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.

Sunday, October 17, 2021
Regional Resources: Historical Research
Oct 17 all-day
Online w/ Western North Carolina Historical Association (WNCHA)

Western North Carolina has a rich assortment of county historical societies, archives, and museums. The Western North Carolina Historical Association seeks to help researchers, historians, genealogists, and the general public take full advantage of these resources.

 

Reimagined Competition for 2021 Gingerbread Season
Oct 17 all-day
The Omni Grove Park Inn

The National Gingerbread House Competition™

The Omni Grove Park Inn, home of the iconic National Gingerbread House Competition, announced a reimagined Competition for 2021. After a virtual 2020, the Resort is planning to welcome back participants in-person this year, along with an esteemed panel of judges, including renowned Food Network Chef, Carla Hall.

Gingerbread enthusiasts are now encouraged to enter the Competition (find entry details HERE) and begin dreaming up dazzling designs for their confectionary creations. The 2021 Competition will take place at The Omni Grove Park Inn on November 22, 2021.

November 8, 2021: Competitor Entry Form Deadline.

 

November 15, 2021: Digital Content and Description Summary Form Deadline.

 

November 22, 2021: Awards Ceremony and Winners Announcement.

 

December 1-12, 2021: 12 Days of Gingerbread series on The Omni Grove Park Inn social channels highlighting top finalists. Assets will be available.

 

November 2021 – January 2, 2022: In-person Gingerbread Display will be open for public viewing at The Omni Grove Park Inn.

South Slope Mural Trail Now Live
Oct 17 all-day
online

We’re excited to announce that the  South Slope Mural Trail is now live at ashevilledowntowntrails.com. The South Slope Mural Trail was created in collaboration with the Asheville Downtown Association Foundation, Explore Asheville Convention & Visitors Bureau and the South Slope Neighborhood Association to highlight the creativity of Asheville’s growing mural scene in downtown’s South Slope.

The wild ones need your help this fall!
Oct 17 all-day
online

Help save the wild ones this fall

The beautiful display of autumn color has begun to patchwork the mountains around us. As the leaves fall, the danger for wildlife is on the rise. Our native wildlife is out and about foraging for food to prepare for the coming winter, increasing their risk for injury.
Appalachian Wildlife Refuge needs your support to keep our doors open to orphaned and injured wildlife during this critical time!
Your financial gift will provide a much-needed resource to our community, fund life-saving medical care, and give orphaned and injured animals a second chance at life back out in the wild!
UScellular™ Community Connections Program: Earn up to $1,000 for your organization
Oct 17 all-day
online
Earn up to $1,000 for your organization
UScellular™ is proud to sponsor nonprofit K-12 youth organizations such as sports teams, STEM programs, marching bands and dance teams through the Community Connections Program.
Join the thousands of organizations across the country who’ve rallied to earn critical funds through Community Connections over the past 5 years.

Eligibility Checklist:

  • Focus on K-12 youth services.
  • Registered nonprofit organization, and/or 501(c)(3) with a valid EIN
  • Located within a UScellular service area ZIP code:
See Official Rules  for complete eligibility requirements.
Victoria: The Forgotten Town Walking Tour
Oct 17 all-day
Online w/ Western North Carolina Historical Association
Contained by its larger growing neighbor (Asheville), the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, and the Southern Railway line, the Town of Victoria existed from 1887 until 1905, when it was absorbed into Asheville. The community—which included the Smith-McDowell House and Fernihurst mansion—originally incorporated into a town to prevent unwanted development (particularly from the Vanderbilts).
Volunteer for at the 9th Annual Haunted Trail
Oct 17 all-day
Adventure Center of Asheville

Our friends over at The Haunted Trail (located at the Adventure Center of Asheville) are looking for volunteers!

From the fine folks at The Haunted Trail:

“Lookin’ fer somthin outdoorsy ta do this Halloween season?! 🤠

We are lookin’ to recruit a few more volunteers – who are NOT shy! – to act in our brand new scene: a wild western walk through! (Acting spaces are limited and assigned based on level of availability. There are also some non western roles still waiting for the perfect volunteer to find us!!)

Don’t fancy yerself as one of those dramatic type folk?! We would love to have some festival area volunteers as well!

Adult volunteers will receive free beer with their dinner which is provided by our amazing title sponsor Mellow Mushroom!!”

Please email Lauren Rivas if you would like to join in the fun at The Haunted Trail this year!

