Calendar of Events

School of Art & Design Alumni Invitational Exhibition
Exhibition: February 13 – May 4, 2018
Reception: February 15, 2018

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the College of Fine & Performing Arts, the WCU Fine Art Museum invites 12 accomplished alumni of the School of Art & Design back to campus for this exhibition. Exhibiting artists include Amy M. Anderson, Connie Bostic, Mary Charles Griffin, Luzene Hill, Sally Jacobs, Cole Johnson, Dakota Ling, Jeff Marley, Olivia Mears, Tom Pazderka, Byron Tenesaca, and Preston Tolbert.

Image Caption: Tom Pazderka, Angels of the New Light, 2017, ash, charcoal, and oil on burned panel, 43 x 43 in

Willie Cole: Soles and Boards 
Exhibition: January 16 – May 4, 2018

Since 1989, Willie Cole has employed the image of the clothes iron in his work. Cole morphs this utilitarian object to represent and reference a range of associations from African masks to scarification to slavery and the transatlantic slave trade. This exhibition presents prints from Cole’s time working at Highpoint Editions in Minneapolis, Minnesota from 2011-2012.

Image Caption: Image Courtesy of Highpoint Editions and Willie Cole

Asheville Gallery of Art’s March show features the work of Jane Molinelli. Known for expressive, colorful, non-objective paintings, the artist presents new works in a limited palette. The show runs March 1-31 during gallery hours, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1-4 p.m. Sunday. The gallery, located at 82 Patton Avenue in Asheville, across from Pritchard Park, will host a reception for the artist on Friday, March 2, from 5-8 p.m. Everyone is cordially invited to stop by.

“The idea for the show came when a collector wanted a commission in black, white, and shades of gray,” says the artist. “I hadn’t consciously worked in that way and was excited about the challenge.” Molinelli found it to be an incredibly rich world. She mixed her own blacks, rather than grab the standard tube of carbon or ivory black. “When I grayed the colors with white, I got a whole range of beautiful shades.”

As she painted, she focused on the expression and rhythm of the pieces. “It gave me time to reassess my values, in both an artistic and life sense, as I got to the core of the emotion I was hoping to convey.” The artist believes non-objective art is a spectrum of dialogue. “I start the dialogue by responding to the energy of the marks, lines, and colors I lay on the surface. I hope those who see my work start their own dialogues with the pieces and remain open to what each says during the encounter.”

The artist settled in Asheville after attending Penland School of Crafts where she studied weaving. “I spent years as a craft book editor, but realized my heart belonged back with the visual arts. Once I started painting, I knew I was truly home.” Molinelli lives in Asheville with her husband, Jim LaFerla. Her work is found both in private collections and corporate settings and can be found at Asheville Gallery of Art in downtown Asheville and at 310 ART in the River Arts District.

Molinelli’s work, as well as the paintings of the other 30 gallery members will be on display and for sale through the month of March. For further information about this show, you can contact Asheville Gallery of Art at (828) 251-5796, visit the gallery website at www.ashevillegallery-of-art.com, or go to the gallery Facebook page.

Bullington Gardens

95 Upper Red Oak Trail

Hendersonville,   NC   28792            (828) 698-6104

(3:00 PM – 4:30 PM)

Vegetable Gardening Basics

Learn gardening basics on how to improve soil, composting, what and when to plant, pest control measures and other techniques to get your vegetablegarden off to a great start in this 3 day program. Led by John Murphy. $35. Call to register or register online.

Location: Bullington Gardens

(828) 698-6104

Community Dinner – March 14 This month, join us for a delicious Southern Meal Made Healthy presented by Earth Fare. Collard Greens | Cornbread  | Baked Chicken | Lima and Butter Beans | Slaw  Gather with your community for a FREE tasty meal, lessons on healthy eating and information on Double Up Food Bucks (a new program through SNAP)!  Community Dinners are held on the second Wednesday of each month from 6 – 7:30 pm. FREE childcare provided. Seating is limited. Reserve your seat online. For more information, contact Leah Berger-Singer, Preventive Health Coordinator at (828) 254-7206 ext. 212 or [email protected].

