oin Mary Jo Padgett along the pathways of Hendersonville’s Historic Oakdale Cemetery where the famous “Look Homeward Angel” statue is located. Among quiet, artistic grave markers discover Hendersonville’s past through lively stories of its Black, White, Jewish and colorful citizens. These 90-minute walks occur rain or shine.

Brunch B’Yahad is now available through Zoom meeting here.   

Join new and old friends for light brunch, socialization and lively discussion.  Featured guest speakers, and relevant cultural and timely topics will fill our minds.

“Shine and Dine” on the railway! We cordially invite you to hop on board The Carolina Shine, GSMR’s All-Adult First Class Moonshine Car! We will be proudly serving hand crafted, triple-distilled, craft moonshine. Some of the smoothest tasting moonshine in the Carolinas!

Offered on the Nantahala Gorge excursion, this shine and dine experience begins in a renovated First Class train fleet car, The Carolina Shine. The interior features copper lined walls filled with the history of moonshining in North Carolina. Learn about the proud tradition that the Appalachians established when bootlegging was an acceptable way of life and local home brews were the best in town. Read about Swain County’s very own Major Redmond, the most famous mountain moonshine outlaw of the 19th century.

The exhibit was developed as part of the celebration of the 450th anniversary of the Juan Pardo expeditions. Several years ago, archaeologists identified a site near Morganton as the location of Joara, one of the largest Native American towns in what is today Western North Carolina.

Joara was occupied from approximately 1400-1600 A.D. Two Spanish expeditions led respectively by Hernando de Soto and Juan Pardo visited the town in the 1500s. The Pardo expedition was part of a larger effort to establish a string of forts from the coast of present-day South Carolina all the way to Mexico. In 2013, archaeologists confirmed that Joara was also the site of Fort San Juan, established by Pardo in 1567, nearly 20 years before the English settlement at Roanoke on the coast of North Carolina and 40 years before the settlement at Jamestown.

Through various artifacts uncovered by the archaeology, the exhibit showcases the Spanish occupation of Fort San Juan and the lives of the native people who lived in the Joara area.

The exhibit is on loan from the Exploring Joara Foundation Inc. Exploring Joara engages the public in archaeology in the Carolinas, and emphasizes the discovery of the Native American town of Joara and Fort San Juan. The exhibit will be on display at the Western North Carolina Historical Association’s gallery inside the Smith-McDowell House through December 15.

The gallery is open for visitation Thursday, Friday, and Saturday between 10:30am and 4:00pm. Reservations are recommended.

Nancy Graves, Parable of Nostalgia from the Tango portfolio, 1991, intaglio on cotton rag paper, edition 12/26, publisher: Iris Editions, New York, image: 26 × 17 5/8 inches, sheet: 35 3/4 × 26 inches. Asheville Art Museum. © Nancy Graves Foundation, Inc. / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY.

A Dance of Images and Words: The Nancy Graves/Pedro Cuperman Tango Portfolio features a series of eight intaglio prints that depict plants and animals alongside eleven sheets of prose that explore the steps of the Argentinian dance, the tango. Organized by the Asheville Art Museum from the Museum’s Collection and curated by Hilary Schroeder, assistant curator, this exhibition will be on view in The Van Winkle Law Firm Gallery at the Museum from September 29, 2021 through January 10, 2022.

The common idiom “it takes two to tango” is immediately called into question in both the imagery and words of the Tango portfolio. The portfolio is an expression of artist Nancy Graves (Pittsfield, MA 1939–1995 New York, NY) writer Pedro Cuperman’s (1936–2016 Buenos Aires, Argentina) meditations on the dance. Their imagery and words become paired in an illustrated book though their explorations take different formats and directions. Both Graves and Cuperman look towards humankind and nature as a place where beings come together in the experience of living. This exhibition presents Graves’s eight prints alongside the portfolio frontispiece and a page of Cuperman’s text to immerse visitors in the collaborative dance of the tango.

Continuum Arts Gallery will host its first, curated gallery show beginning on September 18th, 2021. Titled ‘Haec Culti’, the group show will run from September 18 – November 9th, featuring artists Kat Knutsen, Kevin Yaun, Frank Lombardo, and Conrado Lopez. For our opening day, light horderves will be served and live music will be showcased throughout the day. Miami Gold, a local Asehville band, hits the stage at 7pm! This event is free and open to the public.

