Heartwood Gallery Celebrates 25th with Special

Dec 31, Heartwood Gallery, downtown Saluda NC. Heartwood Gallery is celebrating....25 years of 100% American Craft ! To celebrate a quarter century of being in business, Heartwood is offering: $25 of all purchases over $100 in the month of January. http://www.heartwoodsaluda.com/

Penland Winter Wonderland

Warm holiday greetings from Penland School of Crafts! Making things is a deeply embedded part of being human. Handmade objects connect us to each other, and to other times and places. Thank you for your support of Penland's programs, of craft, and of the value of making.  Our beautiful summer class catalog has been printed and will be in the mail by the end of the month. We expect complete summer information to be posted online around January 2. Meanwhile, there's a basic schedule posted now. And we still have space in many of our spring classes. Complete listings are here.

We hope you are staying warm and enjoying the company of some of your favorite people. And we hope to see you at Penland in 2009.

River District Open Studios

Dec 21 :
10am-4pm: Potters Mark, Where122 Riverside Drive Asheville, NC (map)
10am-6pm: Jonas Gerard Fine Art, e240 Clingman Avenue Asheville, NC (map)

11am-4pm: Curve Studios, Where6 Riverside Drive (map)

8:30am-10:00pm: Odyssey Center for Ceramic Art, 238 Clingman Avenue Asheville NC (map)

Christmas in Stained Glass

Dec 03, 2009 - Dec 31, 2009, Transylvania County Library, Brevard NC. Artist of the Month Series presents Christmas in Stained Glass by artist Pam McCorkhill, Blue Mountains Stained Glass. This is a special exhibit of over 40 stained glass pieces especially made for this exhibit in the Library Lobby. The library will be closed December 24, 25 & 26.  TC Library is located at 212 East Gaston Street, Brevard. 828.884-3151.

Lorna Blaine Halper Exhibit Guided Tour

Dec 18, 12PM - 1PM, Asheville Art Museum, NC. Join Assistant Curator Cole Hendrix on a guided tour of the exciting exhibition Lorna Blaine Halper: The Space Between. Adept in a wide variety of media including drawing, sculpture and painting, Halper's work displays a masterful exploration of the descriptive qualities of line as well as a thoughtful examination of the relationship of line to the space between, echoing Albers's directive to "see things in context."  http://www.ashevilleart.org

Craft Registry Sign-up

Handmade in America has concluded its 2009 artists' training series meetings and will soon announce the exciting programming, artists networking opportunities, and social activities coming in 2010! If you are an artist and have not already done so or know friends who have not, please go to our Craft Registry and sign up for a free listing. It's a great way to put yourself out there on the web, find out about more events like these and be a part of a network of almost 1,000 artists in Western North Carolina. www.handmadeinamericacraftregistry.org.

Spruce Pine Gallery Current Exhibit

Now - December 31, Toe River Arts Council Studio Tour Exhibit at the Spruce Pine Gallery. Over 80 participating artists and craftpersons will show off the talents during the month long exhibition. From new artists on the tour, to those who were there in the beginning over a decade ago, from clay to glass to fiber to wood, visitors will get a taste of what the Tour has to offer. http://www.toeriverarts.org

Show and Sale at McDowell Arts Council

Dec 2 - 22 MARION  Bue Ridge Artisans Show and Sale  McDowell Arts Council, Main Street Marion NC. Holiday gallery show and sale featuring the work of McDowell County artisans exhibiting pottery, woodworking, basketry, jewelry, textile arts and other fine craft. No admission. 10am-6pm, M,Tu,Th,F and 10am-4pm, Wed & Sat. For more information, call (828) 652-8610.

Registration Open for Holiday Arts Extravaganza

The Asheville Art Museum announces open registration for their 2009 Holiday Extravaganza. Take a break over the holidays and sign your art enthusiasts up for one or all four days of hands-on fun at the Museum's Holiday Arts Extravaganza! Campers will spend their afternoons creating art of all kinds. Pre-registration is required. Schedule: Monday - Thursday, December 28 - 31, 2009. 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. each day, $18/day for Members; $20/day for Non-Members. To register, please call the Education Department at 828.253.3227, ext. 121 or 122 or e-mail eshope@ashevilleart.org or smcrorie@ashevilleart.org.

