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.
An alternative to the ‘pop-up’ or a larger fair, COLLECT curates extraordinary warm and festive gifts for the holidays by regional artists and makers. In addition to gifts, COLLECT will feature food and drink from Crocodile Wine, Roll Up Herbal Bar, Botanist & Barrel, and Nibbly Onigiri.
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Do you want to build a snowman? Join us to create your very own snowperson using air dry clay! All materials will be provided. Open to children and teens ages 4 and up. |
Give the gift of holiday joy in the form of a unique, beautiful, locally made ornament! Handcrafted ornaments made by local artists will be for sale in our lobby on our Christmas tree through the middle of December. Gift the gift of art this year and support local artists in the process!
Featuring handmade gifts, accessories, clothing and art, the Holiday Market is the perfect place to complete your holiday shopping list. There will be more than a dozen vendors inside and outside of Local Cloth! And you can meet an alpaca! Bring your friends and family!
Preservers, Innovators, and Rescuers of Culture in Chiapas features eleven textiles by acclaimed Indigenous artisanas (artists) from Chiapas, Mexico commissioned by US-based fiber artists and activist Aram Han Sifuentes. As part of their 2022 Craft Research Fund Artist Fellowship, Han Sifuentes traveled to Chiapas to understand the function of garments and textiles within the social and cultural context of the area and to learn the traditional practice of backstrap weaving. Through the works on view, combined with a series of interviews Han Sifuentes conducted during her research, visitors learn about the artisanas and their role as preservers, rescuers, and innovators of culture and as protectors of Mayan ancestral knowledge. Together, these works present an approach to connecting and learning about culture through craft practices.
Han Sifuentes is interested in backstrap weaving because it is one of the oldest forms used across cultures. The vibrant hues and elaborate designs of each textile express the artisanas identities and medium to tell their stories. To understand how these values manifested in textiles made in Chiapas, Han Sifuentes invited the artisanas to create whatever weaving they desired over the course of three months. This is unique because most textiles in the area are created to meet tourist-driven and marketplace demands. Incorporating traditional backstrap weaving and natural dye techniques, some artisans created textiles to rescue or reintroduce weaving practices that are almost or completely lost in their communities, while others were created through material and conceptual experimentation. This range of approaches reflects how artistanas are constantly innovating while at the same time honoring and keeping to tradition.
Preservers, Innovators, and Rescuers of Culture in Chiapas is on view from November 17, 2023 to July 13, 2024.
Aram Han Sifuentes is a recipient of the Center for Craft’s 2022 Craft Research Fund Artist Fellowship. This substantial mid-career grant is awarded to two artists to support research projects that advance, expand, and support the creation of new research and knowledge through craft practice.
The featured artisanas include: Juana Victoria Hernandez Gomez from San Juan Cancuc, Maria Josefina Gómez Sanchez and Maria de Jesus Gómez Sanchez from Oxchujk (Oxchuc), Marcela Gómez Diaz and Cecilia Gómez Diaz from San Andrés Larráinzar, Rosa Margarita Enríquez Bolóm from Huixtán, Cristina García Pérez from Chalchihuitán, Susana Maria Gómez Gonzalez, Maria Gonzalez Guillén, and Anastacia Juana Gómez Gonzalez from Zinacantán, Angelica Leticia Gómez Santiz from Pantelhó, and Susana Guadalupe Méndez Santiz from Aldama
Tyger Tyger Gallery is pleased to present Reckoning: Adornment as Narrative, a group exhibition curated by Asheville-based artist and curator Erika Diamond.
Reckoning: Adornment as Narrative is an exhibition of diverse practices, anchored at three points: methods of reckoning; the function of adornment; and the fusing of personal and cultural narrative. It features acts of glitz, embellishment, and homage by Shae Bishop, David Harper Clemons, Kashif Dennis, Annie Evelyn, Margaret Jacobs, Julia Kwon, Katrina Majkut, Heather Mackenzie, and Luis Sahagun. Through material language, each artist tells the story of their identity. Inherent to these stories are contradictions—between labor and value, feminine and masculine, natural and fabricated.
TFAC invites all artists: painters, sculptors, writers, performers & more — to a casual weekly drop-in gathering on Saturday mornings at 9 AM to share your works in progress, alert others, and chat about art and what’s happening in your community.
The first weekly Coffee is Saturday, August 20 at 9 am.
