Calendar of Events

The South has always been home to a blend of cultures — from Native Americans here by 14,000 years ago to Europeans 500 years ago, followed by Africans forced to migrate. By 1500, cultures in the South included Creek, Cherokee, Catawba, Choctaw, Chitimacha, and Coushatta, from Europe English, Scottish, Irish, and German, and Africans from Senegal to Congo. Baskets were integral in daily life, as agricultural equipment for gathering, sifting, storing, and serving the finished product or as receptacles for tools, clothes, sacred objects, and even infants.

Initially each culture had its own preferred basket material and method of manufacture — twilled rivercane for Native Americans, plaited oak for Europeans, and coiled grasses for Africans. Interaction between groups spurred adaptations to changing circumstances, such as the use of white oak by the Cherokee in the 1800s, as rivercane stands were decimated by European settlements. Native Americans also adopted the European picnic, flower, egg, and market baskets to sell in the 20th-century art market. Native and European Americans wove honeysuckle into baskets after 1854, when introduced from Japan. By the 17th century African Americans discovered bulrush along the coasts, coiling it into large, round “fanners” to winnow rice. Later bulrush was one medium among sweetgrass, pine needles, and palmetto, giving rise to the name “sweetgrass baskets” along the coast.

Baskets were woven not only for use in the fields and homes or for sale in art galleries but also as a connection to ancestors and spirits, as designs were said to come from inside one’s head, from memories of one’s mother’s motifs, or from the Creator. Indeed, working with one’s hands in nature to gather materials and to form them into a basket was considered spiritually and physically healthy, becoming a part of the practice of occupational therapy around World War I.

Today, basketweavers in the South from all three traditions are teaching the next generation to continue this art. Artists from across the region work with old and new materials in old and new forms, innovating for their legacy, for art’s sake, and for political causes, as embodied in the varied vessels in this gallery and epitomized in the virtuosic miniature examples in the case at right.

As Virginia Woolf said, “one cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” Food and water are essential for survival, but mankind’s relationship to food has transformed over time from one of sustenance to one laden with personal and cultural significance.

A Matter of Taste explores depictions of food and drink in art and reveals how images of fruits and vegetables can function as complex metaphors for excess, status, memory, and politics. Drawn from southern museums and private collections, this exhibition showcases over 35 paintings, decorative arts, and works on paper by artists such as Andy Warhol, Wayne Thiebaud, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Claes Oldenburg.

This show spans 400 years and multiple continents, revealing the evolving role of food and drink in various media and cultural contexts. While depictions of fruit and vegetables appeared in ancient times, still life painting as an independent genre dates to 16th-century Holland.

In 19th-century America, still life paintings remained popular but evolved in terms of subject matter, media, and message. Painters such as Thomas Wightman, George Forster, and De Scott Evans embraced Dutch still lifes and used food as commentary on the current political climate and the transient state of the human condition.

Illustrated newspapers led to an increase of cartoons by artists such as Winslow Homer and William Hogarth, who utilized food and drink as social satire. The 20th-century modern art movement further changed the perception of food. The culture of mass production enabled Pop artists to elevate seemingly mundane foodstuffs to high art. Yet, other contemporary artists explored the symbolic and nostalgic role of food seen in works by Tim Tate, Linda Armstrong, and Laquita Thomson.

Visitors will also experience an elaborately set dining table fit for a sumptuous feast. Dining became its own art form over time and communicated one’s social standing and wealth. Each of the table’s six place settings represent a different culture and offer a glimpse into global dining customs. Selective drinkware will accompany this section revealing how tea sets and even punch bowls reflected an owner’s prestige.

Mount St. Helen’s nuns are putting on a Christmas show which is an original ballet based on “The Nutcracker“. The show is filled with the traditional “nunsense humor” and one-liners that have made the Nunsense shows so popular.

Tis’ the season for a Murder Mystery! Put on your best ugly Christmas sweater and come join us for a festive collaboration with The Watermark Theatre Collective, The Monte Vista Hotel, and Milton’s on December 16th at 4:30PM! Enjoy dinner, dessert, and an interactive show where guests will be asked to help characters determine who the mystery killer is. This will be a fun and exciting evening of dinner theatre you don’t want to miss! There will also be an Ugly Sweater Competition!

More Info:
A murder mystery dinner is a type of dinner theater in which audience members cooperate with each other and interact with performance cast members in order to solve a fictitious murder scene. Murder mystery dinner shows are most often comedic in nature and performed in coordination with the serving of a multi-course meal. The goal of a murder mystery dinner is for participants to gather clues provided throughout the plot and use them to deduce the identity and motive of the “murderer.”