Open Sun-Tues by appointment only

Contemporary art, interdisciplinary research communities, and the inspiration of Appalachia converge in Rural Avant-Garde: The Mountain Lake Experience. This exhibition showcases a selection of collaborative creative works that emerged from nearly four decades of the Mountain Lake Workshop series, a program sited in rural southwestern Virginia.

Founded by artist and scholar Ray Kass in 1980 and co-organized with influential art critics Dr. Donald B. Kuspit and Dr. Howard Risatti, as well as the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA), the Mountain Lake Workshops integrated the arts and sciences in a dynamic experimental creative process that pushed past the traditional boundaries of art, dance, and performance.

Community-centered from its inception, the Mountain Lake Workshop demonstrated the relevance of the arts across disciplines, as well as social and participatory learning. This exhibition offers a focused look at art that investigated new conceptual limits, born of the region in southwestern Virginia, just a few hundred miles north of Asheville, NC. Works range from large-scale watercolors and photographic installation to relics of performances and other experimentations in artmaking.

Highlights include composer and conceptual artist John Cage’s New River Rocks and Washes(1990). A significant late-career work by Cage, this rarely exhibited watercolor extends nearly 30 feet in length, produced using methods of chance to trace stones gathered from the workshop’s natural surroundings.

This exhibition was organized by the Longwood Center for the Visual Arts at Longwood University. Generous funding was provided in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Artist Walter B. Stephen (Clinton, IA 1875–1961 Asheville, NC) contributed to Western North Carolina’s identity as a flourishing site for pottery production and craftsmanship in the early 20th century. Walter B. Stephen Pottery: Cameo to Crystalline features art pottery and functional vessels from each stage of Stephen’s career, from his origins discovering the medium alongside his mother Nellie C. Randall Stephen in Shelby County, TN from 1901 through 1910 to his multi-decade production just outside of Asheville. This exhibition will be on view in the Asheville Art Museum’s Debra McClinton Gallery July 28, 2021 through January 17, 2022.

In 1926, Stephen founded his third and last pottery studio, Pisgah Forest, in Arden, NC, which he operated until his death in 1961. It was at this studio that the artist perfected the “cameo” decoration technique for which he became best known. His hand-painted images, achieved with layers of white translucent clay, often feature American folk imagery, from covered wagons and livestock to cabins and spinning wheels. A selection of works from the Museum’s Collection showcase his innovation in form and in decorative surface details, including experimentation with crystalline glazing.

The Friends of the Weaverville Library (FOWL) are excited to announce the opening of their used bookstore in Weaverville on Thursday, July 8. Located in the lower level of the Weaverville Library at 41 N. Main St., the store will be open Thursdays 1-5 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays 11 a.m.-2 p.m., with expanded hours beginning in September. The store is stocked with thousands of books, audiobooks, CDs, DVDs, and more. All adult books are priced at $1.50-$3.00, children and teen books at $1.00-$1.50, audio and video at $2.00.

There is also a bargain-priced area and a collection of special finds that are priced individually. Please feel free to contact us at 828-641-1812 or [email protected]. All proceeds from the store will benefit the Weaverville Library.

Walter B. Stephen, Sugar Bowl, 1943, glazed stoneware, 4 x 6.63 x 5.5 inches. Gift of Andrew Glasgow, 2010.26.04.82.

ART BREAKS

Drop in to one of our lunchtime Art Breaks! Taking place on selected Fridays at 12pm, these informal gallery talks and presentations both inform and engage you in dialogue with our staff, docents, or special guests.

Starting this weekend, we’ll be selling local heirloom and edible pumpkins from Sandy Mush, NC, and decorative gourds from Union Grove, NC!

Come join us at the farm as we get into the fall spirit & celebrate the harvest 

No appointments are required to enter the site. All three vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson) will be available for those seeking their first or second dose.

Pfizer-BioNTech booster shots will also be available for individuals who meet the eligibility criteria established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC’s recommendations apply only to individuals who received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine at least 6 months ago.

According to the CDC, the following individuals should get a booster shot:

• people 65 years of age and older
• residents of long-term care settings
• people 50–64 years of age with certain underlying medical conditions

The following individuals may consider getting a booster shot after discussing the potential risks and benefits with a healthcare provider:

• people 18–49 years of age with certain underlying medical conditions
• people 18–64 years of age who are at increased risk for COVID-19 exposure and transmission because of their occupational or institutional setting

Currently, booster doses are not recommended for those who received Moderna or J&J vaccines but may be recommended in the future after the CDC conducts a thorough review of safety and efficacy data.