No RSVP needed, just drop by!
Free parking available on Melrose Avenue, behind and alongside TFAC.
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| Images: Left: Minna Wright Citron, Squid Under Pier, 1948, color etching, soft-ground, and engraving on paper, edition 42/50, 15 x 17 7/8 inches, 2010 Collections Circle purchase, Asheville Art Museum. © Estate of Minna Citron/Licensed by VAGA at ARS, New York. Right: Dorothy Dehner, Woman #2, 1954, watercolor and ink on paper, 22 3/4 x 18”, courtesy of Dolan Maxwell. |
The Asheville Art Museum is pleased to announce the upcoming exhibition American Art in the Atomic Age: 1940–1960, which explores the groundbreaking contributions of artists who worked at the experimental printmaking studio Atelier 17 in the wake of World War II. Co-curated by Marilyn Laufer and Tom Butler, American Art in the Atomic Age which draws from the holdings of Dolan/Maxwell, the Asheville Art Museum Collection, and private collections will be on view from November 10, 2023–April 29, 2024.
Atelier 17 operated in New York for fifteen years, between 1940 and 1955. The studio’s founder, Stanley William Hayter (1901–1988) established the workshop in Paris but relocated to New York just as the Nazi occupation of Paris began in 1940. Hayter’s new studio attracted European emigrants like André Masson, Yves Tanguy, and Joan Miró, as well as American artists like Dorothy Dehner, Judith Rothschild, and Karl Schrag, allowing for an exchange of artistic ideas and processes between European and American artists.
The Asheville Art Museum will present over 100 works that exemplify the cross-cultural exchange and profound social and political impact of Atelier 17 on American art. Prints made at Atelier 17—including those by Stanley William Hayter, Louise Nevelson, and Perle Fine—will be in conversation with works by European Surrealists who were working at the studio in the 1940s and 1950s. The exhibition will also feature a selection of domestic mid-century objects that exemplify how the ideas and aesthetics of post-war abstraction became a part of everyday life.
Throughout the history of painting from the mid-19th century forward, artists have used an
endless variety of approaches to record their world. Beyond the Lens: Photorealist Perspectives on Looking, Seeing, and Painting continues this thread, offering an opportunity to explore a singular and still forceful aspect of American art. Photorealism shares many of the approaches of historical and modernist realism, with a twist. The use of the camera as a basic tool for organizing visual information in advance of painterly expression is now quite common, but Photorealists embraced the camera as the focal point in their creative process.
Beyond the Lens presents key works from the collection of Louis K. and Susan Pear Meisel,
bringing together paintings and works on paper dating from the 1970s to the present to focus on this profoundly influential art movement. The exhibition includes work by highly acclaimed formative artists of the movement such as Charles Bell, Robert Bechtle, Tom Blackwell, Richard Estes, Audrey Flack, and Ralph Goings as well as paintings by the successive generations of Photorealist artists Anthony Brunelli, Davis Cone, Bertrand Meniel, Rod Penner, and Raphaella Spence. Featured artworks in the exhibition include diverse subject matters, but the primary focus is on the common and every day: urban scenes, “portraits” of cars, trucks, and motorcycles, still life compositions using toys, food, candy wrappers, and salt and pepper shakers. All provide opportunities for virtuoso studies in how light, reflection, and the camera as intermediary shapes our perception of the material world.
This multigenerational survey demonstrates how the 35-mm camera, and later technological
advances in digital image-making, informed and impacted the painterly gesture. Taken together, the paintings and works on paper in Beyond the Lens show how simply spellbinding these virtuosic works of art can be.
“Beyond the Lens offers a fascinating look into the Photorealism movement and delves into the profound connection between the artists’ observation and creative process,” says Pamela L. Myers, Executive Director of Asheville Art Museum. “We are delighted to present this curated collection of artworks encapsulating the creative vision and technical precision that defines this artistic genre.”
Photorealism found its roots in the late 1960s in California and New York, coexisting with an explosion of new ideas in art-making that included Conceptual, Pop, Minimalism, Land and Performance Art. At first, representational realism coexisted with the thematic and conceptual explosion but was eventually relegated to the margins regarding critical and curatorial attention. Often misunderstood and sometimes negatively criticized or lampooned as a betrayal of modernism’s commitment to abstraction, the artists involved in Photorealism remained committed explorers of the trail they had blazed. In the decades of the late twentieth century and early twenty-first century, realistic and symbolic painting experienced a renaissance, as contemporary artists are increasingly drawn to narrative and storytelling. Concurrently, using a camera as a preparatory tool equally legitimate and valuable as pencils and pens has made the rubric of Photorealism increasingly relevant.
