Calendar of Events
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.
PAW Patrol Live! “The Great Pirate Adventure”
PAW Patrol Live! sets sail with a pirate adventure!
It’s Pirate Day in Adventure Bay and Ryder will need all paws on deck as he and the PAW Patrol discover a secret treasure map while on a mission to rescue Cap’n Turbot from a mysterious cavern. It’s up to Chase, Marshall, Skye and all their heroic pirate pup friends to save the day and find the pirate treasure before Mayor Humdinger finds it first!
Presales begin now via PawPatrol.com until June 15thHCCA Fan Club Presale: Thursday, June 15th from 10a-10p ET
Public On Sale Tickets are available online and via the HCCA Box Office on Friday, June 16 at 10am ET
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Enrollment is now open for Hendersonville Theatre (HT)’s summer performing arts camps. These one-week camps are designed for middle and high school students and will be taught by theatre professionals.
Performers Playground – Acting Class runs June 26-30 from 12 pm-3 pm. Tuition is $180. The camp is designed for rising 6th to 9th graders or 10 to 14-year-olds. During this week of laughter and creativity, campers will discover the exciting world of improvisation and learn how to think on their feet. The class will include playing theater games, learning how to create scenes from scratch and using body and voice to create dynamic and memorable characters. At the completion of the camp, campers will present a showcase performance for family and friends.
Performers Playground – Acting Class is designed for all experience levels and is taught by Rugby Middle School theatre teacher Heather Denton. Denton has over 24 years of experience teaching drama to middle school students. She has directed over 30 plays and musicals, and is known for her boundless energy and ability to work with a variety of grades and ability levels.
Acting Camp for High Schoolers runs July 10-14 from 12 pm-3 pm. Tuition is $180. The camp is intended for rising 10th to 12th graders or 14 to 17-year-olds. This camp is designed for budding actors who are looking for a starting place to learn about acting. In this camp, campers will be introduced to many forms of acting including improvisation, character development and cold readings.
Beginner Dance for Musical Theatre runs July 17-21 from 12 pm-3 pm. Tuition is $180. The camp is designed for rising 7th to 12th graders or 11 to 17-year- olds. This introductory dance course is for actors new to dance and looking to develop some musical theatre dance skills. In this camp, inspiring actors will learn how to survive a musical theatre dance call, focusing on musical theatre history, basic movement steps, and tips and tricks for picking up movement quickly.
Intermediate Dance for Musical Theatre runs July 24-28 from 12 pm-3 pm. Tuition is $180. The camp is designed for rising 10th to 12th graders or 14 to 17-years olds. Designed for dancers who want to branch into musical theatre, the camp is created for students with an intermediate level of dance training. During this week, campers will cover an introduction to musical theatre history, popular Broadway dance numbers, and tips and tricks for picking up movement quickly in order to prepare for musical theatre auditions.
Acting Camp for High Schoolers, Beginner Dance for Musical Theatre and Intermediate Dance for Musical Theatre is taught by Sage Albert, a recent graduate of Elon University with a degree in theatre, music and dance. Her most recent credits include Sherrie in Rock of Ages (upcoming) and Cathy in The Last Five Years.
Included with admission
Embark on a scenic journey across George Vanderbilt’s Italy with a large-scale outdoor display that combines brilliant botanical designs with authentic messages written by Vanderbilt himself.
Beautifully handcrafted of natural elements, each sculptural postcard depicts a location or landmark Vanderbilt visited more than a century ago. This captivating complement to Biltmore’s Italian Renaissance Alive exhibition reveals Vanderbilt’s passions for travel, culture, architecture, and art as well as his personal experience of such renowned Italian cities as Milan, Florence, Venice, Pisa, and Vatican City.
Adding to the charm and visual appeal of Ciao! From Italy—sure to be a hit among kids of all ages—is the G-scale model train that travels in and out of each postcard in this enlightening display!
Exhibition dates: June 9 – July 23
Hours: Tuesday-Saturdays from 10-5 pm, Sundays 11-4 pm
Eidolon is an ancient term from Greek -oeidēs “form”. Early meanings included “mental image”, “appearance”, and “reflection” (as in a mirror or pool), and later, “apparition” or “imaginary entity”, among other things. Expanding beyond the definition pointing to a phantasm or specter, eidolon also sounds like some kind of astral or idyllic place in a novel or poem about an imaginary world. Eidolon features the work of Jacqueline Shatz and Margaret Thompson.
