Asheville Art Museum "Flourish" Jewelry Exhibit

April 18 - August 16 at The Asheville Art Museum, 2 S. Pack Square in downtown Asheville NC: Flourish: Selected Jewelry From the Daphne Farago Collection. Opening reception on Saturday, April 18, 3:00-5:00 PM.

Flourish showcases a selection of jewelry carefully curated over many years by the keen-eyed collector Daphne Farago and reveals the breadth of studio jewelry as the movement evolved. A self-conscious practice, studio jewelry emerged following WWII as a response to commercially available adornment and as a marriage of fine craft and art.

photo courtesy of Asheville Art Museum: Art Smith, 
"Half & Half" Necklace, 1948, brass, 7 x 8 x 1.25 inches. Museum
of Fine Arts, Boston - The Daphne Farago Collection. 2006.536.

The exhibition is grouped thematically to reflect the varying disciplines of studio jewelry, beginning with the Studio Craft Movement of the mid-20th century. The Studio Craft Movement derived directly from the Arts and Crafts Movements of Europe and the United States, using handmade techniques and aesthetics as a means of reflecting the changing world. Much of the work in the exhibition mirrors the stylistic shifts in the art world from the 1940s to today, including constructivism, mid-century modernism, pop-art, narrative and funk.The works, like the artists, are varied and have been selected to reflect a broad range of ideas, with nuances that show the possibilities of the practice. They are united by the vision of the collector. Featured artists include Ed Wiener, Louis Mueller, Art Smith, Robert W. Ebendorf, John Prip, Roy Lichtenstein, Mary Lee Hu, Arline M. Fisch and Gijs Bakker, among others.

This exhibition is organized by the Asheville Art Museum, with special thanks to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.


Programs held in conjunction with this exhibition include: 

OPENING RECEPTION -  April 18 Saturday, 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. 

DISCUSSION BOUND -  May 2 Tuesday, 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. Jewels: A Secret History by Victoria Finlay

LUNCHTIME ART BREAK  - Jine 19 Friday, 12:00 p.m. Candace Reilly, Adult Programs Manager 

FILM SCREENING  - June 20 + 21 Saturday + Sunday, 2:00 p.m. Tale of the Three Jewels 

PANEL DISCUSSION -  July 11 Saturday, 3:00 - 4:30 p.m. Form and Function: Panel Discussion on Studio Craft Jewelry 

POP-UP STUDIO CRAFT MARKETPLACE  - July 16-18 Thursday, Friday + Saturday, 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. A celebration of studio craft! The Museum is hosting a three-day pop-up marketplace, curated by Asheville's own Constance Esner, featuring the work of some of our region's most talented craft artists. While visitors are at the Museum purchasing beautiful craft art pieces, they can take the opportunity to view Flourish: Selected Jewelry From the Daphne Farago Collection. 

WORKSHOP -  August 1 Saturday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Textile & Metal Jewelry with Joanna Gollberg. 

All programs are free with membership or Museum admission except for the workshop which is $95 for members, $105 for non-members.

Asheville City Market Open for the Season with Handmade Goods

April  8 and 11, 2015   The Asheville City Open Air Market will be open on Saturdays at the Public Works Building, 161 S. Charlotte Street in downtown Asheville NC and Town Square Blvd in Biltmore Park Town Square on Wednesdays from 1 - 4 PM . Find the the freshest, best-tasting food around and local artisan products in two locations for your convenience, downtown and South Asheville.EBT, credit, and debit cards are accepted. 

Additional activities include live music, cooking demonstrations and food tastings from local chefs. The little ones will enjoy the Growing Minds @ Market (June, July, August) activities, and more. 

CCCD announces new, experimental program, Back to the Drawing Board, seeks volunteer participation

The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design (CCCD) presents Back to the Drawing Board, a series of 24-hour take-overs of Benchspace, CCCD's gallery and workshop, intended to provoke conversation, expose process, and invite participation. Juried and invited collaborators will take over Benchspace with the goal of making the invisible creative process visible and will use the venue as a space for experimentation, collaboration, failure, and innovation. The format of each take-over is decided by the collaborator and may include performance, installation, film, or exhibition.

Each take-over will take place from 6 - 9 pm Friday and 10 AM - 6 PM Saturday at Benchspace and will include a public reception from 6 - 9 PM on Friday evening.

The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design is located at 67 Broadway Street in Asheville NC.

New Exhibit at the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum

"Floating Sculpture" a new exhibition, opens this weekend at BRAHM (Blowing Rock Art and History Museum, 159 Chestnut Street -corner of Chestnut and Main - in Blowing Rock NC.  The ducks have arrived bringing treasures from the coast to the mountains.  

This prestigious collection of duck decoys explores the careful craftsmanship involved in creating these beautiful sculptures, allowing them to stand alone as highly appreciated works of art. Bruce Barclay Cameron was a collector, sportsman, and philanthropist, and by the 1970s, Cameron was collecting duck decoys from all across the country.  He learned all about the careful craft involved in making one of these sculptures, from the nuances of the paint quality and form to the spirit of the bird itself. 

Within just a few decades, Cameron had amassed a grand collection of over three-hundred decoy sculptures, sixty-one of which are on display at BRAHM this summer. Artistans included are A. Elmer Crowell from Cape Cod, MA; Joseph Lincoln from Accord, MA; Hucks Caines from Georgetown, SC; the Ward Brothers, Lemuel and Stephen, from Crisfield, MD; Mitchell Fulcher of Stacy, NC; and Ned Burgess of Duck, NC. 

Moonlight Film’s Spirit of the Bird, directed by James Spione, will be playing on loop in the gallery.  The film explores how this uniquely American folk tradition has evolved over the centuries. The exhibition is organized by  the Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington, NC. 

A reception for this exhibition along with "1923: The Blowing Rock Fire" will be held on Saturday, May 9th from 5:30 - 7 PM. Museum members as well as the general public are invited to attend.