In a celebration of all things voted Best of WNC in 2018, Mountain Xpress and Highland Brewing Co. (winner in several beer and brewery categories) partnered to throw a party for the second year in a row. With nearly double the attendance from the previous year, the fun was flowing in Asheville.
Three finalists were recently selected, including Jefferson Pinder; the team of Monique Luck, Flavia Lovatelli and Francisco Gonzalez; and the team of Amir Shakir and Ivette Cabrera.
As podcasts and their on-air partners, broadcasts, gain national and international popularity, plenty of locally produced and focused shows are also winning fans and generating discussion.
As the city gets ready to meet the latest incarnation of the Asheville Art Museum on Pack Square, Xpress looks at the museum’s history and its plans for the future, along with cost of the building project and its effects on other Pack Place institutions to feel out what the new space will mean to Asheville and the region.
Giving a platform to the collection of artists and ideas “was like lighting a match,” Colby Caldwell says. “I thought we’d have one show a month. It became where we could literally have a show every day.”
Artist Béatrice Coron’s design, Lexington Life Column, was recently selected for the Lexington Avenue Public Art Project. The 10 foot column will be installed later this summer.
The keynote address from the NPR host and panel discussions with local music industry representatives and advocates explore the arts’ economic impact on the Asheville area.
The activist group Asheville Survivors Coalition has focused in recent months on bringing public attention to claims of unwanted sexual attention by anonymous women against artist Jonas Gerard. While some local organizations and businesses have removed Gerard’s work from their facilities in the wake of the activists’ protests, others have not. The arts community’s response has taken a variety of forms.
“From its earliest days, even before it took its more-or-less permanent form as a 501(c)(3), Azule was integral to the Shelton-Laurel and Bluff communities it existed in,” says the organization’s coordinator, Alicia Araya.
Mountain Xpress is now accepting art, photos, essays and poetry from K-12 students for the 2018 Kids Issue. The deadline is Friday, Feb. 9. The theme: “Let’s fix it!”
Mardi Gras season kicks off Jan. 6 with a party at Club 11 On Grove.
Asking a writer to pick a favorite story for the year is a bit like asking them to name a favorite child. The choices, however, are revealing. They shed light on what motivates our staff writers and keeps them coming back to their keyboards, day in and day out.
French Broad River Brewery’s expansion will force the community art space to relocate once its lease is up after January 2018.
In conjunction with the exhibit Return from Exile: Contemporary Southeastern Indian Art , the Western Carolina University Fine Art Museum at Bardo Arts Center will host a contemporary Native American art symposium on Friday, Nov. 10.
A look back at the week in Asheville — and a sneak peek of Xpress’ upcoming issue, coming to a newsstand near you by Wednesday, Oct. 25.
It’s the season of change for two of Western North Carolina’s craft institutions. In May, John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown named Jerry Jackson as its new executive director. A month later, Penland School of Crafts in Penland announced that Maria “Mia” Hall would take the reigns as director, effective Jan. 1, 2018.
Through exploring the role of art and aesthetics in social activism, the Radical Beauty conference — a new event hosted by the Montreat Conference Center from Monday, Oct. 9 through Thursday, Oct. 12 — offers an alternative approach to promoting cultural change.
From the area’s largest single construction project to fall planting, Xpress has the scoop on local fall happenings. Here are some of our best stories from the previous week to keep you reading as you wait for our next issue, coming to a paper box near you on Wednesday, Oct. 4.
If you’re in downtown Asheville on Saturday, Sept. 9, and see people dashing down the sidewalks in blue outfits and other formal attire, don’t be alarmed. These costumed folks are out reveling in the name of the Asheville Area Arts Council’s Indigo Color Ball, a sight unseen for two years — and in many ways, even longer.
Beyond the astronomic phenomenon, Asheville’s Solar Eclipse Festival features food vendors, the Splashville interactive fountain and solar-inspired music curated by DJ Kipper of Mix 96.5.
On Wednesday, July 26 , Amanda Giacomini will bring her mural project 10,000 Buddhas to Asheville. For two days, the artist will add to her ever-increasing count, as she works on the Walnut Street side of the Social Lounge.