Jacqueline Shatz’s small sculptures of ambiguous and hybridized figures float, entwine, swim, commune with animals and collapse into abstract arabesques and gestures, hinting at mythology, in-between states, and the permeable nature of existence. Margaret Thompson’s paintings are inspired by elements of the symbolist movement and magical realism; she channels dreams and the associative powers of the imagination into her practice, painting subjects that live between our physical realm and spaces beyond the categories of known experience: they are unrestrained, undefined, and free.
Photo credit:
Sae Honda. Courtesy of the Artist.
NEO MINERALIA suggests that recent rock formations no longer fit within the traditional groups: Igneous, Metamorphic, and Sedimentary. Instead, the Anthropocene, the era of human influence on the climate and environment, has introduced two post-natural rocks: Synthetic and Digital.
NEO MINERALIA presents a selection of new geological specimens crafted by ten international artists exploring rocks as reflections of our effects on human and nonhuman ecologies. By embedding synthetic materials (plastics, e-waste) and layers of data points (critical, financial, social) into the craftsmanship of these artifacts, the artists transgress the definition of rocks, turning them from passive aggregates of minerals into metaphorical aggregates of data. Within their apparent “rockness” we can decode hopes, warnings, and speculative future scenarios.
The featured works stemming from places as varied as Mexico, Japan, Poland, and Australia (including a curated artists’ books library), collectively signal a new era of planetary and geological consciousness where we are asked to read, feel, and listen to rocks in new ways.
Photo credit:
J Diamond, “Pony II,” 2022. Courtesy of the Artist
Something earned, Something left behind is an exhibition of objecthood; a critical analysis of the transactional and political languages of everyday and culturally significant objects. This exhibition challenges a history of exclusion and inclusion of People of Color (POC) and their narratives from the canon of craft based on subject matter. It dissects this history’s origins and precedent as an economic transaction to gain access to white spaces.
Racial and ethnic identity influences the way individuals perceive themselves, the way others perceive them, and the way they choose to behave. For this reason, People of Color are expected to perform certain roles in order to fit into hegemonic institutions. These roles can be an active shrinking of themselves and the racialized part of them, or a personal exploitation of their racialized selves. This exhibition addresses and redresses the ways narrowed populations have been included, and the ways in which they have been asked to participate.
Together, this work creates space for and legitimizes POC narratives with depth and care. The exhibiting artists’ practices work against institutionalized expectations of POC work, expanding discourse and inserting new subjectivity into the canon of craft art. It engages with a community hungry for the revitalization and resuscitation of non-Western voices within art spaces. This exhibition challenges the expectations of art from artists of marginalized backgrounds and embraces a new subjectivity of interrogating one’s inherited experiences.
Photo credit:
Photograph by Bowery Blue Makers
Jeans – with their standardized pockets, rivets, and denim – are so much a part of everyday wardrobes that they are easy to overlook. Yet, in workshops across the nation, independent makers are reevaluating the garment and creating jeans by hand, using antiquated equipment and denim woven on midcentury looms. Crafting Denim explores how and why jeans have come to exist at the intersections of industry and craft, modernity, and tradition.
A product of industrial factory production for over a century, jeans are being recast by a new cohort of small-scale makers including craftspeople like Ryan Martin of W.H. Ranch Dungarees, Takayuki Echigoya of Bowery Blue Makers, and Sarah Yarborough and Victor Lytvinenko of Raleigh Denim, who favor choice materials and small-batch fabrication. The jeans they make merge craft traditions with industry and extend the conversation between hand and machine.
Each maker creates a distinctive product but shares a deep appreciation for materials, tools, history, and denim. These jeans are in dialogue with the past and in line with contemporary interests in sustainability. The small workshops featured here are sites of innovation and preservation, and visitors are invited to take a close look at an everyday item and imagine alternative contexts for making and living in our own clothes.
Explore Biltmore House with an Audio Guide that introduces you to the Vanderbilt family and their magnificent home’s history, architecture, and collections of fine art and furnishings.
