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.

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One of the most unique things about The Asheville Fringe Arts Festival is our Random Acts of Fringe. These short, site-specific performances are mostly free and open to the public. This year, most of our RAFs are happening on social media, so be sure to follow us there for more information about these shows.
Around The Web
Live-streamed performances, resources, and activities we love from around the web, updated regularly.
The National Arts Club: On Demand
Founded in 1898, The National Arts Club boasts more than 150 free programs to the public, including exhibitions, theatrical and musical performances, lectures, and readings. Current and archived videos are available and are updated weekly.
Staff Picks From Around the Web
Live-streamed performances, resources, and activities we love from around the web, updated regularly.
Classical Music
and Animation
Enjoy examples of the relationship between classical music and animation aimed at audiences of all ages.

Wake, Mel Chin’s giant animatronic sculpture, installed in New York City’s Times Square last summer, will be on view in Asheville through March 15, 2021, at 44 Collier Avenue. Chin, a WNC based conceptual artist, was named a MacArthur Fellow in September 2019.
Wake was commissioned as part of Mel Chin: All Over the Place, a multi-site survey of his works from across many decades that took place in several New York City locations. A collaborative group, led by UNC Asheville’s STEAM Studio and The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, formed to plan and raise funds for the sculpture to be seen locally.
Wake – 60 feet long, 34 feet wide and 24 feet high, conceived and designed by the artist – was engineered, sculpted and fabricated by an interdisciplinary team of UNC Asheville students, faculty, staff and community artists led by Chin. The sculpture is interactive and features decks and places to sit and contemplate.
Wake evokes the hull of a shipwreck crossed with the skeletal remains of a marine mammal. The structure is linked with a carved, 21-foot-tall animatronic sculpture, accurately derived from a figurehead of the opera star Jenny Lind that was once mounted on the 19th century clipper ship, USS Nightingale. Jenny Lind moves subtly as she breathes and scans the sky.
Visitors can experience Wake daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at 44 Collier Avenue. For more details and a schedule of programming, visit ashevillearts.com.
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Across the Atlantic

Across the Atlantic
American Impressionism Through the French Lens
This extraordinary exhibition, drawn from the collection of the Reading Public Museum, explores the path to Impressionism through the 19th century in France. The show examines the sometimes complex relationship between French Impressionism of the 1870s and 1880s and the American interpretation of the style in the decades that followed. More than 65 paintings and works on paper help tell the story of the “new style” of painting which developed at the end of the 19th century—one that emphasized light and atmospheric conditions, rapid or loose brushstrokes, and a focus on brightly colored scenes from everyday life, including both urban and rural settings when artists preferred to paint outdoors and capture changing effects of light during different times of day and seasons of the year.
Across the Atlantic: American Impressionism through the French Lens is organized by the Reading Public Museum, Reading, Pennsylvania.
Generous support for this project provided by Art Bridges and The Maurer Family Foundation.
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The Asheville Art Museum presents Fantastical Forms: Ceramics as Sculpture on view at the Museum November 4, 2020 through April 5, 2021. The 25 works in this exhibition—curated by associate curator Whitney Richardson—highlight the Museum’s Collection of sculptural ceramics from the last two decades of the 20th century to the present. Each work illustrates the artist’s ability to push beyond the utilitarian and transition ceramics into the world of sculpture.
North and South Carolina artists featured include Elma McBride Johnson, Neil Noland, Norm Schulman, Virginia Scotchie, Cynthia Bringle, Jane Palmer, Michael Sherrill, and Akira Satake. Works by American artists Don Reitz, Robert Chapman Turner, Karen Karnes, Toshiko Takaezu, Bill Griffith, and Xavier Toubes are also featured in the exhibition.


Taught by Chris Martin
Come join the amazing Chris Martin on a fun filled improv journey through all of our favorite improv games and some new surprises. Don’t miss the chance for some hilarious and silly rounds of Waiter, Waiter!, Talk Show, Styles, and so much more! The class includes fun warm-ups, “Yes And” exercises, and a showcase during the last class.
7 Week Session: January 11-February 22, 2021
Mondays at 5:00-5:45 PM Eastern
Student Ages: 12-15 (or with prior approval from teacher or Amanda Klinikowski)
Around The Web
Live-streamed performances, resources, and activities we love from around the web, updated regularly.
The National Arts Club: On Demand
Founded in 1898, The National Arts Club boasts more than 150 free programs to the public, including exhibitions, theatrical and musical performances, lectures, and readings. Current and archived videos are available and are updated weekly.
Staff Picks From Around the Web
Live-streamed performances, resources, and activities we love from around the web, updated regularly.
Classical Music
and Animation
Enjoy examples of the relationship between classical music and animation aimed at audiences of all ages.

