Calendar of Events

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!

Join us on a journey into the world of butterflies and plants, and see the complex relationship between monarchs and milkweed. “Monarchs and Milkweed” explores how very survival of these majestic creatures has been shaped over time by one another, traveling through the seasons of a calendar year and revealing how both insect and plant grow and interact, culminating in a massive migration that crosses a continent.

Historians estimate that skilled Black artisans outnumbered their white counterparts in the antebellum South by a margin of five to one. However, despite their presence and prevalence in all corners of the pre-industrial trade and craft fields, the stories of these skilled workers go largely unacknowledged.

Borrowing its title from a Black culture and politics magazine of the same name, Hammer and Hope celebrates the life and labor of Black chairmakers in early America. Featuring the work of two contemporary furniture makers – Robell Awake and Charlie Ryland – the pieces in this exhibition are based on the artists’ research into ladderback chairs created by the Poynors, a multigenerational family of free and enslaved craftspeople working in central Tennessee between the early nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Through the objects featured in Hammer and Hope, Awake and Ryland explore, reinterpret, and reimagine what the field of furniture-making today would look like had the history and legacy of the Poynors – and countless others that have been subject to a similar pattern of erasure – been celebrated rather than hidden. Hammer and Hope represents Awake and Ryland’s attempts, in their own words,  “at fighting erasure by making objects that engage with these long-suppressed stories.”‍

Robell Awake and Charlie Ryland are recipients of the Center for Craft’s 2022 Craft Research Fund Artist Fellowship. This substantial mid-career grant is awarded to two artists to support research projects that advance, expand, and support the creation of new research and knowledge through craft practice.

Start 2024 with a clean slate! Haul out your half-done quilts and barely-started cross-stitch samplers. We’re swapping UFOs (Unfinished Objects) at the Weaverville Library this January. Bring unfinished craft projects or craft supplies to the Weaverville Library to trade or donate. Declutter or refresh your material stash with fellow crafters. The swap is free for everyone and available anytime during Library hours from Dec.30-Jan. 13.

HOURS:

Tuesday
10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Wednesday
10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Thursday
10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Friday
10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Saturday
10:00 am – 5:00 pm

Start 2024 with a clean slate! Haul out your half-done quilts and barely-started cross-stitch samplers. We’re swapping UFOs (Unfinished Objects) at the Weaverville Library this January. Bring unfinished craft projects or craft supplies to the Weaverville Library to trade or donate. Declutter or refresh your material stash with fellow crafters. The swap is free for everyone and available anytime during Library hours from Dec.30-Jan. 13.

HOURS:

Tuesday
10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Wednesday
10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Thursday
10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Friday
10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Saturday
10:00 am – 5:00 pm

Guests visiting the WNC Nature Center this spring and summer have seen many new animals! Over the past six months, 19 animals representing seven species have been born or brought to the Nature Center.

Come and See

In late April, the WNC Nature Center announced the birth of a large litter of critically endangered red wolf puppies. Six females (Babs, Bonnie, Ruby, Rufina, Sienna, and Toto)and one male (Tony) have grown up in front of guests and visitors and are now almost indistinguishable in size from their parents, Gloria and Oak. The WNC Nature Center anticipates that the red wolf pups will remain in Asheville for the next two years.

On the heels of the red wolf births came two coyote pups, Cal and Walker. They were also born in April and came to the Nature Center in late July from Izzie’s Pond Sanctuary in South Carolina. While Cal and Walker are not biological brothers, they were introduced to each other at a very young age, so they have bonded and will be companions. These coyotes are incredibly shy and are usually spotted by guests behind their open den shelter.

Quickly becoming a guest-favorite, bobcat kitten Tufts joined the Nature Center in early August. He came from the May Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Banner Elk, North Carolina, and was named after Edgar Tufts, the founder of Lees-McRae College. The latest bobcat addition was Kohana in late November, a female bobcat who was found in the wild by the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources, she was born around the same time as Tufts, and the two will
be non-breeding companions.

