Calendar of Events
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.
Robert Rauschenberg, Autobiography, 1968
In the late 70s, Bradley Jeffries had a chance meeting with Robert Rauschenberg outside his home on Captiva Island, and they bonded immediately. Bradley was hired to be the artist’s business and life manager. Her employment with him for over 30 years, until his death in 2008, involved many roles on the Board of Directors of Change, Inc and The Rauschenberg Foundation. Bradley’s travels with Rauschenberg took her on incredible adventures all over the world and exposed her to extraordinary opportunities. Throughout their friendship and work together, Rauschenberg gifted Bradley with many of his original artworks.
The family and friends of Bradley Jeffries will use her expansive and never previously exhibited Rauschenberg collection as a means of memorializing Bradley through this traveling exhibition. “Rauschenberg: A Gift in Your Pocket” opens on April 25, 2022 at the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery at Florida Southwestern State College in Ft. Myers for display throughout the summer. After which her collection will travel to The University of Kentucky Art Museum followed by its culminating exhibition at BMCM+AC.
Once her collection of Rauschenberg’s artwork completes its planned memorial exhibitions, pieces will be donated to each of the involved institutions in an ongoing memorial to Bradley and her legacy of promoting the arts and artists.
Curated by Jade Dellinger, Director of the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery at Florida Southwestern State College.
(Rain Date: Sunday, May 7, 2023)
Twenty-six artists working in over 17 mediums, showing and selling at 12 locations.
Food vendors, Spring gardening info, horticulturist and plant doctor, and community partner information tables
Barn Quilt Trail – eight drive-by locations
Asheville Gallery of Art’s May show, “Flower Power,” introduces three new Gallery members: Nick Colquitt, Jean-Pierre Dubreuil, and Yvonne McCabe. This delightful exhibition takes its audience on a journey through the mountains of North Carolina, showcasing the mysterious beauty they display within their natural terrain. The show runs May 1-31 during Gallery hours, 11am-6pm daily.
An enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Luzene Hill advocates for Indigenous sovereignty—linguistically, culturally, and individually. Revelate builds upon Hill’s investigation of pre-contact cultures. This has led Hill to incorporate the idea of Ollin, the Nahuatl word for the natural rhythms of the universe, in Aztec cosmology in her work. Before Europeans arrived in North America, Indigenous societies were predominantly matrilineal. Women were considered sacred, involved in the decision-making process, and thrived within communities holding a worldview based on equilibrium.
Ollin emphasizes that we are in constant state of motion and discovery. Adopted as an educational framework, particularly in social justice and ethnic studies, Ollin guides individuals through a process of reflection, action, reconciliation, and transformation. This exhibition combines Hill’s use of mylar safety blankets alongside recent drawings. Capes constructed of mylar burst with energy and rustle with subtle sound, the shining material a signifier of care, awareness, displacement, and presence. Though Hill works primarily in sculpture, drawing has increasingly become an essential part of her practice as she seeks to communicate themes of feminine and Indigenous power across her entire body of work. The energy within her drawings extends to the bursts of light reflecting from her capes or the accumulation of materials in other installation works.
Luzene Hill was born in Atlanta, GA, in 1946. She received her bachelor of fine art and master of fine art from Western Carolina University. She lives and works on the Qualla Boundary, Cherokee, NC.
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Paul Wong, Carbon, silver and gold, 2016, pigmented linen and cotton pulp, publisher: Dieu Donné, New York, edition 3/25, 18 × 11 inches. Gift of Dieu Donné, New York, 2022.27.06. © Paul Wong. |
On View March 8 through July 24, 2023
The Van Winkle Law Firm Gallery • Level 1
Paper is an essential part of the art-making process for many artists, serving as the base for drawing, painting, printmaking, and other forms of art. As a substrate, paper can vary in weight, absorbency, color, size, and other aspects. Since industrialization, paper has primarily been produced through mechanical means that allow for consistency and affordability.
What happens, then, when an artist chooses to return to the foundations of paper, wherein it is made by hand using pulps, fibers, and dyes that reflect the human element through variations, inconsistencies, flaws, and surprises? Certain artists have sought out these qualities and embraced them, making paper not just a support on which to work, but fully a medium in and of itself.
