For the 19th year in a row, artists in this small community will open their studios to the public for the annual Come to Leicester Studio Tour. This free, self-guided event is held every third weekend in August, with this year’s tour dates being August 17th and 18th, 10 AM to 5 PM each day. Visitors choose their tour stops using a printed full-color map of the area, along with pictures of each artist’s work. Detailed brochures with maps will be available at various locations in Leicester and the surrounding communities before the Tour, and at each stop on the Tour days. Bold signs along the route direct visitors to the individual stops. Visit the Tour website at http://cometoleicester.org to view all the artists and print out a map to guide your tour.

The Come to Leicester Artist Studio Tour route takes visitors through some of the most scenic rural countryside in Western North Carolina. Along the way, one can view beautiful, hand-crafted work and meet the artists who create it. Visitors will find many types of fine arts and crafts, including brooms, pottery, stained glass, paintings, ironwork, wood, jewelry, fiber, and mixed media. Tour stops include artist personal studios and 4 hub locations where several artists gather: Leicester Community Center, Sandy Mush Community Center, Addison Farms Vineyard, and Olivette Farm. Many artists open the doors to their home studios only this weekend, and it is a unique opportunity to explore the beauty of our mountain community while getting a glimpse behind the scenes of an artist’s life and work.

If you’re hungry along the way, stop at one of our food sponsors, all identified on the map: Grateful Roots, Gossett Grocery, The Salty Goat, and Jessi Cake Bake Shop). You might also want to enjoy a wine-tasting at Addison Farms Vineyard, a favorite tour stop and host to several artist displays. Enjoy mountain hospitality at its finest!

Artists returning to the Tour are: Wesley Angel, Sara Bell, Adrienne Blum, Ilana Brody, Kevin Campbell, Doug Canivet, John Cummings, Joe Desousa, Peggy Eckel, Raquel Egosi, Marlow Gates, Jan Helm, Cat Jarosz, Matt Jones, Julie & Tyrone Larson, Kathy Mack, Patrick McDermott, Victoria Miceli, Gail Powell, Tani Reeves, Suzanne Saunders, Nirado Sloan, Doc Welty, Brad Worden, Noel Yovovich, and Pamela Winn. Artists who are new to the Tour this year are Kevin Andrew, Kevin Duckett, Sascha Frowine, Matrix Designs (Sarah and Kelly), Jill Pam, Puma Love, Jason Rojas, Catherine Twomey, and Terrence Threadwell.

Located on the second floor until September 18th, the show continues the historical relationship between the Southern Highland Craft Guild and Haywood, an educational center of the Guild. This new generation of craft is led by instructors Amy Putansu in fiber, Brian Wurst in wood, Emily Reason in clay, and Robert Blanton in metals & jewelry. Students of the Haywood program come from all over, with or without prior experience of craft, and sometimes pursuing it as a second or third career. The course of study is challenging, combining craft concentrations with supplemental classes in design, drawing, craft history, business, marketing and photography.

Haywood Community College and the Southern Highland Craft Guild share a history that documents the role of craft education in preserving traditional culture, creating economic opportunity and fostering professional practice. All of the artists represent the vitality and creativity of craft practice today, which is the ultimate purpose of both institutions. Many Haywood graduates have become individual members of the Southern Highland Craft Guild and have served the Guild in various capacities.

Instructor Brian Wurst of the Professional Crafts Wood program says, “Our programs have thrived for nearly five decades, and our relationship with the Craft Guild has been a key part of that. We’re always thrilled to have work showcased at the Folk Art Center, and in turn scores of our alumni have gone on to become active Guild members. The Graduate Show is the capstone of two hard years by these students, and it’s a delight to share it in this beautiful space.”

Haywood Community College is located in Clyde, North Carolina, just west of Asheville. The college’s Professional Crafts Program began in recognition of the region’s strong craft heritage. It was envisioned that students would learn the basics of craft media and how to transform that craft into a business. The clay studio was the first to open in 1974. With the addition of jewelry, wood and fiber studios, a comprehensive curriculum was in place by 1977.

