read and discuss The Dragon Warrior by Katie Zhao for our first Tween Book Club. Enjoy a dragon craft and sweet rice cakes! Refreshments will be served. Pick up a copy of your book at the Pack Juv desk or read or listen to it using the Libby app. Feel free to join us even if you don’t finish reading the whole book. We will vote on our book for next month on Thursday, February 29th.

Open to 4th-6th graders. Juvenile fiction chapter books or graphic novels will be the focus of this book group.

 

2024 Annual Dinner Awards
Jan 25 @ 5:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Henderson County Chamber of Commerce
January Business After Hours
Jan 25 @ 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm
The Collider

Come join us for Business After Hours at The Collider!  The Collider is an event venue with co-working and private office space rentals centered in the middle of Downtown Asheville. Come celebrate with hors d’oeuvres and drinks within a pleasant networking environment. Don’t miss the Ribbon Cutting at 4:30 to kick off the evening!!

Feel free to bring a gift to be raffled off as door prizes towards the end of the evening. Bring your business cards for networking and a chance to win prizes!

Please take a look below at our members who have renewed for another year!

All Souls Counseling Center

Big Brothers Big Sisiters of WNC

Embrew Tea

Five Star Bath Solutions

Gemelli

Get Lifted Tire and Alignment, LLC

Hydrate Medical

Insight Recovery Center

Sage and Spice Catering

South Slope Acupuncture and Wellness

Tralala Interiors

Well Roots Counseling

Chris Dwyer Painting

American IRA, LLC

Fioreously Delicious

Avena Bodywork

CarMax

FormPiper

 

This event is offered as a benefit for Chamber membership. We welcome you to come and check us out! Please contact Jessica Kanupp, our Member Development Specialist, at [email protected] if you’re considering a Chamber membership.

Hybrid | You’ll Do: Marcia Zug in conversation with Emily Suski
Jan 25 @ 6:00 pm
Malaprop's Bookstore

This is a hybrid event with limited in-store seating and the option to attend online.

The event is free but registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance. 

Please click here to register for the VIRTUAL event. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event. 

Please click here to register for the IN-PERSON event. Note the important event details on the RSVP form.

This event includes a book signing. If you would like a signed book but can’t attend in person, you may order a signed copy online below. If you would like to have your book personalized, please order online or call the store at least two hours before the start of the event. When ordering online, use the comments field to provide a name for personalization, e.g. “To Paul.” NOTE: We do our best to get books personalized when requested but personalization is not guaranteed.

If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!


YOU’LL DO takes a deep dive into the unromantic, but much more common than most would like to think, reasons for marrying throughout history. Its publication date close to Valentine’s Day makes it the perfect time for the subject to be discussed and sure to attract others who are interested. Through revealing storytelling, Zug builds a compelling case that when marriage is touted as “the solution” to such problems, it absolves the government, and society, of the responsibility for directly addressing them.

Marcia Zug is a family law professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law. She is a graduate of Dartmouth College and The Yale Law School. Her previous book, Buying A Bride, explored the history of mail order marriage in the United States. She lives in Columbia, SC with her husband and two daughters.

Emily Suski is the associate dean for clinics and externships and an associate professor of law at the University of South Carolina. Her areas of expertise include education law—particularly, Title IX and civil rights in the public schools; health & poverty law; and clinical legal education. Her scholarship explores issues at the intersection of education law and civil rights as well as the role of the law in the caretaking of children. Her articles have been published in journals including the Iowa Law Review (forthcoming), Minnesota Law Review, California Law ReviewUCLA Law ReviewMaryland Law Review, and Clinical Law Review.

Black Experience Book Club
Jan 25 @ 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Noir Collective AVL

The Black Experience Book Club reads books by Black authors about the many facets of the Black experience. Join other book lovers to discuss this month’s pick, People Person, by Candice Carty-Williams.

WHERE TO FIND THE BOOK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
Call your local Buncombe County Public Library or visit buncombecounty.org/library to reserve your copy online.

NOIR COLLECTIVE AT THE YMICC.
Stop by the Noir Collective AVL during open hours, call 828-257-4540, or email [email protected] to check availability.

