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Haywood Community College’s Professional Crafts Program Graduate Exhibition
Aug 10 @ 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Folk Art Center
Icky, Sticky, Spineless Things! With the ECCO Aquarium
Aug 10 @ 10:00 am – 11:00 am
Enka-Candler Library
Explore marine invertebrates: What is an invertebrate? Introduction to the 5 main families of ocean invertebrates, interactive lab with invertebrate sorting buckets, and interactive experience with live specimens
North Asheville Library Check out a Pair of Binoculars
Aug 10 @ 10:00 am – 8:00 pm
North Asheville Library
Want to take your hiking trip to the next level? Interested in getting a closer look at our local wildlife? The North Asheville Library now has binoculars available for check out!
Performance + Competition Team
Aug 10 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Asheville Performing Arts Academy
Would you like to learn some pieces and become part of a group that’s entire focus is performing and competing? This week we will learn a few showstoppers, evaluate everyone’s skill level and host auditions for our year round Performance Troupe. No experience is required to participate- but must have a love of MUSICAL THEATRE.
At the end of the week you will perform for family and friends. If, at the end of the week, you are invited into our performance group, we will let you know and present you with the schedule of rehearsals and potential performances/competitions. We are excited to have you and break a leg!
RAD Collabs
Aug 10 @ 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
North Carolina Glass Center
Being an artist can be a lonely endeavor. RAD Collabs seeks to inspire artists to leave behind solitary work habits, encourage new friendships and inspire imaginative art.
We put the word out to Asheville-area artists earlier this year and had an overwhelming response from painters, potters, metalsmiths, woodworkers and others who expressed an interest in working with glassblowers.
The work exhibited in this show will shine the light on these new partnerships. Come see the show and watch glassblowers in action all at the same time!
Pictured is a collaboration between Joe Nicholson and Vanessa Tsumura.
Skateboard Re-Purposed Exhibit
Aug 10 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Tryon Fine Arts Center
The synergy of vibrant outsider art created locally and shared with Tryon Fine Arts has resulted
in a one-of-a-kind art exhibit opening June 1, 2022. The Skateboard: Re-purposed includes
works from North Carolina, Oregon, California, England and Germany. Seven artists are
featured, including Tryon’s own Jonathan Caple, Nicholas Harding (England), Matt Mercurio,
George Rocha, Michael Mauney, Paris Evans and Folk Dunker (Gemany).
Skateboarding has been popular for over a century and is now experiencing a resurgence in both
the sports arena and the art world—it became an Olympic sport in 2020 and was part of a
successful 2019 Sotheby’s auction, with boards by, among others, Damien Hirst and Marilyn
Minter.
Skateboards re-purposed as art will be on exhibit in TFAC’s Parker Gallery beginning June 1,
2022. The exhibit will feature skateboard art in many sizes and forms including graceful
sculptures, nature art, chairs, wall art, a crocheted piece, photographs, and more. Several of the
exhibit pieces will be for sale, supporting both the artists and TFAC as the exhibit sponsor.
The public is invited to attend the opening reception on June 9 from 5 – 7 PM, where they can
also meet local skateboard artist, Jonathan Caple. The exhibit will be on display through to the
end of July 2022.
To access the gallery, plan to enter through the Pavilion at the rear of Tryon Fine Arts Center.
Free parking is available behind TFAC and on surrounding side streets. For more information,
call 828-859-8322 or visit www.tryonarts.org.
“Life Art Life” William Bernstein 50 Year Art Retrospective
Aug 10 @ 10:30 am – 5:00 pm
Toe River Arts, Kokol Gallery
“LIFE ART LIFE William Bernstein 50 year retrospective” exhibition August 6-October 9, 2022 at the Toe River Arts’ Kokol Gallery, Spruce Pine, NC, features the paintings and glass of this artist who has been on the forefront of the studio glass movement.