Volunteer for the Holidays!
Oct 17 all-day
Eliada Homes
Accepting Gifts Help
We also need help thanking our Christmas sponsors as they drop off gifts the week of December 6th-11th!
You can sign up to cover a shift as people drop off the presents they have purchased for a child in need. Contact Rebecca Boline if you are interested in this opportunity [email protected].
WCCA Wins Grant to Save Tebeau Children’s Center more help needed
Oct 17 all-day
online

A recent grant award by the Perry N. Rudnick Endowment Fund to help renovate and save the Tebeau Children’s Center. In addition to bringing Head Start, Early Head Start and NC Pre-K education programs to Henderson County’s underprivileged children under 5 years old, the renovation project will restore a community landmark that has provided childcare since the mid-1970’s!

WCCA is trying to raise the necessary funding to renovate the old daycare center and turn it into a modern early childhood education center.

WCCA has been awarded a $25,000 grant by the Perry N. Rudnick Endowment Fund of
the Community Foundation of Henderson County. The funds will be used to help
renovate and save the 70-year old Tebeau Children’s Center in Hendersonville, NC.
● The old daycare center which is located near Pardee Hospital off 9th Avenue between
Hendersonville Elementary and Middle School has been around since the mid-70’s. It
was called Stay ‘n Play, then Lovin’ & Learning, and Hendersonville School for Little
Folks. Generations of Henderson County families have relied on the center for childcare.
● After it closed in early 2020, WCCA bought the Tebeau Drive property. WCCA is in the
process of renovating and remodeling the facility to make it a modern early childhood
education center to serve nearly 100 children and families.
● David White, CEO for WCCA said “We’re grateful to partner with a group like the Perry
N. Rudnick Endowment Fund and the Henderson County Community Foundation to
save a piece of Henderson County’s past. Their support is an investment in future
generations of our children!”
● WCCA has raised just over $402,000 of the $850,000 needed to renovate the Tebeau
Center in time for its opening in April 2022. If you would like to help support this
worthwhile effort, please visit WCCA.org and donate!

Winter Tree Carnival w/ Rabbit Rabbit
Oct 17 all-day
Rabbit Rabbit

 

The free display of trees is sponsored + decorated by local community members, nonprofit orgs + bizzes, and a portion of the event’s proceeds will benefit Manna FoodBank.

WINTER TREE CARNIVAL


Reserve your tree today by clicking HERE

 

  • $300 = Adopt a tree to decorate. One tree allowed per business/organization.
  • $600 = Adopt a tree to decorate and adopt an additional tree for a non-profit organization.
With 14 COVID-Related Deaths Reported Last Week, Indoor Face Covering Requirements Extended through October
Oct 17 all-day
Buncombe County Businesse

Although cases per 100,000 per week decreased to 295 this week from 351 the week prior, COVID cases, rates, and percent positivity remain at high levels. The percent positivity decreased slightly to 8.3% from the mid-9% range for the past month. Hospitalizations remain level but high. Currently 13.4% of inpatient hospital beds are occupied with COVID-19 patients, and 54% of ICU beds are occupied with COVID-19 patients. Last week, there were 14 COVID-19-related deaths reported in Buncombe County.

Because of sustained high transmission levels, Buncombe County Health and Human Services (BCHHS) recommended extending the indoor face covering requirement for indoor public spaces until the end of October. Buncombe County Commissioners voted to extend the requirement through Oct. 29, 2021. Read the entire declaration.

To date, BCHHS has administered almost 100,000 total doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, with about 3,000 of those coming in outreach settings. Currently 65% of the total Buncombe County population is partially vaccinated, and 73 percent of the eligible population is partially vaccinated.

According to recent NC DHHS data, unvaccinated individuals have a risk that is 4 times that of their vaccinated counterparts in becoming ill with COVID-19. Additionally, unvaccinated individuals have a risk of death that is 14 times that of their vaccinated counterparts.

Last week, the FDA recommended COVID-19 Pfizer booster shots for individuals who received Pfizer and are:

  • 65 or older
  • At high risk of severe COVID-19
  • At high risk of occupational exposure

The CDC and ACIP are expected to meet Sept. 22 regarding recommendations. When recommendations are finalized, BCHHS will announce booster vaccine opportunities using its emergency alert program. To enroll, text “BCAlert” to 99411 or click here.

It is also anticipated that Pfizer vaccines for children ages 5-11 will be announced soon.

