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.
The Arts Build Community Grant has supported arts-based community projects for underserved communities since 2018. Grants range from $1,000-$2,500, with priority given to projects based in low-income neighborhoods and communities in need. Funds may be used to cover costs including art supplies, professional artists’ fees, travel, space rental, advertising, marketing and publicity, website and electronic media, props, music, and equipment rental. Applications are open June 24 and closes July 22.
Liberation Tools is a cooperative subset of the 501c3 nonprofit Soul & Soil Project based in the unceded Tsalagi (Cherokee) territory of Western North Carolina.
Our mission is to build a collective that sustainably and skillfully crafts quality tools used for growing food, and freely distributes them to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. To support these efforts, we sell these tools for twice the cost of producing one, thereby allowing people with accumulated wealth to access high quality tools by also paying for an identical tool to be sent to a BIPOC land steward.
Splasheville
Splasheville is located in Pack Square Park on 80 Court Plaza. The free splash pad’s regular daily hours are 9.m-8:30pm, but may close for special events or during inclement weather. Check the calendar for scheduled closures.
Artists are invited to create artworks with the theme of “Red, White and Blue.“ Apply these patriotic colors at the center of your subjects, however there are no limits to your creativity, your artworks don’t need to be primarily patriotic theme, but viewers should be able to spot the use of recognizable amount of red, white and blue colors.
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.
John Dickens will be demonstrating the woodcarving techniques he uses to create his wonderful bird sculptures. He will be in the lobby of the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Visitors are encouraged to watch and ask questions while the demonstrators work and talk about their creative process! Call ahead for the latest updates: 828-298-7928.
Rita de Maintenon will be demonstrating heritage crochet lace techniques, with project samples of the various types, and an extra chair in her booth for curious visitors who might want some hands-on fun! You will find Rita in the lobby of the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Visitors are encouraged to watch and ask questions while the demonstrators work and talk about their creative process! Call ahead for the latest updates: 828-298-7928.
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:
- Billy Bernstein – glass
- Christine Smith – wood
- Tamela Wells – jewelry
- Robert Milnes – clay
- 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.
Calling all Buncombe County Democrats!
Join us for an afternoon of knocking on doors and talking with your Democratic neighbors.
After you’ve signed up to canvass, register for an online training on canvassing with MiniVan. https://www.mobilize.us/ncdems/event/602441/
Preservers, Innovators, and Rescuers of Culture in Chiapas features eleven textiles by acclaimed Indigenous artisanas (artists) from Chiapas, Mexico commissioned by US-based fiber artists and activist Aram Han Sifuentes. As part of their 2022 Craft Research Fund Artist Fellowship, Han Sifuentes traveled to Chiapas to understand the function of garments and textiles within the social and cultural context of the area and to learn the traditional practice of backstrap weaving. Through the works on view, combined with a series of interviews Han Sifuentes conducted during her research, visitors learn about the artisanas and their role as preservers, rescuers, and innovators of culture and as protectors of Mayan ancestral knowledge. Together, these works present an approach to connecting and learning about culture through craft practices.
Han Sifuentes is interested in backstrap weaving because it is one of the oldest forms used across cultures. The vibrant hues and elaborate designs of each textile express the artisanas identities and medium to tell their stories. To understand how these values manifested in textiles made in Chiapas, Han Sifuentes invited the artisanas to create whatever weaving they desired over the course of three months. This is unique because most textiles in the area are created to meet tourist-driven and marketplace demands. Incorporating traditional backstrap weaving and natural dye techniques, some artisans created textiles to rescue or reintroduce weaving practices that are almost or completely lost in their communities, while others were created through material and conceptual experimentation. This range of approaches reflects how artistanas are constantly innovating while at the same time honoring and keeping to tradition.
Preservers, Innovators, and Rescuers of Culture in Chiapas is on view from November 17, 2023 to July 13, 2024.
Aram Han Sifuentes is a recipient 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.
The featured artisanas include: Juana Victoria Hernandez Gomez from San Juan Cancuc, Maria Josefina Gómez Sanchez and Maria de Jesus Gómez Sanchez from Oxchujk (Oxchuc), Marcela Gómez Diaz and Cecilia Gómez Diaz from San Andrés Larráinzar, Rosa Margarita Enríquez Bolóm from Huixtán, Cristina García Pérez from Chalchihuitán, Susana Maria Gómez Gonzalez, Maria Gonzalez Guillén, and Anastacia Juana Gómez Gonzalez from Zinacantán, Angelica Leticia Gómez Santiz from Pantelhó, and Susana Guadalupe Méndez Santiz from Aldama
Saturdays from 10:30 AM – 12 PM
Visit the Art Place Studios Gallery to see the latest works from our resident artists.