Sunday December 16th, 2018
$55 per ticket includes Dinner, Dessert, and the Murder Mystery Dinner Experience

Dinner Menu

Mixed green salad, toasted almonds, shaved apple and a balsamic vinaigrette

Braised beef short rib, butternut grits, grilled broccoli
or
Roasted butternut squash, pumpkin seed granola, carrot purée, sage and a house made farmers cheese

Lemon tart, toasted meringue, and blueberries

Call (828) 669-8870 if you have any questions!

https://www.facebook.com/events/712796179094450/

The South has always been home to a blend of cultures — from Native Americans here by 14,000 years ago to Europeans 500 years ago, followed by Africans forced to migrate. By 1500, cultures in the South included Creek, Cherokee, Catawba, Choctaw, Chitimacha, and Coushatta, from Europe English, Scottish, Irish, and German, and Africans from Senegal to Congo. Baskets were integral in daily life, as agricultural equipment for gathering, sifting, storing, and serving the finished product or as receptacles for tools, clothes, sacred objects, and even infants.

Initially each culture had its own preferred basket material and method of manufacture — twilled rivercane for Native Americans, plaited oak for Europeans, and coiled grasses for Africans. Interaction between groups spurred adaptations to changing circumstances, such as the use of white oak by the Cherokee in the 1800s, as rivercane stands were decimated by European settlements. Native Americans also adopted the European picnic, flower, egg, and market baskets to sell in the 20th-century art market. Native and European Americans wove honeysuckle into baskets after 1854, when introduced from Japan. By the 17th century African Americans discovered bulrush along the coasts, coiling it into large, round “fanners” to winnow rice. Later bulrush was one medium among sweetgrass, pine needles, and palmetto, giving rise to the name “sweetgrass baskets” along the coast.

Baskets were woven not only for use in the fields and homes or for sale in art galleries but also as a connection to ancestors and spirits, as designs were said to come from inside one’s head, from memories of one’s mother’s motifs, or from the Creator. Indeed, working with one’s hands in nature to gather materials and to form them into a basket was considered spiritually and physically healthy, becoming a part of the practice of occupational therapy around World War I.

Today, basketweavers in the South from all three traditions are teaching the next generation to continue this art. Artists from across the region work with old and new materials in old and new forms, innovating for their legacy, for art’s sake, and for political causes, as embodied in the varied vessels in this gallery and epitomized in the virtuosic miniature examples in the case at right.

As Virginia Woolf said, “one cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” Food and water are essential for survival, but mankind’s relationship to food has transformed over time from one of sustenance to one laden with personal and cultural significance.

A Matter of Taste explores depictions of food and drink in art and reveals how images of fruits and vegetables can function as complex metaphors for excess, status, memory, and politics. Drawn from southern museums and private collections, this exhibition showcases over 35 paintings, decorative arts, and works on paper by artists such as Andy Warhol, Wayne Thiebaud, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Claes Oldenburg.

This show spans 400 years and multiple continents, revealing the evolving role of food and drink in various media and cultural contexts. While depictions of fruit and vegetables appeared in ancient times, still life painting as an independent genre dates to 16th-century Holland.

In 19th-century America, still life paintings remained popular but evolved in terms of subject matter, media, and message. Painters such as Thomas Wightman, George Forster, and De Scott Evans embraced Dutch still lifes and used food as commentary on the current political climate and the transient state of the human condition.

Illustrated newspapers led to an increase of cartoons by artists such as Winslow Homer and William Hogarth, who utilized food and drink as social satire. The 20th-century modern art movement further changed the perception of food. The culture of mass production enabled Pop artists to elevate seemingly mundane foodstuffs to high art. Yet, other contemporary artists explored the symbolic and nostalgic role of food seen in works by Tim Tate, Linda Armstrong, and Laquita Thomson.

Visitors will also experience an elaborately set dining table fit for a sumptuous feast. Dining became its own art form over time and communicated one’s social standing and wealth. Each of the table’s six place settings represent a different culture and offer a glimpse into global dining customs. Selective drinkware will accompany this section revealing how tea sets and even punch bowls reflected an owner’s prestige.

The South has always been home to a blend of cultures — from Native Americans here by 14,000 years ago to Europeans 500 years ago, followed by Africans forced to migrate. By 1500, cultures in the South included Creek, Cherokee, Catawba, Choctaw, Chitimacha, and Coushatta, from Europe English, Scottish, Irish, and German, and Africans from Senegal to Congo. Baskets were integral in daily life, as agricultural equipment for gathering, sifting, storing, and serving the finished product or as receptacles for tools, clothes, sacred objects, and even infants.

Initially each culture had its own preferred basket material and method of manufacture — twilled rivercane for Native Americans, plaited oak for Europeans, and coiled grasses for Africans. Interaction between groups spurred adaptations to changing circumstances, such as the use of white oak by the Cherokee in the 1800s, as rivercane stands were decimated by European settlements. Native Americans also adopted the European picnic, flower, egg, and market baskets to sell in the 20th-century art market. Native and European Americans wove honeysuckle into baskets after 1854, when introduced from Japan. By the 17th century African Americans discovered bulrush along the coasts, coiling it into large, round “fanners” to winnow rice. Later bulrush was one medium among sweetgrass, pine needles, and palmetto, giving rise to the name “sweetgrass baskets” along the coast.

Baskets were woven not only for use in the fields and homes or for sale in art galleries but also as a connection to ancestors and spirits, as designs were said to come from inside one’s head, from memories of one’s mother’s motifs, or from the Creator. Indeed, working with one’s hands in nature to gather materials and to form them into a basket was considered spiritually and physically healthy, becoming a part of the practice of occupational therapy around World War I.