Currently, $100 incentive cards are still available through the NC DHHS extension while supplies last for eligible individuals (18 years and up) receiving their first dose of vaccine at the Buncombe County Vaccination Clinic. Individuals can visit the Buncombe County Health Department at 40 Coxe Ave., Asheville Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. to receive a vaccination. Individuals can also visit yourspotyourshot.nc.gov to find a vaccination site near you.

If you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, get tested and isolate from others while waiting for your test results. Testing locations can be found at Find My Testing Site NC. Beginning Sept. 27, StarMed will offer testing at Harrah’s Event Center.

City of Asheville Announces RFP Process for ARPA Funding
Oct 17 @ 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
online

The City of Asheville will accept proposals from government agencies and nonprofits for community projects funded through the American Rescue Plan. At their September 14 meeting, Asheville City Council voted to fund projects in the following categories:

  • Affordable housing
  • Care for aging residents
  • City infrastructure
  • Climate change
  • Community communication
  • Domestic violence prevention and assistance
  • Food systems
  • Homelessness services
  • Small business recovery
  • Workforce development

Projects must serve City residents and fall under one of the categories above. For more information, including the timeline for the process

Hendersonville Farmers Market
Oct 17 @ 8:00 am – 1:00 pm
Hendersonville Farmers Market

The market will take place every Saturday from May 8-Oct 30, 8am-1pm at the Historic Train Depot on Maple Street in downtown Hendersonville.
Shoppers can expect at least 30 vendors, live music and kids activities every Saturday. We are a producer-only market, so all vendors are offering homegrown or handmade products!
We’ll be offering Double SNAP again this year, so come double up on your SNAP/EBT dollars (thanks to Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project)!
All vendors accept cash. A few vendors accept card. If you don’t have cash, come to the Information Booth to pay with a card for tokens. All vendors will accept tokens.
For more information about the market, or to become a sponsor, volunteer or vendor, visit downtownhendersonville.org or contact the market manager at [email protected].
Hendersonville Farmers Market is sponsored by:
Hendersonville Community Coop
Carolina Farm Credit
Duke Energy
Charlotte Sheppard, REALTOR, Keller Williams Mountain Partners
GiveSmart
One Health Direct Primary Care
Underground Baking Co
WNC Farmers Market Open Daily
Oct 17 @ 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
WNC Farmers Market

NCDA&CS - Marketing Division - Western North Carolina Farmers Market

With the convenience of being open year-round, 7 days a week, the WNC Farmers Market offers a selection of farm-fresh produce at the lowest prices in Western N.C. Our popular retail buildings, providing a selection of non-perishables, fruits, vegetables, crafts and more, are open daily.

Arbor Huescapes: Paintings by Michael Fowler
Oct 17 @ 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
The North Carolina Arboretum

Artist Michael Fowler creates evocative abstract landscape paintings by incorporating vibrant colors with subtle, complex details. His semi-large-scale approach invites viewers to step into his work and build a sense of wonder and contemplation surrounding the natural world. Fowler’s artistic response in contemplating nature is to capture something of a landscape’s pleasantness, which is often unexpected harmonies of color and shape. In his latest exhibit, Arbor Huescapes, Fowler highlights the distinctive vegetation – primarily trees – and topography of North and South Carolina’s midlands and piedmont regions.

Fowler received his Bachelor of Arts from Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas with a focus in Advertising Design. He then attended the University of Nebraska where he received a Master’s degree in Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing with a minor in Art History. From there, he attended the University of Memphis where he earned a Doctorate in Higher Education. Based in North Augusta, South Carolina, Fowler is currently an associate professor of design and computer graphics and serves as the Mary Durban Toole Chair of Art at the University of South Carolina in Aiken. His paintings are in a number of public and private collections nationally, and he actively exhibits in regional and national shows.

Please note: Arbor Huescapes has been rescheduled due to the COVID-19 crisis and will now open in fall 2021. The exhibit is on display daily September 18, 2021 – January 9, 2022, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. inside the Baker Exhibit Center. All works are available for purchase and a portion of sales will be donated to The North Carolina Arboretum Society.

Grab Brunch at River’s End
Oct 17 @ 9:00 am – 2:00 pm
River’s End Restaurant

River's End Restaurant exterior

River’s End Restaurant is an iconic spot for locals and visitors to Bryson City. Enjoy spectacular views of the gorge, with paddlers passing through as they complete their Nantahala River Rafting trip. Stop in for year-round lunch and dinner, with weekend brunch during the summer season, and choose from a wide range of appetizing entrees, burgers, salads, pizza, and sandwiches. Hang out for a while and enjoy a large selection of signature cocktails, wine, and beer, including local favorites.