“Journey Through Shadow & Light: Navigating Mental Health Through Art”
Featured Artist: Charlotte Horton
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.
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Rudolph F. Ingerle, Mirrored Mountain, not dated, oil on canvas, 28 × 32 inches. Courtesy of Allen & Barry Huffman, Asheville Art Museum. |
Join us for our monthly Plant Club Pop-Up Market!
This market happens every 3rd Saturday of the month in The Canopy at Art Garden AVL from 11 am – 3 pm.
Our next Plant Club Pop-Up Market will be on Saturday, June 15, 2024.
191 Lyman St., #320, Asheville, NC, 28801
Come enjoy The Canopy and check out local growers and makers of all things plantie: from unusual houseplants and rare tropicals, to native medicinals, handmade pots and trellises, to botanical watercolor paintings, stained glass art, and cut flower bouquets, herbal salves and teas, and more!
Support local and shop all things plantie!
Check our IG @artgardenavl the week before each Plant Club to see who will be vending with us that month!
This event is free to attend. Park for free in our parking lot.
Vend with us for only $10 – apply on our website: https://www.artgardenavl.com/getinvolved
Robert Turner (1913-2005) arrived at Black Mountain College in 1949 to establish the first studio pottery program at the College. He worked with student architect Paul Williams to design the Potshop and stayed until 1951 as a teacher and potter. There he formed lifelong friendships with M.C. Richards, Joe Fiore, and Natasha Goldowski Renner, and was part of the lively mix of art and ideas generated by Clement Greenberg, Katherine Litz, Kenneth Noland, Theodoros Stamos, and many others. Turner’s education prior to his arrival at Black Mountain included Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, The Barnes Foundation, Penland School of Crafts, and Alfred University.
After Black Mountain, Turner and his family moved to Alfred Station, NY where they bought a farm, and he established a successful studio pottery practice and actively exhibited his work in galleries across the U.S. In 1958 he began teaching pottery and sculpture at Alfred University where he would lead the ceramics program until his retirement in 1979. In addition to his influential teaching position at Alfred, Turner taught at Penland, Haystack, and Anderson Ranch helping a new generation of artists and potters develop their work and establishing his own reputation as a gifted teacher.
Robert Turner’s travels to Africa and to the American Southwest proved to be important life experiences and important to his growth as an artist. Over his lifetime he received many awards for his work, but his humble, gentle demeanor and Quaker background helped keep him centered while also remaining open to exploration and discovery in nature and life.
The exhibition will include work by some of Turner’s students and colleagues at BMC, Alfred University, and Penland as well as work by contemporary ceramic artists whose work fits within the context of the show. Artists include: Meredith Brickell, Cynthia Bringle, Marjorie Dial, Cynthia Homire, Bill C. Jones, Bobby Kaddis, Karen Karnes, Eric Knoche, Jeannine Marchand, Neil Noland, Daniel Rhodes, M.C. Richards, Gay Smith, Tom Spleth, Adele Suska, Lydia C. Thompson, Xavier Toubes, Jerilyn Virden, Peter Voulkos, David Weinrib, and Kensuke Yamáda.
I wanted to work with clay so that the way it moved, the vitality of clay, is not meeting something that’s been on the drawing board. It’s using clay with abstraction to start with and then seeing what it’s going to do, how it will move and change, and always surprise you.
Curated by Alice Sebrell, Director of Preservation
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
Ride the free ArtsAVL Trolley connecting the Downtown and River Arts Districts with two overlapping routes every Second Saturday from 12-6 pm.
DOWNTOWN LOOP 
- Pack Square Stop (near Asheville Art Museum)
- The Block Stop (near LEAF Global Arts)
- Pritchard Park Stop (near Ten Thousand Villages)
- Coxe Avenue Stop (near Rabbit Rabbit)
- Wedge Studios Stop (near Hofman Studios)
- Grove Arcade Stop (near Citizen Vinyl)
- Broadway Arts District Stop (near Center for Craft)
Downtown/ River Arts Loop Connector
RIVER ARTS LOOP 
- Wedge Studios Stop (near Hofman Studios)
- Clingman Roundabout Stop (near Odyssey Gallery)
- Depot Street Stop (near NorthLight Studios)
- North Riverview Station Stop (near Art Garden)
- Foundy Street Stop (near Grail Moviehouse)
- South Riverview Station Stop (near Newstock Pantry)
- River Arts Place Stop (near Curve Studios)
- Cotton Mill Studios Stop (near Guajiro Cuban Comfort Food)
- Craven Street Stop (near New Belgium)
- W. Haywood Street Stop (near Riverside Studios)
Trolley loops take 20-25 minutes. You can get on or off the trolley at any stop. See our ArtsAVL Trolley FAQ page for more details.