Pulp Potential: Works in Handmade Paper is organized by the Asheville Art Museum and curated by Hilary Schroeder, former assistant curator, with assistance from Alexis Meldrum, curatorial assistant. Special thanks to Dieu Donné, New York, NY.
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The Village Potters Clay Center, located in Asheville’s River Arts District, welcomes one and all to their biggest annual event of the year. The Multi-Kiln Opening (MKO) Celebration will take place on Saturday, May 6, from 11am – 4pm. The event will be located under tents in the back parking area of Riverview Station, accessible via a walkway from the front of the building, or via Foundy Street in the back. The event is free an open to the public, and The Village Potters gallery will also be open regular hours, from 10am – 5pm.
You will find all seven resident artists at this event, along with new works from each that come from the multiple kilns in use at The Village Potters, including electric, multiple gas reduction, raku, and their wood/soda ash Kazegama kiln. In addition, multiple demonstrations are planned throughout the day by each artist. This is an exceptional opportunity for collectors and clay enthusiasts to see some of the process and method of each artist, and to learn more about The Village Potters collective. The exact schedule of demonstrations will be announced closer to the event.
Demonstrations include:
- Saggar and Horse Hair Demonstration by Judi Harwood
- Mug throwing, and combining sectional pots by Sarah Wells Rolland
- Throwing tall vessels by Julia Mann
- Faceting and surface design by Lori Theriault
- Slip Application by Caroline Renee Woolard
- Throwing and decorating low, wide bowls by Katie Meili Messersmith
- Sculpting by Ruth Fischer Rutkowsky
The Village Potters are Sarah Wells Rolland, George Rolland, Judi Harwood, Lori Theriault, Julia Mann, Christine Henry, Katie Meili Messersmith, and Ruth Fischer Rutkowsky, along with Director of Operations, Lindsey Mudge. They comprise an intentional Collective of potters who share a commitment to nurture creative exploration through education, experience, and community. The Village Potters includes a fine craft gallery, a Teaching Center offering ongoing classes in wheel and hand building for adults, an Advanced Ceramic Studies Program, an Online Study from Afar Program, and online demonstrations and workshops. The Village Potters Clay Center is an educational member of The Craft Guild of the Southern Highlands, and is an official distributor for Laguna Clays.
In the past 50 years in the United States and beyond, artists have sought to break down social and political hierarchies that include issues of identity, gender, power, race, authority, and authenticity. Unsurprisingly, these decades generated a reconsideration of the idea of pattern and decoration as a third option to figuration and abstraction in art. From 1972 to 1985, artists in the Pattern and Decoration movement worked to expand the visual vocabulary of contemporary art to include ethnically and culturally diverse options that eradicated the barriers between fine art and craft and questioned the dominant minimalist aesthetic. These artists did so by incorporating opulence and bold intricacies garnered from such wide-ranging inspirations as United States quilt-making and Islamic architecture.
Too Much Is Just Right: The Legacy of Pattern and Decoration features more than 70 artworks in an array of media from both the original time frame of the Pattern and Decoration movement, as well as contemporary artworks created between 1985 and the present. The artworks in this exhibition demonstrate the vibrant and varied approaches to pattern and decoration in art. Artworks from the 21st century elucidate contemporary perspectives on the employment of pattern to inform visual vocabularies and investigations of diverse themes in the present day.
Artworks drawn from the Asheville Art Museum’s Collection join select major loans and feature Pattern and Decoration artists Valerie Jaudon, Joyce Kozloff, Robert Kushner, and Miriam Schapiro, as well as Anni Albers, Elizabeth Alexander, Sanford Biggers, Tawny Chatmon, Margaret Curtis, Mary Engel, Cathy Fussell, Samantha Hennekke, John Himmelfarb, Anne Lemanski, Rashaad Newsome, Peter Olson, Don Reitz, Sarah Sense, Billie Ruth Sudduth, Mickalene Thomas, Shoku Teruyama, Anna Valdez, Kehinde Wiley, and more.
This exhibition is organized by the Asheville Art Museum and guest curated by Marilyn Laufer & Tom Butler.
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Wanna hear the best local music and drink the best local beers? Hop aboard LaZoom’s Purple Bus and rock out with a local band while we take you on a journey to Asheville’s premiere local breweries.