Raccoons Grace and Frankie came to the WNC Nature Center in late September from Appalachian Wildlife Refuge. These kits have acclimated quickly with their curious behaviors and tactile foraging skills.

In our Care

To say the least, animal keepers and the veterinary care team at the WNC Nature Center have been busy keeping up with vaccines and immunizations, introducing the animals to their new habitats, and encouraging behaviors that will help with their care as they grow into adulthood.
“When you visit and see our animals, it’s important to understand why they are here with us,” says Erin Oldread. Animal Curator at the Nature Center. “Sometimes they were born under human care, like our red wolves. Other animals were permanently injured in the wild and need ongoing veterinary care. In the case of our new coyotes, bobcats, and raccoons, they were found to be unreleasable by the sanctuaries who received them. Oftentimes when you are rehabilitating a very young animal and feeding them from a bottle, they very quickly become dependent on and overly comfortable around humans. It can be harmful to them and humans if they were released back into the wild, so the WNC Nature Center is happy to give them a home.”

In the case of WNC Nature Center’s last collection of baby animals, sometimes the Center serves as a holding ground as animals develop and prepare to be released back into the wild. Appalachian Station, the Nature Center’s indoor exhibit for reptiles and amphibians, is currently housing two baby box turtles and two baby snapping turtles, all four of which are overwintering and will be released in spring 2024.

Also joining the WNC Nature Center this year are adult animals, Suli the Black Vulture and Morticia the Turkey Vulture. Suli was born in the wild but came under human care after a wing injury. She came to the Nature Center in late March from the NC Aquarium at Pine Knolls Shores. Morticia arrived from Hershey Park Zoo/Zoo America in October and joined the habitat next to Buzz, the longest living resident at the Nature Center at 33 years, in December.

Great time for a visit

Typically, the WNC Nature Center sees less crowds as Asheville enters the colder weather seasons. However, the animals who call the Nature Center home are generally more active during this time of year, and visitors can enjoy watching all the new additions encounter their first winter in Western North Carolina.

Check out the WNC Nature Center’s holiday gift guide at wildwnc.org/gift-guide to see all the ways you can support the animals who call the Nature Center home, including symbolic adoptions and purchasing items from the Animal Wishlist and Holiday Giving Tree.

About the Friends
The Friends of the WNC Nature Center are a vital partner with the WNC Nature Center. With their donors and members, the Friends enrich the Nature Center’s mission to connect people with the plants and animals of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. As a conservation organization, the Friends inspires a passion to know more, care more, and do more for the wildlife of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. They advance the critical work of the WNC Nature Center by supporting its growth and development through fundraising, membership, outreach education, marketing, and volunteer services.

About the WNC Nature Center
The Nature Center connects people of all ages with the plants and animals of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Asheville’s wildlife park is located on 42 acres and is home to more than 60 species of animals, including red pandas, river otters, black bears, red and gray wolves, and bobcats. For more information, please visit www.wildwnc.org.

This is a monthly meeting at Friends and Fiberworks. Whatever handwork you enjoy, bring it! It is always fun to see what everyone is working on. We ask those not vaccinated to wear a mask. And as things continue to change, please be prepared to respect store requirements regarding masks. Be sure to RSVP!

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.

Join us for a stitch n’ bitch fiber arts group! Featured in Bold Life Magazine, Alicia Borga owner of @linen_circus, is knowledgeable in knitting, crochet, embroidery, and historical fiber techniques including spinning yarn and traditional darning. Ideal for beginners that need guidance or for the seasoned professionally looking for a social group to craft with!
*potluck snacks and beverages always welcome!

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!

Join us on a journey into the world of butterflies and plants, and see the complex relationship between monarchs and milkweed. “Monarchs and Milkweed” explores how very survival of these majestic creatures has been shaped over time by one another, traveling through the seasons of a calendar year and revealing how both insect and plant grow and interact, culminating in a massive migration that crosses a continent.

