Asheville Gallery of Art’s March show, “Awakenings” features work by three new Gallery members: Jon Sebastian, Sara Bell, Andrea Stutesman. The show runs daily March 1 through March 31st, 2023 during gallery hours, 11am-6pm. An opening reception will be held March 3, 5-8pm; everyone is welcome.

The three artists will showcase their passion through three mediums, respectively. Not unlike the delicate and elusive trillium of the North Carolina mountain beds, these artists spring forward in the presentation of “Awakenings.” As featured artists of the month, Andrea Stutesman, Sara Bell, and Jon Sebastian join forces in presenting this amazing show by rendering their art using pastels, watercolors, and oil paints. Mesmerizing spring colors will grace the windows and walls of the gallery, rendering imagery of flowers, exotic and endangered animals, and vibrant landscapes. “Awakenings” is the second of three group shows featuring new artists to the gallery.

Andrea Stutesman
Andrea’s early art explorations began with pastels under the guidance of her mother, an accomplished painter. Her work is from the heart, inspired by her interactions with people and places or by the stories brought to her with requests for commissions. She strives to transform a sense of calm and connection that she experiences when painting that will invite viewers to slow down and enjoy the beauty of life.

Jon Sebastian
Art and painting in particular is, for artist Jon Sebastian, the selective recreation of reality according to his own principles and what he deems interesting and just in this world we share. Jon cannot remember a time when he did not paint. At Asheville Gallery of Art, Jon is now moving forward with confidence that others will find his works a compelling addition to their own collections. Jon paints immersive works filled with color, light and shadow. His subjects are of nature and of the peace and spirituality in which they envelope us.

Sara Bell
Sara Bell has always loved drawing. It’s a form of meditation for her and has now become a way for her to find peace and sanity when her world gets too overwhelming, which, as a single mom with a neuro-divergent teen, happens quite often. When it does, Sara follows John Muir’s quote, “Off into the woods I go to lose my mind and find my soul.” The results of these adventures are delightful sketches and photography of the forests. Sara then works from her photos to create her watercolors and intaglio prints.
Come visit this engaging and thoughtful exhibition at 82 Patton Avenue in downtown Asheville. For further information about this show, contact the Asheville Gallery of Art at (828) 251-5796, visit the Gallery’s website at ashevillegallery-of-art.com, or go to the Gallery’s Facebook page.

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.

Natural Collector is organized by the Asheville Art Museum. IMAGE: Christian Burchard, Untitled (nesting bowls), 1998, madrone burl, various from 6 × 6 × 6 to ⅜ × ⅜ × ⅜ inches. Gift of Fleur S. Bresler, 2021.76.01.

Natural Collector | Gifts of Fleur S. Bresler features around 15 artworks from the collection of Fleur S. Bresler, which include important examples of modern and contemporary American craft including wood and fiber art, as well as glass and ceramics. These works that were generously donated by contemporary craft collector Bresler to the Asheville Art Museum over the years reflect her strong interest in wood-based art and themes of nature. According to Associate Curator Whitney Richardson, “This exhibition highlights artworks that consider the natural element from which they were created or replicate known flora and fauna in unexpected materials. The selection of objects displayed illustrates how Bresler’s eye for collecting craft not only draws attention to nature and artists’ interest in it, but also accentuates her role as a natural collector with an intuitive ability to identify themes and ideas that speak to one another.” This exhibition presents work from the Collection representing the first generation of American wood turners like Rude Osolnik and Ed Moulthrop, as well as those that came after and learned from them, such as Philip Moulthrop, John Jordan, and local Western North Carolina (WNC) artist Stoney Lamar. Other WNC-based artists in Natural Collector include Anne Lemanski, whose paper sculpture of a snake captures the viewer’s imagination, and Michael Sherrill’s multimedia work that tricks the eye with its similarity to true-to-life berries. Also represented are beadwork and sculpture by Joyce J. Scott and Jack and Linda Fifield.

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.