Friday, January 26, 2024
Vera B. Williams / STORIES Eight Decades of Politics and Picture Making
Jan 26 @ 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center

 

Exhibition and Public Programming

Vera B. Williams, an award-winning author and illustrator of children’s books, started making pictures almost as soon as she could walk. She studied at Black Mountain College in a time where summer institutes were held with classes taught by John Cage and Merce Cunningham. Williams studied under the Bauhaus luminary Josef Albers and went on to make art for the rest of her life. At the time of her death, The New York Times wrote: “Her illustrations, known for bold colors and a style reminiscent of folk art, were praised by reviewers for their great tenderness and crackling vitality.” Despite numerous awards and recognition for her children’s books, much of her wider life and work remains unexplored. This retrospective will showcase the complete range of Williams’ life and work. It will highlight her time at Black Mountain College, her political activism, and her establishment, with Paul Williams, of an influential yet little-known artist community, in addition to her work as an author and illustrator.

Author and illustrator of 17 children’s books, including Caldecott medal winner, A Chair for My Mother, Vera B. Williams always had a passion for the arts. Williams grew up in the Bronx, NY, and in 1936, when she was nine years old, one of her paintings, called Yentas, opens a new window, was included in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. While Williams is widely known for her children’s books today, this exhibition’s expansive scope highlights unexplored aspects of her artistic practice and eight decades of life. From groundbreaking, powerful covers for Liberation Magazine, to Peace calendar collaborations with writer activist Grace Paley, to scenic sketches for Julian Beck and Judith Malina’s Living Theater, to hundreds of late life “Aging and Illness” cartoons sketches and doodles, Vera never sat still.

Williams arrived at Black Mountain College in 1945. While there, she embraced all aspects of living, working, and learning in the intensely creative college community. She was at BMC during a particularly fertile period, which allowed her to study with faculty members Buckminster Fuller and Josef Albers, and to participate in the famed summer sessions with John Cage, Merce Cunningham, M.C. Richards, and Robert Rauschenberg. In 1948, she graduated with Josef Albers as her advisor and sculptor Richard Lippold as her outside examiner. Forever one of the College’s shining stars, Vera graduated from BMC with just six semesters of coursework, at only twenty-one years old. She continued to visit BMC for years afterward, staying deeply involved with the artistic community that BMC incubated.

Anticipating the eventual closure of BMC, Williams, alongside her husband Paul Williams and a group of influential former BMC figures, founded The Gate Hill Cooperative Artists community located 30 miles north of NYC on the outskirts of Stony Point, NY. The Gate Hill Cooperative, also known as The Land, became an outcropping of Black Mountain College’s experimental ethos. Students and faculty including John Cage, M.C. Richards, David Tudor, Karen Karnes, David Weinrib, Stan VanDerBeek, and Patsy Lynch Wood shaped Gate Hill as founding members of the community. Vera B. Williams raised her three children at Gate Hill while continuing to make work.

The early Gate Hill era represented an especially creative phase for the BMC group. For Williams, this period saw the creation of 76 covers for Liberation Magazine, a radical, groundbreaking publication. This exhibition will feature some of Williams’ most powerful Liberation covers including a design for the June 1963 edition, which contained the first full publication of MLK’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Williams’ activism work continued throughout her life. As president of PEN’s Children Committee and member of The War Resisters league, she created a wide range of political and educational posters and journal covers. Williams protested the war in Vietnam and nuclear proliferation while supporting women’s causes and racial equality. In 1981, Williams was arrested and spent a month in a federal prison on charges stemming from her political activism.

In her late 40’s, Williams embarked in earnest on her career as a children’s book author and illustrator, a career which garnered the NY Public Library’s recognition of A Chair for My Mother as one of the greatest 100 children’s books of all time. Infinitely curious and always a wanderer at heart, Williams’ personal life was as expansive as her art. In addition to her prolific picture making, Williams started and helped run a Summerhill-based alternative school, canoed the Yukon, and lived alone on a houseboat in Vancouver Harbor. She helped to organize and attended dozens of political demonstrations throughout her adult life.

Her books won many awards including the Caldecott Medal Honor Book for A Chair for My Mother in 1983, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award– Fiction category– for Scooter in 1994, the Jane Addams Honor for Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart in 2002, and the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature in 2009. Her books reflected her values, emphasizing love, compassion, kindness, joy, strength, individuality, and courage.