This exhibition is organized by the Asheville Art Museum and guest curated by Terrie Sultan.
This exhibition is sponsored in part by Jim and Julia Calkins Peterson.
Opening Reception for the Artist Nov. 3, 6-8PM.
Tracey Morgan Gallery is pleased to present A Mirror, Not a Window, an exhibition of new and recent work by artist Hannah Cole. This is Cole’s second solo exhibition with the gallery. A reception for the artist will be held Friday, November 3 from 6-8PM.
This collection of paintings and sculptures continues Cole’s interest in creating, completely by hand, reproductions of small details and objects culled from her everyday life, turning the viewer’s attention to often overlooked aspects of our surrounding environment and reframing the very definition of representational art. With nods to pop art, trompe l’oeil, and modern American painters, Cole poses big questions about the nature of the artist’s hand, and the drive to (re)create.
A grouping of wall sculptures of nearly exact replicas of books which are hand-painted on wood blocks are included in the exhibition. These books are all non-fiction, mostly art related, though now un-readable. Instead of looking to books for answers, these objects force the viewer to provide the substance. The most self-referential of the group is Jean Baudrillard’s Simulacra and Simulation in which the French philosopher talks in dense prose about our culture of signs and signals eventually becoming copies without any originals. In Cole’s tongue-in-cheek nod, her faithful replica of Baudriallard’s philosophical work becomes an art object whose meaning has shifted completely from the original. Cole’s painted wood block cannot be read and has no actual utility at all, except as an object to contemplate.
A recurring element in Cole’s paintings is a hand-rendered tape measure running along the edge of her canvases. By including this common, easily recognizable object, Cole calls to question the “truth” of representation. Can we trust these measurements simply because they have identifiable markings? Other paintings on Styrofoam show painted wood grain edges, subverting the viewer’s expectation of where the painting itself is, and what it’s made of. We expect a painting to be on the outward-facing surface, but what if the faithful representation is painted on the sides?
In this contemporary age of Artificial Intelligence flooding us with copies, reproductions, fakes, and deliberate decep-tions, anxieties regarding authenticity and authorship run high. Cole’s work invites contemplation of these deeply philosophical issues with a playful tone, presenting serious questions by way of common objects.
Hannah Cole studied at Yale University and Boston University. Her work has been exhibited at The Turchin Center for Visual Arts, NC; the Drawing Center, NY; the University of Maine Museum of Art; the Sherman Gallery at Boston University, MA; Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Greenville, NC; and the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, among other national and international institutions. She currently lives and works in Asheville, NC.
Join us for a Holiday Pop Up Shop at Open Studio
Saturday, December 9th – 11-5
Sunday, December 10th – 11-5
115 Elk Mountain Road, North Asheville NC 28804
Shop pottery, art, vintage clothing, home goods, jewelry, teas, tinctures, gifts + more from:
@gennypopshop
@a13rattlesnakesandrainbows
@junopottery
@heilbronherbs
@loomimports
@yewocollective
“This Holiday Sip & Shop offers a refreshing alternative to big-box retail chains, as every item in
our shop is American-made,” says the gallery’s marketing manager Ashley Van Matre.
Discover beauty in small batches while shopping for unique gift items handmade by Asheville
artists and beyond. Grovewood Gallery showcases over 9,000 square feet of finely crafted
jewelry, wooden bowls and utensils, ceramic tableware, blown glass, fiber art, and much more.
Local makers will demonstrate their craft each day. Participating artists include Eddie Aaronson
of Windthrow, Lisa Gluckin, Deanna Lynch, and Janna Mattson.
Demo Descriptions:
Eddie Aaronson of Windthrow – Dec. 8 + 9
Black and white sketch etchings of Western North Carolina landscapes.
Lisa Gluckin – Dec. 8 + 9
Hand-building clay vessels and surface design.
Deanna Lynch Textiles – Dec. 8 + 9
Mending antique quilts.
Janna Mattson – Dec. 9Needle felting wool landscapes.