DOWNTOWN ARTS DISTRICT
Pack Square Stop
The Block Stop
Pritchard Park Stop
Coxe Avenue Stop
Grove Arcade Stop
Broadway Arts District Stop
RIVER ARTS DISTRICT
Wedge Studios Stop
Depot Street Stop
North Riverview Station Stop
Foundy Street Stop
South Riverview Station Stop
River Arts Place Stop
Cotton Mill Studios Stop
Craven Street Stop
W. Haywood Street Stop
EXPLORE ASHEVILLE’S ART SCENE
Ride the free ArtsAVL Trolley linking the Downtown and River Arts Districts with two overlapping loops every Second Saturday from 12-6 pm. Trolley loops take about 20-25 mins, and riders are free to hop on or off at any stop.
DOWNTOWN LOOP
- Pack Square Stop (near Asheville Art Museum)
- The Block Stop (near LEAF Global Arts)
- Pritchard Park Stop (near Ten Thousand Villages)
- Coxe Avenue Stop (near Rabbit Rabbit)
- Wedge Studios Stop (near Hofman Studios)
- Grove Arcade Stop (near Citizen Vinyl)
- Broadway Arts District Stop (near Center for Craft)
Downtown/ River Arts Loop Connector
RIVER ARTS LOOP
- Wedge Studios Stop (near Hofman Studios)
- Clingman Roundabout Stop (near Odyssey Gallery)
- Depot Street Stop (near NorthLight Studios)
- North Riverview Station Stop (near Art Garden)
- Foundy Street Stop (near Grail Moviehouse)
- South Riverview Station Stop (near Newstock Pantry)
- River Arts Place Stop (near Curve Studios)
- Cotton Mill Studios Stop (near Guajiro Cuban Comfort Food)
- Craven Street Stop (near New Belgium)
- W. Haywood Street Stop (near Riverside Studios)
Visit LEAF Global Arts every Saturday for an in-house cultural exchange with Adama Dembele. Experience the Ivory Coast with our Culture Keeper from the House of Djembe.
Internationally renowned Storyteller, Donna Washington, graces us with tales for all ages.
Sponsored by the Friends of the Black Mountain Library.
Join us on Second Saturdays each month of 2024 for our Who Am I, Who Are We? exhibit in collaboration with The River Arts District!
Each month we will be exploring a new subtopic as it relates to the overarching exhibit topic, with each of our artists telling their stories in this group exhibit.
Join us this Second Saturday, July 13th, 2024 for the opening of the Who Am I, Who Are We: Our Landscape exhibit, featuring Art Garden AVL artists Annie Kyla Bennett, Medicine Heart Murals, and more!
The Opening Reception for Our Landscape group exhibit will take place in The Canopy Gallery at Art Garden AVL, July 13th from 4 pm – 6 pm.
191 Lyman St., #320, Asheville, NC, 28801.
Come by to check out the exhibit, enjoy the gallery space, grab a drink from The Pot Stirred, and meet and mingle with the artists whose work are featured in the exhibit. This is amazing opportunity to ask the artists questions directly about their art, and learn their origin stories!
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On Second Saturdays you can also find live art creation, demos, and more in The Canopy. Peer into the process of artists in their studios, working in ceramic, fiber, paint, and more. Featuring Art Garden studio artists, and occasional special guests.
Studios:
#314: Trish Salmon, hand-built ceramic sculpture
#324: Cynthia Llanes, landscape expressionism
#320 Canopy Suite:
320a: Harper Leich, Greta Aguirre, and Lupo Passero, fine art, jewelry, herbalism.
320d: Jack Henry, painting and wheel-thrown ceramics
320e: Dillon Endico, oil painting, woodwork, murals
320f: Annie Kyla Bennett, Regenerative Nouveau. oil and mixed media
320g: Sierra the Moth Queen, apothecary and plant arts
320h: Alex Stilber, painting and mixed media
Locals and visitors alike come together at downtown’s Pack Square Park “along about sundown,” or at 7:00 pm for those who wear a watch, and continues until 10:00 pm. Concessions are available!