Graduating 1968 from the Philadelphia College of Arts and just married, Bernstein moved to Penland School of Crafts to be their second glass resident artist from 1968-70. He was a co-founder of the Glass Arts Society (GAS) that formed to bring together the glass community so people could work together and learn from each other. Receiving numerous awards, fellowships and grants, he has exhibited internationally and has artwork in many private and public collections. Bernstein has lived most of his professional life in the rural Celo community of Yancey, North Carolina along with his family and artist wife, Katherine Bernstin. This retrospective provides a great opportunity for one to imagine a life surrounded by art.
This has been not only been a year-long process of curating pieces for an exhibit, but a lifetime of making art that connects with all things about one’s life. Bernstein’s work in glass and paint showcases just that: his family, his pets, friends, his environs, his moods and so much more. A life well-lived in creating art. More on Bernstein Glass www.bernsteinglass.com
William Warmus (A Fellow and former curator of Modern Glass at the Corning Museum), writes for the exhibition catalog, “Bernstein is a minimalist whose style is based upon the dedication to the concepts of honesty, modesty, and humility. It has a feel of its surroundings and of the people of the region.”
The Toe River Arts Kokol Gallery is located at 269 Oak Avenue, Spruce Pine, NC 28777. The exhibition dates: August 6 – October 9, 2022. Hours: Tuesdays-Saturdays from 10:30 – 5:00 pm. 828-765-0520, www.toeriverarts.org
Public receptions on Fridays: August 12 and October 7, both 5:00-7:00 PM. Artist gallery talk Friday, August 12, 4:00 pm. The exhibition travels to Cary Arts Center November 30 – January 21, 2023.
Coinciding with the United Nations’ Year 2022 as the Year of Glass and the 60th Anniversary of the Studio Glass Movement, this has been made possible by Toe River Arts, the North Carolina Arts Council, the Cary Art Center, Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass, the Blumenthal Foundation, and Mountain Electronics in Micaville, NC.
Pack Library Book Club: The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Aug 10 @ 10:30 am – 11:30 am
Pack Memorial Library
Panther’s Training Camp
Aug 10 @ 10:30 am
Wofford College
Is training camp free and open to the public?
Yes, practices are free to attend with first-come, first-serve seating along the grass hill alongside the practice fields.
Do fans have to show proof of vaccination to attend?
Proof of vaccination and face coverings are not required. Mask-wearing is not required.
Are autographs available?
This year, there will be opportunities for fans to be able to get autographs from players after practice. Signage will direct fans to the area along the Field 1 fence where there is potential for players to stop and sign autographs after practice.
Can I bring in outside food and beverages?
Fans are allowed to bring in coolers and containers with food and drink (non-alcoholic). Glass containers are not allowed for safety reasons.
What else is permitted?
The following items are permitted at camp:
-Backpacks
-Containers for medical supplies
-Flags without poles or sticks
-Folding chairs, seat cushions, umbrellas
-Strollers
-Selfie sticks
-Tablets
What items are not permitted?
The following items are NOT permitted in the practice field complex:
-Alcohol
-Explosives, fireworks
-Horns, bells, whistles, artificial noisemakers
-Illegal drugs
-Oversized tents
-Pets, excepting service animals assisting those with disabilities
-Weapons of any kind, including guns, knives, scissors and those carried with a permit
The Panthers retain the right to confiscate items judged to pose a safety hazard or diminish the enjoyment of other patrons. Prohibited items that are discovered during security inspection must be returned to the owner’s vehicle or discarded. Unlawful items discovered during inspection are subject to confiscation and the person in possession of the item may be denied entry and is subject to arrest. All containers like coolers and backpacks will be inspected before allowed to enter.
What happens if it rains?
Severe weather is always possible in Spartanburg during the summer months. Typically, practice will continue through light rain. If there is severe weather, practice times may be shifted or cancelled. Follow the Panthers on Twitter (@Panthers) for up-to-date announcements.
Where can I find up-to-date rosters and team information?
We are once again sharing a mobile-first fan guide through the Panthers app. Download the app and navigate to the Training Camp Fan Guide button. The mobile experience will have enter-to-win promotions, updated rosters and depth charts, player features, trivia, fan info, things to do in Spartanburg and more.