Asheville-born and Raleigh-Durham-based interdisciplinary artist Sherrill Roland’s socially driven practice draws upon his experience with wrongful incarceration for a crime he did not commit and seeks to open conversations about how we care for our communities and one another with compassion and understanding. Through sculpture, installation, and conceptual art, Roland engages visitors in dialogues around community, social contract, identity, biases, and other deeply human experiences. Comprised of artwork created from 2016 to the present, Sherrill Roland: Sugar, Water, Lemon Squeeze reflects on making something from nothing, lemonade from lemons, the best of a situation. A reference to a simple recipe from the artist’s childhood, the title also speaks to Roland’s employment of materials available to him while incarcerated, such as Kool-Aid and mail from family members. In the face of his personal experiences, he invites viewers to confront their own uncomfortable complicity in perpetuating injustice. Roland’s work humanizes these difficult topics and creates a space for communication and envisioning a better future. This exhibition is organized by the Asheville Art Museum and curated by Hilary Schroeder, assistant curator, in collaboration with the Artist. This exhibition is funded, in part, by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.

Included with admission

Back by popular demand, The Vanderbilts at Home and Abroad exhibition offers guests:

• An opportunity to view rarely-seen treasures from the Biltmore collection
• A first-hand look at the Vanderbilts’ lifestyle
• Deeper insights into George, Edith, and Cornelia’s personalities, both at home and on their extensive travels

Access to exhibitions at The Biltmore Legacy is included with Biltmore daytime admission.

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.

Join us for a relaxing ride through quiet countryside on your way to small town life in western North Carolina on the Tuckasegee River Excursion. Departing from Bryson City, this 4 hour excursion travels 32 miles round-trip to Dillsboro and back to the Bryson City Depot. Pass by the famous movie set of The Fugitive starring Harrison Ford!

• About This Trip
• Things To Do
• Itinerary
• Classes of Service and Pricing
• Class Comparison
• How to Purchase
• Schedule
• The Tuckasegee (tuck-uh-SEE-jee) River Excursion includes an 1 hour and 20 minute layover in the historic town of Dillsboro, where you’ll find more than 50 shops, restaurants, a brewery, and country inns. There is time to shop, snack, and visit the many unique shops before returning to Bryson City.

Now that the election is behind us, join our local, state and federal elected officials on March 10 for a mix and mingle. This is your chance to meet our elected officials and discuss arts policy initiatives that are impacting our creative sector.

This is a follow up to the candidate forums held 2022. You can learn more about ArtsAVL’s ongoing advocacy initiatives at artsavl.org.

ASAP (Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project) will present a CSA Fair on March 10 at the YWCA of Asheville, from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. This event is free, family-friendly, and open to the public.

ASAP’s CSA Fair is a chance to meet local farmers and learn about CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) in our area. By joining a CSA, you get a weekly box of fresh, locally grown produce, meats, flowers, or other local products—and provide a farmer with valuable financial support before the season starts. Talk to farmers about how their CSA works, what products they offer, their farm’s growing practices, payment options, and more. Attendees can sign up for a CSA during the fair or follow up with farmers later. This fair will also have local food tastings and activities for kids, as well as produce and food products available for purchase.

Joining a CSA (or Community Supported Agriculture) program connects you directly with local farms in your community. Members buy a “share” of a farm’s harvest upfront and receive a weekly box of fresh produce or other farm goods. The best time to sign up for a CSA is in February and early March. This year, ASAP is expanding on a national “CSA Week” in late February to promote “CSA Month” from Feb. 15 to March 15. CSA Month will include a social media campaign with CSA education and farmer features; digital tools for finding CSA programs; and an in-person CSA Fair at the YWCA of Asheville on March 10 from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m.

In addition to traditional produce CSAs, the fair will include farms with specialty CSA products, such as meat or flowers. The fair is relaxed setting where attendees chat with farmers about their products, growing practices, payment structure, and more. Attendees can sign up for a CSA during the fair or follow up with farmers later. The fair will also feature local food tastings and activities for kids, as well as produce and food products available for purchase. The event is free and open to the public. The YWCA is located at 185 S. French Broad Ave. in Asheville. Participating farms will be announced in late February.

For farmers, the CSA Fair is a chance to build relationships, even if attendees decide not to purchase a share. “[The customers we meet at the CSA Fair] tend to really want to know the farmer and the food, meaning they are a bit more adventurous when it comes to trying new things,” says K.P. Whaley of Tiny Bridge Farm in Hendersonville. “They are interested in knowing how and what we are growing, and really want us to be successful as a farm operation. We may get some customers from the fair and that’s great. But we also start building relationships with future customers.”

