Food Scraps Drop Off

The City of Asheville, in partnership with Buncombe County and the Natural Resources Defense Council, is offering a FREE Food Scrap Drop-Off program in

two locations for all Buncombe County residents.  This organic matter will be collected and turned into good clean compost, keeping it OUT of our landfill and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Register for Food Scraps Drop Off

Need a handy kitchen countertop food scrap bin?  Let us know on the registration form! We’ll be having bin giveaways at city and county facilities and would love to give you one.

Locations

Stephens-Lee Recreation Center “Food Scrap Shed” next to the Community Garden on the North side of the parking lot

30 Washington Carver Avenue, Asheville

• • Monday – Friday, 7 a.m. – 6 p.m.
  • Saturday, 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.
  • Sunday, 12 – 4 p.m.

Murphy Oakley Community Center and Library – “Food Scrap Bin Shelters” on the east side of the parking lot

749 Fairview Road, Asheville

• • Dawn – Dusk

West Asheville Library – “Food Scrap Bin Shelters” on the south side of the building

942 Haywood Road, Asheville

• • Library open hours
  • Buncombe County Landfill – Convenience Center85 Panther Branch Road, Alexander
    • • Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
      • Saturday, 8 a.m. – 12:30 pm

Food Scraps Drop Off

The City of Asheville, in partnership with Buncombe County and the Natural Resources Defense Council, is offering a FREE Food Scrap Drop-Off program in two locations for all Buncombe County residents.  This organic matter will be collected and turned into good clean compost, keeping it OUT of our landfill and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Register for Food Scraps Drop Off

Need a handy kitchen countertop food scrap bin?  Let us know on the registration form! We’ll be having bin giveaways at city and county facilities and would love to give you one.

Locations Holidays call for hours

Buncombe County Landfill – Convenience Center

85 Panther Branch Road, Alexander

• • Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
  • Saturday, 8 a.m. – 12:30 pm

Murphy Oakley Community Center and Library – “Food Scrap Bin Shelters” on the east side of the parking lot

749 Fairview Road, Asheville

• • Dawn – Dusk

Stephens-Lee Recreation Center “Food Scrap Shed” next to the Community Garden on the North side of the parking lot

30 Washington Carver Avenue, Asheville

• • Monday – Friday, 7 a.m. – 6 p.m.
  • Saturday, 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.
  • Sunday, 12 – 4 p.m.

West Asheville Library – “Food Scrap Bin Shelters” on the south side of the building

942 Haywood Road, Asheville

• • Library open hours

Included with admission

Embark on a scenic journey across George Vanderbilt’s Italy with a large-scale outdoor display that combines brilliant botanical designs with authentic messages written by Vanderbilt himself.

Beautifully handcrafted of natural elements, each sculptural postcard depicts a location or landmark Vanderbilt visited more than a century ago. This captivating complement to Biltmore’s Italian Renaissance Alive exhibition reveals Vanderbilt’s passions for travel, culture, architecture, and art as well as his personal experience of such renowned Italian cities as Milan, Florence, Venice, Pisa, and Vatican City.

Adding to the charm and visual appeal of Ciao! From Italy—sure to be a hit among kids of all ages—is the G-scale model train that travels in and out of each postcard in this enlightening display!

Exhibition dates: June 9 – July 23

Hours: Tuesday-Saturdays from 10-5 pm, Sundays 11-4 pm

Eidolon is an ancient term from Greek -oeidēs “form”. Early meanings included “mental image”, “appearance”, and “reflection” (as in a mirror or pool), and later, “apparition” or “imaginary entity”, among other things. Expanding beyond the definition pointing to a phantasm or specter, eidolon also sounds like some kind of astral or idyllic place in a novel or poem about an imaginary world. Eidolon features the work of Jacqueline Shatz and Margaret Thompson.
Jacqueline Shatz’s small sculptures of ambiguous and hybridized figures float, entwine, swim, commune with animals and collapse into abstract arabesques and gestures, hinting at mythology, in-between states, and the permeable nature of existence. Margaret Thompson’s paintings are inspired by elements of the symbolist movement and magical realism; she channels dreams and the associative powers of the imagination into her practice, painting subjects that live between our physical realm and spaces beyond the categories of known experience: they are unrestrained, undefined, and free.

Food Scraps Drop Off

The City of Asheville, in partnership with Buncombe County and the Natural Resources Defense Council, is offering a FREE Food Scrap Drop-Off program in

two locations for all Buncombe County residents.  This organic matter will be collected and turned into good clean compost, keeping it OUT of our landfill and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Register for Food Scraps Drop Off

Need a handy kitchen countertop food scrap bin?  Let us know on the registration form! We’ll be having bin giveaways at city and county facilities and would love to give you one.

Locations

West Asheville Library – “Food Scrap Bin Shelters” on the south side of the building

942 Haywood Road, Asheville

Library open hours

Stephens-Lee Recreation Center “Food Scrap Shed” next to the Community Garden on the North side of the parking lot

30 Washington Carver Avenue, Asheville

• • Monday – Friday, 7 a.m. – 6 p.m.
  • Saturday, 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.
  • Sunday, 12 – 4 p.m.