Preschool Story Time in Black Mountain
Aug 10 @ 10:30 am – 11:15 am
Black Mountain Library
Join us for a story time designed for children ages 3 to 5 years as we share books, songs, rhymes, and activities.
Toddler Story Time Enka-Candler Library
Aug 10 @ 10:30 am – 11:15 am
Enka-Candler Library
Join us for a fun and interactive story time designed for children ages 18 months to 3 years.
American Perspectives: Stories from the American Folk Art Museum Collection
American Perspectives: Stories from the American Folk Art Museum Collection showcases over 80 stellar works of folk and self-taught art including assemblages, needlework, paintings, pottery, quilts, and sculpture. Organized by the American Folk Art Museum in New York, this exhibition will be on view in the Explore Asheville Exhibition Hall at the Asheville Art Museum from June 18 through September 5, 2022.
Everyone has stories to tell from both the private and mutual experiences encountered throughout their lifetime. American folk and self-taught artists capture these stories in powerful visual narratives that offer firsthand testimonies to chapters in the unfolding story of America from its inception to the present. Beautiful, diverse, and truthful; the art illuminates the thoughts and experiences of individuals with an immediacy that is palpable and unique to these expressions. These artworks held meaning in the makers’ worlds filtered through their own perceptions.
The artworks are organized into four sections—Founders, Travelers, Philosophers, and Seekers—that respond to such themes as nationhood, freedom, community, imagination, opportunity, and legacy. Evocative visual juxtapositions and accessible contextual information further reveal the vital role that folk art plays as a witness to history, carrier of cultural heritage, and a reflection of the world at large through the eyes, heart, and mind of the artist.
“While the Asheville Art Museum exhibits many folk and self-taught artists, most are local to the Southeast,” says Whitney Richardson, associate curator. “American Perspectives adds a national voice to the conversation by adding New England, Midwestern, Southwestern, and West Coast artworks that the Museum could never achieve alone. The amount of creative output from folk and self-taught artists was (and still is) on a national level and this exhibition helps to put that into a clear context. Traveling to Asheville from the collection of the American Folk Art Museum in New York, this exhibition will complement and expand the Museum’s ongoing conversations around American history and storytelling through works of art.”
This exhibition has been organized by the American Folk Art Museum, NY, with support provided by Art Bridges. Originally curated for installation at the American Folk Art Museum February 11, 2020–January 3, 2021 by Stacy C. Hollander, independent curator. Tour coordinated by Emelie Gevalt, Curator of Folk Art and Curatorial Chair for Collections, the American Folk Art Museum.
Border Cantos | Sonic Border, a unique collaboration between American photographer Richard Misrach and Mexican American sculptor and composer Guillermo Galindo, uses the power of art to explore and humanize the complex issues surrounding the Mexican-American border. Organized by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the transformative and multi-sensory experience will be on view in the Asheville Art Museum’s Appleby Foundation Exhibition Hall from July 22 through October 24, 2022.
Misrach, who has photographed the border since 2004, beautifully captures landscapes and objects, including things left behind by migrants. His large-scale photographs, along with grids of smaller photos, highlight issues surrounding migration and its effect on regions and people, and also introduce a complicated look at policing the boundary.
Responding to these photographs, Galindo fashioned sound-generating sculptures from items Misrach collected along the border, such as water bottles, Border Patrol “drag tires,” spent shotgun shells, ladders, and sections of the border wall itself. The sounds they produce give voices to people through the personal belongings they have left behind. The composition embraces the Pre-Columbian belief that there was an intimate connection between an instrument and the material from which it was made, with no separation between spiritual and physical worlds. Based on the Mesoamerican Venus calendar, Sonic Border plays for a total of 260 minutes and is separated into 13 cycles of 20 minutes. Within these cycles, the instruments play in small groups of two or more, or all together as an orchestra.