About Grovewood Gallery
Established in 1992, Grovewood Gallery is noted for its charming, old-world setting and rich
craft heritage. The gallery is located in the historic Grovewood Village complex, which once
housed the weaving and woodworking operations of Biltmore Industries, a force in American
craft and textiles that grew to become one of the largest producers of handwoven wool in the
country. Today, the gallery offers two expansive floors of fine American-made art and crafts
contributed by more than 350 makers.
Hours are Monday through Sunday from 10 am – 5 pm. Free parking is available on-site.
Romare Bearden (Charlotte, NC 1911–1988 New York, NY), African American writer and artist, is renowned for his collages. He constantly experimented with various techniques to achieve his artistic goals throughout his career. This exhibition highlights works on paper and explores his most frequently used mediums, including screen-printing, lithography, hand-colored etching, collagraph, monotype, relief print, photomontage, and collage.
Bearden’s work reflects his improvisational approach to his practice. He considered his process akin to that of jazz and blues composers. Starting with an open mind, he would let an idea evolve spontaneously.
“Romare Bearden: Ways of Working highlights Bearden’s unique artistic practice and masterful storytelling through art,” says Pamela L. Myers, Executive Director of the Asheville Art Museum. “We are thrilled to collaborate with Jerald Melberg Gallery to present these extraordinary works on paper in conversation with Bearden’s collage Sunset Express, 1984 in the Museum Collection (on view in the Museum’s SECU Collection Hall). This exhibition will also provide a glimpse into the cultural histories and personal interests that influenced his art-making practice, and we hope it encourages introspection and dialogue with our visitors.”
Jerald Melberg states, “Romare Bearden’s groundbreaking artistic practice continues to captivate audiences worldwide. With an unparalleled legacy of creativity and innovation, Bearden’s contributions to art remain deeply influential years beyond his life.” We have enjoyed organizing this exhibition with the Asheville Art Museum to showcase his artistic genius and inspire visitors from the Western North Carolina region and beyond.”
This exhibition is made possible in part by the Judy Appleton Fund. Many thanks to the Jerald Melberg Gallery for the loan of these important artworks and to Mary and Jerald Melberg for their long-standing support of the arts, artists, and the Asheville Art Museum.
Tracey Morgan Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of paintings by artist Stella Alesi in our project space. This is Alesi’s first exhibition with the gallery and is presented in conjunction with Hannah Cole: A Mirror, Not a Window in our main gallery space. A reception for both artists will be held Friday, November 3 from 6-8PM.
The works on view are from the SQUISHY series, a group of geometric, abstract oil on oil paper paintings. With the use of simple shapes and a limited color palette, these works explore the visceral experience of living at this current moment. Alesi’s colorful, “squishy” shapes bend to the demands placed on them by their seemingly heavy, unforgiving counterparts. With this work, Alesi confronts contemporary issues such as climate change and political turmoil, as well as personal trials, using basic shapes, both hard and malleable to express a state of being. The shapes are gestural, fluid, and animated – sometimes resembling body parts even in their minimalism. The effect is a playful interpretation of heavy topics – a visual play on the deep and multi-layer well of human emotions.
Stella Alesi works across several styles and mediums, including drawing, painting, photography, collage, and large wall works. Their practice is characterized by a willingness to try new approaches in the ongoing investigation into new materials and visual languages, always exploring new ways to represent the visceral nature of the human experience. Born on Long Island, New York in 1963, Alesi was raised in New Jersey. They studied at Parsons School of Design, New York City; University Hampshire, Durham; and University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Their work has been purchased by many private and commercial collections. Career highlights include a recent solo exhibit (spring of 2023) at the Northern-Southern gallery, Austin, TX and a large-scale permanent installation in the lobby of The Foundry, Austin TX. Alesi currently lives and works in both Austin, TX and Asheville, NC.
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Western North Carolina is important in the history of American glass art. Several artists of the Studio Glass Movement came to the region, including its founder Harvey K. Littleton. Begun in 1962 in Wisconsin, it was a student of Littleton’s that first came to the area in 1965 and set up a glass studio at the Penland School of Craft in Penland, North Carolina. By 1967, Mark Peiser was the first glass artist resident at the school and taught many notable artists, like Jak Brewer in 1968 and Richard Ritter who came to study in 1971. By 1977, Littleton retired from teaching and moved to nearby Spruce Pine, North Carolina and set up a glass studio at his home. Since that time, glass artists like Ken Carder, Rick and Valerie Beck, Shane Fero, and Yaffa Sikorsky and Jeff Todd—to name only a few—have flocked to the area to reside, collaborate, and teach, making it a significant place for experimentation and education in glass. The next generation of artists like Hayden Wilson and Alex Bernstein continue to create here. The Museum is dedicated to collecting American studio glass and within that umbrella, explores the work of Artists connected to Western North Carolina. Exhibitions, including Intersections of American Art, explore glass art in the context of American Art of the 20th and 21st centuries. A variety of techniques and a willingness to push boundaries of the medium can be seen in this selection of works from the Museum’s Collection. |
Outdoor German-style Christkindlmarkt.