Images are an essential tool in conveying your perspective and standing out in our visually driven world. Use strategic exercises to determine your unique entrepreneurial story and learn how to communicate it through photography that best showcases you, your work, and your values. Join noted Asheville photographer and craft publishing veteran Nicole McConville to explore accessible DIY tips that will improve your approach to image creation and your finished results. Determine when and how to work with a professional. Whether you are a maker, baker, or creative troublemaker, this workshop dives deeply into the WHY as much as the HOW to prepare entrepreneurs to think about visuals in a way that is empowering and practical.

This workshop is just one in a series. The Center for Craft, UNC Asheville, and Mountain BizWorks announce Entrepreneur’s Workshop: Craft Your Commerce, a new pilot program to connect, elevate, and advance emerging and established makers/designers who have craft-inspired businesses. Using research responses from over 300 area makers/designers, the series is designed to address top identified craft business topics, share insights from professional makers with strong sector experience, and foster peer-to-peer learning. Workshop pricing is accessible ($20-40) and early-bird specials are currently available.

Learn more about becoming a volunteer tutor and sign up for orientation by clicking here.

Garden Helpline Open for Calls

Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteers of Buncombe County are ready to answer your
gardening questions.

Beginning March 1, the Garden Helpline is open Monday through
Thursday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., during the gardening season—March through September. Our
Master Gardener volunteers are available for phone calls, walk-ins, and emails.

Call 828-255-5522 or visit the Extension office at the location shown below. If you bring a plant
sample to the office, please be sure it is large enough for plant identification. You can also email
your questions and plant photos to [email protected].

Each year, Extension Master Gardener volunteers answer hundreds of gardening questions.
From October through February when the Helpline is not open, your questions will be
answered by Alison Arnold, Extension Agent, Consumer Horticulture. The Extension office and
our Helpline are closed on N.C. state holidays.

LINING: SHEATHING
Exhibition: January 16 – May 4
Reception: Thursday, April 19 from 5-7pm
Lining: Sheathing is a large-scale installation about the tactile and protective qualities of textiles by collaborators Denise Bookwalter and Lee Running. The artists have been working together for five years, creating installations and artist books that include printed fabric, handmade paper, woodblock prints, custom garments and embroidery. This installation has been developed in residencies at Penland School of Crafts, Penland NC, Constellation Studios, Lincoln NE, and Small Craft Advisory Press, Tallahassee FL. The focal point of the installation is a room-size tent suspended beneath a skylight. The tent is made from large printed and dyed textile panels which create a space that viewers can enter. Viewers are invited to try on one of the handmade garments and view the series of eight queen bed sized woodblock prints on handmade paper. For the exhibition at the WCU Fine Art Museum, Bookwalter and Running will also create a three-story site-specific window installation for the atrium of the Bardo Arts Center.

MUSEUM HOURS: Tues-Fri 10am-4pm/ Th 10am-7pm
Closed weekends & University holidays
828.227.ARTS

Image Caption: Detail: Denise Bookwalter, Lee Emma Running, “LINING:SHEATHING”, 2011

To mark the 10th Anniversary of the Windgate Fellowship, the Center for Craft awarded a total of ten, $10,000 Project Grants. This exhibition showcases how the next generation of craft artists used their funds to explore scale, installation, and community practice.

Artists: Andrea Donnelly (Richmond, VA), Josh Copus (Marshall, NC), Dustin Farnsworth (Montreal, QC), Brian Fleetwood (La Mesilla, NM), Ani Geragosian (Salem, MA), Adam Ledford (Philadelphia, PA), Rebecca Manson (Bedford Hills, NY), Rachel Mauser (Louisville, KY), Aaron McIntosh (Richmond, VA), and Mark Reigelman II (Brooklyn, NY).