PLUS: Immersive, multi-sensory Italian Renaissance Alive exhibition created by Grande Experiences
PLUS: FREE next-day access to Biltmore’s Gardens and Grounds
This visit includes access to:
- Italian Renaissance Alive at Amherst at Deerpark®
- 8,000 Acres of Gardens and Grounds for two consecutive days
- Antler Hill Village & Winery
- Complimentary Wine Tastings at the Winery
- Tastings require a Day-of-Visit Reservation, which can be made by:
- Scanning the QR Code found in your Estate Guide
- Visiting any Guest Services location
- Complimentary parking
Art Exhibition: Italian Renaissance Alive
This fascinating experience takes you on a spellbinding tour of Italy, fully immersing you in the beauty and brilliance of iconic masterworks from the greatest artistic period in history
Black Mountain College and Mexico (BMC/MX): Exhibition, Publication, and Public Programming
Black Mountain College (1933–1957), a small but remarkably influential liberal arts school in rural North Carolina, had important links to Mexico that until now have been little investigated. A crucible of twentieth-century creativity, BMC galvanized and inspired artists and intellectuals from around the world, while Mexico’s innovations and age-old traditions—in fine and applied arts, architecture, poetry, music, performance, and more—dovetailed with, and indeed drove, global impulses toward modernism and beyond. Among the many key BMC figures whose lives were importantly touched by experiences in Mexico were Anni and Josef Albers, Ruth Asawa, John Cage, Jean Charlot, Elaine de Kooning, Buckminster Fuller, Carlos Mérida, Robert Motherwell, Charles Olson, Clara Porset, M.C. Richards, and Aaron Siskind. In turn, engagements with BMC and its legacy have played a significant role in shaping contemporary approaches to art in Mexico, evident in the works of Jorge Méndez Blake, Iñaki Bonillas, Abraham Cruzvillegas, Jose Dávila, Gerda Gruber, Lake Verea, Gabriel Orozco, and Damián Ortega, among others.
The exhibition BMC/MX features works by these and other prominent contemporary Mexican artists alongside a selection of historic works by BMC artists, highlighting the ways in which ideas and modalities are translated across materials, space, and time.
Related programming, planned in collaboration with Mexican artists, features a series of public events, including a performance by artist (and BMC/MX co-curator) David Miranda to take place at Different Wrld; an exhibition visit (in Spanish and English) with BMC/MX Project Director Eric Baden; and a series of experiential art events in the BMCM+AC library.
The exhibition is accompanied by the book Black Mountain College and Mexico (forthcoming late summer 2023), which investigates the people, ideas, and practices linking BMC and Mexico during the life of the school, as well as resonances between BMC and the work of contemporary Mexican artists. With contributions by BMC/MX’s curators, as well as by artist Abraham Cruzvillegas, design scholar Ana Elena Mallet, and author and activist Margaret Randall, this fully illustrated volume brings new light to this complex and underexplored subject.
BMC/MX is an investigation into modes of communication—the arenas in which new ideas and alliances may come to be—between Black Mountain College and Mexico, between past and present, between form and idea.
About the Curators
BMC/MX’s Project Director Eric Baden is a photographer and from 1994 to 2022 was professor of photography at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, North Carolina. He is the founding director of photo+, a multidisciplinary arts event held in Asheville, North Carolina.
Artist and educator David Miranda is curator at the Museo Experimental El Eco (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM), and teaches at the Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado “La Esmeralda” in Mexico City.
Diana Stoll is an editor, writer and curator who works with institutions such as The Museum of Modern Art and the J. Paul Getty Museum. She has served as an editor at Aperture and Artforum magazines, and contributes writings to prominent arts publications.

Great news for poets and poetry lovers: Dark City Poet’s Society is returning to the Black Mountain Library. DCPS is a completely free poetry group that is open to poets of all ages and experience levels. Join us at the Black Mountain Library from 6-7:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month for our (respectful) critique group. DCPS will meet at BAD Craft from 6-7 p.m. on the third Tuesday for our monthly open mic Poetry Night. Find out more on Instagram @darkcitypoetssociety or contact the Black Mountain Library.