Today, basketweavers in the South from all three traditions are teaching the next generation to continue this art. Artists from across the region work with old and new materials in old and new forms, innovating for their legacy, for art’s sake, and for political causes, as embodied in the varied vessels in this gallery and epitomized in the virtuosic miniature examples in the case at right.

As Virginia Woolf said, “one cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” Food and water are essential for survival, but mankind’s relationship to food has transformed over time from one of sustenance to one laden with personal and cultural significance.

A Matter of Taste explores depictions of food and drink in art and reveals how images of fruits and vegetables can function as complex metaphors for excess, status, memory, and politics. Drawn from southern museums and private collections, this exhibition showcases over 35 paintings, decorative arts, and works on paper by artists such as Andy Warhol, Wayne Thiebaud, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Claes Oldenburg.

This show spans 400 years and multiple continents, revealing the evolving role of food and drink in various media and cultural contexts. While depictions of fruit and vegetables appeared in ancient times, still life painting as an independent genre dates to 16th-century Holland.

In 19th-century America, still life paintings remained popular but evolved in terms of subject matter, media, and message. Painters such as Thomas Wightman, George Forster, and De Scott Evans embraced Dutch still lifes and used food as commentary on the current political climate and the transient state of the human condition.

Illustrated newspapers led to an increase of cartoons by artists such as Winslow Homer and William Hogarth, who utilized food and drink as social satire. The 20th-century modern art movement further changed the perception of food. The culture of mass production enabled Pop artists to elevate seemingly mundane foodstuffs to high art. Yet, other contemporary artists explored the symbolic and nostalgic role of food seen in works by Tim Tate, Linda Armstrong, and Laquita Thomson.

Visitors will also experience an elaborately set dining table fit for a sumptuous feast. Dining became its own art form over time and communicated one’s social standing and wealth. Each of the table’s six place settings represent a different culture and offer a glimpse into global dining customs. Selective drinkware will accompany this section revealing how tea sets and even punch bowls reflected an owner’s prestige.

Theatre of the Oppressed (T.O.) is a form of popular community-based education that uses theater as a tool for social change. Originally developed out of Augusto Boal’s revolutionary work with peasant and worker populations in Latin America, it is now used all over the world for social and political activism, conflict resolution, community building, therapy, and government legislation. It is also practiced on a grassroots level by community organizers, activists, teachers, social workers, cultural animators, and more. In the Theatre of the Oppressed, the audience becomes active, such that as “spect-actors” they explore, show, analyse and transform the reality in which they are living.

Lise Kloeppel joined the UNC Asheville Drama Department in 2008, where she’s been actively involved with TheatreUNCA as an actress (Urinetown) and director (The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek). She has experience in a variety of educational and community settings as a public school teacher, teaching artist, administrator, and community-based artist.

“With a background in popular education (Freire) and theater of the oppressed (Boal) philosophy and practices, I use theater and the arts as an educational and community-building tool for people from all different ages, experiences, and backgrounds to find new ways of actively engaging in the world around them. I am interested in the role artists play in society and how we can use our tools of transformation to create a more just, peaceful, and connected world.” – Lise Kloeppel

https://www.facebook.com/events/310235959700113/

The South has always been home to a blend of cultures — from Native Americans here by 14,000 years ago to Europeans 500 years ago, followed by Africans forced to migrate. By 1500, cultures in the South included Creek, Cherokee, Catawba, Choctaw, Chitimacha, and Coushatta, from Europe English, Scottish, Irish, and German, and Africans from Senegal to Congo. Baskets were integral in daily life, as agricultural equipment for gathering, sifting, storing, and serving the finished product or as receptacles for tools, clothes, sacred objects, and even infants.

Initially each culture had its own preferred basket material and method of manufacture — twilled rivercane for Native Americans, plaited oak for Europeans, and coiled grasses for Africans. Interaction between groups spurred adaptations to changing circumstances, such as the use of white oak by the Cherokee in the 1800s, as rivercane stands were decimated by European settlements. Native Americans also adopted the European picnic, flower, egg, and market baskets to sell in the 20th-century art market. Native and European Americans wove honeysuckle into baskets after 1854, when introduced from Japan. By the 17th century African Americans discovered bulrush along the coasts, coiling it into large, round “fanners” to winnow rice. Later bulrush was one medium among sweetgrass, pine needles, and palmetto, giving rise to the name “sweetgrass baskets” along the coast.

Baskets were woven not only for use in the fields and homes or for sale in art galleries but also as a connection to ancestors and spirits, as designs were said to come from inside one’s head, from memories of one’s mother’s motifs, or from the Creator. Indeed, working with one’s hands in nature to gather materials and to form them into a basket was considered spiritually and physically healthy, becoming a part of the practice of occupational therapy around World War I.

Today, basketweavers in the South from all three traditions are teaching the next generation to continue this art. Artists from across the region work with old and new materials in old and new forms, innovating for their legacy, for art’s sake, and for political causes, as embodied in the varied vessels in this gallery and epitomized in the virtuosic miniature examples in the case at right.

