Calendar of Events

Event Type: Local Event
Event Category: Family
Contact: Biltmore
Contact Phone: (800) 411- 3812
Link: http://www.biltmore.com/

Biltmore’s gardens are alive with color as spring arrives. Stunning floral displays – featuring nearly 100,000 tulips – across the estate celebrate the majesty of Frederick Law Olmsted’s legacy as Biltmore’s master horticulture planner. Biltmore’s restaurants will feature special menu items, with the Winery offering wine seminars.  Admire the progression of blossoms throughout all the gardens this spring, ranging from daffodils and stunning tulips to beautiful azaleas and fragrant roses.

arth Skin is based upon the forms and textures of the earth using inspiration from aerial photography of Western North Carolina and topographical maps of local areas, including Pisgah National Forest and Balsam Range. Created by ceramic artists Trish Salmon and Crystal Allen, Earth Skin includes wall structures and pieces designed for mantles, shelves and tables. All works are available for purchase and a portion of the sales will be donated to The North Carolina Arboretum Society.

About the Artists

Trish Salmon

Trish has been studying clay for many years through the various classes available to her when she lived in the Atlanta area. Taking classes at Penland was a life changing experience and a turning point in her desire to become a studio ceramicist. She and her husband moved to Western North Carolina in 2007, and she has pursued her claywork full time after her career as a kitchen designer. Immediately after retirement, she enrolled in Haywood Community College’s Professional Crafts Program in clay where she received her Associate’s Degree in 2014. She currently is a member of the Odyssey Coop Gallery in the River Arts District in Asheville, NC. She is also a founding member of Artisans on Main in downtown Weaverville where her studio is and where her work is primarily displayed.

Crystal Allen

Before discovering ceramics, Crystal earned a degree in Graphic Art and Design. She has also taught calligraphy, dabbled in watercolors and and learned how to felt, dye and spin natural fibers from her own llamas and sheep. Most recently, Crystal completed the Professional Crafts: Clay Associates degree at Haywood Community College.  Her pottery is primarily functional, with altered or hand built additions. Her pieces are produced in her studio, one of her favorite places on earth!

Event Type: Local Event
Event Category: Art & Culture
Contact: Grovewood Village
Contact Phone: (828) 253-7651
Link: https://www.grovewood.com/

Grovewood Gallery presents Interactions, an exhibition featuring figurative sculptures and teapots by contemporary ceramic artist Taylor Robenalt, who has drawn attention for her innovative narrative style, using flora and fauna to illustrate emotion. Robenalt’s latest body of work is influenced by her daily interactions between humans, animals and nature. An opening reception will be held Saturday, May 5 from 2 – 5pm, with the artist in attendance. Admission is free.

Robenalt received an MFA in ceramics from the University of Georgia in 2011. Since then she has completed artist residencies at Odyssey Clayworks in North Carolina and at Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts in Maine. Aside from her personal work, she has taught ceramics at Auburn University, Columbus State University, and State College of Florida. She is also a co-founder of Ceramic Sculpture Culture, an artists’ collective which works to promote the art of emerging sculptors creating narrative and figurative works in clay.

Interconnected – mutually joined or related : having internal connections between the parts or elements

We are all interconnected. Intrinsically interwoven with each other, with nature, with the animals, with our biosphere, the rest of the entire universe, and Spirit, God, or divinity, we cannot be excluded from the fabric of creation.
When we live in a way that honors this connection, we are healthy and in balance with the world and within ourselves. The golden rule is to ‘do unto others, as you would have them do unto you’, because what we do to others, we do to ourselves. Whether it be harmful, or helpful, the effects of our deeds are felt throughout the fabric of reality, and always ripple back to their source.
One of the many challenges we face in current civilization is widespread depression. Depression is a symptom of isolation, loneliness, and a feeling of not belonging. Our current dominant social model is one of ‘each one for himself’, and extreme independence. The notions of ‘us vs them’ that stem from isolation, can lead to xenophobia, racism, hatred, and other diseases of the spirit.

Re-membering our inherent interconnection is a powerful anecdote for the malaise of isolation.