Anyone interested in taking courses at Haywood Community College can contact the success coach, Farrah Rodriguez [email protected] 828.627.4505.

The Haywood Community College Professional Crafts Program, Graduate Show, Class of 2024 is a free exhibit at the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway in East Asheville. For more information, visit www.craftguild.org or call 828-523-4110. For more information about the Professional Crafts Program, call 828-627-4674 or visit creativearts.haywood.edu.

Focus Gallery Exhibition featuring five members of the Southern Highland Craft Guild, located upstairs at the Folk Art Center. May 24-August 19, 2024.

Featured Artists:

1. Billy Bernstein  – glass
2. Christine Smith – wood
3. Tamela Wells – jewelry
4. Robert Milnes – clay
5. Pam Grainger Gale – fiber

The Focus Gallery is located on the second level of the Folk Art Center. The Folk Art Center is located at Milepost 382 of the Blue Ridge Parkway, just north of the Highway 70 entrance in east Asheville, NC. Admission is free. Open Daily 10am-5pm. 

This exhibition is hosted by the Southern Highland Craft Guild. The Guild is a non-profit, educational organization established in 1930 to cultivate the crafts and makers of the Southern Highlands for shared resources, education, marketing, and conservation. The Southern Highland Craft Guild is an authorized concessioner of the National Park Service, Department of the Interior. 

Explore Asheville with the whole family!

Age Restrictions

All Ages Welcome!
(Content is geared towards ages 5-12 years old)
Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Children 3 and under do not need a ticket if they are sitting in an adults lap.

Duration

60 Minutes

What’s Included

Crazy funny guide
Off-bus characters
Fun facts about Asheville
Age-appropriate jokes

About

Now’s your chance to bring the whole family on the big purple bus! Educational and entertaining, LaZoom’s Kids’ Comedy tour features a perfect blend of Asheville information and kid-centric comedy. Geared specifically towards the 5-12 year old crowd, you’ll learn about our city’s history and see the sights in true LaZoom style – complete with our famously outlandish tour guides, hilarious comedy skits, and all sorts of special appearances! Perfect for birthday parties or school field trips, it’s the best thing to do with your kids in Asheville. It’s a show on wheels!

The tour is 60 minutes long and includes no stops. The tour is hosted by a zany tour guide, and along the way other characters will hop on the bus and perform kid-centric sketches (Candy Pirate, Ninja, and a Levitator) The tour is not only fun – it’s educational! Kids and adults will learn new and interesting facts about Asheville along the way. There must be 1 adult for every 4 children. We do not allow any unaccompanied children. Children 3 and under do not need a ticket if they are sitting in an adults lap.

Waitlist

If your desired time and availability is full, then please give us a call to be added to the waitlist.

According to the science of Ayurveda, heat, inflammation, and irritation rise in our bodies over the summer. We use our yoga practice to cool our bodies every week to insure we are not allowing toxins and inflammation to build.

Must have some experience with yoga. Class is held outside on the backyard stage at One World Brewing West. Bring a mat and water bottle!

Drop ins welcome, no need to preregister.

Join us for our August open studio & pop up shop
Sunday, August 18
11-4pm
115 Elk Mountain Rd, Woodfin, NC

Shop home goods, wooden kitchenware, art, jewelry, accessories + vintage clothing with:

@loomimports
@gennypopshop
@townesandbirdie
@annajohnsonjewelry
@f.i.n.n.e.y.f.i.n.n.e.y
@eastperry
@gimmie.good.goodies
@ritakovtun

Additional parking across street at Woodfin Elementary

In the early 1900s, travel by train and automobile became more accessible in the United States, leading to an increase in tourism and a revitalized interest in landscape painting. The relative ease of transportation, as well as the creation of National Parks, allowed people to experience the breathtaking landscapes of the United States in new ways. Artists traveled along popular routes, recording the terrain they encountered.