Presented in English and Spanish, Border Cantos | Sonic Border offers perspective on the challenges of migration, inviting us to bridge boundaries. When experienced as a whole, the images, instruments, and emanating sounds create an immersive space in which to look, listen, and learn about the complicated issues surrounding the Mexican-American border. While the artists do not seek to provide solutions to these issues, they do provide insight into a place where most people have never ventured, creating a poignant connection that draws on our humanity.
Border Cantos | Sonic Border is organized by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas. Support for the national tour of Border Cantos | Sonic Border is provided by Art Bridges.
Draped and Veiled: 20×24 Polaroid Photographsby Joyce Tenneson showcases Joyce Tenneson’s Transformations series, which she began in 1985 and engaged with through 2005. Transformations features partially or fully nude figures poetically presented; Tenneson’s photographs have always been interested in the magic of the human figure, contained within bodies of all ages and emotions in a broad range that are both vulnerable and bold. This exhibition features 12 large Polaroids from the poetic series. Draped and Veiled will be on view May 25–October 10, 2022.
Stained with Glass: Vitreograph Prints from the Studio of Harvey K. Littleton Exhibition
Asheville, N.C.—The selection of works from the Asheville Art Museum’s Collection presented in Stained with Glass: Vitreograph Prints from the Studio of Harvey K. Littleton features imagery that recreates the sensation and colors of stained glass. The exhibition showcases Littleton and the range of makers who worked with him, including Dale Chihuly, Cynthia Bringle, Thermon Statom, and more. This exhibition—organized by the Asheville Art Museum and curated by Hilary Schroeder, assistant curator—will be on view in The Van Winkle Law Firm Gallery at the Museum from January 12 through May 23, 2022.
In 1974 Harvey K. Littleton (Corning, NY 1922–2013 Spruce Pine, NC) developed a process for using glass to create prints on paper. Littleton, who began as a ceramicist and became a leading figure in the American Studio Glass Movement, expanded his curiosity around the experimental potential of glass into innovations in the world of printmaking. A wide circle of artists in a variety of media—including glass, ceramics, and painting—were invited to Littleton’s studio in Spruce Pine, NC, to create prints using the vitreograph process developed by Littleton. Upending notions of both traditional glassmaking and printmaking, vitreographs innovatively combine the two into something new. The resulting prints created through a process of etched glass, ink, and paper create rich, colorful scenes reminiscent of luminous stained glass.
“Printmaking is a medium that many artists explore at some point in their career,” says Hilary Schroeder, assistant curator. “The process is often collaborative, as they may find themselves working with a print studio and highly skilled printmaker. The medium can also be quite experimental. Harvey Littleton’s contribution to the field is very much so in this spirit, as seen in his incorporation of glass and his invitation to artists who might otherwise not have explored works on paper. Through this exhibition, we are able to appreciate how the artists bring their work in clay, glass, or paint to ink and paper.”
Useful and Beautiful: Silvercraft by William Waldo Dodge
Useful and Beautiful: Silvercraft by William Waldo Dodge features a selection of functional silver works by Dodge drawn from the Museum’s Collection. Organized by the Asheville Art Museum and curated by Whitney Richardson, associate curator, this exhibition will be on view in the Debra McClinton Gallery at the Museum from February 23 through October 17, 2022.
William Waldo Dodge Jr. (Washington, DC 1895–1971 Asheville, NC) moved to Asheville in 1924 as a trained architect and a newly skilled silversmith. When he opened for business promoting his handwrought silver tableware, including plates, candlesticks, flatware (spoons, forks, and knives), and serving dishes, he did so in a true Arts and Crafts tradition. The aesthetics of the style were dictated by its philosophy: an artist’s handmade creation should reflect their hard work and skill, and the resulting artwork should highlight the material from which it was made. Dodge’s silver often displayed his hammer marks and inventive techniques, revealing the beauty of these useful household goods.