Interconnection is one of the strongest recurring themes within the Visionary Art movement. This genre of art attempts to bring healing to the schisms of society, and remind humanity that we are not separate, nor alone.  Some people call it “medicine art” or “spiritual art”. Visionary artists share a common longing to open hearts and minds with their art, and help people remember how connected and integrated we all are.

Visionary art is only recently emerging from the underground, and has morphed over the past decade from loosely meaning “self-taught” or “psychedelic”, into a multi-cultural exploration, uplifting and showcasing the spirit, while revealing the interconnections between humanity and the entirety of creation.
The artists exhibited here express interconnection in differing ways, from the basic geometric template that the world is formed around, the plant & animal kingdoms, the realms of spirits, fae, and devas, to the outer reaches of the cosmos.

Participating artists: Andy Reed,  Annie Bennett, Ashley Spero, Chris Sheehan, CJ Randall, Dillon Endico, Ka Amorastreya, Marina Jessica, Mark Hanf, Ryan O’Sullivan

The opening reception for Interconnected will be Friday, June 1, 2018 from 5:00 – 8:00 pm in the Thom Robinson and Ray Griffin Exhibition Space.  An artist talk will start at 6:30 pm.

The AAAC is excited to welcome the kindergartners of Ira B. Jones Elementary into the Hall Gallery. The kindergarten classes are working on a new social studies unit called Our Community. In this unit they will be exploring questions like: Why do people work? How we can help our community? What are our community’s needs and wants? The students will be learning about different kinds of neighborhoods like rural, city, suburban, and why they are important.
In art class the students will apply their understanding of these topics by creating a paper collage of their neighborhood. They will use various paper shapes to create a collage of a neighborhood. The neighborhoods will “link” together with a road that “unites” us all as one community.
The creations inspired by this lessons will be on display Monday – Friday, 10 am – 5 pm from May 4 – June 29, 2018.

Event Type: Local Event
Event Category: Family
Contact: Biltmore
Contact Phone: (800) 411- 3812
Link: http://www.biltmore.com/

Biltmore’s gardens are alive with color as spring arrives. Stunning floral displays – featuring nearly 100,000 tulips – across the estate celebrate the majesty of Frederick Law Olmsted’s legacy as Biltmore’s master horticulture planner. Biltmore’s restaurants will feature special menu items, with the Winery offering wine seminars.  Admire the progression of blossoms throughout all the gardens this spring, ranging from daffodils and stunning tulips to beautiful azaleas and fragrant roses.

arth Skin is based upon the forms and textures of the earth using inspiration from aerial photography of Western North Carolina and topographical maps of local areas, including Pisgah National Forest and Balsam Range. Created by ceramic artists Trish Salmon and Crystal Allen, Earth Skin includes wall structures and pieces designed for mantles, shelves and tables. All works are available for purchase and a portion of the sales will be donated to The North Carolina Arboretum Society.

About the Artists

Trish Salmon

Trish has been studying clay for many years through the various classes available to her when she lived in the Atlanta area. Taking classes at Penland was a life changing experience and a turning point in her desire to become a studio ceramicist. She and her husband moved to Western North Carolina in 2007, and she has pursued her claywork full time after her career as a kitchen designer. Immediately after retirement, she enrolled in Haywood Community College’s Professional Crafts Program in clay where she received her Associate’s Degree in 2014. She currently is a member of the Odyssey Coop Gallery in the River Arts District in Asheville, NC. She is also a founding member of Artisans on Main in downtown Weaverville where her studio is and where her work is primarily displayed.

Crystal Allen

Before discovering ceramics, Crystal earned a degree in Graphic Art and Design. She has also taught calligraphy, dabbled in watercolors and and learned how to felt, dye and spin natural fibers from her own llamas and sheep. Most recently, Crystal completed the Professional Crafts: Clay Associates degree at Haywood Community College.  Her pottery is primarily functional, with altered or hand built additions. Her pieces are produced in her studio, one of her favorite places on earth!

Event Type: Local Event
Event Category: Art & Culture
Contact: Grovewood Village
Contact Phone: (828) 253-7651
Link: https://www.grovewood.com/

Grovewood Gallery presents Interactions, an exhibition featuring figurative sculptures and teapots by contemporary ceramic artist Taylor Robenalt, who has drawn attention for her innovative narrative style, using flora and fauna to illustrate emotion. Robenalt’s latest body of work is influenced by her daily interactions between humans, animals and nature. An opening reception will be held Saturday, May 5 from 2 – 5pm, with the artist in attendance. Admission is free.