Small Business Center at Blue Ridge Community College offers FREE seminars/workshops to support Small Business

Speaker(s): SBA

Co-Sponsor(s): Henderson County Chamber of Commerce, Brevard/Transylvania Chamber of Commerce

Webinar info will be emailed after registration

OAKS Afterschool Program
Pre-registration required. FREE for the 2021-2022 school year
September 7-December 17, 2021 | Monday-Friday | 2:30-5:30pm
An inclusive recreation program designed to support rising 1st5th graders and their families. OAKS will provide homework
assistance and opportunities to play through a variety of activities
and field trips. Participants will benefit from lower child to
staff ratios, continuation of scholastic goals (as applicable),
and individualized treatment plans (facilitated by LRT/CTRS
and program staff). Participants who cannot meet eligibility
requirements may attend with a 1:1 worker.
Location: Oakley

Pre-registration required. FREE for the 2021-2022 school year
August 23, 2021-June 3, 2022 | Monday-Friday | 2:45-6pm
K-6th graders.
Does your child enjoy having fun and making new friends? Offering
arts, crafts, special events, homework assistance and more!
Families currently enrolled in the school system’s reduced or free
meal program, please contact your recreation center for discount
fee information.
Locations: Burton, Grant, Montford, Shiloh, Stephens-Lee

Welcome to the 2021 Annual Corn Maze!

Join us for aMAZEing fun!

We are WNC’s ONLY non-profit Corn Maze with 100% of proceeds benefiting the children at Eliada!  Not only does your ticket purchase come with access to family-friendly fun, but it directly aids in the growth and success of Eliada’s kids!

Service Pets Only!

Dates and Times

Eliada’s 2021 Annual Corn Maze will be open from Friday, October 1st through Sunday, October 31st on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Fridays:

• 3 pm – 7 pm

Saturdays:

• 9 am – 7 pm

Sundays:

• 10 am – 6 pm

You can purchase tickets, schedule birthday parties and corporate event nights. Tickets are $10 for adults and children 4 and up. Children 3 and under are FREE.

Hosted by: the Buddhist Studies Institute

FREE – ONLINE – 30 MINUTES – DAILY
🌺Guided meditation support and community🌺

🌸Stabilization and Liberation:
In order to liberate our minds– we need stable calm.

🌸Consistency & Commitment:
Stabilizing in calm clear presence takes consistent training.

🌸Support & Community:
Daily Meditation is a container and support for your meditation focus.

Expand your meditation circle- join us online any day or every day!

Formerly known as 100 Days of practice to support a Tibetan Yogis tradition to practice 100 days in the winter, this has now been expanded to continue daily. To learn more and register: https://buddhiststudiesinstitute.org/100-days-of-practice/

What we’re about

Montford Pre-Teen Afterschool Program
Pre-registration required. FREE for the 2021-2022 school year
August 23, 2021 – June 3, 2022 | Monday-Friday | 3:30-6pm
5th-6th graders.
New program designed to meet the needs of your pre-teen.
Providing time dedicated to school assignments, life skills, arts,
communication, leadership, fitness, nutrition, and loads of fun.
Location: Montford

Returning 2021 – Guests will hear a narration of Schulz’s “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” as the train travels to the Pumpkin Patch. Upon arrival, passengers will be greeted and have a photo opportunity with Charlie Brown, Lucy, and Snoopy. During your 1 hour and 30 minute layover, your activities to enjoy at The Great Pumpkin Patch will include:

• campfire marshmallows
• coloring station
• temporary tattoos
• trick or treating
• bouncy house (weather permitting)
• wagon rides

And kids, don’t forget to wear your Halloween costumes! There will be plenty of PEANUTS™ merchandise at the GSMR Gift Store and Train Museum! Each child will also select their own pumpkin from The Great Pumpkin Patch to take home.

Teen Leadership Program
Pre-registration required. FREE for the 2021-2022 school year
August 23, 2021-June 3, 2022 | Monday-Friday | 3:30-6pm
6th-9th graders.
Looking for a cool and enriching alternative for your Teen to attend
this school year? We offer creative activities, diverse projects,
field trips, and more.
Locations: Grant, Shiloh, Stephens-Lee