Pisgah Brewing cordially invites you to our annual birthday bash on Saturday May 6th on the iconic outdoor stage! This year we welcome local funk stalwarts YO MAMAS BIG FAT BOOTY BAND along with LURETO out of Charleston and longtime AVL GD tribute band, PHUNCLE SAM to help us celebrate!
YO MAMAS BIG FAT BOOTY BAND (https://bootyband.com/)
Funk is more than a musical genre, it’s a way of life. And since that mindset is what Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band embodies every day, the collective titled its fourth studio album Funk Life.
The new record is as sassy and self-possessed as lead track “24/7,” a fearless plunge into contagious rhythms and bold horn hits. Recorded at Echo Mountain Studios in the Booty Band’s hometown, Asheville, N.C., Funk Life paired the musicians with engineer Julian Dreyer(Band of Horses, Avett Brothers, Zac Brown Band). The band was still arranging a couple of songs when tracking began, leaving room for the element of surprise. That spirit of excitement is captured on tracks like “Quick E,” an instrumental with plenty of swagger and vintage cool; the bold, woman-power manifesto “Mama Feelgood”, originally recorded by Lyn Collins; and “Wake Yo’Self” a caffeinated dance track that builds to a keys-driven crescendo.
Funk Life is as modern as it is rooted in time-tested textures. The album was conceived in the back seat of a 1972 Impala while listening to a mix tape of P-Funk, Sly and the Family Stone, Buddy Miles, Aretha Franklin, Tower of Power, and James Brown. So pervasive are those influences that the track “Living the Dream” came to keyboardist/vocalist Mary Frances-Mama Funk when, in a sleep-charged vision, George Clinton and Garry Shider of P-Funk taught her the melodic riff.
But as much as Funk Life offered the Booty Band a chance to zero in on the roots of funk music, it also reflects the band’s never-ending quest to deliver its vision of funk and where the genre is heading. For trombonist Derrick Johnson, the album presented an opportunity to use different techniques and sounds in creating a full horn section. “I think the process illuminated some concepts that will continue to be Booty Band staples as the band moves forward,” he says.
Innovation aside, the group has a keen sense of immediacy. “When you walk away from a show, you want to remember something,” says Mary Frances, and that’s why the Booty Band focuses on contagious choruses. Funk Life’s title track is as much an anthem as a deep groove, at once choreographed and organic. It’s the kind of song that has fans singing along on first listen.
In fact, the Booty Band takes its cues from the crowd: “When the ladies are dancing, that’s when you know the vibe is right,” says Mary Frances. The band not only infuses its funk aesthetic with sparkle and buoyancy, but maximizes its onstage entertainment value. During a Booty Band show you might find band members in the crowd, on top of a bar, and definitely in yo face!
Adding to the Booty Band’s crowd-pleasing prowess is a knack for selecting prime cover tunes. Deep cuts and songs by female artists make the list, as do unexpected hip-hop offerings. “They fit in our ecosystem,” says Lee. “We grew up with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, but they sample P-Funk, the Isley Brothers and classic funk. It’s a nice mixture.” Plus, there are nods to Crescent City favorites like Dirty Dozen Brass Band because, as Mary Frances says, “Everybody likes to be taken to New Orleans.”
With the release of Funk Life, the Booty Band continues its exploration of past, present and future funk sounds. “It’s a constant evolution,” says drummer Lee Allen. But the band isn’t too worried about defining that mix: “For me, it’s more of a feeling,” Lee says. “If it makes my head bob, it’s usually gonna make people dance.”
The band, which formed in the college town of Boone, North Carolina, in 2002, has shared stages with the likes of Parliament Funkadelic, Galactic, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Maceo Parker and Bootsy Collins. They’re in high demand on the festival circuit, putting in appearances at Wakarusa, Bear Creek, Jam Cruise, Telluride Blues & Brews Festival, Aura Fest, Floyd Fest, DeLuna Festival, Jazz Aspen, Center of the Universe Festival, Purple Hatters Ball, Camp Barefoot and Trinumeral, among others.
True musical road warriors, their live show is an absolute must see! A musical experience rather than simply a band, Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band is all facets of funk wrapped into one deliciously deviant package.