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2024 Dates
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Shindig on the Green
July 6, 13, 20, 27
August 10, 17, 24
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The stage show takes place on the Bascom Lamar Lunsford stage, named for the founder of the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival. Since the outdoor event’s inception in 1967, hundreds of thousands of individuals from across the region and throughout the world have shared and enjoyed the rich traditional music and dance heritage of the Southern Appalachian Mountains in this outdoor setting.
Shindig on the Green remains a free event due in part to net proceeds from ticket sales to the nation’s longest continually running festival, the granddaddy of all festivals, the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival.
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.
ASAP (Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project) has released a survey to learn more about how people in Western North Carolina shop for food and why they choose the food they do. The survey, part of a three-year project by ASAP’s Local Food Research Center, is for any resident of Western North Carolina over the age of 18, no matter where or how they shop for food. It can be completed online at surveymonkey.com/r/WNCFoodASAP or over the phone by calling ASAP at 828-236-1282. It should take approximately 8 to 12 minutes to complete and will be open through Oct. 31, 2024. Respondents are encouraged to share the survey widely with families, friends, and co-workers.
“By completing this survey, you are helping local farmers understand and connect with consumers,” said Amy Marion, ASAP Associate Director and lead researcher. “The challenges of our food system are constantly evolving. Improving it requires active participation from all community members. With this research we can better understand consumer values and the barriers they face, and help farmers and food producers improve communications with their customers and their communities.”
The survey is part of a three-year research project, “Connections in Direct Markets: Assessing the feedback loop between consumer values and farmers’ marketing strategies,” which will examine and improve communication and alignment between farmers and consumers in Western North Carolina. The research phase will also employ consumer focus groups, farmer interviews and case studies, and more targeted surveying. The broad consumer survey provides an update to the last consumer survey conducted by the Local Food Research Center in 2014. Results from the current research project will be shared in 2025.
ASAP founded the Local Food Research Center in 2011 to study the economic, environmental, and social impacts of localizing food systems. From its inception, ASAP’s programs and services have been grounded in research and evaluation, adjusting based on a strong feedback loop and observation of current conditions in the food system.
This project is supported in part by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number 2022-38640-37488 through the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program under subaward number LS23-382. USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider.
Calling All Artists in SC, NC, GA, TN, & VA |
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Whenever you want!
Supplies available at
2 Sulphur Springs Road
If you need to request supplies for the same or next day, please call 828-254-1776.
Organizing a litter cleanup with your friends, neighbors, co-workers, or other community members is easier than you may think! Asheville GreenWorks provides cleanup supplies and safety information, and will coordinate trash pick up as needed. Available supplies include safety vests, gloves, trash grabbers, trash bags, and SHARPs containers (upon request).
Review the attached guides for instructions and safety information.
Need to know
Please review the attached documents and contact [email protected] with any questions. Your supplies will be available for pickup on the date you’ve requested at Asheville GreenWorks’ office at 2 Sulphur Springs Road, Asheville, NC 28806.
All cleanups should be reported using the online form and supplies should be returned after your cleanup.
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library impacts the pre-literacy skills and school readiness of children under the age of 5 in Buncombe County. The program mails a new, free, age-appropriate book to registered children each month until they turn five years old. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library creates a home library of up to 60 books and instills a love of books and reading from an early age. If you have any questions about the program, please send an email to [email protected].
A national panel of educators selects the Imagination Library titles, which include: The Little Engine that Could, Last Stop on Market Street, Violet the Pilot, As an Oak Tree Grows, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Llama Llama Red Pajama, Look Out Kindergarten, here I come, and many more (take a look at all the titles).
Register your child now!
Program Launch and Expansions
Literacy Together became a Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library affiliate in November 2015 with support from the Buncombe Partnership for Children. Through this program, registered children in Buncombe County receive a free book in the mail each month. Their parents also have the opportunity to attend workshops to learn how to build their children’s early literacy skills. Parents in need of literacy assistance are encouraged to receive tutoring through Literacy Together’s adult programming.
The program served 200 children during the 2015/16 fiscal year. The program expanded to serve 400 children in July 2016, and 600 in August 2017. In July 2018, capacity increased to 1,900 thanks to a special allocation in the North Carolina state budget. We’re now serving 4,600 kids in Buncombe County.