This exhibition explores the sublime natural landscapes of the Smokey Mountains of Western North Carolina and Tennessee. While there were several regional schools of painting around this time, this group is largely from the Midwest and many of the artists trained at the Art Institute of Chicago or in New York City. Through their travels, they captured waterfalls, sunsets, thunderstorms, autumn foliage, lush green summers, and snow-covered mountains—elements that were novel for viewers from cities and rural areas. Though some of these paintings include people, they are usually used for scale and painted with little to no detail, highlighting the magnificence of nature.

Rudolph F. Ingerle, Mirrored Mountain, not dated, oil on canvas, 28 × 32 inches. Courtesy of Allen & Barry Huffman, Asheville Art Museum.

Bender Gallery Artists Featured in Asheville Art Museum Exhibition The New Salon: A Contemporary View The Asheville Art Museum will be opening their exhibit, The New Salon: A Contemporary View, on March 8 and it will run until August 19, 2024. The New Salon offers a modern take on the prestigious tradition of the Parisian Salon with the diversity and innovation of today’s art world. Guest-curated by Gabriel Shaffer, the show will include works from Pop Surrealism, Outsider Art, Street Art, and Graffiti genres.   Bender Gallery has been collaborating with the Asheville Art Museum to loan four paintings from three of our artists. The artists are Laine Bachman, Kukula, and Yui Sakamoto. Be sure to check out this special exhibition in downtown Asheville. Learn More Kukula, Impossible Voyage, oil on board, 48 x 24 inches Kukula (b. 1980, Israel) Nataly Abramovitch, better known in the art world as, Kukula, paints imagined worlds filled with elaborately dressed women in fanciful settings. The artist does extensive research on the layouts of paintings from the Renaissance and Rococo periods. Kukula subverts these images by depicting women characters in place of traditionally male positions and settings. Her characters are powerful, commanding, and have an air of indifference. Available Work Yui Sakamoto, Self Portrait, oil on canvas, 63 x 63 inches Yui Sakamoto (b. 1981, Japan) Our surrealist artist, Yui Sakamoto, will have two paintings featured including My Soul and Self Portrait. Self Portrait is still available from his recent solo exhibition at Bender Gallery. Standing in front of Self Portrait, one is immersed in the dual-worlds of Sakamoto’s Japanese and Mexican cultures. There is a sense of calm reflected in the repeating rose pattern, mixed with the uneasy realization that the coral, fungi, and otherworldly forms are what makeup the figure. Available Work Laine Bachman, Night Bloomers, acrylic on canvas, 18 x 24 inches Laine Bachman (b. 1974, USA) Our prolific Magical Realism artist, Laine Bachman, makes a feature in the exhibition with her painting, Night Bloomers. She has been hard at work making 17 new pieces for her solo exhibition at the Canton Art Museum in Canton, Ohio. The Canton show opens on April 28 and continues through to July 28, 2024. Available Work

Jack’s Bluegrass Brunch kicks off every Sunday at 12 noon — with lively bluegrass tunes courtesy of The Jack of the Wood Bluegrass Brunch Boys from 1-3pm. Sip a Bloody Mary or Mimosa or a warm Irish coffee. Tasty brunch specials alongside our regular menu and 18 taps of rotating craft brews! Sláinte, y’all!

Show & Tell returns to Rabbit Rabbit for a monthly Sunday Market celebrating and supporting local + indie craft, design, and vintage. Gather with friends and family in the open air at this one-of-a-kind outdoor venue in Downtown Asheville and shop 50+ vendors rotating monthly.

Featuring housewares, decor, art, jewelry, ceramics, apparel, vintage clothes, candles, plants, and more! Meet makers and collectors and shop directly or at the curated pop up shop.

Enjoy bites and bevs from AVL Tacos and Asheville Pizza & Brewing.

Sundays, August 18, September 29, October 20

12-5pm

Rabbit Rabbit

75 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC 28801

Free and open to the public. The outdoor market runs rain or shine. No dogs allowed. Street parking is free all day Sunday along with paid parking options in nearby lots and garages.