School of Art & Design Alumni Invitational Exhibition
Exhibition: February 13 – May 4, 2018
Reception: February 15, 2018

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the College of Fine & Performing Arts, the WCU Fine Art Museum invites 12 accomplished alumni of the School of Art & Design back to campus for this exhibition. Exhibiting artists include Amy M. Anderson, Connie Bostic, Mary Charles Griffin, Luzene Hill, Sally Jacobs, Cole Johnson, Dakota Ling, Jeff Marley, Olivia Mears, Tom Pazderka, Byron Tenesaca, and Preston Tolbert.

Image Caption: Tom Pazderka, Angels of the New Light, 2017, ash, charcoal, and oil on burned panel, 43 x 43 in

Willie Cole: Soles and Boards 
Exhibition: January 16 – May 4, 2018

Since 1989, Willie Cole has employed the image of the clothes iron in his work. Cole morphs this utilitarian object to represent and reference a range of associations from African masks to scarification to slavery and the transatlantic slave trade. This exhibition presents prints from Cole’s time working at Highpoint Editions in Minneapolis, Minnesota from 2011-2012.

Image Caption: Image Courtesy of Highpoint Editions and Willie Cole

Asheville Gallery of Art’s March show features the work of Jane Molinelli. Known for expressive, colorful, non-objective paintings, the artist presents new works in a limited palette. The show runs March 1-31 during gallery hours, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1-4 p.m. Sunday. The gallery, located at 82 Patton Avenue in Asheville, across from Pritchard Park, will host a reception for the artist on Friday, March 2, from 5-8 p.m. Everyone is cordially invited to stop by.

“The idea for the show came when a collector wanted a commission in black, white, and shades of gray,” says the artist. “I hadn’t consciously worked in that way and was excited about the challenge.” Molinelli found it to be an incredibly rich world. She mixed her own blacks, rather than grab the standard tube of carbon or ivory black. “When I grayed the colors with white, I got a whole range of beautiful shades.”

As she painted, she focused on the expression and rhythm of the pieces. “It gave me time to reassess my values, in both an artistic and life sense, as I got to the core of the emotion I was hoping to convey.” The artist believes non-objective art is a spectrum of dialogue. “I start the dialogue by responding to the energy of the marks, lines, and colors I lay on the surface. I hope those who see my work start their own dialogues with the pieces and remain open to what each says during the encounter.”

The artist settled in Asheville after attending Penland School of Crafts where she studied weaving. “I spent years as a craft book editor, but realized my heart belonged back with the visual arts. Once I started painting, I knew I was truly home.” Molinelli lives in Asheville with her husband, Jim LaFerla. Her work is found both in private collections and corporate settings and can be found at Asheville Gallery of Art in downtown Asheville and at 310 ART in the River Arts District.

Molinelli’s work, as well as the paintings of the other 30 gallery members will be on display and for sale through the month of March. For further information about this show, you can contact Asheville Gallery of Art at (828) 251-5796, visit the gallery website at www.ashevillegallery-of-art.com, or go to the gallery Facebook page.

 

Sue Ferguson, Ruby Begonia, c.1976, tapestry on mixed fiber, 60 x 57.5 inches. Museum Purchase with funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.The Asheville Art Museum is excited to present Crafting Abstraction, a new exhibition opening Saturday, March 10 at the Asheville Art Museum On the Slope (175 Biltmore Avenue). The exhibition brings together a selection from the Museum’s Permanent Collection that highlights the importance of craft to the development of modernist abstraction in the United States. Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, modernist artists have used abstract forms—geometric and organic—to express immaterial phenomena such as spirituality, gracefulness, vitality, speed, sensuality and emotion. In many of these artworks, the physical attributes of the materials and the processes of hand-making are integral to the ideas and experiences conveyed. This exhibition was curated by Holly Gore, PhD candidate in art history at the University of California, Santa Barbara + the Museum’s Windgate Curatorial Intern 2018. This internship was supported by a Windgate Museum Internship Award administered by the Center for Craft. As a complement to Crafting Abstraction, Turning Traditions is an installation of selected works by Ed, Philip and Matt Moulthrop. This family of Southern woodturners has created unique vessels for three generations.