Images:

Cover of Vera B. Williams’ A Chair for My Mother, published in 1982.

Vera B. Williams, Cover for Liberation Magazine, November 1958.

Saturday, January 27, 2024
Vera B. Williams / STORIES Eight Decades of Politics and Picture Making
Jan 27 @ 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center

 

Exhibition and Public Programming

Vera B. Williams, an award-winning author and illustrator of children’s books, started making pictures almost as soon as she could walk. She studied at Black Mountain College in a time where summer institutes were held with classes taught by John Cage and Merce Cunningham. Williams studied under the Bauhaus luminary Josef Albers and went on to make art for the rest of her life. At the time of her death, The New York Times wrote: “Her illustrations, known for bold colors and a style reminiscent of folk art, were praised by reviewers for their great tenderness and crackling vitality.” Despite numerous awards and recognition for her children’s books, much of her wider life and work remains unexplored. This retrospective will showcase the complete range of Williams’ life and work. It will highlight her time at Black Mountain College, her political activism, and her establishment, with Paul Williams, of an influential yet little-known artist community, in addition to her work as an author and illustrator.

Author and illustrator of 17 children’s books, including Caldecott medal winner, A Chair for My Mother, Vera B. Williams always had a passion for the arts. Williams grew up in the Bronx, NY, and in 1936, when she was nine years old, one of her paintings, called Yentas, opens a new window, was included in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. While Williams is widely known for her children’s books today, this exhibition’s expansive scope highlights unexplored aspects of her artistic practice and eight decades of life. From groundbreaking, powerful covers for Liberation Magazine, to Peace calendar collaborations with writer activist Grace Paley, to scenic sketches for Julian Beck and Judith Malina’s Living Theater, to hundreds of late life “Aging and Illness” cartoons sketches and doodles, Vera never sat still.

Williams arrived at Black Mountain College in 1945. While there, she embraced all aspects of living, working, and learning in the intensely creative college community. She was at BMC during a particularly fertile period, which allowed her to study with faculty members Buckminster Fuller and Josef Albers, and to participate in the famed summer sessions with John Cage, Merce Cunningham, M.C. Richards, and Robert Rauschenberg. In 1948, she graduated with Josef Albers as her advisor and sculptor Richard Lippold as her outside examiner. Forever one of the College’s shining stars, Vera graduated from BMC with just six semesters of coursework, at only twenty-one years old. She continued to visit BMC for years afterward, staying deeply involved with the artistic community that BMC incubated.

Anticipating the eventual closure of BMC, Williams, alongside her husband Paul Williams and a group of influential former BMC figures, founded The Gate Hill Cooperative Artists community located 30 miles north of NYC on the outskirts of Stony Point, NY. The Gate Hill Cooperative, also known as The Land, became an outcropping of Black Mountain College’s experimental ethos. Students and faculty including John Cage, M.C. Richards, David Tudor, Karen Karnes, David Weinrib, Stan VanDerBeek, and Patsy Lynch Wood shaped Gate Hill as founding members of the community. Vera B. Williams raised her three children at Gate Hill while continuing to make work.

The early Gate Hill era represented an especially creative phase for the BMC group. For Williams, this period saw the creation of 76 covers for Liberation Magazine, a radical, groundbreaking publication. This exhibition will feature some of Williams’ most powerful Liberation covers including a design for the June 1963 edition, which contained the first full publication of MLK’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Williams’ activism work continued throughout her life. As president of PEN’s Children Committee and member of The War Resisters league, she created a wide range of political and educational posters and journal covers. Williams protested the war in Vietnam and nuclear proliferation while supporting women’s causes and racial equality. In 1981, Williams was arrested and spent a month in a federal prison on charges stemming from her political activism.

In her late 40’s, Williams embarked in earnest on her career as a children’s book author and illustrator, a career which garnered the NY Public Library’s recognition of A Chair for My Mother as one of the greatest 100 children’s books of all time. Infinitely curious and always a wanderer at heart, Williams’ personal life was as expansive as her art. In addition to her prolific picture making, Williams started and helped run a Summerhill-based alternative school, canoed the Yukon, and lived alone on a houseboat in Vancouver Harbor. She helped to organize and attended dozens of political demonstrations throughout her adult life.