Wake, Mel Chin’s giant animatronic sculpture, installed in New York City’s Times Square last summer, will be on view in Asheville through March 15, 2021, at 44 Collier Avenue. Chin, a WNC based conceptual artist, was named a MacArthur Fellow in September 2019.
Wake was commissioned as part of Mel Chin: All Over the Place, a multi-site survey of his works from across many decades that took place in several New York City locations. A collaborative group, led by UNC Asheville’s STEAM Studio and The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, formed to plan and raise funds for the sculpture to be seen locally.
Wake – 60 feet long, 34 feet wide and 24 feet high, conceived and designed by the artist – was engineered, sculpted and fabricated by an interdisciplinary team of UNC Asheville students, faculty, staff and community artists led by Chin. The sculpture is interactive and features decks and places to sit and contemplate.
Wake evokes the hull of a shipwreck crossed with the skeletal remains of a marine mammal. The structure is linked with a carved, 21-foot-tall animatronic sculpture, accurately derived from a figurehead of the opera star Jenny Lind that was once mounted on the 19th century clipper ship, USS Nightingale. Jenny Lind moves subtly as she breathes and scans the sky.
Visitors can experience Wake daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at 44 Collier Avenue. For more details and a schedule of programming, visit ashevillearts.com.
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Around The Web
Live-streamed performances, resources, and activities we love from around the web, updated regularly.
The National Arts Club: On Demand
Founded in 1898, The National Arts Club boasts more than 150 free programs to the public, including exhibitions, theatrical and musical performances, lectures, and readings. Current and archived videos are available and are updated weekly.
Staff Picks From Around the Web
Live-streamed performances, resources, and activities we love from around the web, updated regularly.
Classical Music
and Animation
Enjoy examples of the relationship between classical music and animation aimed at audiences of all ages.

Wake, Mel Chin’s giant animatronic sculpture, installed in New York City’s Times Square last summer, will be on view in Asheville through March 15, 2021, at 44 Collier Avenue. Chin, a WNC based conceptual artist, was named a MacArthur Fellow in September 2019.
Wake was commissioned as part of Mel Chin: All Over the Place, a multi-site survey of his works from across many decades that took place in several New York City locations. A collaborative group, led by UNC Asheville’s STEAM Studio and The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, formed to plan and raise funds for the sculpture to be seen locally.
Wake – 60 feet long, 34 feet wide and 24 feet high, conceived and designed by the artist – was engineered, sculpted and fabricated by an interdisciplinary team of UNC Asheville students, faculty, staff and community artists led by Chin. The sculpture is interactive and features decks and places to sit and contemplate.
Wake evokes the hull of a shipwreck crossed with the skeletal remains of a marine mammal. The structure is linked with a carved, 21-foot-tall animatronic sculpture, accurately derived from a figurehead of the opera star Jenny Lind that was once mounted on the 19th century clipper ship, USS Nightingale. Jenny Lind moves subtly as she breathes and scans the sky.
Visitors can experience Wake daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at 44 Collier Avenue. For more details and a schedule of programming, visit ashevillearts.com.
|
|
Across the Atlantic