As Virginia Woolf said, “one cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” Food and water are essential for survival, but mankind’s relationship to food has transformed over time from one of sustenance to one laden with personal and cultural significance.

A Matter of Taste explores depictions of food and drink in art and reveals how images of fruits and vegetables can function as complex metaphors for excess, status, memory, and politics. Drawn from southern museums and private collections, this exhibition showcases over 35 paintings, decorative arts, and works on paper by artists such as Andy Warhol, Wayne Thiebaud, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Claes Oldenburg.

This show spans 400 years and multiple continents, revealing the evolving role of food and drink in various media and cultural contexts. While depictions of fruit and vegetables appeared in ancient times, still life painting as an independent genre dates to 16th-century Holland.

In 19th-century America, still life paintings remained popular but evolved in terms of subject matter, media, and message. Painters such as Thomas Wightman, George Forster, and De Scott Evans embraced Dutch still lifes and used food as commentary on the current political climate and the transient state of the human condition.

Illustrated newspapers led to an increase of cartoons by artists such as Winslow Homer and William Hogarth, who utilized food and drink as social satire. The 20th-century modern art movement further changed the perception of food. The culture of mass production enabled Pop artists to elevate seemingly mundane foodstuffs to high art. Yet, other contemporary artists explored the symbolic and nostalgic role of food seen in works by Tim Tate, Linda Armstrong, and Laquita Thomson.

Visitors will also experience an elaborately set dining table fit for a sumptuous feast. Dining became its own art form over time and communicated one’s social standing and wealth. Each of the table’s six place settings represent a different culture and offer a glimpse into global dining customs. Selective drinkware will accompany this section revealing how tea sets and even punch bowls reflected an owner’s prestige.

Come restore and prepare for the contraction and expansion of Winter Solstice and the hustle and bustle of the holiday season and end of year. Winter Solstice is the darkest part of the year, the shortest day and longest night.

Billy from Skinny Beats Sound Shop will lead a sound bath using drums, crystal bowls, gongs, and other instruments to transform your state of being while Beth from Pure Yoga will guide you through restorative yoga forms for full deep listening ease.

The South has always been home to a blend of cultures — from Native Americans here by 14,000 years ago to Europeans 500 years ago, followed by Africans forced to migrate. By 1500, cultures in the South included Creek, Cherokee, Catawba, Choctaw, Chitimacha, and Coushatta, from Europe English, Scottish, Irish, and German, and Africans from Senegal to Congo. Baskets were integral in daily life, as agricultural equipment for gathering, sifting, storing, and serving the finished product or as receptacles for tools, clothes, sacred objects, and even infants.

Initially each culture had its own preferred basket material and method of manufacture — twilled rivercane for Native Americans, plaited oak for Europeans, and coiled grasses for Africans. Interaction between groups spurred adaptations to changing circumstances, such as the use of white oak by the Cherokee in the 1800s, as rivercane stands were decimated by European settlements. Native Americans also adopted the European picnic, flower, egg, and market baskets to sell in the 20th-century art market. Native and European Americans wove honeysuckle into baskets after 1854, when introduced from Japan. By the 17th century African Americans discovered bulrush along the coasts, coiling it into large, round “fanners” to winnow rice. Later bulrush was one medium among sweetgrass, pine needles, and palmetto, giving rise to the name “sweetgrass baskets” along the coast.

Baskets were woven not only for use in the fields and homes or for sale in art galleries but also as a connection to ancestors and spirits, as designs were said to come from inside one’s head, from memories of one’s mother’s motifs, or from the Creator. Indeed, working with one’s hands in nature to gather materials and to form them into a basket was considered spiritually and physically healthy, becoming a part of the practice of occupational therapy around World War I.

Today, basketweavers in the South from all three traditions are teaching the next generation to continue this art. Artists from across the region work with old and new materials in old and new forms, innovating for their legacy, for art’s sake, and for political causes, as embodied in the varied vessels in this gallery and epitomized in the virtuosic miniature examples in the case at right.

As Virginia Woolf said, “one cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” Food and water are essential for survival, but mankind’s relationship to food has transformed over time from one of sustenance to one laden with personal and cultural significance.

A Matter of Taste explores depictions of food and drink in art and reveals how images of fruits and vegetables can function as complex metaphors for excess, status, memory, and politics. Drawn from southern museums and private collections, this exhibition showcases over 35 paintings, decorative arts, and works on paper by artists such as Andy Warhol, Wayne Thiebaud, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Claes Oldenburg.

This show spans 400 years and multiple continents, revealing the evolving role of food and drink in various media and cultural contexts. While depictions of fruit and vegetables appeared in ancient times, still life painting as an independent genre dates to 16th-century Holland.

In 19th-century America, still life paintings remained popular but evolved in terms of subject matter, media, and message. Painters such as Thomas Wightman, George Forster, and De Scott Evans embraced Dutch still lifes and used food as commentary on the current political climate and the transient state of the human condition.

