Looking for a new reason to visit Asheville, NC? The eye-popping $24+ million expansion of the Asheville Art Museum (https://www.ashevilleart.org/) will showcase American art of the 20th and 21st centuries. The museum challenges guests to experience the art of this period and explore its relationship to Western North Carolina and the Southeast.
1. Put your finger on the pulse of the hottest artists in Southern Appalachia right NOW with the opening exhibition.
For Appalachia Now! An Interdisciplinary Survey of Contemporary Art in Southern Appalachia, New York-based scholar and curator Jason Andrew considered more than 700 artists (including nominations from an open call) from the Southern Appalachian states of North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. After 55 studio visits, Andrew selected 50 diverse working artists. Mediums span photography, ceramics, glass, performance, painting, new media, music, sculpture and more. The exhibition is on view in the Explore Asheville Hall and Appleby Foundation Hall through Feb. 3, 2020. Meet four women artists tapped for the exhibition.
2. Feast your eyes (and more!). The new Museum offers a glass facade and Perspective Café.
The Museum’s expansion includes:
- A stunning glass facade and art-filled Windgate Foundation Atrium
- The Oculus, a 15-foot viewing window in the SECU Collection Hall, affords unmatched immersive city views and a place for reflection
- Sculpture terrace and Perspective Café worthy of Asheville’s foodtopian values
- Henry Richardson’s glass sculpture, Reflections on Unity, chosen as the first public installation on the Museum plaza
- Now with 70 percent more Collection gallery space, new galleries showcase recent gifts of photography, craft, art, glass
3. What is Western NC’s relationship to art in America? Why is Black Mountain College a big deal?
Intersections in American Art offers a fresh look at the Museum’s permanent art Collection in the 10 galleries of the SECU Collection Hall. A grant from the Henry Luce Foundation allowed a diverse group, including an N.C. poet laureate, to help reinterpret the Collection with ideas derived from the groundbreaking Black Mountain College (1933-1957). Several of the most important artists of the 20th century taught or studied at Black Mountain College.
4. The Museum is a place for children, adults, even those with memory loss.
The Wells Fargo ArtPLAYce, a hands-on creative space for guests of all ages, allows visitors to learn together. In addition, a new program called CONNECTIONS will serve adults living in the WNC community with mild to moderate memory loss and their care partners. You may also notice the diversity of themes, subjects and types of art. The Museum features art made by African Americans, Cherokee indigenous peoples, and people from various backgrounds, working from different perspectives.
“In rebuilding our home…we reflected on what it means to be in this place, a site nestled in the mountains of Appalachia of significance to native and immigrant communities of all backgrounds.” – Asheville Art Museum Executive Director Pamela L. Myers
ABOUT THE ASHEVILLE ART MUSEUM
The Asheville Art Museum’s mission is to engage, enlighten, and inspire individuals and enrich community through dynamic experiences in American art of the 20th and 21st centuries including work of significance to the Southeast. The schedule for opening events is showcased here.
The Museum is located in downtown Asheville at 2 South Pack Square. General admission: $15. Open 11 am-6 pm daily, except Tuesdays. Late night on Thursdays until 9 pm. Closed on Tuesdays. Visit ashevilleart.org.
The Museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and receives support from the N.C. Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources; the National Endowment for the Arts; and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and media sponsor Asheville Citizen Times.
The Museum recognizes top supporters who made the expansion possible: The Museum gratefully acknowledges the leadership supporters of the new Museum and its vibrant programming: Appleby Foundation, Buncombe County, Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority, City of Asheville, Edith and Frances Mulhall Achilles Memorial Fund, Henry Luce Foundation, Institute of Museum and Library Services, Janirve Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, State Employees’ Credit Union Foundation, William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust, Windgate Foundation and the many other foundations, businesses and individuals who supported the Art WORKS for Asheville Capital Campaign and who support the exceptional programming, exhibitions and collections which enliven the new Asheville Art Museum on a daily basis.