Across the Atlantic
American Impressionism Through the French Lens
This extraordinary exhibition, drawn from the collection of the Reading Public Museum, explores the path to Impressionism through the 19th century in France. The show examines the sometimes complex relationship between French Impressionism of the 1870s and 1880s and the American interpretation of the style in the decades that followed. More than 65 paintings and works on paper help tell the story of the “new style” of painting which developed at the end of the 19th century—one that emphasized light and atmospheric conditions, rapid or loose brushstrokes, and a focus on brightly colored scenes from everyday life, including both urban and rural settings when artists preferred to paint outdoors and capture changing effects of light during different times of day and seasons of the year.
Across the Atlantic: American Impressionism through the French Lens is organized by the Reading Public Museum, Reading, Pennsylvania.
Generous support for this project provided by Art Bridges and The Maurer Family Foundation.
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|
The Asheville Art Museum presents Fantastical Forms: Ceramics as Sculpture on view at the Museum November 4, 2020 through April 5, 2021. The 25 works in this exhibition—curated by associate curator Whitney Richardson—highlight the Museum’s Collection of sculptural ceramics from the last two decades of the 20th century to the present. Each work illustrates the artist’s ability to push beyond the utilitarian and transition ceramics into the world of sculpture.
North and South Carolina artists featured include Elma McBride Johnson, Neil Noland, Norm Schulman, Virginia Scotchie, Cynthia Bringle, Jane Palmer, Michael Sherrill, and Akira Satake. Works by American artists Don Reitz, Robert Chapman Turner, Karen Karnes, Toshiko Takaezu, Bill Griffith, and Xavier Toubes are also featured in the exhibition.
Shelby Lee Adams, Southern Baptist, 1975, gelatin silver print on paper, 12 ½ × 9 ¾ inches. Gift of an anonymous donor, 2003.03.91. © Shelby Lee Adams.
This program takes place via Zoom. Space is limited, and registration is required. To register, click here.
CONNECTIONS
Connections is a new arts-based program serving community-dwelling adults with mild to moderate memory loss and their care partners. Led by specially trained Museum staff, contractors, and volunteers, each monthly Connections program includes a guided gallery conversation and a related activity. Space is limited, and reservations are required; call 828.253.3227 x122. Read more about Connections here.

What You Don’t Know: A Story of Liberated Childhood (Dottir Press, JAN 26, 2021), is Higginbotham’s latest book about being young. It illustrates how families, teachers, counselors, and other “stars” are already beaming love at queer, gender nonconforming, and trans children, to protect and bless them as they are. The Roller-skating Party Collage Workshop lets kids put their community in the rink with them—real life people they know and trust, as well as strangers or historical figures whose radiant and genuine presence (even in spirit) is liberation.
RSVP here to receive a PDF of the roller rink back drop and the link to attend the event by email.
Like most of our events, this event is free. If you decide to attend and to purchase books we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by making a donation or purchasing a gift card below. Thank you!
When you purchase What You Don’t Know: A Story of Liberated Childhood from Malaprop’s below, you will also recieve a pre-printed roller rink backdrop.
SUPPLIES for the Workshop:
• Pens and pencils
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• Squares or rectangles of plain brown grocery bag (or flattened out packing paper or construction paper) for creating faces, bodies, and hands
• Images from magazines and catalogs to make clothes, hair, jewelry, hats, shoes, skates, wheelchairs, and assistive devices. Nothing has to be like it is in real life. Your people can have wings and tails, dress in actual flowers, have hair made of fire! Animals can skate!
• IMPORTANT—There are no rules about the materials! A pencil or pen and paper is enough! The back of an envelope or some newspaper is enough! Stick figures are enough! You can write “my rebel auntie” and “my gay uncle” on a couple of popsicle sticks and skate them all over the rink.

Taught by Tom Chalmers and Kim Mako
This online course is offered as a primer in the craft of scripted performance, exploring the steps to submitting audition tapes, sustaining connected scene work through a screen, and creating three-dimensional characters on a two-dimensional medium. Learn how people see you and what you convey when you are on stage, and now on screen. Armed with that awareness, learn how to best choose and deliver the monologue to land you the parts that are perfect for you. If given material to audition with, learn how to break down the sides, how to discover the beats of the scene, and how to offer varied options. And when you land the part, learn how to attack the script, build the arc of your character, and establish the thoughts behind the lines. This course will culminate with a streamed showcase of the best work created in the class.
A limited number of scholarships are available for this class. CLICK HERE TO APPLY. Please do not purchase registration prior to applying. Applications must be received by 2:00 pm on Monday, January 11, 2021 for consideration. Please contact Amanda at [email protected] with questions.
6 Week Session: January 20 – February 24, 2021
Wednesdays, 6:30-7:45 pm

Around The Web
Live-streamed performances, resources, and activities we love from around the web, updated regularly.
The National Arts Club: On Demand
Founded in 1898, The National Arts Club boasts more than 150 free programs to the public, including exhibitions, theatrical and musical performances, lectures, and readings. Current and archived videos are available and are updated weekly.
Staff Picks From Around the Web
Live-streamed performances, resources, and activities we love from around the web, updated regularly.
Classical Music
and Animation
Enjoy examples of the relationship between classical music and animation aimed at audiences of all ages.