The Arts and Crafts style of England became popular in the United States in the early 1900s. Asheville was an early adopter of the movement because of the popularity and abundance of Arts and Crafts architecture in neighborhoods like Biltmore Forest, Biltmore Village, and the area around The Grove Park Inn. The title of this exhibition was taken from the famous quotation by one of the founding members of the English Arts and Crafts Movement, William Morris, who said, “have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” Not only did Dodge follow this suggestion; he contributed to American Arts and Crafts silver’s relevancy persisting almost halfway into the 20th century.
“It has been over 15 years since the Museum exhibited its collection of William Waldo Dodge silver and I am looking forward to displaying it in the new space with some new acquisitions added,” said Whitney Richardson, associate curator. Learn more at ashevilleart.org.
Discussion Bound Book Club
Aug 10 @ 12:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum
Hosted by the Asheville Art Museum, this monthly discussion is a place to exchange ideas about readings that relate to artworks and the art world and to learn from and about each other. Meetings will take place in person at the Art Museum on the second Wednesday of the month at noon. Please click here and scroll to the current month and year to see what the club is reading this month.
Summer Animal Encounters
Aug 10 @ 2:00 pm
Chimney Rock State Park
Did you know our staff had a wild side? Join a Park naturalist to meet some of our live Animal Ambassadors and learn what kind of wildlife inhabits the Park and their important roles in the ecosystem. Some of our best teachers have feathers, fur, shells or scales!
Daily Meditation + Support (online)
Aug 10 @ 3:00 pm – 3:30 pm
online
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.
🌸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/daily-meditation/
Etowah Lions Club Farmers Market
Aug 10 @ 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Etowah Lions Club Farmers Market
Etowah Lions Club Farmers Market, 3-6pm, On Wednesdays through October, check out the Etowah Lions Club Farmers Market,
which showcases local farmers, vendors and artisans and the delicious produce the area is known for, all items sold here are
made by or grown by the vendor, Free, Etowah Lions Club, 252-495-2808, EtowahLions.com
LEGO Time
Aug 10 @ 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Leicester Library
River Arts District Farmers Market
Aug 10 @ 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm
River Arts District Farmers Market
Located in the River Arts District, and surrounded by art galleries and breweries, come find out about Asheville’s favourite mid-week market!
Proudly serving the Weaverville community since 2009
Wine Wednesday
Aug 10 @ 4:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Down Dog Yoga Studio and Dog Bar
Enjoy a $6 glass of wine and 1/2 off bottles every Wednesday night!
Young Professionals Monthly Social
Aug 10 @ 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm
Jackson Park
The YPHC’s Pop-Ups offers a chance for young professionals to meet through a laid-back networking opportunity. Join us each month on the 2nd Wednesday from 5:00 – 6:00 pm in Henderson County.
This July, we are meeting at Henderson County’s Jackson Park for a friendly game of disc golf! We will meet at near the HC Parks and Rec Office/Hola Carolina house around 5:00. Bring your own disc!
Join us for a weekly mountain music JAM with players in a round, where the session is focused on regional fiddle tunes and songs! You are welcome to come and listen or to learn and join in. This event supports the Henderson County Junior Appalachian Musician (JAM) Kids Program. Free but donations are accepted. Weekly event takes place at Oklawaha Brewing Company.
Hybrid: No Work in the Grave: Life in the Toe River Valley with Jo Ann Thomas Croom, Katey Schultz and Jim Stokely
Aug 10 @ 6:00 pm
Malaprops Bookstore and online
This is a hybrid event, meaning there is an option to attend virtually and a limited number of seats are available to attend the event in-store. Registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance.
Please click here to register for the VIRTUAL event. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event.
Please click here to register for the IN-PERSON event. Note the important event details on the RSVP form.
If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!