 

South College in Asheville will host an “Experience Your Future” event on March 15 for prospective high school students and their parents, along with adults seeking to enhance or change their careers.

The open house will be held Thursday, March 15, 3-7 p.m., on the South College Asheville campus at 140 Sweeten Creek Road, conveniently located just south of Interstate 40.

The immersive open house event will offer prospective students live laboratory experiences with program instructors, particularly in such health care fields as medical assisting, surgical technology, and physical therapist assistant. Attendees will also have an opportunity to inquire about financial aid availability including grants and scholarships.
South College is an accredited institution that offers at its Asheville campus certificate, associate, and bachelor’s programs in such fields as accounting, business administration, criminal justice, diagnostic medical sonography, engineering technology, health science (including pre-pharmacy), legal/paralegal studies, medical assisting, nursing, occupational therapy assistant, physical therapist assistant, radiography and surgical technology.

The open house also will offer group and one-on-one financial aid counseling; assistance with the admissions process; details about flexible evening, weekend and online classes offered; and information about student support services, such as tutoring and resume assistance, provided at no additional cost.

The Asheville campus offers federal and other financial aid programs to those who qualify, including the “South College Promise Grant,” a tuition assistance grant funded directly by South College and awarded to qualified recent high school graduates. Eligible recipients receive $4,000 per quarter for a maximum of three quarters when enrolled in approved, full-time undergraduate degree programs.

The South College Military Grant program provides tuition benefits to veterans and spouses of veterans with honorable discharge status; active duty military and spouses; and dependents who are eligible for U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs educational benefits. South College has earned the 2017-2018 Military Friendly® School designation.

About South College
South College is a private institution accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to offer programs at the doctorate, educational specialist, master’s, baccalaureate, and associate levels. To learn more about South College, visit https://www.southcollegetn.edu.

ASAP’s CSA Fair is an opportunity to meet local farmers face-to-face and learn more about their CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) programs. CSA subscribers receive a weekly box of fresh, locally grown produce or meats throughout the growing season. You can sign up to learn more from farmers or bring your checkbook to subscribe on the spot! Groups from workplaces and religious congregations are encouraged to attend—many farms will deliver directly to these locations if there is sufficient demand. All participating farms have pick up locations in Buncombe County.

This event is FREE and open to the public. The fair will also feature family-friendly activities and a local food taste test. Visit asapconnections.org/events/csa-fair/ for event information and for a list of this year’s participating farms.

Bullington Gardens

95 Upper Red Oak Trail

Hendersonville,   NC   28792            (828) 698-6104

(3:00 PM – 4:30 PM)

Vegetable Gardening Basics

Learn gardening basics on how to improve soil, composting, what and when to plant, pest control measures and other techniques to get your vegetablegarden off to a great start in this 3 day program. Led by John Murphy. $35. Call to register or register online.

Location: Bullington Gardens

(828) 698-6104

R-2588B NC 191 widening from Mountain Road (S.R.1381) to N.C. 280—public input meeting to be held on Thursday, March 15^th from 4-7 PM at the Mills River Town Hall, 124 Town Center Drive, Mills River, NC 28759.  Please contact Tamara Maklhouf with NCDOT Environmental Analysis Unit, via e-mail at [email protected] or by phone (919) 707-6072 for additional information about the meeting. Written comments may be submitted by April 6, 2018.

ESOL Tutor Training is offered to prospective volunteers who have attended a volunteer  orientation session and registered with the ESOL Program Director to attend training. 

North Carolina journalist releases debut novel

 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 15, at Jackson County Public Library in Sylva.

Set amid the windswept prairies of Wyoming and rounded mountains of southwest Virginia, “Shadows of Flowers” is a debut novel about love, loss and the power of place from award-winning journalist Holly Kays.