LURETO: https://www.luretomusic.com/
PHUNCLE SAM: https://www.facebook.com/phuncle.sam.5/
The String Cheese Incident will be performing LIVE on the Outdoor Stage at Salvage Station for an incredible three-night run (Thursday, May 4th, Friday, May 5th and Saturday, May 6th)! Doors open at 5:30pm and the music starts at 6:30pm. All tickets are General Admission and these shows are all-ages with children under 7 free.
Root Down will be serving their delicious twist on Southern Soul food PLUS we will have additional food trucks on-site for the duration of the show. And, of course, we will have MULTIPLE full bars open for you to enjoy!
Hops Around Comedy is a rotating show presented by Modelface Comedy that takes place in all your favorite Asheville breweries. This week we are at Noble Cider Downtown!!!!
Nick Youssef is a LA/NY based comedian, writer, actor and host of The According To Nick Youssef podcast. Nick’s comedy has been featured on Hulu, NBCs Last Call, @Midnight, Viceland’s ‘Funny How?’ and podcasts such as The Joe Rogan Experience and WTF with Marc Maron. Nick’s first two standup albums debuted in the top 5 of the iTunes comedy charts and are obnoxiously available in physical vinyl format. In 2023, Nick released his first one hour comedy special, ‘Take Care,’ available for free on his YouTube channel. In addition to standup, Nick is a contributing writer for Esquire and Brooklyn Magazines and is constantly telling his dog Ricky he’s a good little buddy.
featuring Clay Jones
ages 18+
Tickets $15 advance, $18 day of
Thunder in the Smokies motorcyle rally: May 5-7, Maggie Valley Festival Grounds, Soco Road, Maggie Valley. Bike games, cash prize, concerts, tour Blue Ridge Parkway. Get tickets at rally. Friday: $25 weekend pass, all-inclusive for activities. Saturday: $20 all-inclusive for Saturday-Sunday.Visit www.thunderinthesmokies.com or https://handlebarcorral.com/springrally/.
Saturday, May 6, 2023
9 AM Gate Opens, Vendors Open
12 pm Ride-In Bike Show $1,000 Prize
1:30 pm Bike Games $1,000 Prize
Concerts:
5 pm – 7 pm Featuring… Mark Keller
7 pm – 9 pm Featuring… Cash Creek and Friends
9 pm – 11 pm Featuring… Kala McKinney
Also, Fire Dancers will be performing Friday and Saturday.
The free, definitive resource for finding local food and farms also features farm stories and recipes.
The 2023 Local Food Guide, ASAP’s annual free publication for finding local food and farms, hits newsstands this week. This definitive resource lists hundreds of Appalachian Grown certified farms, farmers markets, restaurants, groceries, travel destinations, and more throughout Western North Carolina and surrounding counties in Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina. A digital version of the print Guide may be viewed at asapconnections.org/guide.
In addition to the listing content, the 2023 edition features stories that highlight the variety of farming across the region. Jake Puckett, of Crow Fly Farms in Marion, NC, details his passion for holistic animal management. Malcolm Banks, of Yellow Mountain Gardens in Franklin, NC, describes his mission to teach his neighbors—and the world—to grow their own food. Gwen and Jay Englebach, of Black Trumpet Farm in Leicester, NC, talk about building a business and customer relationships. Rounding out the issue are seasonal recipes from chefs at Cultura, Little Chango, The Montford, and Red Fiddle Vittles.
Find Local Food Guide copies at farmers markets, visitors centers, libraries, community centers, groceries, restaurants, and other partner businesses throughout the region. They are also available to pick up in the lobby of ASAP’s office in Asheville at 306 W. Haywood St., Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Contact ASAP if you need help locating a copy in your area.
In addition to the print Guide, ASAP maintains the online Local Food Guide at appalachiangrown.org. This database, with more than 1,400 listings, is updated throughout the year and is searchable by products, locations, activities, and more.
The 2023 Local Food Guide is made possible in part with support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) through the Agricultural Marketing Service and Beginning Farmer Rancher Development Fund, as well as the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina and Asheville Regional Airport.
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Celebrate with us by contributing to the future of the arts in Western North Carolina.
Make your 75th Anniversary Spring Annual Fund donation today! |
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! The Diamond Anniversary is a time to honor our rich heritage and—more importantly—envision our future as the premier visual arts organization in this vibrant, creative region.