For more info, visit showandtellpopupshop.com

Buncombe County Public Library is thrilled to announce The Hop Ice Cream as a proud supporting partner of this year’s Summer Reading Program to encourage youth literacy in our community. The Hop will provide free ice cream at the Summer Library Fest on Saturday, June 8 from 10 a.m.-noon at East Asheville Library. For added fun, The Hop owner Greg Garrison will collaborate with Secret Agent 23 Skidoo to provide a special dance performance to families in attendance.

Any kid or teen who visits a Buncombe County library to pick up their summer reading activity sheet will also receive a 10 percent off coupon redeemable at any Hop location or at Pop Bubble Tea. Return your completed activity sheet to any branch and receive a bookmark for a free kiddie scoop of ice cream at any Hop location. You must complete 10 or more activities on your sheet to be eligible for ice cream – and you can also select a free book of your choice!

Summer Reading runs from June 1 to  August 31 and is open to anyone from birth to age 18.  If you have any questions, just contact your friendly neighborhood library.

The comedy of the season has landed! Fasten your seatbelts–there’s turbulence ahead in this laugh-out-loud tour-de-farce! It’s the 1960’s and Bernard, an American living in Paris, has the perfect setup: three international fiancées, each a beautiful airline hostess with frequent “layovers.” He keeps “one up, one down, and one pending” until unexpected schedule changes bring all three to Paris, and Bernard’s apartment, at the same time.  Prepare yourself for the most deliriously funny flight of your life.

Old Farmer’s Ball hosts family dances and waltzes at the Harvest House Community Center.

Jack’s long-running Traditional Irish Music Session is the perfect way to enjoy the Celtic-influenced sounds of talented pluckers from all over WNC & further afield! Stop in to enjoy a pint or afternoon Irish coffee with the music! Sláinte!

Sunday August 18 at 6:30p is another great comedy show at Asheville Pizza in Theatre 2, get your dinner , drinks & laughs with a comedy open mic & and comedian Jason Webb, Art Sturtevant, Jordan Julius and other Professional featured performers in a fun environment.. Hosted by Zandra Johnson!

We cordially invite you to partake in “Enter the Garden: The Solace Inside”, an enthralling sensory movement experience that embarks upon a poignant voyage of sexual reclamation. This event showcases an exquisite array of dance performances by talented local and national pole, chair, and burlesque dancers.

VIP Includes Front Row Seating and a Gift Bag.

This event is for those 18 years and older.

Immerse yourself in the magic of twilight and experience the wonders of nighttime in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Enjoy a mindful, integrative experience along the French Broad River as the sun sets and the full moon rises. Experience the golden hour and the beauty of dusk and moonlight like never before. During this guided nature immersion, explore a series of invitations to quiet your mind and awaken your senses while deepening your connection with nature, community, and Self.

This gentle and restorative experience is suitable for most ages and activity levels and will not exceed one-mile round trip. We’ll end with a candle-lit wild-foraged tea ceremony!

These retreats take place on peaceful private property.

The Montford Park Players is pleased to announce auditions for its 52nd  Season: 

Muse of Fire: Shakespeare’s Wars of the Roses

Jason Williams, Artistic Director

5/10/2024 5/24/2024   Edward III, directed by Mandy Bean
5/31/2024 6/23/2024   Richard II, directed by Jason Williams
6/28/2024 7/21/2024   Henry IV Parts 1 & 2, directed by Dr. George Brown, Callista Brown and Elizabeth DeVault
7/26/2024 8/25/2024   Henry V, directed by David Doersch
8/30/2024 9/22/2024  Henry VI Parts 1, 2 & 3, directed by Glenna Grant, Ariel Robinson and Adam Kampouris
9/27/2024 10/27/2024 Richard III, directed by Kristi DeVille

Conveniently located in the heart of the Historic Montford District of Asheville, North Carolina, the Outdoor Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre is easy to get to and accessible from I-240 and I-26. And, it’s just a short drive down Montford Avenue from downtown.