Her books won many awards including the Caldecott Medal Honor Book for A Chair for My Mother in 1983, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award– Fiction category– for Scooter in 1994, the Jane Addams Honor for Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart in 2002, and the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature in 2009. Her books reflected her values, emphasizing love, compassion, kindness, joy, strength, individuality, and courage.

Images:

Cover of Vera B. Williams’ A Chair for My Mother, published in 1982.

Vera B. Williams, Cover for Liberation Magazine, November 1958.

MARCH 10th Anniversary – Co-Author Andrew Aydin in Conversation with Fletcher Mayor Preston Blakely
Jan 27 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
East Asheville Library

Join us to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of John Lewis’s MARCH Trilogy with co-author Andrew Aydin and Preston Blakely, mayor of Fletcher, NC!

The event is free and open to the public. No registration is required.

Written in collaboration with co-writer Andrew Aydin and New York Times best-selling artist Nate Powell (winner of the Eisner Award and LA Times Book Prize finalist for Swallow Me Whole), March is a vivid first-hand account of John Lewis’ lifelong struggle for civil and human rights, meditating in the modern age on the distance traveled since the days of Jim Crow and segregation. Rooted in Lewis’ personal story, it also reflects on the highs and lows of the broader civil rights movement.

Andrew Aydin is an award-winning comics writer. He was the Digital Director and Policy Advisor to the late Georgia congressman John Lewis, and his coauthor for March. He splits his time between Washington, D.C., and Hendersonville, NC.

Preston Blakely, a lifelong Fletcher resident, currently serves as mayor of the Town of Fletcher and is the youngest sitting mayor in North Carolina at 28-years-old. Prior to serving as mayor, Preston was a Fletcher Town Council member. Preston is an advocate for rural communities, equity, and supporting families. In addition to serving as mayor, Preston works for his family business, Quality Janitorial Group and serves on several boards and commissions including Thrive in Henderson County, Big Brothers Big Sisters of WNC, Land of Sky Regional Council, the Governor’s Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice, and the Commission on the the Future of NC Elections. He is steadfast and committed to his community and North Carolina.

10th Anniversary of MARCH: Andrew Aydin in conversation with Preston Blakely
Jan 27 @ 3:00 pm
East Asheville Public Library

Join us in person at East Asheville Library to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of John Lewis’s MARCH Trilogy with co-author Andrew Aydin and Preston Blakely, mayor of Fletcher, NC!

The event is free and open to the public. No registration is required.


Written in collaboration with co-writer Andrew Aydin and New York Times best-selling artist Nate Powell (winner of the Eisner Award and LA Times Book Prize finalist for Swallow Me Whole), March is a vivid first-hand account of John Lewis’ lifelong struggle for civil and human rights, meditating in the modern age on the distance traveled since the days of Jim Crow and segregation. Rooted in Lewis’ personal story, it also reflects on the highs and lows of the broader civil rights movement.

Andrew Aydin is an award-winning comics writer. He was the Digital Director and Policy Advisor to the late Georgia congressman John Lewis, and his coauthor for March. He splits his time between Washington, D.C., and Hendersonville, NC.

Preston Blakely, a lifelong Fletcher resident, currently serves as mayor of the Town of Fletcher and is the youngest sitting mayor in North Carolina at 28-years-old. Prior to serving as mayor,  Preston was a Fletcher Town Council member. Preston is an advocate for rural communities,  equity, and supporting families. In addition to serving as mayor, Preston works for his family business, Quality Janitorial Group and serves on several boards and commissions including Thrive in Henderson County, Big  Brothers Big Sisters of WNC, Land of Sky Regional Council, the Governor’s Task Force for Racial  Equity in Criminal Justice, and the Commission on the the Future of NC Elections. He is steadfast and committed to his community and North Carolina.

Sunday, January 28, 2024
The Adventures of Amazing Grace with Erika Ferrari Lopez
Jan 28 @ 5:00 pm
Malaprop's Bookstore

This in-person only event will be held at Malaprop’s. Attendance is free but please click here to RSVP.

If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!


Grace is an ordinary nine-year-old going into 3rd grade when she discovers she’s anything but ordinary. Grace can fly! And when her best friend, Adrian, and the new student, Mia, find out, adventure follows.