Illustrated newspapers led to an increase of cartoons by artists such as Winslow Homer and William Hogarth, who utilized food and drink as social satire. The 20th-century modern art movement further changed the perception of food. The culture of mass production enabled Pop artists to elevate seemingly mundane foodstuffs to high art. Yet, other contemporary artists explored the symbolic and nostalgic role of food seen in works by Tim Tate, Linda Armstrong, and Laquita Thomson.

Visitors will also experience an elaborately set dining table fit for a sumptuous feast. Dining became its own art form over time and communicated one’s social standing and wealth. Each of the table’s six place settings represent a different culture and offer a glimpse into global dining customs. Selective drinkware will accompany this section revealing how tea sets and even punch bowls reflected an owner’s prestige.

The South has always been home to a blend of cultures — from Native Americans here by 14,000 years ago to Europeans 500 years ago, followed by Africans forced to migrate. By 1500, cultures in the South included Creek, Cherokee, Catawba, Choctaw, Chitimacha, and Coushatta, from Europe English, Scottish, Irish, and German, and Africans from Senegal to Congo. Baskets were integral in daily life, as agricultural equipment for gathering, sifting, storing, and serving the finished product or as receptacles for tools, clothes, sacred objects, and even infants.

Initially each culture had its own preferred basket material and method of manufacture — twilled rivercane for Native Americans, plaited oak for Europeans, and coiled grasses for Africans. Interaction between groups spurred adaptations to changing circumstances, such as the use of white oak by the Cherokee in the 1800s, as rivercane stands were decimated by European settlements. Native Americans also adopted the European picnic, flower, egg, and market baskets to sell in the 20th-century art market. Native and European Americans wove honeysuckle into baskets after 1854, when introduced from Japan. By the 17th century African Americans discovered bulrush along the coasts, coiling it into large, round “fanners” to winnow rice. Later bulrush was one medium among sweetgrass, pine needles, and palmetto, giving rise to the name “sweetgrass baskets” along the coast.

Baskets were woven not only for use in the fields and homes or for sale in art galleries but also as a connection to ancestors and spirits, as designs were said to come from inside one’s head, from memories of one’s mother’s motifs, or from the Creator. Indeed, working with one’s hands in nature to gather materials and to form them into a basket was considered spiritually and physically healthy, becoming a part of the practice of occupational therapy around World War I.

Today, basketweavers in the South from all three traditions are teaching the next generation to continue this art. Artists from across the region work with old and new materials in old and new forms, innovating for their legacy, for art’s sake, and for political causes, as embodied in the varied vessels in this gallery and epitomized in the virtuosic miniature examples in the case at right.

As Virginia Woolf said, “one cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” Food and water are essential for survival, but mankind’s relationship to food has transformed over time from one of sustenance to one laden with personal and cultural significance.

A Matter of Taste explores depictions of food and drink in art and reveals how images of fruits and vegetables can function as complex metaphors for excess, status, memory, and politics. Drawn from southern museums and private collections, this exhibition showcases over 35 paintings, decorative arts, and works on paper by artists such as Andy Warhol, Wayne Thiebaud, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Claes Oldenburg.

This show spans 400 years and multiple continents, revealing the evolving role of food and drink in various media and cultural contexts. While depictions of fruit and vegetables appeared in ancient times, still life painting as an independent genre dates to 16th-century Holland.

In 19th-century America, still life paintings remained popular but evolved in terms of subject matter, media, and message. Painters such as Thomas Wightman, George Forster, and De Scott Evans embraced Dutch still lifes and used food as commentary on the current political climate and the transient state of the human condition.

Illustrated newspapers led to an increase of cartoons by artists such as Winslow Homer and William Hogarth, who utilized food and drink as social satire. The 20th-century modern art movement further changed the perception of food. The culture of mass production enabled Pop artists to elevate seemingly mundane foodstuffs to high art. Yet, other contemporary artists explored the symbolic and nostalgic role of food seen in works by Tim Tate, Linda Armstrong, and Laquita Thomson.

Visitors will also experience an elaborately set dining table fit for a sumptuous feast. Dining became its own art form over time and communicated one’s social standing and wealth. Each of the table’s six place settings represent a different culture and offer a glimpse into global dining customs. Selective drinkware will accompany this section revealing how tea sets and even punch bowls reflected an owner’s prestige.

The South has always been home to a blend of cultures — from Native Americans here by 14,000 years ago to Europeans 500 years ago, followed by Africans forced to migrate. By 1500, cultures in the South included Creek, Cherokee, Catawba, Choctaw, Chitimacha, and Coushatta, from Europe English, Scottish, Irish, and German, and Africans from Senegal to Congo. Baskets were integral in daily life, as agricultural equipment for gathering, sifting, storing, and serving the finished product or as receptacles for tools, clothes, sacred objects, and even infants.

Initially each culture had its own preferred basket material and method of manufacture — twilled rivercane for Native Americans, plaited oak for Europeans, and coiled grasses for Africans. Interaction between groups spurred adaptations to changing circumstances, such as the use of white oak by the Cherokee in the 1800s, as rivercane stands were decimated by European settlements. Native Americans also adopted the European picnic, flower, egg, and market baskets to sell in the 20th-century art market. Native and European Americans wove honeysuckle into baskets after 1854, when introduced from Japan. By the 17th century African Americans discovered bulrush along the coasts, coiling it into large, round “fanners” to winnow rice. Later bulrush was one medium among sweetgrass, pine needles, and palmetto, giving rise to the name “sweetgrass baskets” along the coast.