Murphy Oakley Community Center and Library – “Food Scrap Bin Shelters” on the east side of the parking lot

749 Fairview Road, Asheville

• • Dawn – Dusk

Buncombe County Landfill – Convenience Center85 Panther Branch Road, Alexander

• • • • Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
      • Saturday, 8 a.m. – 12:30 pm

Explore Biltmore House with an Audio Guide that introduces you to the Vanderbilt family and their magnificent home’s history, architecture, and collections of fine art and furnishings.

PLUS: Immersive, multi-sensory Italian Renaissance Alive exhibition created by Grande Experiences

PLUS: FREE next-day access to Biltmore’s Gardens and Grounds

This visit includes access to:

• Italian Renaissance Alive at Amherst at Deerpark®
• 8,000 Acres of Gardens and Grounds for two consecutive days
• Antler Hill Village & Winery
• Complimentary Wine Tastings at the Winery
• Tastings require a Day-of-Visit Reservation, which can be made by:
  • Scanning the QR Code found in your Estate Guide
  • Visiting any Guest Services location
• Complimentary parking

Art Exhibition: Italian Renaissance Alive

This fascinating experience takes you on a spellbinding tour of Italy, fully immersing you in the beauty and brilliance of iconic masterworks from the greatest artistic period in history

Black Mountain College and Mexico (BMC/MX): Exhibition, Publication, and Public Programming

Black Mountain College (1933–1957), a small but remarkably influential liberal arts school in rural North Carolina, had important links to Mexico that until now have been little investigated. A crucible of twentieth-century creativity, BMC galvanized and inspired artists and intellectuals from around the world, while Mexico’s innovations and age-old traditions—in fine and applied arts, architecture, poetry, music, performance, and more—dovetailed with, and indeed drove, global impulses toward modernism and beyond. Among the many key BMC figures whose lives were importantly touched by experiences in Mexico were Anni and Josef Albers, Ruth Asawa, John Cage, Jean Charlot, Elaine de Kooning, Buckminster Fuller, Carlos Mérida, Robert Motherwell, Charles Olson, Clara Porset, M.C. Richards, and Aaron Siskind. In turn, engagements with BMC and its legacy have played a significant role in shaping contemporary approaches to art in Mexico, evident in the works of Jorge Méndez Blake, Iñaki Bonillas, Abraham Cruzvillegas, Jose Dávila, Gerda Gruber, Lake Verea, Gabriel Orozco, and Damián Ortega, among others.

The exhibition BMC/MX features works by these and other prominent contemporary Mexican artists alongside a selection of historic works by BMC artists, highlighting the ways in which ideas and modalities are translated across materials, space, and time.

Related programming, planned in collaboration with Mexican artists, features a series of public events, including a performance by artist (and BMC/MX co-curator) David Miranda to take place at Different Wrld; an exhibition visit (in Spanish and English) with BMC/MX Project Director Eric Baden; and a series of experiential art events in the BMCM+AC library.

The exhibition is accompanied by the book Black Mountain College and Mexico (forthcoming late summer 2023), which investigates the people, ideas, and practices linking BMC and Mexico during the life of the school, as well as resonances between BMC and the work of contemporary Mexican artists. With contributions by BMC/MX’s curators, as well as by artist Abraham Cruzvillegas, design scholar Ana Elena Mallet, and author and activist Margaret Randall, this fully illustrated volume brings new light to this complex and underexplored subject.

BMC/MX is an investigation into modes of communication—the arenas in which new ideas and alliances may come to be—between Black Mountain College and Mexico, between past and present, between form and idea.

About the Curators

BMC/MX’s Project Director Eric Baden is a photographer and from 1994 to 2022 was professor of photography at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, North Carolina. He is the founding director of photo+, a multidisciplinary arts event held in Asheville, North Carolina.

Artist and educator David Miranda is curator at the Museo Experimental El Eco (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM), and teaches at the Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado “La Esmeralda” in Mexico City.

Diana Stoll is an editor, writer and curator who works with institutions such as The Museum of Modern Art and the J. Paul Getty Museum. She has served as an editor at Aperture and Artforum magazines, and contributes writings to prominent arts publications.

The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners held its public hearing on a proposed budget that would hold the current tax rate of 48.8 cents. On June 6, nearly 30 community members signed up to speak during the public hearing for the spending plan for fiscal year 2024, which runs from July 1, 2023-June 30, 2024. The next step will be for Commissioners to vote on the proposed budget during their next meeting on Tuesday, June 20.

If approved, the overall budget would be $423,560,422 and would keep the current property tax rate of 48.8 cents for the third consecutive year. Below is a recap of what the proposed budget looks like.

Budget retreat priorities

During the Commissioners’ initial budget retreat last year, they identified five priorities for the FY24 budget. In the recommended budget, those priorities look like this:

• $6.6 million for public safety and expansion of emergency medical services.
• $698,000 for homelessness and continuum of care.
• $3.9 million for early childhood education workforce development.
• $637,000 for infrastructure in unincorporated and growth areas.
• On hold: Consolidation of school systems. All parties agreed to revisit this later.