What will it take to get two dozen powerfully passionate, exceedingly complicated, and all-too-human individuals to settle their differences, while they hold the very future of a nation in their hands? This Tony Award-winning Best Musical is tuneful, witty, and constantly surprising, especially in this revolutionary new production from directors Jeffrey L. Page (Violet) and Diane Paulus (Waitress) with a cast that reflects multiple representations of race, gender, and ethnicity. You may never think about our country—who we are and why—the same way again.
Music and Lyrics by Sherman Edwards
Book by Peter Stone
Based on a concept by Sherman Edwards
Choreography by Jeffrey L. Page
Direction by Jeffrey L. Page and Diane Paulus
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Celebrate with us by contributing to the future of the arts in Western North Carolina.
Make your 75th Anniversary Spring Annual Fund donation today! |
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! The Diamond Anniversary is a time to honor our rich heritage and—more importantly—envision our future as the premier visual arts organization in this vibrant, creative region.
Founded in 1948 by a group of local artists to showcase the scope and depth of creativity in Western North Carolina (WNC), the Museum brings art of international significance to the region and encourages lively, diverse dialogue.
The Museum’s original home was a modest, unheated, three-room building on Charlotte Street in the former sales office of Dr. E.W. Grove. The building was designed by Richard Sharp Smith and provided to the Museum by the City of Asheville. Exhibitions by local painters and sculptors could only be staged in warmer weather, and Sunday afternoon receptions gave the community an opportunity to view original art and to listen to artists talk about their work. By the 1950s, the Museum had become an invaluable part of Asheville’s cultural life. It also began acquiring artworks for its Collection.
Three quarters of a century later, the Museum has evolved into the preeminent cultural and educational hub for WNC—welcoming tens of thousands of visitors annually, hosting several major exhibitions each year, holding scores of special programs, and housing its Collection of more than 7,500 works in its state-of-the-art Pack Square location. From its humble beginnings on Charlotte Street to its breathtaking permanent home in the heart of downtown Asheville, the Museum has remained dedicated to Its mission to engage, enlighten, and inspire individuals and enrich the community through dynamic experiences in American art of the 20th and 21st centuries.
The Asheville Art Museum was built, cherished, and supported by the community throughout the past 75 years. Our anniversary celebration will give back through community partnerships and special programs, and by creating new reasons to visit or become a Member. We hope you’ll join us at one (or all) of our Diamond Anniversary special events: the 2023 Gala on June 17th, the 75th Anniversary Community Day Celebration in August, and the 75th Anniversary Dance Party in November!
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Edge, the newest exhibit showing in the airport art gallery, is open to the public now through July 21, 2022. The local art is unique, bold and is sure to capture the imaginations of its viewers.
The local artists’ work featured in this exhibit consist of many different mediums. Diane Bronstein creates complex and mesmerizing pieces with photographs, embroidery floss and other materials. Susan Devitt uses bold colors and vivid details to capture the beauty and possibilities of nature with her acrylic paintings. Jen Pacicci crafts peaceful and majestic collages of landscapes using watercolor and torn paper. Kurt Ross designs clay vessels of varying materials and glazes that are each unique in their thoughtful and clean design. Paul Silverman presents ceramic figures of various tools and vintage items that trick the eye in their realistic appearance and awe with their attention to detail.
“The Edge exhibit welcomes travelers and residents to Asheville with a vibrant and unique display this spring at AVL,” said Alexandra Ingle, Brand and Experience Designer at AVL and curator of the gallery. “We are excited at each gallery opening to bring a fresh taste of our talented WNC art community into the airport.”
Artwork can be purchased from the gallery by emailing [email protected]. Details about the program and how to apply can be found on the airport’s website at flyavl.com.
Since 2018, the Arts Build Community grant supports innovative, arts-based projects that inspire diverse groups of participants to be more active, involved, and civically-engaged by creating together. Grants range from $1,000-2,500.
Arts and culture are a fundamental part of our community. They help us connect with one another and better understand history, people, and new ideas. When people become involved in the design, creation, and upkeep of places, they develop a vested interest in using and maintaining these spaces. When neighbors have a true sense of “ownership” or connection to the places they frequent, the community becomes a better place to live, work, and visit.
Description & Eligibility
Organizations must have been in operation for at least one year and be physically located in Buncombe County. Priority is given to projects based in low-income neighborhoods and communities in need.