Artisans & Crafters. Food. Drink. Music. Santa Claus. Children’s crafts. Make your own s’mores. Outdoor games. Fun For All Ages.
Featuring: Haus Heidelberg Food Truck, Guidon Brewing Co., 30 vendors, & more
Collage postcards, greeting cards, AND make-your-own buttons!
December 9 – Ornaments
December 16 – Printing on Stockings
Saturday, December 9th between 1-6, we’re unleashing a blast from the past with a downright delightful Vintage Popup!
Saddle up for a journey through time as you peruse the delightful array of clothes and curiosities curated by Soft Cowboy Trading Co and Tangelo Vintage. From timeless duds that’ll have you looking dapper at the local watering hole to trinkets with tales as vast as the prairie.
So, mosey on down, take a sip, and indulge in a shopping spree that’ll make you Yeehaw
Honey & the Hive will present their Winter Market, taking place at 23 Merrimon Avenue on Saturday, December 9, 2023, from 3 – 7 p.m., featuring small-scale local crafters, artisans, and artists.
The team at Honey & the Hive is proud to bring the Winter Market back for the fifth year. The 2023 Winter Market will be a one-day event featuring 15+ local vendors and artists with everything you need for gift shopping, including fermented foods, culinary goods, botanical art, foraging gear, herbal crafts, goat milk soaps, self-care products, and honey, of course! The market will be held at our storefront with vendors both indoors and outdoors, rain or shine.
The 5th Annual Market is free to attend. Customers who purchase from our vendors will be automatically entered into a chance to win a gift basket. Attendees are welcome to sample our infused honey and honey varietals from beekeepers around Western North Carolina.
“We live in an amazing place with many talented artisans and we believe strongly in supporting local businesses and producers. This market has grown and changed over the years to accommodate the needs of our community, and we look forward to a wonderful market day for our fifth year.” says staff member Amber Shehan.
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Honey & the Hive is a beekeeping supply, honey, and gift shop in Weaverville, North Carolina. We carry beekeeping supplies, offer classes on beekeeping, sell local honey, and make products from the hive, like propolis tincture, infused honey, and beeswax candles. More than just a store, we are a hive of like-minded people who love bees and pollinators and want to educate our community about how to help care for this valuable part of our ecosystem.
Vendors include: Fermenti, Sister of Mother Earth, Wise Earth Way, Larkspur Art, Toe River Threadworks, Of Sage and Stone, LeighAlan Skincare and Candle Co., Honey Badger Bakes, Tiny Sun Creations, GR Woodworking, Bold and Brash Bakery, Felt Good, Habibi Village, SAVOR Shrub Bitters, Deep Time, Appalachian Sacred Smoke
Pink Dog Creative Artists are excited to present The Colors of Pink, a collaborative show about the creative studio’s unusual name. Each artist will present artwork that explores and represents the role of color in their work.
Happy Birthday to Modern Muse! It has been one year since we opened our doors in Riverview Station, and to celebrate, we invite you to “pay it forward” with us as we host a Silent Auction. 50% of the evenings proceeds will go to benefit one of our favorite nonprofit organizations, Beloved Asheville. Food and drinks will be supplied by White Labs.
Join us for our annual Holiday Open House & 11 Year Celebration!
Free and Open to the Public!
Featuring the World’s Best Eggnog Bar, Endless Cookie Buffet, Select Pots 50-80% off & Kids activities 11-1 both days!
Come see over 22 vendors with everything from affordable treasures to the finest gems, minerals, and jewelry in the Southeast! The Mountain Area Gem & Mineral Association (MAGMA) will host our Christmas & Holiday gem show from December 8-10.
Our shows are open to the public, with free admission and food and drink available daily. The show is only a 10-minute drive from Asheville in Swannanoa, NC.