Community investment through strategic priorities

In regard to community investments, Commissioners will continue to fund focus areas from the 2025 Strategic Plan. The following is a breakdown of some of the proposed community investments:

• $3,892,756 for early childhood and development:
  • Helping to ensure every child in Buncombe County has an equal opportunity to thrive during their first 2,000 days, including access to early childhood education. The funding would go to 16 organizations supporting 21 programs.
• $500,000 for Isaac Coleman grants:
  • Targeted investments that are currently working toward eliminating racial disparities and to champion equitable opportunities. Five organizations would be funded.
• $100,000 for Tipping Point grants:
  • Amplify community efforts toward building resiliency by funding 20 local organizations.
• $900,000 for Strategic Partnership grants:
  • Support nonprofit organizations working toward outcomes in alignment the County’s adopted Strategic Plan by funding 22 organizations that support 23 programs.
• $644,477 for Juvenile Crime Prevention Council:
  • To reduce and prevent juvenile crime by funding five organizations supporting six programs.
• $2,200,000 for Home and Community Care Block Grant and Buncombe County supplemental aging funds:
  • To encourage and maintain independence for persons over 60 and provide protection for older adults by funding 15 organizations supporting 20 programs.
• $4,064,714 for affordable housing services program:
  • To support public and private sector organizations to promote, preserve, and prioritize affordable housing within the County by funding nine organizations supporting 514 affordable housing units.
• $13,394,195 for affordable housing general obligation bond projects:
  • To help support the goal of increasing affordable housing by funding four organizations that are helping provide 398 affordable housing units.

Education funding

The proposed budget has $115.3 million worth of funding for A-B Tech and the Asheville City and Buncombe County school systems. You can see a breakdown of those proposed figures below:

*Request includes the amount that would result from an increase in the ACS Supplemental Tax Rate from 10.62¢ to 12¢.

Special district tax rate recommendations

Asheville City Schools and five fire districts are asking for an increase in tax rates. The proposed budget recommends moving forward with the fire district increases while keeping the city school district tax rate at its current level. You can see a breakdown of the special district tax rates below:
Timeline

Commissioners are slated to vote on adopting the budget on Tuesday, June 20. If you can’t attend the meeting, you can watch it here.

Previous budget meetings

• December budget retreat
• March 13 capital work session
• March 28 budget workshop
• April 25 budget workshop
• May 9 budget workshop
• May 16 recommended budget

Give Back Night at Buxton Hall BBQ

Carolina Mountain Club, the oldest hiking and trail maintaining club in the South, is celebrating one hundred years in 2023. Local author Danny Bernstein shares the history of hiking, trail maintenance, and land protection in western North Carolina in her recent book, Carolina Mountain Club: One Hundred Years.

One hundred years holds a rich history for Carolina Mountain Club (CMC) and Bernstein has compiled these stories. In the 1920s and 1930s the club built most of the Appalachian Trail in the South. In the 1980s, club members started building the Mountains-to-Sea Trail through western North Carolina and protected Max Patch from development, Recently CMC spoke out against building the North Shore Road through the most pristine part of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and is currently taking part in the Pisgah-Nantahala Forest plan. The club now leads five hikes a week, year round. It maintains over four hundred miles of trail.

In partnership with Asheville Museum of History, Buncombe County Special Collections will host a conversation with the author and Trevor Freeman, Asheville Museum of History Public Programs Director on Tuesday, June 20 at Pack Memorial’s Lord Auditorium. A slide presentation will feature historic photos and current activities. Bernstein will sign books after the program. All proceeds will go to Carolina Mountain Club. Cash or checks only, please.

About Danny Bernstein

Danny is a hiker, hike leader, and outdoor writer. She’s written several outdoor books of the area. In her previous life, she was in computer science, way before computers were cool, first as a software developer, then as a professor of computer science.

About Trevor Freeman

Trevor Freeman is a multi-generational western North Carolina native and holds an MA in American History. He has worked or interned in several parks and battlefield sites and is now the public programs director for the Asheville Museum of History. His research interests include the American Revolution as well as Appalachian and environmental history. An avid hiker, paddler, and fly fisher, you will often find him exploring or leading outings in the places he writes about.

Entry is free, books will be available for purchase with cash or checks only. All proceeds benefit Carolina Mountain Club.

Great news for poets and poetry lovers: Dark City Poet’s Society is returning to the Black Mountain Library. DCPS is a completely free poetry group that is open to poets of all ages and experience levels. Join us at the Black Mountain Library from 6-7:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month for our (respectful) critique group. DCPS will meet at BAD Craft from 6-7 p.m. on the third Tuesday for our monthly open mic Poetry Night. Find out more on Instagram @darkcitypoetssociety or contact the Black Mountain Library.

We are honored to host the Asheville Community Hoop and Flow Arts Jam in Pritchard Park, located in the heart of our beloved city. This event began in 2008 and we are honored and thrilled to bring you this FREE event open to all ages and all levels of experience! Asheville Hoops provides jammin’ tunes, demo props for all to use and a positive event that promotes movement, creativity, dance and FUN!