Historians estimate that skilled Black artisans outnumbered their white counterparts in the antebellum South by a margin of five to one. However, despite their presence and prevalence in all corners of the pre-industrial trade and craft fields, the stories of these skilled workers go largely unacknowledged.

Borrowing its title from a Black culture and politics magazine of the same name, Hammer and Hope celebrates the life and labor of Black chairmakers in early America. Featuring the work of two contemporary furniture makers – Robell Awake and Charlie Ryland – the pieces in this exhibition are based on the artists’ research into ladderback chairs created by the Poynors, a multigenerational family of free and enslaved craftspeople working in central Tennessee between the early nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Through the objects featured in Hammer and Hope, Awake and Ryland explore, reinterpret, and reimagine what the field of furniture-making today would look like had the history and legacy of the Poynors – and countless others that have been subject to a similar pattern of erasure – been celebrated rather than hidden. Hammer and Hope represents Awake and Ryland’s attempts, in their own words,  “at fighting erasure by making objects that engage with these long-suppressed stories.”‍

Robell Awake and Charlie Ryland are recipients of the Center for Craft’s 2022 Craft Research Fund Artist Fellowship. This substantial mid-career grant is awarded to two artists to support research projects that advance, expand, and support the creation of new research and knowledge through craft practice.

Start 2024 with a clean slate! Haul out your half-done quilts and barely-started cross-stitch samplers. We’re swapping UFOs (Unfinished Objects) at the Weaverville Library this January. Bring unfinished craft projects or craft supplies to the Weaverville Library to trade or donate. Declutter or refresh your material stash with fellow crafters. The swap is free for everyone and available anytime during Library hours from Dec.30-Jan. 13.

HOURS:

Tuesday
10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Wednesday
10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Thursday
10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Friday
10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Saturday
10:00 am – 5:00 pm

Guests visiting the WNC Nature Center this spring and summer have seen many new animals! Over the past six months, 19 animals representing seven species have been born or brought to the Nature Center.

Come and See

In late April, the WNC Nature Center announced the birth of a large litter of critically endangered red wolf puppies. Six females (Babs, Bonnie, Ruby, Rufina, Sienna, and Toto)and one male (Tony) have grown up in front of guests and visitors and are now almost indistinguishable in size from their parents, Gloria and Oak. The WNC Nature Center anticipates that the red wolf pups will remain in Asheville for the next two years.

On the heels of the red wolf births came two coyote pups, Cal and Walker. They were also born in April and came to the Nature Center in late July from Izzie’s Pond Sanctuary in South Carolina. While Cal and Walker are not biological brothers, they were introduced to each other at a very young age, so they have bonded and will be companions. These coyotes are incredibly shy and are usually spotted by guests behind their open den shelter.

Quickly becoming a guest-favorite, bobcat kitten Tufts joined the Nature Center in early August. He came from the May Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Banner Elk, North Carolina, and was named after Edgar Tufts, the founder of Lees-McRae College. The latest bobcat addition was Kohana in late November, a female bobcat who was found in the wild by the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources, she was born around the same time as Tufts, and the two will
be non-breeding companions.

Raccoons Grace and Frankie came to the WNC Nature Center in late September from Appalachian Wildlife Refuge. These kits have acclimated quickly with their curious behaviors and tactile foraging skills.

In our Care

To say the least, animal keepers and the veterinary care team at the WNC Nature Center have been busy keeping up with vaccines and immunizations, introducing the animals to their new habitats, and encouraging behaviors that will help with their care as they grow into adulthood.
“When you visit and see our animals, it’s important to understand why they are here with us,” says Erin Oldread. Animal Curator at the Nature Center. “Sometimes they were born under human care, like our red wolves. Other animals were permanently injured in the wild and need ongoing veterinary care. In the case of our new coyotes, bobcats, and raccoons, they were found to be unreleasable by the sanctuaries who received them. Oftentimes when you are rehabilitating a very young animal and feeding them from a bottle, they very quickly become dependent on and overly comfortable around humans. It can be harmful to them and humans if they were released back into the wild, so the WNC Nature Center is happy to give them a home.”