Founded in 1948 by a group of local artists to showcase the scope and depth of creativity in Western North Carolina (WNC), the Museum brings art of international significance to the region and encourages lively, diverse dialogue.
The Museum’s original home was a modest, unheated, three-room building on Charlotte Street in the former sales office of Dr. E.W. Grove. The building was designed by Richard Sharp Smith and provided to the Museum by the City of Asheville. Exhibitions by local painters and sculptors could only be staged in warmer weather, and Sunday afternoon receptions gave the community an opportunity to view original art and to listen to artists talk about their work. By the 1950s, the Museum had become an invaluable part of Asheville’s cultural life. It also began acquiring artworks for its Collection.
Three quarters of a century later, the Museum has evolved into the preeminent cultural and educational hub for WNC—welcoming tens of thousands of visitors annually, hosting several major exhibitions each year, holding scores of special programs, and housing its Collection of more than 7,500 works in its state-of-the-art Pack Square location. From its humble beginnings on Charlotte Street to its breathtaking permanent home in the heart of downtown Asheville, the Museum has remained dedicated to Its mission to engage, enlighten, and inspire individuals and enrich the community through dynamic experiences in American art of the 20th and 21st centuries.
The Asheville Art Museum was built, cherished, and supported by the community throughout the past 75 years. Our anniversary celebration will give back through community partnerships and special programs, and by creating new reasons to visit or become a Member. We hope you’ll join us at one (or all) of our Diamond Anniversary special events: the 2023 Gala on June 17th, the 75th Anniversary Community Day Celebration in August, and the 75th Anniversary Dance Party in November!
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Edge, the newest exhibit showing in the airport art gallery, is open to the public now through July 21, 2022. The local art is unique, bold and is sure to capture the imaginations of its viewers.
The local artists’ work featured in this exhibit consist of many different mediums. Diane Bronstein creates complex and mesmerizing pieces with photographs, embroidery floss and other materials. Susan Devitt uses bold colors and vivid details to capture the beauty and possibilities of nature with her acrylic paintings. Jen Pacicci crafts peaceful and majestic collages of landscapes using watercolor and torn paper. Kurt Ross designs clay vessels of varying materials and glazes that are each unique in their thoughtful and clean design. Paul Silverman presents ceramic figures of various tools and vintage items that trick the eye in their realistic appearance and awe with their attention to detail.
“The Edge exhibit welcomes travelers and residents to Asheville with a vibrant and unique display this spring at AVL,” said Alexandra Ingle, Brand and Experience Designer at AVL and curator of the gallery. “We are excited at each gallery opening to bring a fresh taste of our talented WNC art community into the airport.”
Artwork can be purchased from the gallery by emailing [email protected]. Details about the program and how to apply can be found on the airport’s website at flyavl.com.
Since 2018, the Arts Build Community grant supports innovative, arts-based projects that inspire diverse groups of participants to be more active, involved, and civically-engaged by creating together. Grants range from $1,000-2,500.
Arts and culture are a fundamental part of our community. They help us connect with one another and better understand history, people, and new ideas. When people become involved in the design, creation, and upkeep of places, they develop a vested interest in using and maintaining these spaces. When neighbors have a true sense of “ownership” or connection to the places they frequent, the community becomes a better place to live, work, and visit.
Description & Eligibility
Organizations must have been in operation for at least one year and be physically located in Buncombe County. Priority is given to projects based in low-income neighborhoods and communities in need.
The arts must be centered in the proposed project. Funds may be used to cover expenses such as art supplies, professional artists’ fees and travel, space rental, advertising, marketing and publicity, website and electronic media, scripts, costumes, sets, props, music and equipment rental.
Funds are for projects taking place from July 1, 2023- June 30, 2024. This can be a reimbursement for projects occurring during this funding period that have already taken place or for projects that have not yet occurred. Projects must be completed by June 30, 2024.
Live fire cooking with Old Edwards Executive Chef Chris Huerta & Half-Mile Farm Chef Jason Tardo featuring locally grown Providence Farmstead protein.
Weekend Events:
Social Hour Friday and Saturday evenings from 5 – 6 pm with complimentary hors d’oeuvres and live music from 5 – 8 pm. Craft beverages also are available from the J. Henry Farmhouse Tavern.