For those unable to attend the fair or who are looking for a CSA outside of Buncombe County, online tools at asapconnections.org/csa help customers compare CSAs throughout the Appalachian Grown region, making it easier to choose a program that fits individual needs. The Appalachian Grown region includes Western North Carolina as well as bordering counties in South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia. Things customers could consider when choosing a CSA include convenient pickup times and locations; the farm’s growing practices; and appropriate share size (i.e., how much food). Some farms offer variations on the traditional CSA model, such as online selection, shorter commitment, or a market share (members pay upfront, but select their own produce at the farmers market each week).

Hi, We are Gigi & Gina, and are hosting our first event at Bottle Riot. During our Meet and Greet, we’ll get to connect and discuss things like how often we should meet, where, and what important topics we want to focus on. See you soon!

What we’re about

Mandee McKelvey was recently named one of the 50 best undiscovered comics in the country by Thrillist, and it’s not hard to see why. As one of the midwest’s most acclaimed stand-up comedians, Mandee is revered for her ability to spin tragedy into comedy.

Mandee was named a breakout performer at Limestone Comedy Festival and the Memphis Comedy Festival, and has recently featured for Whitney Cummings, Michelle Wolf, Laurie Kilmartin, Tig Notaro, Todd Barry, and Anthony Jeselnik. Her one-woman show, My Left Boob, received the Underdog Award for it’s sold-out debut at the 2019 IndyFringe and Kansas City’s Best of Fringe award in 2022.

Mandee produces the celebrated roast show Character Assassination and the storytelling show We Still Like You.

ages 21+ (must have ID with you)

doors at 7pm, show at 8pm

  vs. 

The Greenville Swamp Rabbits are much more than a professional hockey franchise playing in Upstate South Carolina; it is truly Greenville’s hockey team. Formerly known as the Road Warriors, the club rebranded to the Swamp Rabbits on August 26, 2015 in an effort to really ingrain itself in the fabric of the community. The name is inherently Greenville – specific to the city and unique in the sports world.

It’s the electrifying energy and unstoppable passion of Swamp Rabbits fans inside The Well combined with the award-winning game presentation that make attending a Swamp Rabbits game the BEST fan experience in the ECHL! From the moment you step inside the arena, you’ll find FREE concourse activities for the whole family, including sign-making, temporary tattoos, interactive games, music and there’s always a good chance you’ll run into the Swamp Rabbits mascot Stomper! Throughout the season, fans can also expect a lineup of special theme nights and exciting giveaways.

Now and Then: Solo viola da gamba through the ages with Gail Schroeder. Enjoy a weekend of exquisite and entertaining acoustic offerings by some of Asheville’s top singers and instrumentalists.

Western North Carolina’s acclaimed ensembles, Pan Harmonia and Asheville Baroque Concerts, present an all-Baroque weekend in partnership with St. Mary’s Episcopal Church of Asheville and First Presbyterian Church of Asheville.

Enjoy a cup of coffee with Bach’s comic Kaffeekantata (Coffee Cantata) depicting a dismayed father and his coffee-addicted daughter and featuring soprano Nana Hosmer Griffin, bass Roberto Flores and narrator Garrett Scholberg. Yes, Bach can be funny!

Bassoonist Rosalind Buda shares the spotlight with flutist Kate Steinbeck in GP Telemann’s lyrical Concerto for bassoon and flute supported by the masterful musicianship of Barbara Weiss, harpsichord; Jeremy Roberts, organ and chamber orchestra artists: Mariya Potapova and Andrea Pettigrew, violins; Claire Gerhardt, viola; Katherine Haig cello; Sara Nichols bass.

We are committed to ensuring that programs remain accessible to all members of the community. In the spirit of inclusivity and equity, PAN HARMONIA offers donation-based, pay-as-you-can community concerts. All are welcome.

Those planning to attend are expected to be fully vaccinated for the safety of our community.

Live Music at Hickory Tavern, 9:00 p.m. until 12:00 a.m.