In the case of WNC Nature Center’s last collection of baby animals, sometimes the Center serves as a holding ground as animals develop and prepare to be released back into the wild. Appalachian Station, the Nature Center’s indoor exhibit for reptiles and amphibians, is currently housing two baby box turtles and two baby snapping turtles, all four of which are overwintering and will be released in spring 2024.

Also joining the WNC Nature Center this year are adult animals, Suli the Black Vulture and Morticia the Turkey Vulture. Suli was born in the wild but came under human care after a wing injury. She came to the Nature Center in late March from the NC Aquarium at Pine Knolls Shores. Morticia arrived from Hershey Park Zoo/Zoo America in October and joined the habitat next to Buzz, the longest living resident at the Nature Center at 33 years, in December.

Great time for a visit

Typically, the WNC Nature Center sees less crowds as Asheville enters the colder weather seasons. However, the animals who call the Nature Center home are generally more active during this time of year, and visitors can enjoy watching all the new additions encounter their first winter in Western North Carolina.

Check out the WNC Nature Center’s holiday gift guide at wildwnc.org/gift-guide to see all the ways you can support the animals who call the Nature Center home, including symbolic adoptions and purchasing items from the Animal Wishlist and Holiday Giving Tree.

About the Friends
The Friends of the WNC Nature Center are a vital partner with the WNC Nature Center. With their donors and members, the Friends enrich the Nature Center’s mission to connect people with the plants and animals of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. As a conservation organization, the Friends inspires a passion to know more, care more, and do more for the wildlife of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. They advance the critical work of the WNC Nature Center by supporting its growth and development through fundraising, membership, outreach education, marketing, and volunteer services.

About the WNC Nature Center
The Nature Center connects people of all ages with the plants and animals of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Asheville’s wildlife park is located on 42 acres and is home to more than 60 species of animals, including red pandas, river otters, black bears, red and gray wolves, and bobcats. For more information, please visit www.wildwnc.org.

Images: Left: Minna Wright Citron, Squid Under Pier, 1948, color etching, soft-ground, and engraving on paper, edition 42/50, 15 x 17 7/8 inches, 2010 Collections Circle purchase, Asheville Art Museum. © Estate of Minna Citron/Licensed by VAGA at ARS, New York. Right: Dorothy Dehner, Woman #2, 1954, watercolor and ink on paper, 22 3/4 x 18”, courtesy of Dolan Maxwell.

The Asheville Art Museum is pleased to announce the upcoming exhibition American Art in the Atomic Age: 1940–1960, which explores the groundbreaking contributions of artists who worked at the experimental printmaking studio Atelier 17 in the wake of World War II. Co-curated by Marilyn Laufer and Tom Butler, American Art in the Atomic Age which draws from the holdings of Dolan/Maxwell, the Asheville Art Museum Collection, and private collections will be on view from November 10, 2023–April 29, 2024.

Atelier 17 operated in New York for fifteen years, between 1940 and 1955. The studio’s founder, Stanley William Hayter (1901–1988) established the workshop in Paris but relocated to New York just as the Nazi occupation of Paris began in 1940. Hayter’s new studio attracted European emigrants like André Masson, Yves Tanguy, and Joan Miró, as well as American artists like Dorothy Dehner, Judith Rothschild, and Karl Schrag, allowing for an exchange of artistic ideas and processes between European and American artists.

The Asheville Art Museum will present over 100 works that exemplify the cross-cultural exchange and profound social and political impact of Atelier 17 on American art. Prints made at Atelier 17—including those by Stanley William Hayter, Louise Nevelson, and Perle Fine—will be in conversation with works by European Surrealists who were working at the studio in the 1940s and 1950s. The exhibition will also feature a selection of domestic mid-century objects that exemplify how the ideas and aesthetics of post-war abstraction became a part of everyday life.

