Putumayo’s Featured Kids Musicians Video. Precious!

It’s not just that the bond program paved the way for more street resurfacing — the $32 million in transportation bonds approved by voters in 2016 allowed the Asheville Public Works Department to incorporate major stormwater and sidewalk improvements to its resurfacing projects as well as greenway upgrades and improvements for ART bus riders.

Start the year off right with a Flat Rock Playhouse 2021 calendar! This beautiful image of our Mainstage was taken by longtime Vagabond and Flat Rock Playhouse favorite, Scott Treadway. Enjoy the view of the Rock all year round in your office, on the kitchen wall, or above your desk. This quality printed calendar is 20″x16″ and supports the arts in North Carolina.

The Dave Hart Scholarship Fund was created in memory of Studio 52’s friend, artist, and educator Dave Hart. Dave believed that all students, no matter their background or resources, benefit from participating in theatre. Studio 52 is now accepting scholarship applications for Virtual Winter Classes. Full and partial need-based scholarships are available and applications are due January 11!

Create, share, and discover with Buncombe County Public Library’s newest resource, Biblioboard.

BiblioBoard Library is an easy-to-use platform of high-quality digital content. Biblioboard offers books, articles, documents, images, audios, and videos. BiblioBoard Library is host to content from traditional publishers, indie authors, cultural institutions, and local thought leaders. Users can access BiblioBoard Library through the library’s website or on the device of their choice.

Some features of Biblioboard:

• No waitlists or holds
• Streaming audio and video are available on a wide variety of topics
• Check out curated collections of the best indie authors.
• Available for desktop, iOS, and Android devices

Local authors can submit their work for inclusion in the library catalog or publish books with Press Books. You can submit and share your work locally or nationally.

Interested? Check it out, and access Biblioboard today by clicking here.

Wake, Mel Chin’s giant animatronic sculpture, installed in New York City’s Times Square last summer, will be on view in Asheville through March 15, 2021, at 44 Collier Avenue. Chin, a WNC based conceptual artist, was named a MacArthur Fellow in September 2019.

Wake was commissioned as part of Mel Chin: All Over the Place, a multi-site survey of his works from across many decades that took place in several New York City locations. A collaborative group, led by UNC Asheville’s STEAM Studio and The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, formed to plan and raise funds for the sculpture to be seen locally.

Wake – 60 feet long, 34 feet wide and 24 feet high, conceived and designed by the artist – was engineered, sculpted and fabricated by an interdisciplinary team of UNC Asheville students, faculty, staff and community artists led by Chin. The sculpture is interactive and features decks and places to sit and contemplate.

Wake evokes the hull of a shipwreck crossed with the skeletal remains of a marine mammal. The structure is linked with a carved, 21-foot-tall animatronic sculpture, accurately derived from a figurehead of the opera star Jenny Lind that was once mounted on the 19th century clipper ship, USS Nightingale. Jenny Lind moves subtly as she breathes and scans the sky.

Visitors can experience Wake daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at 44 Collier Avenue. For more details and a schedule of programming, visit ashevillearts.com.

January is National Mentoring Month, and this year, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Western North Carolina is celebrating it by recruiting more adult and high school volunteers, as well as children and youth who need an extra someone on their side.

“One truth I know,” said Lelia Duncan, Executive Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Western North
Carolina, “is that we are all called to take care of one another, to encourage, to uplift, to hold a space for
others to be listened to and valued. There is nothing more important, nothing closer to the divine, than
to be present and to take a moment to nurture those around us, especially children and youth.”

Big Brothers Big Sisters of WNC is especially effective in helping young people feel valued and heard.
Surveys of school personnel in the 2018-2019 school year show that, among BBBSWNC Littles in
community- and school/site-based programs

National Mentoring Month is the time of year where engagement from community members interested
in becoming a mentor is highest. This year, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Western North Carolina is
encouraging the public to go beyond just digital engagement – and become involved in real life.
Mentoring relationships are at their best when connections are made between a caring adult and a
young person who knows that someone is there to help guide them through real-life decisions.

To learn more about becoming a Big Brother or a Big Sister in Henderson County, contact Program
Coordinator Morgan Harris at (828) 507-6644 or email [email protected]. You can learn more
about serving across the 18 county region by visiting www.bbbswnc.org.

The Asheville Art Museum presents Fantastical Forms: Ceramics as Sculpture on view at the Museum November 4, 2020 through April 5, 2021. The 25 works in this exhibition—curated by associate curator Whitney Richardson—highlight the Museum’s Collection of sculptural ceramics from the last two decades of the 20th century to the present. Each work illustrates the artist’s ability to push beyond the utilitarian and transition ceramics into the world of sculpture.

North and South Carolina artists featured include Elma McBride Johnson, Neil Noland, Norm Schulman, Virginia Scotchie, Cynthia Bringle, Jane Palmer, Michael Sherrill, and Akira Satake. Works by American artists Don Reitz, Robert Chapman Turner, Karen Karnes, Toshiko Takaezu, Bill Griffith, and Xavier Toubes are also featured in the exhibition.

Taught by Chris Martin

Come join the amazing Chris Martin on a fun filled improv journey through all of our favorite improv games and some new surprises. Don’t miss the chance for some hilarious and silly rounds of Waiter, Waiter!, Changing Channels, Night at the Museum, and so much more! The class includes fun warm-ups, “Yes And” exercises, and a showcase during the last class.

7 Week Session: January 11-February 22, 2021

Taught by Chris Martin

Come join the amazing Chris Martin on a fun filled improv journey through all of our favorite improv games and some new surprises. Don’t miss the chance for some hilarious and silly rounds of Waiter, Waiter!, Talk Show, Styles, and so much more! The class includes fun warm-ups, “Yes And” exercises, and a showcase during the last class.

7 Week Session: January 11-February 22, 2021
Mondays at 5:00-5:45 PM Eastern
Student Ages: 12-15 (or with prior approval from teacher or Amanda Klinikowski)