On View Now—Altruistic Genius: Buckminster Fuller’s Plans to Save the Planet Opens Today!

On View Through August 21, 2023

Appleby Foundation Exhibition Hall • Level 1

Public Tour: Thursday, April 20 • 6–7pm

$7 for Members, $10 plus general admission for nonmembers

Altruistic Genius: Buckminster Fuller’s Plans to Save the Planet brings the inventions and designs of R. Buckminster Fuller to Western North Carolina and introduces visitors to Fuller’s strategies for the sustainability of humans and the planet relating to housing, transportation, mathematics, and engineering.

This exhibition features two major suites of prints by Buckminster Fuller among other remarkable works from his multi-decade career and is presented in three sections: Inventions; Synergetics; and Black Mountain College and Lasting Influence. The Inventions portfolio, assembled in 1981 from Fuller’s career of explorations along with several existent models, represents Fuller’s foresight. In the late 1970s, Fuller published a series of mathematical systems and philosophies to be used in solving problems in all areas of human existence in his Synergetics portfolio.

Significant to Asheville, Fuller taught at Black Mountain College during the summers of 1948 and 1949. It was there that he importantly constructed his first geodesic dome as he experimented to develop more affordable housing. More than 30 major artworks by Buckminster Fuller join select examples by artists and designers directly impacted by Fuller’s innovations in art and design, including Jade Doskow, Kenneth Snelson, and Kirsten Stolle, among others.

The University of North Carolina Asheville’s STEAM Studio brings to life the designs of Fuller’s Fly’s Eye Dome and Geodesic Dome—two designs that transformed the history of modern architecture—through student-produced models on view in the exhibition. Welcoming visitors to the Museum, a replica of Fuller’s Dymaxion Car, on loan from the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, will be on view in the Museum’s Atrium for the duration of the exhibition.

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Art Has the Power to Transform Lives. You Can Make a Difference Through Your Yearly Contribution

Spring 2023 Annual Fund Kickoff!

Welcome to the Asheville Art Museum's Spring Annual Fund Drive kickoff! Help us celebrate our 75th Anniversary as the region's premier visual arts organization by making a donation today!

The Annual Fund provides crucial support to our operations and programs, including summer camps, lectures, exhibitions, community days, and keeping our doors open to the public year-round. Can we count on you to help us meet our $75,000 goal?

No gift is too small; your support will make a meaningful impact in our community and beyond. Asheville Art Museum is a 501(c) nonprofit organization; contributions to the Annual Fund are fully tax deductible.

Make Your Gift Today

Join Us for Thursday Night Live: Alex Travers Performs

Thursday, April 20 • 6–8pm
Free for Members or included with Museum admission
No reservations required.

Explosive style and technique are what make Alex Travers’ performances memorable. Raised in the Raleigh area, he grew up performing in regional orchestras as a violinist and also in local metal/rock bands as a guitarist. He went on to receive his bachelor degree in performance from Appalachian State University in 2014, with a focus on violin studies. During his time as an undergraduate, his passion for baroque music and pedagogy came into focus and played a large part in his artistic growth.

After spending several years in Nashville, away from his violin and studying the business side of music, he moved to Asheville in 2017 to reinvent his career approach both as an instrumentalist and artist. Having played professionally with the Asheville Symphony and Brevard Philharmonic, his career has turned towards collaboration with local artists as a soloist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. When he isn’t gigging, teaching at the Asheville Music Academy, or recording at the studio, Travers is probably busking with Bach and drinking coffee somewhere around Wall Street. More information on his projects, collaborations, and released music can be found at his artist website.

Upcoming Asheville Chamber Music Series: Rising Star Concert with the Arsevi Duo

Tuesday, April 25 • 6–7:30pm

Windgate Foundation Atrium • Level 1
$13 for Members, $15 for nonmembers

Registration is required.

The third concert in the new “Rising Star Concert Series,” presented by the Asheville Chamber Music Series in collaboration with the Asheville Art Museum, will take place Tuesday, April 25 from 6 to 7:30pm in the Museum’s Windgate Foundation Atrium. The featured ensemble will be Arsevi Duo, two young musicians who are embarking on major concert careers and representing musical excellence in North Carolina.

According to Polly Feitzinger, Asheville Chamber Music Series Program committee chair, “The enthusiastic response from the Asheville community to this new series has resulted in the first two concerts being sold out!”    

“We are pleased to host another one of these tremendously popular performances,” says Asheville Art Museum executive director Pamela Myers. “The Museum’s spacious and bright Atrium is an ideal venue for these accomplished young musicians to perform within.”

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Immerse Yourself in a Two-Day Adult Studio Experience: Introduction to Natural Dyes

Saturday, April 22 and Sunday, April 23

Noon–5pm

$105 for two days

Two equity seats are available at $25 for BIPOC students.

Museum Members receive a 10 percent discount.

During this weekend studio art experience, explore how to use natural dyes to create a limitless array of colors, hues, and values on fabric. Using natural indigo, madder, and weld, we will create an entire rainbow of colors!

Using both silk and cotton fibers, discover how to prepare different fibers for dyeing. You are welcome to bring in your own small, natural fiber items to dye.

In this two-day course, participants will create a color wheel using natural indigo, madder, and weld. Understand and experiment with resists on fabric using wooden shapes and shibori techniques and use pH to shift colors. Learn to measure and start a dye pot based on the weight of fiber. Introduction to Natural Dyes is supportive programming for our exhibition Pulp Potential: Works in Handmade Paper.

Reserve your spot soon. There’s only capacity for 12 participants per class.

Register Now

Work of the Week

Kenneth by Kenny Pieper

On View in Explore Asheville Exhibition Hall • Level 3

Too Much Is Just Right: The Legacy of Pattern and Decoration

A resident of Western North Carolina living near Penland School of Craft, Pieper combines his expertise in traditional Venetian glassmaking techniques with personal expression for his portrait vessels.

In Kenneth the Venetian technique known as reticello creates the intricate spiraling lines and tiny bubbles throughout the large-scale vase. The stem features the playful yet skillful manipulation of hot glass sculpted into a self-portrait. In other works in this series the portraits are of his friends. Somewhere between cameo and caricature, the visages built into these works are noble alongside the traditional glasswork, yet indicative of the maker’s unique vision.

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