Throughout the history of painting from the mid-19th century forward, artists have used an endless variety of approaches to record their world. Beyond the Lens: Photorealist Perspectives on Looking, Seeing, and Painting continues this thread, offering an opportunity to explore a singular and still forceful aspect of American art. Photorealism shares many of the approaches of historical and modernist realism, with a twist. The use of the camera as a basic tool for organizing visual information in advance of painterly expression is now quite common, but Photorealists embraced the camera as the focal point in their creative process. Beyond the Lens presents key works from the collection of Louis K. and Susan Pear Meisel, bringing together paintings and works on paper dating from the 1970s to the present to focus on this profoundly influential art movement. The exhibition includes work by highly acclaimed formative artists of the movement such as Charles Bell, Robert Bechtle, Tom Blackwell, Richard Estes, Audrey Flack, and Ralph Goings as well as paintings by the successive generations of Photorealist artists Anthony Brunelli, Davis Cone, Bertrand Meniel, Rod Penner, and Raphaella Spence. Featured artworks in the exhibition include diverse subject matters, but the primary focus is on the common and every day: urban scenes, “portraits” of cars, trucks, and motorcycles, still life compositions using toys, food, candy wrappers, and salt and pepper shakers. All provide opportunities for virtuoso studies in how light, reflection, and the camera as intermediary shapes our perception of the material world. This multigenerational survey demonstrates how the 35-mm camera, and later technological advances in digital image-making, informed and impacted the painterly gesture. Taken together, the paintings and works on paper in Beyond the Lens show how simply spellbinding these virtuosic works of art can be. “Beyond the Lens offers a fascinating look into the Photorealism movement and delves into the profound connection between the artists’ observation and creative process,” says Pamela L. Myers, Executive Director of Asheville Art Museum. “We are delighted to present this curated collection of artworks encapsulating the creative vision and technical precision that defines this artistic genre.” Photorealism found its roots in the late 1960s in California and New York, coexisting with an explosion of new ideas in art-making that included Conceptual, Pop, Minimalism, Land and Performance Art. At first, representational realism coexisted with the thematic and conceptual explosion but was eventually relegated to the margins regarding critical and curatorial attention. Often misunderstood and sometimes negatively criticized or lampooned as a betrayal of modernism’s commitment to abstraction, the artists involved in Photorealism remained committed explorers of the trail they had blazed. In the decades of the late twentieth century and early twenty-first century, realistic and symbolic painting experienced a renaissance, as contemporary artists are increasingly drawn to narrative and storytelling. Concurrently, using a camera as a preparatory tool equally legitimate and valuable as pencils and pens has made the rubric of Photorealism increasingly relevant. This exhibition is organized by the Asheville Art Museum and guest curated by Terrie Sultan. This exhibition is sponsored in part by Jim and Julia Calkins Peterson.

Romare Bearden (Charlotte, NC 1911–1988 New York, NY), African American writer and artist, is renowned for his collages. He constantly experimented with various techniques to achieve his artistic goals throughout his career. This exhibition highlights works on paper and explores his most frequently used mediums, including screen-printing, lithography, hand-colored etching, collagraph, monotype, relief print, photomontage, and collage.

Bearden’s work reflects his improvisational approach to his practice. He considered his process akin to that of jazz and blues composers. Starting with an open mind, he would let an idea evolve spontaneously.

“Romare Bearden: Ways of Working highlights Bearden’s unique artistic practice and masterful storytelling through art,” says Pamela L. Myers, Executive Director of the Asheville Art Museum. “We are thrilled to collaborate with Jerald Melberg Gallery to present these extraordinary works on paper in conversation with Bearden’s collage Sunset Express, 1984 in the Museum Collection (on view in the Museum’s SECU Collection Hall). This exhibition will also provide a glimpse into the cultural histories and personal interests that influenced his art-making practice, and we hope it encourages introspection and dialogue with our visitors.”