Grace, Mia, and Adrian learn about family bonds, friendship, and facing their fears together when their class goes on a field trip to the swimming quarry. But will Grace’s secret be safe or will she risk it all to save a friend?

The Adventures of Amazing Grace includes multi-generational family dynamics, Spanish customs and vocabulary with an accompanying glossary, and a dash of magical realism. The book is the first in a planned series and is written in dyslexic-friendly fonts for accessibility.

Themes include overcoming fear and anxiety to listen to your heart, the importance of parental support of children’s gifts, positive friendships, all with multicultural family customs and dynamics.

Erika Ferrari Lopez was raised in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. by her mother, an immigrant from Guatemala. She attended schools in Northern Virginia and college at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. She started her career in finance in Washington D.C. but realized the thing she liked discussing most with her clients was their philanthropic planning. She left finance to work in the non-profit industry for the next twelve years. Erika married her wonderful husband, Len, and together they welcomed a son and then a daughter. The family moved to Charlotte, North Carolina eight years ago. About five years ago, Erika began writing memoir and essays based on her childhood experiences and began sharing her writings on a blog she named Landings. This year, she released her first book, The Adventures of Amazing Grace a children’s chapter book she created with her daughter.  She is thrilled to be living a creative life and encourages everyone to use their gifts in their own way to make an impact in this world.

Monday, January 29, 2024
Vera B. Williams / STORIES Eight Decades of Politics and Picture Making
Jan 29 @ 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center

 

Exhibition and Public Programming

Vera B. Williams, an award-winning author and illustrator of children’s books, started making pictures almost as soon as she could walk. She studied at Black Mountain College in a time where summer institutes were held with classes taught by John Cage and Merce Cunningham. Williams studied under the Bauhaus luminary Josef Albers and went on to make art for the rest of her life. At the time of her death, The New York Times wrote: “Her illustrations, known for bold colors and a style reminiscent of folk art, were praised by reviewers for their great tenderness and crackling vitality.” Despite numerous awards and recognition for her children’s books, much of her wider life and work remains unexplored. This retrospective will showcase the complete range of Williams’ life and work. It will highlight her time at Black Mountain College, her political activism, and her establishment, with Paul Williams, of an influential yet little-known artist community, in addition to her work as an author and illustrator.

Author and illustrator of 17 children’s books, including Caldecott medal winner, A Chair for My Mother, Vera B. Williams always had a passion for the arts. Williams grew up in the Bronx, NY, and in 1936, when she was nine years old, one of her paintings, called Yentas, opens a new window, was included in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. While Williams is widely known for her children’s books today, this exhibition’s expansive scope highlights unexplored aspects of her artistic practice and eight decades of life. From groundbreaking, powerful covers for Liberation Magazine, to Peace calendar collaborations with writer activist Grace Paley, to scenic sketches for Julian Beck and Judith Malina’s Living Theater, to hundreds of late life “Aging and Illness” cartoons sketches and doodles, Vera never sat still.

Williams arrived at Black Mountain College in 1945. While there, she embraced all aspects of living, working, and learning in the intensely creative college community. She was at BMC during a particularly fertile period, which allowed her to study with faculty members Buckminster Fuller and Josef Albers, and to participate in the famed summer sessions with John Cage, Merce Cunningham, M.C. Richards, and Robert Rauschenberg. In 1948, she graduated with Josef Albers as her advisor and sculptor Richard Lippold as her outside examiner. Forever one of the College’s shining stars, Vera graduated from BMC with just six semesters of coursework, at only twenty-one years old. She continued to visit BMC for years afterward, staying deeply involved with the artistic community that BMC incubated.

Anticipating the eventual closure of BMC, Williams, alongside her husband Paul Williams and a group of influential former BMC figures, founded The Gate Hill Cooperative Artists community located 30 miles north of NYC on the outskirts of Stony Point, NY. The Gate Hill Cooperative, also known as The Land, became an outcropping of Black Mountain College’s experimental ethos. Students and faculty including John Cage, M.C. Richards, David Tudor, Karen Karnes, David Weinrib, Stan VanDerBeek, and Patsy Lynch Wood shaped Gate Hill as founding members of the community. Vera B. Williams raised her three children at Gate Hill while continuing to make work.