ABOUT McCALISTER RUSSELL
McCalister Russell currently manages the American Wagyu beef program for her family’s Providence Farmstead, and is most likely the sweet face you’ll see delivering to your local restaurant or market. Cali has been working to get Providence Farmstead on the map and menu. McCalister graduated in 2020 from UC Berkeley and has since dedicated herself to the growth of our family business. While she puts in her time on the farm, you can also find her working with local restaurants and markets to fill orders and build connections. McCalister is a big fan of good books, hiking, photography, and salsa dancing!
ABOUT PROVIDENCE FARMSTEAD
While they came from different parts of the country, Georgia native C.A. Russell and California native Kirsten Clauss both shared a common passion for agriculture and family farming. After working together for 30 years in California, raising their family, and developing a nationally recognized Jersey Dairy, the couple has turned their compass back East towards the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Providence Farmstead represents the next chapter in their farming journey. Working together with their children Colin, Erica, Lars, and McCalister, the new focus for this innovative agricultural family is to provide premium American Wagyu beef to Northeast Georgia and Western North Carolina. Their 100-acre farm in Otto, NC and 200-acre farm in Demorest, GA provides an idyllic setting for raising family farmed American Wagyu beef. Providence Farmstead American Wagyu is the perfect choice for consumers who want to know where their food comes from and how it was raised.
High-quality American Wagyu beef is not the only thing Providence Farmstead has to offer. We will be building a Jersey Dairy and Creamery in the Winter of 2022, and hope to be open in 2023! The plans are underway and our vision for the future is bright! We invite you to take part in this journey of bringing exceptional dairy products to our community.
Price: Hosted events are for Half-Mile Farm guests only.
To attend these complimentary events at Half-Mile Farm from May 5 – 7, book your stay today.
Book Online: https://www.oldedwardshospitality.com/half-mile-farm#/booking/step-1
NC State Parks’ Year of the Trail continues with a celebration of how our trails transform each spring. Bring your camera on your next excursion in the park and capture budding wildflowers, spring hikers, or whatever you encounter along the way. You may even win a prize for your efforts!
GREAT PRIZES WILL BE AWARDED TO 3 WINNING ENTRIES
1st Prize: The winning photo will be our Facebook cover photo for two weeks, and the photographer will receive two annual passes to Chimney Rock State Park and lunch for four at the Old Rock Café.
2nd Prize: After the first place photo, the second place photo will be our Facebook cover photo for one week. The photographer will receive one annual pass to Chimney Rock State Park and lunch for two at the Old Rock Café.
3rd Prize: The third place photographer will receive two adult day passes (or one family pack of day passes) to Chimney Rock State Park and lunch for two at the Old Rock Café.
Michelle Tway – fiber
Timothy Bridges – fiber
Martine House – mixed media
Noel Yovovich – metal
Deb Herman – fiber
The Focus Gallery is located on the second level of the Folk Art Center. The Folk Art Center is located at Milepost 382 of the Blue Ridge Parkway, just north of the Highway 70 entrance in east Asheville, NC.
This exhibition is hosted by the Southern Highland Craft Guild. The Guild is a non-profit, educational organization established in 1930 to cultivate the crafts and makers of the Southern Highlands for the purpose of shared resources, education, marketing, and conservation. The Southern Highland Craft Guild is an authorized concessioner of the National Park Service, Department of the Interior.
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!
Andrea Rich’s intricately designed, carved, and printed woodcuts draw viewers in for an up-close look.
Some of the artist’s earliest memories are of drawing animals. Childhood encounters with pets, livestock, and wildlife, including birds, deer, and toads, created a lasting connection to the natural world. Through encounters with creatures both tame and wild, Rich developed a fascination and a compassion for animals integral to her art.
“My prints are a visual record of the intriguing creatures that have enriched my life. The woodcut process challenges me to focus on the essence of my subjects. At the same time, I am drawn to the smell of the wood, its texture and grain, and the pleasure I experience while carving. I begin working on a block of wood and realize later that hours have passed without notice.”
Rich uses a centuries-old medium that requires one carved wood panel for each color – varying from one to sixteen – necessary to develop the composition. These panels are painstakingly aligned one atop another sequentially and pulled through a printing press to create the final woodcut.