In River’s End Restaurant, every seat has a view of the river! Enjoy music by the river and views of paddlers passing through as they complete their Nantahala River Rafting trip. Join our waitlist online to reserve a table or order online and grab your meal to go, for a sunny lunch right by the river!

Annual Eliada Corn Maze
Oct 17 @ 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Elida Homes

 

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.

Aston Park Tennis Center
Oct 17 @ 10:00 am – 7:30 pm
Aston Park Tennis Center
people playing on the courts at aston park tennis center

 

Asheville Parks & Recreation is pleased to announce the opening of Aston Park Tennis Center on April 1 for the 2021 season.  The tennis facility will be open seven days a week with two sessions of court availability — a morning session from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and an afternoon session from 3 to 7:30 p.m. with a one-hour break for midday cleaning.

Visitors can expect some changes to typical operations to meet current state and local health guidelines including enhanced cleaning, social distancing and mandatory mask wearing except while actively engaged in tennis activity on the court.  The Pro Shop will remain closed to foot traffic, however basic tennis supplies, drinks, and racquet drop-off for restringing will be available at the window.  Court fees will also be accepted at the window by credit card only and water fountains and showers will not be available.

 

Tennis Center prices are the same as they were in 2019, with hourly rates beginning at $6 and $7 and season passes starting at $299 and $399 for City of Asheville residents.  For more information and to purchase a season pass, visit the City’s Parks & Recreation website at www.ashevillenc.gov/parks.

 

The Aston Park Tennis Center, 336 Hilliard Ave.,  is one of the finest public clay tennis court facilities in the US.  The complex is open from April through November and offers 12 lighted courts for play.

 

The City of Asheville Parks & Recreation Department is committed to providing quality facilities and programs in a safe environment for everyone in our community.  For more information about everything Asheville Parks & Recreation offers, visit the website at www.ashevillenc.gov/parks,  Facebook page at www.facebook.com/APRCA or call 828-259-5800.

BLACK + WHITE 4
Oct 17 @ 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Folk Art Center

Main Gallery show featuring members of the Southern Highland Craft Guild.

Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands
Oct 17 @ 10:00 am
Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville

Returning to Harrah’s Cherokee Center for the first time since the unprecedented year of 2020, the Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands offers the public an opportunity to cultivate craft in their daily life. The Fair will open at the downtown Asheville venue on Thursday, October 14th at 10:00am and will end on Sunday, October 17th at 5:00pm.

Fall Tree Giveaway
Oct 17 @ 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Sand Hill Nursery

Fall Tree Giveaway

Sunday, October 31st

10am-2pm

Sand Hill Nursery

24 Apac Circle, Asheville

 

2 trees per Buncombe County residence, only. You must register with your tree species selection and pick up time slot. Registration opens October 17th.

FIBER WEARABLES AND TAPESTRY WEAVING DEMO
Oct 17 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
THE MOSES CONE MANOR

Lin Oglesby and Sandy Adair are teaming up to demo their respective fiber arts: fiber wearable construction and tapestry weaving. This demonstration will be held on the front porch of the the Moses Cone Manor from 10am-4pm.

Visitors are encouraged to watch and ask questions while the demonstrators work and talk about their creative process!

Call ahead in the event of changes (828) 295-2049, or check our Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/shcgmosescone for updates.

Heart of Health Art and Social Science Exhibit: WNC African American Lives
Oct 17 @ 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
John Cram Partner Gallery at the Center for Craft
“He”, by artist Ann Miller Woodford, will be on display as part of the Black in Black on Black exhibit in downtown Asheville, NC’s John Cram Partner Gallery at the Center for Craft

Black in Black on Black: Making the Invisible Visible 

On September 6th, UNC Asheville, the Asheville Buncombe Institute of Parity Achievement (ABIPA), and partners will launch a new exhibit, Black in Black on Black: Making the Invisible Visible in the John Cram Partner Gallery at the Center for Craft. The new exhibit is a visual conversation about the lives and contributions of Black/African American communities in Western North Carolina (WNC).

Bringing together stunning artwork and visual design by WNC-based artists Ann Miller Woodford, Ronda Birtha, Viola Spells, and Reggie Tidwell, with social science data and stories, this exhibit invites audiences into an often invisible history of our region. As Woodford states, “My emphasis has been on people who have dedicated their lives to humanity, but have been overlooked, ignored, and often forgotten.”