The early Gate Hill era represented an especially creative phase for the BMC group. For Williams, this period saw the creation of 76 covers for Liberation Magazine, a radical, groundbreaking publication. This exhibition will feature some of Williams’ most powerful Liberation covers including a design for the June 1963 edition, which contained the first full publication of MLK’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Williams’ activism work continued throughout her life. As president of PEN’s Children Committee and member of The War Resisters league, she created a wide range of political and educational posters and journal covers. Williams protested the war in Vietnam and nuclear proliferation while supporting women’s causes and racial equality. In 1981, Williams was arrested and spent a month in a federal prison on charges stemming from her political activism.

In her late 40’s, Williams embarked in earnest on her career as a children’s book author and illustrator, a career which garnered the NY Public Library’s recognition of A Chair for My Mother as one of the greatest 100 children’s books of all time. Infinitely curious and always a wanderer at heart, Williams’ personal life was as expansive as her art. In addition to her prolific picture making, Williams started and helped run a Summerhill-based alternative school, canoed the Yukon, and lived alone on a houseboat in Vancouver Harbor. She helped to organize and attended dozens of political demonstrations throughout her adult life.

Her books won many awards including the Caldecott Medal Honor Book for A Chair for My Mother in 1983, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award– Fiction category– for Scooter in 1994, the Jane Addams Honor for Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart in 2002, and the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature in 2009. Her books reflected her values, emphasizing love, compassion, kindness, joy, strength, individuality, and courage.

Images:

Cover of Vera B. Williams’ A Chair for My Mother, published in 1982.

Vera B. Williams, Cover for Liberation Magazine, November 1958.

Tuesday, January 30, 2024
Vera B. Williams / STORIES Eight Decades of Politics and Picture Making
Jan 30 @ 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center

 

Exhibition and Public Programming

Vera B. Williams, an award-winning author and illustrator of children’s books, started making pictures almost as soon as she could walk. She studied at Black Mountain College in a time where summer institutes were held with classes taught by John Cage and Merce Cunningham. Williams studied under the Bauhaus luminary Josef Albers and went on to make art for the rest of her life. At the time of her death, The New York Times wrote: “Her illustrations, known for bold colors and a style reminiscent of folk art, were praised by reviewers for their great tenderness and crackling vitality.” Despite numerous awards and recognition for her children’s books, much of her wider life and work remains unexplored. This retrospective will showcase the complete range of Williams’ life and work. It will highlight her time at Black Mountain College, her political activism, and her establishment, with Paul Williams, of an influential yet little-known artist community, in addition to her work as an author and illustrator.

Author and illustrator of 17 children’s books, including Caldecott medal winner, A Chair for My Mother, Vera B. Williams always had a passion for the arts. Williams grew up in the Bronx, NY, and in 1936, when she was nine years old, one of her paintings, called Yentas, opens a new window, was included in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. While Williams is widely known for her children’s books today, this exhibition’s expansive scope highlights unexplored aspects of her artistic practice and eight decades of life. From groundbreaking, powerful covers for Liberation Magazine, to Peace calendar collaborations with writer activist Grace Paley, to scenic sketches for Julian Beck and Judith Malina’s Living Theater, to hundreds of late life “Aging and Illness” cartoons sketches and doodles, Vera never sat still.

Williams arrived at Black Mountain College in 1945. While there, she embraced all aspects of living, working, and learning in the intensely creative college community. She was at BMC during a particularly fertile period, which allowed her to study with faculty members Buckminster Fuller and Josef Albers, and to participate in the famed summer sessions with John Cage, Merce Cunningham, M.C. Richards, and Robert Rauschenberg. In 1948, she graduated with Josef Albers as her advisor and sculptor Richard Lippold as her outside examiner. Forever one of the College’s shining stars, Vera graduated from BMC with just six semesters of coursework, at only twenty-one years old. She continued to visit BMC for years afterward, staying deeply involved with the artistic community that BMC incubated.

Anticipating the eventual closure of BMC, Williams, alongside her husband Paul Williams and a group of influential former BMC figures, founded The Gate Hill Cooperative Artists community located 30 miles north of NYC on the outskirts of Stony Point, NY. The Gate Hill Cooperative, also known as The Land, became an outcropping of Black Mountain College’s experimental ethos. Students and faculty including John Cage, M.C. Richards, David Tudor, Karen Karnes, David Weinrib, Stan VanDerBeek, and Patsy Lynch Wood shaped Gate Hill as founding members of the community. Vera B. Williams raised her three children at Gate Hill while continuing to make work.