It follows the story of Virginia native Dana Stullman, whose world turns upside down when her boyfriend dies in a car accident in the final days of their time as students at Virginia Tech. At 22, she finds herself moving across the country to escape reminders of the tragedy and the life that preceded it. Becoming lonelier than she could have imagined, Dana finds solace in an unexpected friendship, but her life remains paralyzed until a crisis in the wind-swept Wyoming wilderness forces her to confront the past and choose her path into the future.

“When I moved to Wyoming after a lifetime of living and playing in the Appalachian Mountains, the grandeur and beauty of the Rocky Mountain landscape left me dumfounded on a daily basis.  It would have been impossible to leave Wyoming without the urge to somehow memorialize that place in writing. Pairing that setting with a powerful fictional story like Dana’s lends a strength to this novel that I enjoyed writing and I hope others will enjoy reading,” Kays said. “Dana’s situation is particular, but the themes it unearths are universal — the unrelenting need to reconcile past with present, the search for God and the innate desire for community.”

Thoughtfully developed characters that bring to vivid life the severe beauty of the Rocky Mountains, rough-and-tumble charm of the small town of Buffalo and Dana’s place on this landscape make this book a must-read. Fueled by an economy of words and eye for detail honed during her years as a reporter, Kays writes with a deliberate and original voice where every word counts.

Holly Kays is a writer and journalist living in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Having earned more than 20 state and national awards during her news reporting career thus far, she covers a range of topics for the regional newsmagazine The Smoky Mountain News and explores the area’s many hiking trails with her four-legged best friend whenever possible. Originally from Williamsport, Maryland, she is a graduate of Virginia Tech’s creative writing and natural resources programs, and a former reporter for The Buffalo Bulletin. This is her first book.

“Shadows of Flowers” is a 144-page softcover book published by The Smoky Mountain News and available online at www.paypal.me/hollykays for $12 plus $3 for shipping within the U.S.; $4 shipping for two to five books. It is in stock in Waynesville at Blue Ridge Books and Earthworks Gallery; in Sylva at City Lights Bookstore and Sylva Market; in Franklin at Books Unlimited; and at Firestorm Books & Coffee in Asheville.

Shadows of Flowers is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/shadowsofflowers and the first chapter is posted on the author’s blog at www.adventuringwithjesus.wordpress.com/2017/11/24/sneak-a-peek-at-first-pages.

“The Paper Crowns have this aura of honesty in their music that’s genuine, easy to grasp, yet also not a complete giveaway.” (Waleed Rashidi – IE Weekly)

“The Paper Crowns…songs cross so many genres that all you need to know is that if you like music, there’s something for you there.” (Vanessa Franko – Press Enterprise)

The Paper Crowns’ Spiro and Nicole are one of the premier duos on the Southeast music scene.  They have returned to their jam and psychedelic roots with their full on electric ensemble –  The Paper Crowns Electric Band.  Their sound is a medley of blues, psychedelic and Southern rock, American folk and jazz, Gospel and funk.  The Paper Crowns sound is dynamic and soulful featuring original songs and fearless improvisation.

The Paper Crowns have played such events as: Warren Haynes Christmas Jam by Day, LEAF Downtown, Echo Sessions, Mountain Sports Festival, Soulshine Farm Music Festival, South By South East, Sawdust Festival, Hangar 24 Airfest, Pappy & Harriet’s and more. Their music has found placement in major network TV campaigns and online ad campaigns including the Olympic Games, Visa, Court TV and Pepsi.  The Paper Crowns have been featured on Local Color Live WNCW, WDVX Blue Plate Special, Dead Show of the Month, KUCR Vinyl Hours Radio, PE Live with Vanessa Franko, 880 The Revolution with Jeff Messer, Asheville FM, WBTV Charlotte and 98.1 The River.

Pisgah Brewing, 150 Eastside Drive, Black Mountain, NC 28711