Jerald Melberg states, “Romare Bearden’s groundbreaking artistic practice continues to captivate audiences worldwide. With an unparalleled legacy of creativity and innovation, Bearden’s contributions to art remain deeply influential years beyond his life.” We have enjoyed organizing this exhibition with the Asheville Art Museum to showcase his artistic genius and inspire visitors from the Western North Carolina region and beyond.”

This exhibition is made possible in part by the Judy Appleton Fund. Many thanks to the Jerald Melberg Gallery for the loan of these important artworks and to Mary and Jerald Melberg for their long-standing support of the arts, artists, and the Asheville Art Museum.

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!

Join us on a journey into the world of butterflies and plants, and see the complex relationship between monarchs and milkweed. “Monarchs and Milkweed” explores how very survival of these majestic creatures has been shaped over time by one another, traveling through the seasons of a calendar year and revealing how both insect and plant grow and interact, culminating in a massive migration that crosses a continent.

Historians estimate that skilled Black artisans outnumbered their white counterparts in the antebellum South by a margin of five to one. However, despite their presence and prevalence in all corners of the pre-industrial trade and craft fields, the stories of these skilled workers go largely unacknowledged.

Borrowing its title from a Black culture and politics magazine of the same name, Hammer and Hope celebrates the life and labor of Black chairmakers in early America. Featuring the work of two contemporary furniture makers – Robell Awake and Charlie Ryland – the pieces in this exhibition are based on the artists’ research into ladderback chairs created by the Poynors, a multigenerational family of free and enslaved craftspeople working in central Tennessee between the early nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Through the objects featured in Hammer and Hope, Awake and Ryland explore, reinterpret, and reimagine what the field of furniture-making today would look like had the history and legacy of the Poynors – and countless others that have been subject to a similar pattern of erasure – been celebrated rather than hidden. Hammer and Hope represents Awake and Ryland’s attempts, in their own words,  “at fighting erasure by making objects that engage with these long-suppressed stories.”‍

Robell Awake and Charlie Ryland are recipients of the Center for Craft’s 2022 Craft Research Fund Artist Fellowship. This substantial mid-career grant is awarded to two artists to support research projects that advance, expand, and support the creation of new research and knowledge through craft practice.

Start 2024 with a clean slate! Haul out your half-done quilts and barely-started cross-stitch samplers. We’re swapping UFOs (Unfinished Objects) at the Weaverville Library this January. Bring unfinished craft projects or craft supplies to the Weaverville Library to trade or donate. Declutter or refresh your material stash with fellow crafters. The swap is free for everyone and available anytime during Library hours from Dec.30-Jan. 13.

HOURS:

Tuesday
10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Wednesday
10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Thursday
10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Friday
10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Saturday
10:00 am – 5:00 pm

Guests visiting the WNC Nature Center this spring and summer have seen many new animals! Over the past six months, 19 animals representing seven species have been born or brought to the Nature Center.

Come and See

In late April, the WNC Nature Center announced the birth of a large litter of critically endangered red wolf puppies. Six females (Babs, Bonnie, Ruby, Rufina, Sienna, and Toto)and one male (Tony) have grown up in front of guests and visitors and are now almost indistinguishable in size from their parents, Gloria and Oak. The WNC Nature Center anticipates that the red wolf pups will remain in Asheville for the next two years.

On the heels of the red wolf births came two coyote pups, Cal and Walker. They were also born in April and came to the Nature Center in late July from Izzie’s Pond Sanctuary in South Carolina. While Cal and Walker are not biological brothers, they were introduced to each other at a very young age, so they have bonded and will be companions. These coyotes are incredibly shy and are usually spotted by guests behind their open den shelter.