Website:http://www.ashevilleart.org

Turtle Island Pottery Open House

Dec 12, 10AM - 4PM, Turtle Island Pottery, Old Fort NC. Full house of individually handcrafted functional wares, art pottery and sculptures. One-of-a-kind art pottery and functional pottery and sculpture. In NC since 1977, Maggie Jones has been a potter and clay artist for almost 40 years. The gallery is located in a small house on 7 acres in rural McDowell county just South of Old Fort. For more information, call 828-669-2713 or visit TurtleIslandPottery.com.

Opening Reception at The Asheville Art Museum

Dec 13,  2:00 to 4:00PM, 2 South Pack Square, Asheville North Carolina. Opening reception for the new solo exhibition of the work of Black Mountain artist Lorna Blaine Halper (1924 - ) at the Asheville Art Museum. Adept in a wide variety of media including drawing, sculpture and painting, Halper's work displays a masterful exploration of the descriptive qualities of line as well as a thoughtful examination of the relationship of line to the space between, echoing Albers's directive to "see things in context." The exhibit opens Dec12. Website: http://www.ashevilleart.org

EAST Holiday Show

Dec 11-20, 10AM-6PM, Black Mountain Studios, 626 Old Lytle Cove, Swannanoa NC.  EAST Holiday Show - Ten member artists of the East of Asheville Studio Tour offer handmade gifts from $2 to $200. Wearable art, magnets, cards, pottery, turned wooden bowls and vases, puppets, masks, and more! 828-686-1011 Website: http://www.eaststudiotour.com/

"Choosing Craft: The Artist's Viewpoint"

Choosing Craft: The Artist's Viewpoint, edited by Vicki Halper & Diane Douglas is published by The University of North Carolina Press and is available at www.uncpress.unc.edu. Choosing Craft explores the history and practice of American craft through the words of influential artists whose lives, work, and ideas have shaped the field. Editors Vicki Halper and Diane Douglas construct an anecdotal narrative that examines the post-World War II development of modern craft, which came of age alongside modernist painting and sculpture and was greatly influenced by them as well as by traditional and industrial practices.

The anthology is organized according to four activities that ground a professional life in craft--inspiration, training, economics, and philosophy. Halper and Douglas mined a wide variety of sources for their material, including artists' published writings, letters, journal entries, exhibition statements, lecture notes, and oral histories. The detailed record they amassed reveals craft's dynamic relationships with painting, sculpture, design, industry, folk and ethnic traditions, hobby craft, and political and social movements. Collectively, these reflections form a social history of craft.

Choosing Craft ultimately offers artists' writings and recollections as vital and vivid data that deserve widespread study as a primary resource for those interested in the American art form.

On The Verge Contest

Calling all emerging visual artists in Western North Carolina. It’s time to submit your portfolio for our 2010 On the Verge contest. The top 10 artists in this juried competition will be featured in the June issue of WNC magazine, and their work will be exhibited in a month-long show at Flood Gallery Fine Art Center in the heart of Asheville’s River Arts District. A panel of art experts from Atlanta, New York City, and Los Angeles will judge this year’s submissions. Visit http://www.wncmagazine.com/otv/ to read the rules, and to submit your work.

Asheville Art Museum Monthly Book Discussion

Dec 9, 3:00 - 4:45PM, Asheville Art Museum, 2 South Pack Square, Asheville NC. Discussion Bound: Collections of Nothing by William Davies King. William Davies King is a theater professor who, over 50 years, has gathered a vast collection of things nobody else wants: cat-food labels, chain letters, cereal boxes, chopstick wrappers and more. Collections of Nothing takes a fascinating look at collections and obsessions.  The Museum offers monthly book discussions to read and discuss books that relate to artwork in the galleries. Moderated by a member of the Museum's staff or a volunteer, participants exchange ideas and learn about books, art and each other. Free with Museum Membership or Admission. Website: http://www.ashevilleart.org

Fireside Sale at John C Campbell

Dec 6,  10AM-5PM, Keith House Community Room, John C Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, NC. The Folk School's annual Fireside Sale with approximately 50 artists will be selling great gift selections including ironwork, jewelry, pottery, fiber arts, woodworking items and much more. A great opportunity to shop for locally and regionally produced items that make one-of-a-kind gifts for the holiday season.

Website: https://www.folkschool.org

Mud Dabbers Pottery Holiday Open House

Dec 11-13, Mud Dabbers Pottery, Brevard NC. Come join the muddy holiday celebration at our annual Holiday Open House.  Pottery demonstrations, live music, refreshments and a great selection of gifts on Friday and Saturday from 9 am - 6 pm and on Sunday from 11 am - 6 pm.  For more information, call 884-5131.Website: http://www.muddabbers.com/