The early Gate Hill era represented an especially creative phase for the BMC group. For Williams, this period saw the creation of 76 covers for Liberation Magazine, a radical, groundbreaking publication. This exhibition will feature some of Williams’ most powerful Liberation covers including a design for the June 1963 edition, which contained the first full publication of MLK’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Williams’ activism work continued throughout her life. As president of PEN’s Children Committee and member of The War Resisters league, she created a wide range of political and educational posters and journal covers. Williams protested the war in Vietnam and nuclear proliferation while supporting women’s causes and racial equality. In 1981, Williams was arrested and spent a month in a federal prison on charges stemming from her political activism.

In her late 40’s, Williams embarked in earnest on her career as a children’s book author and illustrator, a career which garnered the NY Public Library’s recognition of A Chair for My Mother as one of the greatest 100 children’s books of all time. Infinitely curious and always a wanderer at heart, Williams’ personal life was as expansive as her art. In addition to her prolific picture making, Williams started and helped run a Summerhill-based alternative school, canoed the Yukon, and lived alone on a houseboat in Vancouver Harbor. She helped to organize and attended dozens of political demonstrations throughout her adult life.

Her books won many awards including the Caldecott Medal Honor Book for A Chair for My Mother in 1983, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award– Fiction category– for Scooter in 1994, the Jane Addams Honor for Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart in 2002, and the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature in 2009. Her books reflected her values, emphasizing love, compassion, kindness, joy, strength, individuality, and courage.

Images:

Cover of Vera B. Williams’ A Chair for My Mother, published in 1982.

Vera B. Williams, Cover for Liberation Magazine, November 1958.

Voices of Asheville
Jan 30 @ 11:00 am
Four Points by Sheraton

Prepare yourself for three power-packed hours of inspiration and insight. You will be amazed at the caliber of Asheville area’s professional speaking community. NSA-WNC will showcase a series of inspirational and interactive presentations that will kickstart your year with insights and tools to help you achieve the changes you wish to make in the year ahead.

Whether you are a leader seeking ways to develop your team or a student of self-improvement, this event promises to point you in a new and positive direction.

Proceeds benefit the Asheville Breakfast Rotary Foundation. Those who bring a hygiene product for donation will also be entered into a door prize drawing at the close of the event.

CEO Roundtable: Meeting + Orientation
Jan 30 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
The Chamber
Please join us for this orientation reception and organizational meeting for the 2024 CEO Roundtable.
The CEO Roundtable is a group of 10-12 business owners/decision-makers who meet on a monthly basis to discuss business issues and act as one another’s Board of Advisors. The concept is to have these owners share helpful information with each other to the benefit of all involved.
Roundtable groups are confidential so that sensitive information can be discussed without worry of disclosure. The groups are also limited to non-competing businesses. The Chamber’s role in the CEO Roundtable program is to organize and support the groups. It is up to the members of each group to decide meeting schedules and agendas. Typically groups will allow each member to host a meeting and select topics of discussion.
Ribbon Cutting for The Lazy Tiger
Jan 30 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
The Lazy Tiger Hostel

The Lazy Tiger is a traveler’s hostel focused on serving as a launchpad for adventure and allowing strangers to become friends!

Come celebebrate their ribbon cutting that will allow other local business owners a chance to see their new space and network with others! Take a tour of the space and ask any questions you may have! There will be drinks and light snacks provided.

Online Zoom: West Asheville Library Book Discussion. Travels With Charley by John Steinbeck
Jan 30 @ 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
online

West Asheville Library Book Discussion group will discuss Travels With Charley  by John Steinbeck. This is an online Zoom event. Please join us! Email [email protected] for the Zoom information.

 

Consent Book Club
Jan 30 @ 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm
TBA

Register so we can reach out and contact you as we prepare for our first meeting! Books will be distributed at the first meeting. This book club is for adults 18+.

Meetings will be on Tuesday evenings from 5:30-7pm (meeting location will be emailed once attendance is finalized)

Below are all the meeting dates:
December 5th
December 12th
December 19th
Skipping December 26th
January 2nd
January 9th
January 16th
Skipping January 22nd
January 30th