Step back in time to the early 1900s and enter the sparsely settled Toe River Valley in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, a region still only slowly healing from the deep ravages of the Civil War. Life is centered in small insulated communities made up of subsistence farm families, one of which is the A.H. and Maggie Silver Thomas family. Both the Thomas and Silver families can trace their ancestors in the Valley back for five generations, and both their histories are first recorded by their son, Monroe, a teacher who is home-bound by illness. From his cot in the living room, Monroe watches as the entry of the railroad changes life into a wage-earner economy. He keeps an account of farm and community life in his journals while continuing to further educate himself through avid reading and thinking. His younger brother Walter, also an educator, provides a retrospective view of the time and place through the age-old practice of telling stories to illustrate truth. Together, these two accounts have been pieced together by Walter’s daughter, Jo Ann Thomas Croom, into a mosaic quilt that gives us a fresh in-depth look into a turbulent period of change – change that upended personal lives as well as the socioeconomic culture of the Valley. While this is the story of one particular family, it represents a microcosm of the history of the region.
Jo Ann Thomas Croom was born in Mitchell County, North Carolina, where her parents were life-long educators in the public school system. After graduating from Harris High School in Spruce Pine, Jo Ann attended Mars Hill College for two years. She then earned BS and MS degrees in Chemistry and Microbiology from North Carolina State University. She worked as a chemist for Chemstrand Research in Triangle Park, then moved to Asheville with her husband Richard Croom and began a family. In the Asheville area, Jo Ann taught at Asheville Biltmore College, Warren Wilson College, Saint Genevieve’s Academy, and Homewood School at Highland Hospital. After the family moved to Mars Hill in Madison County, Jo Ann began a forty-year career at Mars Hill University. She earned a PhD in human genetics at the University of Tennessee Biomedical Program. In retirement, Jo Ann has been working with written materials inherited from her father Walter Thomas and her uncle Monroe Thomas.
Katey Schultz is the author of Flashes of War, which the Daily Beast praised as an “ambitious and fearless” collection, and Still Come Home, a novel, both published by Loyola University Maryland. Honors for her work include North Carolina’s Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction, the Linda Flowers Literary Award, Doris Betts Fiction Prize, Foreword INDIES Book of the Year award, gold and silver medals from the Military Writers Society of America, the Chicago Writers Association Book of the Year award, five Pushcart nominations, a nomination to Best American Short Stories, National Indies Excellence recognition, and writing fellowships in eight states. She lives in Celo, North Carolina, and is the founder of Maximum Impact, a transformative mentoring service for creative writers that has been recognized by both CNBC and the What Works Network.
Jim Stokely grew up in Newport, Tennessee and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Yale University with exceptional distinction in American Studies. He later received an MBA from Stanford University, and embarked upon a 25-year corporate career in Human Resources for The Hay Group, Brown-Forman Corporation, and Sylvania. In 2011 he and his wife Anne moved back to the southern mountains and now live in Weaverville, North Carolina. As President of the Wilma Dykeman Legacy, Jim produces local lecture series and other events in order to sustain the values of Wilma Dykeman. He is the author of Constant Defender: The Story of Fort Moultrie, co-author of Mountain Home: A Pictorial History of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, co-editor of An Encyclopedia of East Tennessee, and editor of An Appalachian Studies Teacher’s Manual as well as Family of Earth: A Southern Mountain Childhood.
Hybrid: No Work in the Grave: Life in the Toe River Valley with Jo Ann Thomas Croom, Katey Schultz and Jim Stokely
Aug 10 @ 6:00 pm
Malaprop's Bookstore
Join us for a conversation with Jo Ann Thomas Croom and Katey Schultz discussing the ways in which the Toe River Valley informs and inspires their writing. The conversation will be moderated by Jim Stokely.
This is a hybrid event, meaning there is an option to attend virtually and a limited number of seats are available to attend the event in-store. Registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance.
Please click here to register for the VIRTUAL event. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event.
Please click here to register for the IN-PERSON event. Note the important event details on the RSVP form.
If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!