The arts must be centered in the proposed project. Funds may be used to cover expenses such as art supplies, professional artists’ fees and travel, space rental, advertising, marketing and publicity, website and electronic media, scripts, costumes, sets, props, music and equipment rental.
Funds are for projects taking place from July 1, 2023- June 30, 2024. This can be a reimbursement for projects occurring during this funding period that have already taken place or for projects that have not yet occurred. Projects must be completed by June 30, 2024.
Support one of the greatest traditions at Flat Rock Playhouse!
2023 Apprentice Benefactors Charlotte and Bob Otto will match your gift 1:1 up to $25,000.
Flat Rock Playhouse’s 2023 Apprentice Program! Don’t miss this chance to DOUBLE YOUR IMPACT!
For over 65 years, a select group of college-age performers participate in an intensive summer at Flat Rock Playhouse that includes on-stage performance and mentoring from FRP professionals. They also perform Rootabaga stories four times a week at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site and take original educational programs out to schools in four area counties. Apprentices come from prestigious theatre schools across the country and are chosen from more than 1000 students who audition.
Apprentice graduates have gone on to major professional engagements on and off-Broadway, on national tours, and in regional theatres. Notable alumni who have played on Broadway include Michael Luwoye (Hamilton in Hamilton, An American Musical), Adam Kaplan (A Bronx Tale), Ginna Claire Mason (Glinda in Wicked), Jared Goldsmith (Dear Evan Hansen) and Ben Hope (Once).
GreenWorks will lead a NOAA heat mapping campaign of the greater Asheville area this summer.
But we can’t do it without volunteers like you!
If you choose to join the fun, you’ll received an assigned route to drive or bike using specialized sensors to collect temperature and humidity data. You’ll have one hour to complete your assigned route.
The heat data you collect will be translated into maps we’ll use to identify the hottest streets, and ultimately, find ideal tree planting locations in the neighborhoods that need them most. You’ll be helping Asheville take a huge step forward on its road to climate-resilience.
- Volunteers will meet GreenWorks staff, pick up their materials, go drive their routes, and return their equipment
- Volunteers will work in two-person teams to drive their one-hour routes.
- These same routes will be driven three times in the same day; 6-7am, 3-4pm, and 7-8pm
- Routes will be approximately 10 square miles each.
A limited number of volunteers will be needed. Volunteers may be prioritized if their neighborhood is included in a mapping route.
PAW Patrol Live! “The Great Pirate Adventure”
PAW Patrol Live! sets sail with a pirate adventure!
It’s Pirate Day in Adventure Bay and Ryder will need all paws on deck as he and the PAW Patrol discover a secret treasure map while on a mission to rescue Cap’n Turbot from a mysterious cavern. It’s up to Chase, Marshall, Skye and all their heroic pirate pup friends to save the day and find the pirate treasure before Mayor Humdinger finds it first!
Presales begin now via PawPatrol.com until June 15thHCCA Fan Club Presale: Thursday, June 15th from 10a-10p ET
Public On Sale Tickets are available online and via the HCCA Box Office on Friday, June 16 at 10am ET
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Enrollment is now open for Hendersonville Theatre (HT)’s summer performing arts camps. These one-week camps are designed for middle and high school students and will be taught by theatre professionals.
Performers Playground – Acting Class runs June 26-30 from 12 pm-3 pm. Tuition is $180. The camp is designed for rising 6th to 9th graders or 10 to 14-year-olds. During this week of laughter and creativity, campers will discover the exciting world of improvisation and learn how to think on their feet. The class will include playing theater games, learning how to create scenes from scratch and using body and voice to create dynamic and memorable characters. At the completion of the camp, campers will present a showcase performance for family and friends.
Performers Playground – Acting Class is designed for all experience levels and is taught by Rugby Middle School theatre teacher Heather Denton. Denton has over 24 years of experience teaching drama to middle school students. She has directed over 30 plays and musicals, and is known for her boundless energy and ability to work with a variety of grades and ability levels.
Acting Camp for High Schoolers runs July 10-14 from 12 pm-3 pm. Tuition is $180. The camp is intended for rising 10th to 12th graders or 14 to 17-year-olds. This camp is designed for budding actors who are looking for a starting place to learn about acting. In this camp, campers will be introduced to many forms of acting including improvisation, character development and cold readings.