Robenalt received an MFA in ceramics from the University of Georgia in 2011. Since then she has completed artist residencies at Odyssey Clayworks in North Carolina and at Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts in Maine. Aside from her personal work, she has taught ceramics at Auburn University, Columbus State University, and State College of Florida. She is also a co-founder of Ceramic Sculpture Culture, an artists’ collective which works to promote the art of emerging sculptors creating narrative and figurative works in clay.

Interconnected – mutually joined or related : having internal connections between the parts or elements

We are all interconnected. Intrinsically interwoven with each other, with nature, with the animals, with our biosphere, the rest of the entire universe, and Spirit, God, or divinity, we cannot be excluded from the fabric of creation.
When we live in a way that honors this connection, we are healthy and in balance with the world and within ourselves. The golden rule is to ‘do unto others, as you would have them do unto you’, because what we do to others, we do to ourselves. Whether it be harmful, or helpful, the effects of our deeds are felt throughout the fabric of reality, and always ripple back to their source.
One of the many challenges we face in current civilization is widespread depression. Depression is a symptom of isolation, loneliness, and a feeling of not belonging. Our current dominant social model is one of ‘each one for himself’, and extreme independence. The notions of ‘us vs them’ that stem from isolation, can lead to xenophobia, racism, hatred, and other diseases of the spirit.

Re-membering our inherent interconnection is a powerful anecdote for the malaise of isolation.

Interconnection is one of the strongest recurring themes within the Visionary Art movement. This genre of art attempts to bring healing to the schisms of society, and remind humanity that we are not separate, nor alone.  Some people call it “medicine art” or “spiritual art”. Visionary artists share a common longing to open hearts and minds with their art, and help people remember how connected and integrated we all are.

Visionary art is only recently emerging from the underground, and has morphed over the past decade from loosely meaning “self-taught” or “psychedelic”, into a multi-cultural exploration, uplifting and showcasing the spirit, while revealing the interconnections between humanity and the entirety of creation.
The artists exhibited here express interconnection in differing ways, from the basic geometric template that the world is formed around, the plant & animal kingdoms, the realms of spirits, fae, and devas, to the outer reaches of the cosmos.

Participating artists: Andy Reed,  Annie Bennett, Ashley Spero, Chris Sheehan, CJ Randall, Dillon Endico, Ka Amorastreya, Marina Jessica, Mark Hanf, Ryan O’Sullivan

The opening reception for Interconnected will be Friday, June 1, 2018 from 5:00 – 8:00 pm in the Thom Robinson and Ray Griffin Exhibition Space.  An artist talk will start at 6:30 pm.

The AAAC is excited to welcome the kindergartners of Ira B. Jones Elementary into the Hall Gallery. The kindergarten classes are working on a new social studies unit called Our Community. In this unit they will be exploring questions like: Why do people work? How we can help our community? What are our community’s needs and wants? The students will be learning about different kinds of neighborhoods like rural, city, suburban, and why they are important.
In art class the students will apply their understanding of these topics by creating a paper collage of their neighborhood. They will use various paper shapes to create a collage of a neighborhood. The neighborhoods will “link” together with a road that “unites” us all as one community.
The creations inspired by this lessons will be on display Monday – Friday, 10 am – 5 pm from May 4 – June 29, 2018.

5-Day Workshop
May 21-25
Monday-Friday 9:30am-4:30pm

This workshop will be co-taught by two of Asheville most exciting mold-makers, Alex Irvine and Nick Moen. Alex specializes in solid clay forming methods while Nick primarily uses hollow masters as the basis for his molds. Together these two dynamic personalities bring a wide range of ceramic molding and casting experience to the table. Projects and demonstrations will begin with the basics, from weighing and mixing plaster to simple one-piece molds. Building on this knowledge, you will learn to create multi-part molds for casting complex forms. With plenty of studio time throughout the week, you will leave will several molds that you can use for years to come and the ability to cast nearly any object in clay.

Level: All Levels
Tuition $595 + $50 Lab Fee