Quickly becoming a guest-favorite, bobcat kitten Tufts joined the Nature Center in early August. He came from the May Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Banner Elk, North Carolina, and was named after Edgar Tufts, the founder of Lees-McRae College. The latest bobcat addition was Kohana in late November, a female bobcat who was found in the wild by the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources, she was born around the same time as Tufts, and the two will
be non-breeding companions.

Raccoons Grace and Frankie came to the WNC Nature Center in late September from Appalachian Wildlife Refuge. These kits have acclimated quickly with their curious behaviors and tactile foraging skills.

In our Care

To say the least, animal keepers and the veterinary care team at the WNC Nature Center have been busy keeping up with vaccines and immunizations, introducing the animals to their new habitats, and encouraging behaviors that will help with their care as they grow into adulthood.
“When you visit and see our animals, it’s important to understand why they are here with us,” says Erin Oldread. Animal Curator at the Nature Center. “Sometimes they were born under human care, like our red wolves. Other animals were permanently injured in the wild and need ongoing veterinary care. In the case of our new coyotes, bobcats, and raccoons, they were found to be unreleasable by the sanctuaries who received them. Oftentimes when you are rehabilitating a very young animal and feeding them from a bottle, they very quickly become dependent on and overly comfortable around humans. It can be harmful to them and humans if they were released back into the wild, so the WNC Nature Center is happy to give them a home.”

In the case of WNC Nature Center’s last collection of baby animals, sometimes the Center serves as a holding ground as animals develop and prepare to be released back into the wild. Appalachian Station, the Nature Center’s indoor exhibit for reptiles and amphibians, is currently housing two baby box turtles and two baby snapping turtles, all four of which are overwintering and will be released in spring 2024.

Also joining the WNC Nature Center this year are adult animals, Suli the Black Vulture and Morticia the Turkey Vulture. Suli was born in the wild but came under human care after a wing injury. She came to the Nature Center in late March from the NC Aquarium at Pine Knolls Shores. Morticia arrived from Hershey Park Zoo/Zoo America in October and joined the habitat next to Buzz, the longest living resident at the Nature Center at 33 years, in December.

Great time for a visit

Typically, the WNC Nature Center sees less crowds as Asheville enters the colder weather seasons. However, the animals who call the Nature Center home are generally more active during this time of year, and visitors can enjoy watching all the new additions encounter their first winter in Western North Carolina.

Check out the WNC Nature Center’s holiday gift guide at wildwnc.org/gift-guide to see all the ways you can support the animals who call the Nature Center home, including symbolic adoptions and purchasing items from the Animal Wishlist and Holiday Giving Tree.

About the Friends
The Friends of the WNC Nature Center are a vital partner with the WNC Nature Center. With their donors and members, the Friends enrich the Nature Center’s mission to connect people with the plants and animals of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. As a conservation organization, the Friends inspires a passion to know more, care more, and do more for the wildlife of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. They advance the critical work of the WNC Nature Center by supporting its growth and development through fundraising, membership, outreach education, marketing, and volunteer services.

About the WNC Nature Center
The Nature Center connects people of all ages with the plants and animals of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Asheville’s wildlife park is located on 42 acres and is home to more than 60 species of animals, including red pandas, river otters, black bears, red and gray wolves, and bobcats. For more information, please visit www.wildwnc.org.

Images: Left: Minna Wright Citron, Squid Under Pier, 1948, color etching, soft-ground, and engraving on paper, edition 42/50, 15 x 17 7/8 inches, 2010 Collections Circle purchase, Asheville Art Museum. © Estate of Minna Citron/Licensed by VAGA at ARS, New York. Right: Dorothy Dehner, Woman #2, 1954, watercolor and ink on paper, 22 3/4 x 18”, courtesy of Dolan Maxwell.

The Asheville Art Museum is pleased to announce the upcoming exhibition American Art in the Atomic Age: 1940–1960, which explores the groundbreaking contributions of artists who worked at the experimental printmaking studio Atelier 17 in the wake of World War II. Co-curated by Marilyn Laufer and Tom Butler, American Art in the Atomic Age which draws from the holdings of Dolan/Maxwell, the Asheville Art Museum Collection, and private collections will be on view from November 10, 2023–April 29, 2024.