Beginner Dance for Musical Theatre runs July 17-21 from 12 pm-3 pm. Tuition is $180. The camp is designed for rising 7th to 12th graders or 11 to 17-year- olds. This introductory dance course is for actors new to dance and looking to develop some musical theatre dance skills. In this camp, inspiring actors will learn how to survive a musical theatre dance call, focusing on musical theatre history, basic movement steps, and tips and tricks for picking up movement quickly.
Intermediate Dance for Musical Theatre runs July 24-28 from 12 pm-3 pm. Tuition is $180. The camp is designed for rising 10th to 12th graders or 14 to 17-years olds. Designed for dancers who want to branch into musical theatre, the camp is created for students with an intermediate level of dance training. During this week, campers will cover an introduction to musical theatre history, popular Broadway dance numbers, and tips and tricks for picking up movement quickly in order to prepare for musical theatre auditions.
Acting Camp for High Schoolers, Beginner Dance for Musical Theatre and Intermediate Dance for Musical Theatre is taught by Sage Albert, a recent graduate of Elon University with a degree in theatre, music and dance. Her most recent credits include Sherrie in Rock of Ages (upcoming) and Cathy in The Last Five Years.
Included with admission
Embark on a scenic journey across George Vanderbilt’s Italy with a large-scale outdoor display that combines brilliant botanical designs with authentic messages written by Vanderbilt himself.
Beautifully handcrafted of natural elements, each sculptural postcard depicts a location or landmark Vanderbilt visited more than a century ago. This captivating complement to Biltmore’s Italian Renaissance Alive exhibition reveals Vanderbilt’s passions for travel, culture, architecture, and art as well as his personal experience of such renowned Italian cities as Milan, Florence, Venice, Pisa, and Vatican City.
Adding to the charm and visual appeal of Ciao! From Italy—sure to be a hit among kids of all ages—is the G-scale model train that travels in and out of each postcard in this enlightening display!
We’ve got magic to do just for you!
We are beyond thrilled to invite you to our 77th Season at Asheville Community Theatre! Join us for a year of mystery and magic that is overflowing with spellbinding stories and captivating characters.
- Pippin
Performances: September 15-October 8, 2023- Elf: The Musical
Performances: December 1-23, 2023- Flyin’ West
Performances: February 9-25, 2024- Matilda: The Musical
Performances: April 12-May 5, 2024- Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps
Performances: June 21-July 7, 2024
Find your corner of the sky!
Whether you’re seeking the flexibility of choosing individual shows or the perks of a subscription, here’s everything you need to know in order to unlock the theatrical experience that’s right for you.
- June 1, 2023: Re-subscriptions
- Current Season Subscription holders get exclusive access to early bird prices and first choice of seating.
- June 14-27, 2023: Early Bird Subscriptions
- Reduced pricing for Season Subscriptions opens to the public and is available for two weeks.
- June 28, 2023: Season Subscriptions
- Regularly-priced Season Subscriptions go on sale for the remainder of the season.
- July 5-18, 2023: Single Tickets: Opening Weekend Discount
- New this year! Tickets for opening weekends are offered at a discount: musicals are 2 for $60 and plays are 2 for $50 – with no maximum ticket limit. The opening weekend discount is only available during this time period and does not include Elf: The Musical.
- July 19, 2023: Single Tickets
- All tickets for all shows are now on sale!
Exhibition dates: June 9 – July 23
Hours: Tuesday-Saturdays from 10-5 pm, Sundays 11-4 pm
Eidolon is an ancient term from Greek -oeidēs “form”. Early meanings included “mental image”, “appearance”, and “reflection” (as in a mirror or pool), and later, “apparition” or “imaginary entity”, among other things. Expanding beyond the definition pointing to a phantasm or specter, eidolon also sounds like some kind of astral or idyllic place in a novel or poem about an imaginary world. Eidolon features the work of Jacqueline Shatz and Margaret Thompson.
Jacqueline Shatz’s small sculptures of ambiguous and hybridized figures float, entwine, swim, commune with animals and collapse into abstract arabesques and gestures, hinting at mythology, in-between states, and the permeable nature of existence. Margaret Thompson’s paintings are inspired by elements of the symbolist movement and magical realism; she channels dreams and the associative powers of the imagination into her practice, painting subjects that live between our physical realm and spaces beyond the categories of known experience: they are unrestrained, undefined, and free.
