The Odditorium plays host to various demonstrations and nearly 40 artists and artisans on March 24.
Smart Bets: Craft Your Commerce
The new workshop series begins March 15 at The Center for Craft and runs through May.
Four new art galleries open in Asheville
The latest galleries to arrive in Asheville focus on a number of different medias, from acrylic paintings to sculpture and functional glassware to lettering.
Nonstop pop-ups
’Tis the season for holiday art and craft pop-up shops. Bookmark this post: We’ll add others as we find out about them.
Smart Bets: Hand to Heart Holiday
The Big Crafty’s first two-day event takes place Dec. 2-3 at the U.S. Cellular Center.
Smart Bets: A Christmas Carol
The holiday tradition — now preceded by a Victorian craft festival — runs Saturdays and Sundays, Dec. 2-17, at Hazel Robinson Amphitheater.
A Boho Christmas pop-up aims to simplify holiday shopping
The 10-day pop-up shop put on by Vintage Hendo and Engaged Asheville Wedding Studio at 41 N. Merrimon Ave. begins on Black Friday (Nov. 24) and runs through Sunday, Dec. 3.
Local nonprofits foster well-being through creative expression
Some Asheville-based arts organizations are focused on more than teaching technique to those in search of a new skill. Sure, learning how to use the tools is no small accomplishment, but these initiatives use artwork to expand horizons, explore self and community and heal wounds both physical and emotional.
Smart Bets: Craft in Toyland
The group exhibition of handcrafted toys and games opens Nov. 18 at Grovewood Gallery.
Smart Bets: Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands
The fall edition of the fair takes place Oct. 20-22 at the U.S. Cellular Center.
Spruce Pine Potters Market showcases Mitchell and Yancey county makers
“At this point, I would guess Western North Carolina enjoys the highest density of artists and craftspeople per capita … in the U.S.,” says Jon Ellenbogen of Barking Spider Pottery. He and his wife Becky Plummer have been working together for 41 years and have participated in the Spruce Pine Potters Market every year.
Crafting a new graduate program at Warren Wilson College
Warren Wilson College’s Master of Arts in Craft Studies is expected to launch in the summer of 2018. When it does, it will join the MFA Program for Writers as the college’s only master level classes.
![VESSEL VISIONS: Asheville-based mixed-media artist Heather Allen Hietala shows 14 works in the group exhibition Outside Inspiration at Blue Spiral 1. “The vessel in all its many forms is [Hietala’s] muse,” says a press release for the show. “Seedpods, canoes, paddles, sailboats, weaving shuttles and kayaks are part of her personal history.”](https://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Hietala-On-a-Course...-330x186.jpg)
American Craft Week events in and around WNC
American Craft Week goes week beyond the virtual world, offering special exhibitions, gallery openings, demonstrations, workshops, sales, fairs and more.
John C. Campbell Folk School and Penland School of Crafts appoint new leadership
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.
The makers of the Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual
Today, the cooperative includes around 300 members. Applicants go through a jury process and must show documentation of belonging to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Once in, those artists are lifetime members.
Asheville Art Talk: ‘An unlikely pairing’
Equilibrium is the first paired show between local jeweler, Christie Calaycay and local woodworker and painter, Cris Bifaro. The two makers will debut their latest works, a combination of metal and wood creations, at Charlton Bradsher Art + Design.
Smart Bets: Mountain Heritage Day
The 43rd annual celebration of Southern Appalachian music, dance, arts and crafts takes place Saturday, Sept. 30 at Western Carolina University.
Smart Bets: North Carolina Ceramic Arts Festival
The inaugural festival takes place Saturday, Sept. 23, at French Broad River Park.
Smart Bets: Art in Autumn
The fine arts and craft show takes place in downtown Weaverville on Saturday, Sept. 16.
Faces in the crowd: WNC crowdfunding initiatives
Each week, Xpress highlights notable WNC crowdsourcing initiatives that may inspire readers to become new faces in the crowd. This week features a young rocking horse maker’s art fair entry, a swing dance enthusiast’s revival of old tunes and a musical that aims to counter racial tensions in the U.S.
Local exhibition features portraits rendered in colors from nature
While studying at Burren College of Art in Western Ireland, “I knew I wanted to use plant dyes, so I started foraging from the local landscape,” says Suzanne Teune. Mainly what she found were blackberries, discovered when a classmate crushed a handful into a white t-shirt.