Baskets were woven not only for use in the fields and homes or for sale in art galleries but also as a connection to ancestors and spirits, as designs were said to come from inside one’s head, from memories of one’s mother’s motifs, or from the Creator. Indeed, working with one’s hands in nature to gather materials and to form them into a basket was considered spiritually and physically healthy, becoming a part of the practice of occupational therapy around World War I.

Today, basketweavers in the South from all three traditions are teaching the next generation to continue this art. Artists from across the region work with old and new materials in old and new forms, innovating for their legacy, for art’s sake, and for political causes, as embodied in the varied vessels in this gallery and epitomized in the virtuosic miniature examples in the case at right.

As Virginia Woolf said, “one cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” Food and water are essential for survival, but mankind’s relationship to food has transformed over time from one of sustenance to one laden with personal and cultural significance.

A Matter of Taste explores depictions of food and drink in art and reveals how images of fruits and vegetables can function as complex metaphors for excess, status, memory, and politics. Drawn from southern museums and private collections, this exhibition showcases over 35 paintings, decorative arts, and works on paper by artists such as Andy Warhol, Wayne Thiebaud, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Claes Oldenburg.

This show spans 400 years and multiple continents, revealing the evolving role of food and drink in various media and cultural contexts. While depictions of fruit and vegetables appeared in ancient times, still life painting as an independent genre dates to 16th-century Holland.

In 19th-century America, still life paintings remained popular but evolved in terms of subject matter, media, and message. Painters such as Thomas Wightman, George Forster, and De Scott Evans embraced Dutch still lifes and used food as commentary on the current political climate and the transient state of the human condition.

Illustrated newspapers led to an increase of cartoons by artists such as Winslow Homer and William Hogarth, who utilized food and drink as social satire. The 20th-century modern art movement further changed the perception of food. The culture of mass production enabled Pop artists to elevate seemingly mundane foodstuffs to high art. Yet, other contemporary artists explored the symbolic and nostalgic role of food seen in works by Tim Tate, Linda Armstrong, and Laquita Thomson.

Visitors will also experience an elaborately set dining table fit for a sumptuous feast. Dining became its own art form over time and communicated one’s social standing and wealth. Each of the table’s six place settings represent a different culture and offer a glimpse into global dining customs. Selective drinkware will accompany this section revealing how tea sets and even punch bowls reflected an owner’s prestige.

The South has always been home to a blend of cultures — from Native Americans here by 14,000 years ago to Europeans 500 years ago, followed by Africans forced to migrate. By 1500, cultures in the South included Creek, Cherokee, Catawba, Choctaw, Chitimacha, and Coushatta, from Europe English, Scottish, Irish, and German, and Africans from Senegal to Congo. Baskets were integral in daily life, as agricultural equipment for gathering, sifting, storing, and serving the finished product or as receptacles for tools, clothes, sacred objects, and even infants.

Initially each culture had its own preferred basket material and method of manufacture — twilled rivercane for Native Americans, plaited oak for Europeans, and coiled grasses for Africans. Interaction between groups spurred adaptations to changing circumstances, such as the use of white oak by the Cherokee in the 1800s, as rivercane stands were decimated by European settlements. Native Americans also adopted the European picnic, flower, egg, and market baskets to sell in the 20th-century art market. Native and European Americans wove honeysuckle into baskets after 1854, when introduced from Japan. By the 17th century African Americans discovered bulrush along the coasts, coiling it into large, round “fanners” to winnow rice. Later bulrush was one medium among sweetgrass, pine needles, and palmetto, giving rise to the name “sweetgrass baskets” along the coast.

Baskets were woven not only for use in the fields and homes or for sale in art galleries but also as a connection to ancestors and spirits, as designs were said to come from inside one’s head, from memories of one’s mother’s motifs, or from the Creator. Indeed, working with one’s hands in nature to gather materials and to form them into a basket was considered spiritually and physically healthy, becoming a part of the practice of occupational therapy around World War I.

Today, basketweavers in the South from all three traditions are teaching the next generation to continue this art. Artists from across the region work with old and new materials in old and new forms, innovating for their legacy, for art’s sake, and for political causes, as embodied in the varied vessels in this gallery and epitomized in the virtuosic miniature examples in the case at right.

As Virginia Woolf said, “one cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” Food and water are essential for survival, but mankind’s relationship to food has transformed over time from one of sustenance to one laden with personal and cultural significance.

A Matter of Taste explores depictions of food and drink in art and reveals how images of fruits and vegetables can function as complex metaphors for excess, status, memory, and politics. Drawn from southern museums and private collections, this exhibition showcases over 35 paintings, decorative arts, and works on paper by artists such as Andy Warhol, Wayne Thiebaud, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Claes Oldenburg.

This show spans 400 years and multiple continents, revealing the evolving role of food and drink in various media and cultural contexts. While depictions of fruit and vegetables appeared in ancient times, still life painting as an independent genre dates to 16th-century Holland.