Step back in time to the early 1900s and enter the sparsely settled Toe River Valley in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, a region still only slowly healing from the deep ravages of the Civil War. Life is centered in small insulated communities made up of subsistence farm families, one of which is the A.H. and Maggie Silver Thomas family. Both the Thomas and Silver families can trace their ancestors in the Valley back for five generations, and both their histories are first recorded by their son, Monroe, a teacher who is home-bound by illness. From his cot in the living room, Monroe watches as the entry of the railroad changes life into a wage-earner economy. He keeps an account of farm and community life in his journals while continuing to further educate himself through avid reading and thinking. His younger brother Walter, also an educator, provides a retrospective view of the time and place through the age-old practice of telling stories to illustrate truth. Together, these two accounts have been pieced together by Walter’s daughter, Jo Ann Thomas Croom, into a mosaic quilt that gives us a fresh in-depth look into a turbulent period of change – change that upended personal lives as well as the socioeconomic culture of the Valley. While this is the story of one particular family, it represents a microcosm of the history of the region.
Jo Ann Thomas Croom was born in Mitchell County, North Carolina, where her parents were life-long educators in the public school system. After graduating from Harris High School in Spruce Pine, Jo Ann attended Mars Hill College for two years. She then earned BS and MS degrees in Chemistry and Microbiology from North Carolina State University. She worked as a chemist for Chemstrand Research in Triangle Park, then moved to Asheville with her husband Richard Croom and began a family. In the Asheville area, Jo Ann taught at Asheville Biltmore College, Warren Wilson College, Saint Genevieve’s Academy, and Homewood School at Highland Hospital. After the family moved to Mars Hill in Madison County, Jo Ann began a forty-year career at Mars Hill University. She earned a PhD in human genetics at the University of Tennessee Biomedical Program. In retirement, Jo Ann has been working with written materials inherited from her father Walter Thomas and her uncle Monroe Thomas.
Katey Schultz is the author of Flashes of War, which the Daily Beast praised as an “ambitious and fearless” collection, and Still Come Home, a novel, both published by Loyola University Maryland. Honors for her work include North Carolina’s Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction, the Linda Flowers Literary Award, Doris Betts Fiction Prize, Foreword INDIES Book of the Year award, gold and silver medals from the Military Writers Society of America, the Chicago Writers Association Book of the Year award, five Pushcart nominations, a nomination to Best American Short Stories, National Indies Excellence recognition, and writing fellowships in eight states. She lives in Celo, North Carolina, and is the founder of Maximum Impact, a transformative mentoring service for creative writers that has been recognized by both CNBC and the What Works Network.
Jim Stokely grew up in Newport, Tennessee and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Yale University with exceptional distinction in American Studies. He later received an MBA from Stanford University, and embarked upon a 25-year corporate career in Human Resources for The Hay Group, Brown-Forman Corporation, and Sylvania. In 2011 he and his wife Anne moved back to the southern mountains and now live in Weaverville, North Carolina. As President of the Wilma Dykeman Legacy, Jim produces local lecture series and other events in order to sustain the values of Wilma Dykeman. He is the author of Constant Defender: The Story of Fort Moultrie, co-author of Mountain Home: A Pictorial History of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, co-editor of An Encyclopedia of East Tennessee, and editor of An Appalachian Studies Teacher’s Manual as well as Family of Earth: A Southern Mountain Childhood.
Whiskers on Wednesday-Adoption Event
Aug 10 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
PetSmart
Join us Wednesdays at Petsmart , Bleachery Blvd, from 6:00-8:00 pm to meet some of MPR AVL’s finest felines!
All cats and kittens at the event are spayed/neutered, FIV/FELV tested, current on vaccines, microchipped, dewormed and started on flea preventative, so we encourage you to bring a carrier to take home your new furry friend(s)!
Read more about all of the adoptable cats and kittens at MPRAVL.org!
Asheville Tourists Game Highlight: Ingles Backpack Giveaway
Aug 10 @ 6:30 pm
McCormick Field
The first 500 kids in attendance, 16 and under, will receive a free backpack, thanks to Ingles!
Summer Animal Encounters
Daily Meditation + Support (online)
Etowah Lions Club Farmers Market
LEGO Time
River Arts District Farmers Market
Weaverville Tailgate Market
Asheville Tourists Game Highlight: Ingles Backpack Giveaway