Atelier 17 operated in New York for fifteen years, between 1940 and 1955. The studio’s founder, Stanley William Hayter (1901–1988) established the workshop in Paris but relocated to New York just as the Nazi occupation of Paris began in 1940. Hayter’s new studio attracted European emigrants like André Masson, Yves Tanguy, and Joan Miró, as well as American artists like Dorothy Dehner, Judith Rothschild, and Karl Schrag, allowing for an exchange of artistic ideas and processes between European and American artists.

The Asheville Art Museum will present over 100 works that exemplify the cross-cultural exchange and profound social and political impact of Atelier 17 on American art. Prints made at Atelier 17—including those by Stanley William Hayter, Louise Nevelson, and Perle Fine—will be in conversation with works by European Surrealists who were working at the studio in the 1940s and 1950s. The exhibition will also feature a selection of domestic mid-century objects that exemplify how the ideas and aesthetics of post-war abstraction became a part of everyday life.

Throughout the history of painting from the mid-19th century forward, artists have used an endless variety of approaches to record their world. Beyond the Lens: Photorealist Perspectives on Looking, Seeing, and Painting continues this thread, offering an opportunity to explore a singular and still forceful aspect of American art. Photorealism shares many of the approaches of historical and modernist realism, with a twist. The use of the camera as a basic tool for organizing visual information in advance of painterly expression is now quite common, but Photorealists embraced the camera as the focal point in their creative process. Beyond the Lens presents key works from the collection of Louis K. and Susan Pear Meisel, bringing together paintings and works on paper dating from the 1970s to the present to focus on this profoundly influential art movement. The exhibition includes work by highly acclaimed formative artists of the movement such as Charles Bell, Robert Bechtle, Tom Blackwell, Richard Estes, Audrey Flack, and Ralph Goings as well as paintings by the successive generations of Photorealist artists Anthony Brunelli, Davis Cone, Bertrand Meniel, Rod Penner, and Raphaella Spence. Featured artworks in the exhibition include diverse subject matters, but the primary focus is on the common and every day: urban scenes, “portraits” of cars, trucks, and motorcycles, still life compositions using toys, food, candy wrappers, and salt and pepper shakers. All provide opportunities for virtuoso studies in how light, reflection, and the camera as intermediary shapes our perception of the material world. This multigenerational survey demonstrates how the 35-mm camera, and later technological advances in digital image-making, informed and impacted the painterly gesture. Taken together, the paintings and works on paper in Beyond the Lens show how simply spellbinding these virtuosic works of art can be. “Beyond the Lens offers a fascinating look into the Photorealism movement and delves into the profound connection between the artists’ observation and creative process,” says Pamela L. Myers, Executive Director of Asheville Art Museum. “We are delighted to present this curated collection of artworks encapsulating the creative vision and technical precision that defines this artistic genre.” Photorealism found its roots in the late 1960s in California and New York, coexisting with an explosion of new ideas in art-making that included Conceptual, Pop, Minimalism, Land and Performance Art. At first, representational realism coexisted with the thematic and conceptual explosion but was eventually relegated to the margins regarding critical and curatorial attention. Often misunderstood and sometimes negatively criticized or lampooned as a betrayal of modernism’s commitment to abstraction, the artists involved in Photorealism remained committed explorers of the trail they had blazed. In the decades of the late twentieth century and early twenty-first century, realistic and symbolic painting experienced a renaissance, as contemporary artists are increasingly drawn to narrative and storytelling. Concurrently, using a camera as a preparatory tool equally legitimate and valuable as pencils and pens has made the rubric of Photorealism increasingly relevant. This exhibition is organized by the Asheville Art Museum and guest curated by Terrie Sultan. This exhibition is sponsored in part by Jim and Julia Calkins Peterson.