In 19th-century America, still life paintings remained popular but evolved in terms of subject matter, media, and message. Painters such as Thomas Wightman, George Forster, and De Scott Evans embraced Dutch still lifes and used food as commentary on the current political climate and the transient state of the human condition.

Illustrated newspapers led to an increase of cartoons by artists such as Winslow Homer and William Hogarth, who utilized food and drink as social satire. The 20th-century modern art movement further changed the perception of food. The culture of mass production enabled Pop artists to elevate seemingly mundane foodstuffs to high art. Yet, other contemporary artists explored the symbolic and nostalgic role of food seen in works by Tim Tate, Linda Armstrong, and Laquita Thomson.

Visitors will also experience an elaborately set dining table fit for a sumptuous feast. Dining became its own art form over time and communicated one’s social standing and wealth. Each of the table’s six place settings represent a different culture and offer a glimpse into global dining customs. Selective drinkware will accompany this section revealing how tea sets and even punch bowls reflected an owner’s prestige.

Hot cocoa bar, Christmas music, and a heart-warming message. Bring the whole family to Ridgeline for Christmas in Asheville and have a holiday experience you’ll never forget. Meet Buddy the Elf and Santa! 35 Airport Rd. Arden, NC 28704. 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM.

Montford Park Players Presents ALL-TEEN version of A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens

Produced by Montford Park Players at Land of the Sky UCC

Show Dates:
December 14-23
Fridays & Saturdays @ 7:30pm; Sundays @ 7:30pm

Montford Park Players, an Asheville theatrical tradition, is overjoyed to present the local holiday tradition, A Christmas Carol! All performances will be held at Land of the Sky UCC, 15 Overbrook Place, off Tunnel Road in Asheville, from December 14th through the 23rd on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings at 7:30pm. This performance like ALL of Montford Park Players’ shows will be absolutely FREE to attend. (No performance on Saturday, Dec. 15, due to the church’s schedule).

This year, the Montford Park Players’ Education Division takes over, with all of the acting, designing and even the technical elements being run by the Montford Moppets, MPP’s squad of talented tweens and teens. Under the guidance of longtime Moppets instructors, Ashleigh Goff and Skyler Goff, this year’s version promises a youthful vibrancy for this family-friendly classic.

Almost everyone knows this story of Ebenezer Scrooge and his visit from four spirits, some ghastly, some benevolent, on Christmas Eve. Through a magical journey through Scrooge’s past, present and future Christmases, they show him the true meaning of the holiday season, and allow him the opportunity to connect with his own generosity and goodness. In this version, adapted by co-director Skyler Goff, the Cratchit spend their own Christmas Eve hearing the story of how Uncle Scrooge became the kind benefactor he is today.

Montford Park Players, has been presenting Shakespeare and other classical works to the Asheville community since 1973, and has since grown to be one of Western North Carolina’s most beloved and well-known cultural attractions.

For more information or to reserve seats, go to montfordparkplayers.org, or call at (828) 254-5146.

https://www.facebook.com/events/2267828916772371/

The South has always been home to a blend of cultures — from Native Americans here by 14,000 years ago to Europeans 500 years ago, followed by Africans forced to migrate. By 1500, cultures in the South included Creek, Cherokee, Catawba, Choctaw, Chitimacha, and Coushatta, from Europe English, Scottish, Irish, and German, and Africans from Senegal to Congo. Baskets were integral in daily life, as agricultural equipment for gathering, sifting, storing, and serving the finished product or as receptacles for tools, clothes, sacred objects, and even infants.

Initially each culture had its own preferred basket material and method of manufacture — twilled rivercane for Native Americans, plaited oak for Europeans, and coiled grasses for Africans. Interaction between groups spurred adaptations to changing circumstances, such as the use of white oak by the Cherokee in the 1800s, as rivercane stands were decimated by European settlements. Native Americans also adopted the European picnic, flower, egg, and market baskets to sell in the 20th-century art market. Native and European Americans wove honeysuckle into baskets after 1854, when introduced from Japan. By the 17th century African Americans discovered bulrush along the coasts, coiling it into large, round “fanners” to winnow rice. Later bulrush was one medium among sweetgrass, pine needles, and palmetto, giving rise to the name “sweetgrass baskets” along the coast.

Baskets were woven not only for use in the fields and homes or for sale in art galleries but also as a connection to ancestors and spirits, as designs were said to come from inside one’s head, from memories of one’s mother’s motifs, or from the Creator. Indeed, working with one’s hands in nature to gather materials and to form them into a basket was considered spiritually and physically healthy, becoming a part of the practice of occupational therapy around World War I.

Today, basketweavers in the South from all three traditions are teaching the next generation to continue this art. Artists from across the region work with old and new materials in old and new forms, innovating for their legacy, for art’s sake, and for political causes, as embodied in the varied vessels in this gallery and epitomized in the virtuosic miniature examples in the case at right.

As Virginia Woolf said, “one cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” Food and water are essential for survival, but mankind’s relationship to food has transformed over time from one of sustenance to one laden with personal and cultural significance.