Photo credit:
Sae Honda. Courtesy of the Artist.
NEO MINERALIA suggests that recent rock formations no longer fit within the traditional groups: Igneous, Metamorphic, and Sedimentary. Instead, the Anthropocene, the era of human influence on the climate and environment, has introduced two post-natural rocks: Synthetic and Digital.
NEO MINERALIA presents a selection of new geological specimens crafted by ten international artists exploring rocks as reflections of our effects on human and nonhuman ecologies. By embedding synthetic materials (plastics, e-waste) and layers of data points (critical, financial, social) into the craftsmanship of these artifacts, the artists transgress the definition of rocks, turning them from passive aggregates of minerals into metaphorical aggregates of data. Within their apparent “rockness” we can decode hopes, warnings, and speculative future scenarios.
The featured works stemming from places as varied as Mexico, Japan, Poland, and Australia (including a curated artists’ books library), collectively signal a new era of planetary and geological consciousness where we are asked to read, feel, and listen to rocks in new ways.
Photo credit:
J Diamond, “Pony II,” 2022. Courtesy of the Artist
Something earned, Something left behind is an exhibition of objecthood; a critical analysis of the transactional and political languages of everyday and culturally significant objects. This exhibition challenges a history of exclusion and inclusion of People of Color (POC) and their narratives from the canon of craft based on subject matter. It dissects this history’s origins and precedent as an economic transaction to gain access to white spaces.
Racial and ethnic identity influences the way individuals perceive themselves, the way others perceive them, and the way they choose to behave. For this reason, People of Color are expected to perform certain roles in order to fit into hegemonic institutions. These roles can be an active shrinking of themselves and the racialized part of them, or a personal exploitation of their racialized selves. This exhibition addresses and redresses the ways narrowed populations have been included, and the ways in which they have been asked to participate.
Together, this work creates space for and legitimizes POC narratives with depth and care. The exhibiting artists’ practices work against institutionalized expectations of POC work, expanding discourse and inserting new subjectivity into the canon of craft art. It engages with a community hungry for the revitalization and resuscitation of non-Western voices within art spaces. This exhibition challenges the expectations of art from artists of marginalized backgrounds and embraces a new subjectivity of interrogating one’s inherited experiences.
Photo credit:
Photograph by Bowery Blue Makers
Jeans – with their standardized pockets, rivets, and denim – are so much a part of everyday wardrobes that they are easy to overlook. Yet, in workshops across the nation, independent makers are reevaluating the garment and creating jeans by hand, using antiquated equipment and denim woven on midcentury looms. Crafting Denim explores how and why jeans have come to exist at the intersections of industry and craft, modernity, and tradition.
A product of industrial factory production for over a century, jeans are being recast by a new cohort of small-scale makers including craftspeople like Ryan Martin of W.H. Ranch Dungarees, Takayuki Echigoya of Bowery Blue Makers, and Sarah Yarborough and Victor Lytvinenko of Raleigh Denim, who favor choice materials and small-batch fabrication. The jeans they make merge craft traditions with industry and extend the conversation between hand and machine.
Each maker creates a distinctive product but shares a deep appreciation for materials, tools, history, and denim. These jeans are in dialogue with the past and in line with contemporary interests in sustainability. The small workshops featured here are sites of innovation and preservation, and visitors are invited to take a close look at an everyday item and imagine alternative contexts for making and living in our own clothes.
Explore Biltmore House with an Audio Guide that introduces you to the Vanderbilt family and their magnificent home’s history, architecture, and collections of fine art and furnishings.
