Asheville Art Museum Receives Prestigious Grant for Black Mountain College Collection

The Asheville Art Museum is thrilled to announce that it has been awarded a Save America’s Treasures grant by the National Park Service, in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National Endowment of the Humanities, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The award of $196,935 will be used to support the conservation of the museum’s Black Mountain College Collection. This nationally and internationally significant Collection features historical materials and creative works by students and teachers who attended Black Mountain College (BMC) during its operation from 1933 to 1957.

“Through these competitive matching grants, the National Park Service and our federal, state, tribal, local government, and nonprofit partners are helping communities preserve some of our nation’s most important historic places and collections,” said National Park Service Deputy Director P. Daniel Smith. “By doing so we are saving these sites and stories for future generations.”

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From 1933 to 1957, Black Mountain College was a unique experiment in American education and a center for experimentation in all areas of the arts. Because of the college’s regional and international significance, and the impact that its revolutionary educational style had on modern art, the museum is committed to preserving the legacy of BMC, with over 1,500 objects and documents by faculty and alumni such as by Josef & Anni Albers, Ruth Asawa, John Cage, and Robert Rauschenberg. Within the BMC Collection, the museum is also the repository of the Lorna Blaine Halper Estate.

Visit ashevilleart.org/collection/ for additional information.