A Matter of Taste explores depictions of food and drink in art and reveals how images of fruits and vegetables can function as complex metaphors for excess, status, memory, and politics. Drawn from southern museums and private collections, this exhibition showcases over 35 paintings, decorative arts, and works on paper by artists such as Andy Warhol, Wayne Thiebaud, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Claes Oldenburg.

This show spans 400 years and multiple continents, revealing the evolving role of food and drink in various media and cultural contexts. While depictions of fruit and vegetables appeared in ancient times, still life painting as an independent genre dates to 16th-century Holland.

In 19th-century America, still life paintings remained popular but evolved in terms of subject matter, media, and message. Painters such as Thomas Wightman, George Forster, and De Scott Evans embraced Dutch still lifes and used food as commentary on the current political climate and the transient state of the human condition.

Illustrated newspapers led to an increase of cartoons by artists such as Winslow Homer and William Hogarth, who utilized food and drink as social satire. The 20th-century modern art movement further changed the perception of food. The culture of mass production enabled Pop artists to elevate seemingly mundane foodstuffs to high art. Yet, other contemporary artists explored the symbolic and nostalgic role of food seen in works by Tim Tate, Linda Armstrong, and Laquita Thomson.

Visitors will also experience an elaborately set dining table fit for a sumptuous feast. Dining became its own art form over time and communicated one’s social standing and wealth. Each of the table’s six place settings represent a different culture and offer a glimpse into global dining customs. Selective drinkware will accompany this section revealing how tea sets and even punch bowls reflected an owner’s prestige.

The South has always been home to a blend of cultures — from Native Americans here by 14,000 years ago to Europeans 500 years ago, followed by Africans forced to migrate. By 1500, cultures in the South included Creek, Cherokee, Catawba, Choctaw, Chitimacha, and Coushatta, from Europe English, Scottish, Irish, and German, and Africans from Senegal to Congo. Baskets were integral in daily life, as agricultural equipment for gathering, sifting, storing, and serving the finished product or as receptacles for tools, clothes, sacred objects, and even infants.

Initially each culture had its own preferred basket material and method of manufacture — twilled rivercane for Native Americans, plaited oak for Europeans, and coiled grasses for Africans. Interaction between groups spurred adaptations to changing circumstances, such as the use of white oak by the Cherokee in the 1800s, as rivercane stands were decimated by European settlements. Native Americans also adopted the European picnic, flower, egg, and market baskets to sell in the 20th-century art market. Native and European Americans wove honeysuckle into baskets after 1854, when introduced from Japan. By the 17th century African Americans discovered bulrush along the coasts, coiling it into large, round “fanners” to winnow rice. Later bulrush was one medium among sweetgrass, pine needles, and palmetto, giving rise to the name “sweetgrass baskets” along the coast.

Baskets were woven not only for use in the fields and homes or for sale in art galleries but also as a connection to ancestors and spirits, as designs were said to come from inside one’s head, from memories of one’s mother’s motifs, or from the Creator. Indeed, working with one’s hands in nature to gather materials and to form them into a basket was considered spiritually and physically healthy, becoming a part of the practice of occupational therapy around World War I.

Today, basketweavers in the South from all three traditions are teaching the next generation to continue this art. Artists from across the region work with old and new materials in old and new forms, innovating for their legacy, for art’s sake, and for political causes, as embodied in the varied vessels in this gallery and epitomized in the virtuosic miniature examples in the case at right.

As Virginia Woolf said, “one cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” Food and water are essential for survival, but mankind’s relationship to food has transformed over time from one of sustenance to one laden with personal and cultural significance.

A Matter of Taste explores depictions of food and drink in art and reveals how images of fruits and vegetables can function as complex metaphors for excess, status, memory, and politics. Drawn from southern museums and private collections, this exhibition showcases over 35 paintings, decorative arts, and works on paper by artists such as Andy Warhol, Wayne Thiebaud, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Claes Oldenburg.

This show spans 400 years and multiple continents, revealing the evolving role of food and drink in various media and cultural contexts. While depictions of fruit and vegetables appeared in ancient times, still life painting as an independent genre dates to 16th-century Holland.

In 19th-century America, still life paintings remained popular but evolved in terms of subject matter, media, and message. Painters such as Thomas Wightman, George Forster, and De Scott Evans embraced Dutch still lifes and used food as commentary on the current political climate and the transient state of the human condition.

Illustrated newspapers led to an increase of cartoons by artists such as Winslow Homer and William Hogarth, who utilized food and drink as social satire. The 20th-century modern art movement further changed the perception of food. The culture of mass production enabled Pop artists to elevate seemingly mundane foodstuffs to high art. Yet, other contemporary artists explored the symbolic and nostalgic role of food seen in works by Tim Tate, Linda Armstrong, and Laquita Thomson.

Visitors will also experience an elaborately set dining table fit for a sumptuous feast. Dining became its own art form over time and communicated one’s social standing and wealth. Each of the table’s six place settings represent a different culture and offer a glimpse into global dining customs. Selective drinkware will accompany this section revealing how tea sets and even punch bowls reflected an owner’s prestige.