PLUS: Immersive, multi-sensory Italian Renaissance Alive exhibition created by Grande Experiences
PLUS: FREE next-day access to Biltmore’s Gardens and Grounds
This visit includes access to:
- Italian Renaissance Alive at Amherst at Deerpark®
- 8,000 Acres of Gardens and Grounds for two consecutive days
- Antler Hill Village & Winery
- Complimentary Wine Tastings at the Winery
- Tastings require a Day-of-Visit Reservation, which can be made by:
- Scanning the QR Code found in your Estate Guide
- Visiting any Guest Services location
- Complimentary parking
Art Exhibition: Italian Renaissance Alive
This fascinating experience takes you on a spellbinding tour of Italy, fully immersing you in the beauty and brilliance of iconic masterworks from the greatest artistic period in history
Black Mountain College and Mexico (BMC/MX): Exhibition, Publication, and Public Programming
Black Mountain College (1933–1957), a small but remarkably influential liberal arts school in rural North Carolina, had important links to Mexico that until now have been little investigated. A crucible of twentieth-century creativity, BMC galvanized and inspired artists and intellectuals from around the world, while Mexico’s innovations and age-old traditions—in fine and applied arts, architecture, poetry, music, performance, and more—dovetailed with, and indeed drove, global impulses toward modernism and beyond. Among the many key BMC figures whose lives were importantly touched by experiences in Mexico were Anni and Josef Albers, Ruth Asawa, John Cage, Jean Charlot, Elaine de Kooning, Buckminster Fuller, Carlos Mérida, Robert Motherwell, Charles Olson, Clara Porset, M.C. Richards, and Aaron Siskind. In turn, engagements with BMC and its legacy have played a significant role in shaping contemporary approaches to art in Mexico, evident in the works of Jorge Méndez Blake, Iñaki Bonillas, Abraham Cruzvillegas, Jose Dávila, Gerda Gruber, Lake Verea, Gabriel Orozco, and Damián Ortega, among others.
The exhibition BMC/MX features works by these and other prominent contemporary Mexican artists alongside a selection of historic works by BMC artists, highlighting the ways in which ideas and modalities are translated across materials, space, and time.
Related programming, planned in collaboration with Mexican artists, features a series of public events, including a performance by artist (and BMC/MX co-curator) David Miranda to take place at Different Wrld; an exhibition visit (in Spanish and English) with BMC/MX Project Director Eric Baden; and a series of experiential art events in the BMCM+AC library.
The exhibition is accompanied by the book Black Mountain College and Mexico (forthcoming late summer 2023), which investigates the people, ideas, and practices linking BMC and Mexico during the life of the school, as well as resonances between BMC and the work of contemporary Mexican artists. With contributions by BMC/MX’s curators, as well as by artist Abraham Cruzvillegas, design scholar Ana Elena Mallet, and author and activist Margaret Randall, this fully illustrated volume brings new light to this complex and underexplored subject.
BMC/MX is an investigation into modes of communication—the arenas in which new ideas and alliances may come to be—between Black Mountain College and Mexico, between past and present, between form and idea.
About the Curators
BMC/MX’s Project Director Eric Baden is a photographer and from 1994 to 2022 was professor of photography at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, North Carolina. He is the founding director of photo+, a multidisciplinary arts event held in Asheville, North Carolina.
Artist and educator David Miranda is curator at the Museo Experimental El Eco (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM), and teaches at the Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado “La Esmeralda” in Mexico City.
Diana Stoll is an editor, writer and curator who works with institutions such as The Museum of Modern Art and the J. Paul Getty Museum. She has served as an editor at Aperture and Artforum magazines, and contributes writings to prominent arts publications.
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Paul Wong, Carbon, silver and gold, 2016, pigmented linen and cotton pulp, publisher: Dieu Donné, New York, edition 3/25, 18 × 11 inches. Gift of Dieu Donné, New York, 2022.27.06. © Paul Wong. |
On View March 8 through July 24, 2023
The Van Winkle Law Firm Gallery • Level 1
Paper is an essential part of the art-making process for many artists, serving as the base for drawing, painting, printmaking, and other forms of art. As a substrate, paper can vary in weight, absorbency, color, size, and other aspects. Since industrialization, paper has primarily been produced through mechanical means that allow for consistency and affordability.
What happens, then, when an artist chooses to return to the foundations of paper, wherein it is made by hand using pulps, fibers, and dyes that reflect the human element through variations, inconsistencies, flaws, and surprises? Certain artists have sought out these qualities and embraced them, making paper not just a support on which to work, but fully a medium in and of itself.
Pulp Potential: Works in Handmade Paper is organized by the Asheville Art Museum and curated by Hilary Schroeder, former assistant curator, with assistance from Alexis Meldrum, curatorial assistant. Special thanks to Dieu Donné, New York, NY.