The subjects of Rich’s woodcuts range from the wilderness of the Australian outback and the lush tropical Amazon forests to the roaring rivers of Yellowstone Park. Rich has traveled worldwide to study wildlife habitats and these varied firsthand experiences are reflected in her work.
Among Rich’s many achievements are international recognition for her woodcut prints, including a 2009 Award of Excellence from the Society of Animal Artists and a 2009 Medal of Excellence from the Artists for Conservation Foundation. She was named Master Artist by the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in 2006. In 2010 her work was featured in a solo exhibition at the Mass Audubon Visual Arts Center, Canton, Massachusetts. Rich is a member of the California Society of Printmakers, Artists for Nature Foundation, the Society of Animal Artists, and Society of Wildlife Artists.
In 2000 Rich designated the Woodson Art Museum as the repository for her artistic oeuvre. An Abundance of Riches is drawn from these holdings, which include an example of each of her woodcuts created since the mid-1980s.
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
Ayurveda-Influenced yoga designed for the spring season.
Bring a mat and stay afterward for community
Avoid the fee by sending a venmo to @burning-sage-yoga and put Hillman 5/7 in the notes.
Your amazing instructor Claudia will lead you through a spring flow designed to help you detox your winter and energize your spring.
Stay at Hillman for a great time afterwards!
Asheville Gallery of Art’s May show, “Flower Power,” introduces three new Gallery members: Nick Colquitt, Jean-Pierre Dubreuil, and Yvonne McCabe. This delightful exhibition takes its audience on a journey through the mountains of North Carolina, showcasing the mysterious beauty they display within their natural terrain. The show runs May 1-31 during Gallery hours, 11am-6pm daily.
An enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Luzene Hill advocates for Indigenous sovereignty—linguistically, culturally, and individually. Revelate builds upon Hill’s investigation of pre-contact cultures. This has led Hill to incorporate the idea of Ollin, the Nahuatl word for the natural rhythms of the universe, in Aztec cosmology in her work. Before Europeans arrived in North America, Indigenous societies were predominantly matrilineal. Women were considered sacred, involved in the decision-making process, and thrived within communities holding a worldview based on equilibrium.
Ollin emphasizes that we are in constant state of motion and discovery. Adopted as an educational framework, particularly in social justice and ethnic studies, Ollin guides individuals through a process of reflection, action, reconciliation, and transformation. This exhibition combines Hill’s use of mylar safety blankets alongside recent drawings. Capes constructed of mylar burst with energy and rustle with subtle sound, the shining material a signifier of care, awareness, displacement, and presence. Though Hill works primarily in sculpture, drawing has increasingly become an essential part of her practice as she seeks to communicate themes of feminine and Indigenous power across her entire body of work. The energy within her drawings extends to the bursts of light reflecting from her capes or the accumulation of materials in other installation works.
Luzene Hill was born in Atlanta, GA, in 1946. She received her bachelor of fine art and master of fine art from Western Carolina University. She lives and works on the Qualla Boundary, Cherokee, NC.
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Paul Wong, Carbon, silver and gold, 2016, pigmented linen and cotton pulp, publisher: Dieu Donné, New York, edition 3/25, 18 × 11 inches. Gift of Dieu Donné, New York, 2022.27.06. © Paul Wong. |
On View March 8 through July 24, 2023
The Van Winkle Law Firm Gallery • Level 1
Paper is an essential part of the art-making process for many artists, serving as the base for drawing, painting, printmaking, and other forms of art. As a substrate, paper can vary in weight, absorbency, color, size, and other aspects. Since industrialization, paper has primarily been produced through mechanical means that allow for consistency and affordability.
What happens, then, when an artist chooses to return to the foundations of paper, wherein it is made by hand using pulps, fibers, and dyes that reflect the human element through variations, inconsistencies, flaws, and surprises? Certain artists have sought out these qualities and embraced them, making paper not just a support on which to work, but fully a medium in and of itself.
Pulp Potential: Works in Handmade Paper is organized by the Asheville Art Museum and curated by Hilary Schroeder, former assistant curator, with assistance from Alexis Meldrum, curatorial assistant. Special thanks to Dieu Donné, New York, NY.