Deeply personal art is integrated with charts and quotes from the Heart of Health: Race, Place, and Faith in Western North Carolina project. Heart of Health is a three-year community-participatory research study that seeks to better understand the role and impact of race and racism on health through secondary data analyses and interviews. It is co-led by researchers from UNC Asheville, ABIPA, and Sparrow Research, and community partners from around WNC. “One of our first findings was that much of the data on African Americans and drivers of health and inequities, for example, land and business ownership, have been suppressed due to small populations or other reasons. This collaborative research seeks to highlight and encourage responsible collection and use of data and stories,” said Ameena Batada, UNC Asheville professor of health and wellness and one of the co-leads on the Heart of Health project.

Visitors to the exhibit, both in-person and online, are invited to a multisensory and interactive experience, including paintings, photographs, narrative text, quotes and graphics, sculptural pieces, digital data visualization, and music. The exhibit also invites visitors to learn about the ways in which African Americans and others in WNC are working to reduce racism and build community through grassroots and organizational efforts. JéWana Grier McEachin, executive director of ABIPA, co-lead on the Heart of Health project, and member of exhibit partner The LINKS Incorporated, remarked, “The gathering of data and translation of research through Black in Black on Black has been influenced by the connections of the Artists, WNC Research Team and Community Advisory Board. This sort of six degrees of separation between the research exhibit and active change agents through Organizations in Western North Carolina is impactful and invaluable.”

Black in Black on Black: Making the Invisible Visible will be up in the John Cram Partner Gallery at the Center for Craft at 67 Broadway Street in Asheville, NC from September 6, 2021 – January 7, 2021, and a virtual tour soon online. Support for this project was provided by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Interdisciplinary Research Leaders program. Interdisciplinary Research Leaders is a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation led by the University of Minnesota. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the Foundation or the University of Minnesota.

Learn more about the exhibit, artists, and research at: heartofhealthwnc.wordpress.com/annstree.comthinlyfoldedegg.comwww.facebook.com/ZenobiaStudio/, and pro16productions.com.

Local Carving Pumpkins For Sale
Oct 17 @ 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Hickory Nut Gap Farm

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

New in the Focus Gallery- “Sparkle”
Oct 17 @ 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Folk Art Center

Sparkle – Aug. 7 – Nov. 9, 2021

1 Dawn Hinesley – Jones – glass
2 Teresa Hays –wearable textile
3 Robin Ford – wall textile (batik)
4 Erin Janow – clay
5 Jason Janow – jewelry

Carolina Shine Moonshine Experience
Oct 17 @ 10:30 am – 3:00 pm
Great Smoky Mountains Railroad

“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.

Once your appetite for knowledge is satisfied, enjoy sample tastings of flavors like Apple Pie, Blackberry, Blueberry, Cherry, Peach, and Strawberry moonshine. If the samples are not enough, there will be plenty of Moonshine infused cocktails like Copper Cola or Moonshiner’s Mimosa available for purchase. GSMR is excited to feature multiple craft NC based distilleries to serve our guests only the best! Each jar is handcrafted and authentically infused with real fruit, the way moonshine was meant to be made. Passengers will also enjoy a full service All-Adult First Class ride with an attendant and a specialty boxed lunch. During the month of October. 9am and 2pm departures. 9am will feature the option of a delicious Sausage & Bacon Quiche or Cheesy Ham Hash Brown Casserole. The 2pm departure will be serving the popular BBQ meal.

Diesel $109.00 ($114.00 October) Not Permitted
Steam $119.00 ($126.00 October) Not Permitted
Locomotive Adult (21+ Only) Under 21

How to Purchase

You can purchase your tickets online or call our reservations department at (800) 872-4681. Or, you can purchase your tickets the day of in the Bryson City Depot. No matter how you purchase tickets, they’ll be waiting at will call.

A Dance of Images and Words: The Nancy Graves/Pedro Cuperman Tango Portfolio Art Exhibition
Oct 17 @ 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum
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.

Rural Avant-Garde: The Mountain Lake Experience Art Exhibit
Oct 17 @ 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum

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.

Walter B. Stephen Pottery: Cameo to Crystalline
Oct 17 @ 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum

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.

Bluegrass Brunch
Oct 17 @ 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Jack of the Wood

Jack’s Bluegrass Brunch is every Sunday! Our menu kicks off at 12Noon with live tunes by Supper Break from 1-3pm. Try our $6 Bloody Mary or Mimosa, or grab a $15 Bottles of Champagne & OJ! Try one of our tasty brunch specials or order from our artisanal sandwich menu. Sláinte Y’all!