Christmas & Holiday Show hours:
Friday, December 8: 9AM- 6PM
Saturday, December 9: 9AM- 6PM
Sunday, December 10: 10AM- 5PM
This gem show is a fun family event where you can shop for minerals, crystals, and handcrafted jewelry from locally and nationally known vendors. Our vendors enjoy sharing their expert knowledge and you’re sure to learn new things and find some great gifts.
Entering the show is always free and once there, you’ll find prices range from affordable to very expensive. There’s truly a wide variety of treasures to see, from great deals to museum quality specimens! We have something for everyone, from seasoned rockhounds to new collectors and jewelry lovers.
The MAGMA Land of Sky Gem Show happens 4 times a year, with shows in March, June, September, and December, so this is an event that you can keep coming back to!
NOW until January 1, 2024- NOT REAL ART Grant for Artists is a $12,000 bi-annual award
designed to empower the practice of 6 contemporary artists, each of whom receive $2,000 plus
thousands of dollars in FREE marketing exposure worldwide. ArtsvilleUSA’s West Coast affiliate
Not Real Art encourages WNC visual artists, 2-D and 3-D, to apply by January 1, 2024. Learn more
and apply at https://notrealart.com/grant/
About Our Grant
Founded in 2019 and powered by Arterial, the NOT REAL ART Grant for Artists is a $12,000 annual award designed to empower the practice of 6 contemporary artists, each of whom receive $2,000. But, NOT REAL ART Grant winners get more than money. Each recipient gets to share their story and promote with exclusive, in-depth featured interviews on the NOT REAL ART podcast and blog. And, whether or not you receive our grant, every applicant automatically qualifies to be included in future blog stories, newsletters and our artist marketing database!
Applications are open, and the deadline for submission is December 15, 2023. The WNC Center for Craft Artist in Residency program is trailblazing a new source of support for Western North Carolina (WNC) artists.
Grant Overview:
- Selected artists will receive a $10,000 honorarium, a testament to supporting the cultural sector in WNC.
- In addition, a $2,000 materials stipend will be provided to help artists realize their creative visions.
For a period of 8 weeks, artists will have exclusive access to dedicated studio space at the Center for Craft, conveniently located in the vibrant heart of downtown Asheville, NC.
The two selected artists will work alongside two Virginia A. Groot Material Exploration Residents in a cohort of four artists. This opportunity allows for each resident to have their own studio space and the time to work independently and to also build relationships with the other residents and participate in engagement with the Western North Carolina region through studio visits with curators, museums, and collectors and explore other regional craft schools.
This unique opportunity will empower artists to flourish in an environment designed to nurture their craft. Don’t miss the chance to be part of this groundbreaking initiative that’s redefining support for craft in the region.
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!
Jewelry artist Laura Wood and textile artist Libby O’Bryan, co-founder of the slow-fashion label Rite of Passage, have collaborated along with Erin Hawley, founder of Melona, to launch COLLECT, a curated designer market at Rite of Passage’s store in the River Arts District.
COLLECT features extraordinary gifts for the holidays by regional artists and makers not usually found in Asheville and handpicked for this reason. Participants include Megan Huntz, Anna Johnson, Vinx Apothecary, The Dustworks, Carrie George Leather, Elizabeth Suzann, Poem Crown, Jeffrey, Opie Way, State the Label, and Cicil Home — in addition to jewelry by Laura Wood Studios and clothing by Rite of Passage, designed by Giovanni Daina-Palermo.
“Laura [Wood], Erin [Hawley], and I wanted to create an alternative to the ‘pop-up’ or a larger fair — something curated, warm, and festive,” said O’Bryan of COLLECT. In addition to gifts, COLLECT will feature food and drink from Crocodile Wine, Roll Up Herbal Bar, Botanist & Barrel, and Nibbly Onigiri.
COLLECT opens on Friday, December 8, 5-7:00 pm. The event continues Saturday and Sunday, December 9 and 10, 11:00 am until 5:00 pm.
Rite of Passage is located next to Ultra Coffeebar at 240 Clingman Avenue Ext. in the River Arts District.
Give the gift of holiday joy in the form of a unique, beautiful, locally made ornament! Handcrafted ornaments made by local artists will be for sale in our lobby on our Christmas tree through the middle of December. Gift the gift of art this year and support local artists in the process!