The Event of the Season: 2023 Gala Tickets On Sale Now!

Saturday, June 17

VIP Valet Parking: Starts at 4:30pm

VIP Reception in the Rooftop Perspective Café and Sculpture Terrace: 5–6pm
2023 Gala Cocktail Reception, Seated Dinner, and Live Auction: 6–9pm

The Board of Trustees of the Asheville Art Museum invite you to join us for the 2023 Gala—our biggest event of the year and our diamond jubilee celebration! This commemorative affair will lay the foundation for the Museum’s future while honoring our institution’s rich, 75-year history.

The cocktail reception features live music, hors d’oeuvres, specialty cocktails, Museum tours, special exhibitions, and the auction preview. This is followed by an elegant sit-down dinner with exquisite fare and a live auction offering incredible artworks and innovative experiences. This event brings together some of the Museum’s most dedicated supporters and celebrates all the Museum has to offer—from world-class exhibitions to engaging programs for children, teens, and adults.

The 2023 Annual Benefit Gala offers a unique opportunity to both celebrate and support Asheville’s premiere art organization. Gala sponsorships enable the Museum to expand and add new exhibitions and programs as well as offer an opportunity for guests to meet Museum Members, supporters, and artists.

As the foremost visual arts institution in Western North Carolina, the Asheville Art Museum provides vital educational opportunities and experiences for adults and children in the 24 counties of Western North Carolina and visitors to our region. Your generosity as a Diamond, Sapphire, Emerald, or Ruby Gala Sponsor is fundamental to support the growth of the Museum’s programs and its diverse audiences.

All Table Sponsorships include:

• One or two tables of eight guests

• Exclusive sponsor registration table and early check-in for all guests

• Listing in promotional materials, including pre- and post-event press releases, Enewsletters, Member newsletters, and Gala website pages

• Inclusion in Gala program and signage

• Tickets to VIP Reception for all table guests, priority access to purchase centerpiece artworks, and valet parking (available as add-ons for Ruby Sponsors)

• Year-long recognition on Asheville Art Museum digital donor signage

• Opportunity to advertise on the Sponsor Table

Join the Celebration!

Become a Gala Sponsor!

Join Us for Art Break with Featured Artist Luzene Hill

Thursday, May 11 • 6–7pm • Judith S. Moore Gallery | Level 3

Free for Members or included with Museum admission

Registration not Required

Join featured artist Luzene Hill for this month’s Art Break as she leads an informal gallery discussion about the artworks in the exhibition, Luzene Hill: Revelate, along with related objects on view in the Museum’s Collection.

Learn more about Hill’s captivating art and hear from the artist about her artistic inspirations and process. Revelate builds upon a legacy of matrilineal culture, where balance/equilibrium was the prevailing philosophy.

This exhibition combines Hill’s use of mylar safety blankets alongside recent drawings. Capes constructed of mylar burst with energy and rustle with subtle sound, the shining material a signifier of care, awareness, displacement, and presence. Though Hill works primarily in sculpture, drawing has increasingly become an essential part of her practice as she seeks to communicate themes of feminine and Indigenous power across her entire body of work. The energy within her drawings extends to the bursts of light reflecting from her capes or the accumulation of materials in other installation works.

View All Exhibitions

Celebrate Mother’s Day Weekend with a Tea Party at the Perspective Café

Saturday, May 13 • 3–5pm
$45 Members; $50 nonmembers
Reservations for tabletops of 4 or 6 only

Treat yourself to a social afternoon filled with whimsy and fun while sampling our exquisite, in-house offerings at the Perspective Café. This afternoon Tea Party features local indulgences from Asheville Tea Company, as well as fresh tea sandwiches, scones, fruit, and pastries.

Included with your reservation, come early before the Tea Party and design and create your own Fascinator Hat (11am–2pm) in our art studio and enjoy a stroll through the galleries (2–3pm).

Pre-registration is required. Ticket includes Museum admission, studio time, tea and accompaniments, and gratuity. Members receive 10 percent discount.

Reserve Your Table

Ticket to Ride Not Necessary!

FREE RIDES

Saturday, May 13 • Noon

This Saturday, April 29th, start you day at the Asheville Art Museum and then hop on one of the free trolleys and explore other downtown hot spots and the River Arts District. It’s free to ride ArtAVL’s new free ArtsAVL Connect Trolley, that links the Asheville Art Museum, other Downtown attractions, and the River Arts District with two overlapping routes.

The initiative is a partnership between ArtsAVL and Gray Line Asheville. Two chartered Gray Line trolleys will circulate on 20–30 minute intervals from 12-8 pm on every second Saturday. Riders are welcome to hop on and off anywhere they choose along the trolley routes.

The Downtown Trolley connects the main areas of the Central Business District to the River Arts District. The River Arts Trolley loops throughout the River Arts District. Residents and visitors can view stops and the current location of the trolleys through the interactive trolley map on the ArtsAVL’s website and the new ArtsAVL app.

View the Routes

Create Art with Your Community During Open Studio at Different World

Thursday, May 4 • 6–9pm • Free • Ages 21+ Event

Offsite • 701 Haywood Road, Suite 101, Asheville

Learn how to make a series of small, minimalist abstract paintings inspired by the exhibition Luzene Hill: Revelate. Materials include watercolor paper or Bristol paper, ink, watercolors, scissors, and charcoal.

This free drop-in program, which is facilitated by the Asheville Art Museum and hosted at Different Wrld, aims to expose and engage participants with the Museum’s Collection and changing exhibitions. Attendees must be 21 or older to participate. The Asheville Art Museum will provide all instruction, supplies, and materials at no charge.

Register for American Art + Sound: An Evening of Innovators and Innovation

Thursday, May 18 • 4:30–5:30pm

$10 Member, $15 nonmember plus Museum admission

Join The Asheville Art Museum and the Moogseum for an immersive evening exploring synergies between American Art and the pioneering sound of Moog synthesizers. These two organizations are collaborating to present a unique program examining ways material and form have been expressed within visual art objects and electronic sound. Enjoy a live synthesizer performance and discussions centered around select works of art from the Museum’s Collection.

Purchase Tickets

Make a Difference! Donate to Our 75th Anniversary Fund Drive

The Asheville Art Museum’s Spring Annual Fund Drive is in full swing! In honor of our 75th anniversary our goal is to raise $75,000 or more. Thanks to generous supporters, we’ve already raised nearly one-third of our fundraising goal. Can we count on your support to help us meet (or exceed) our target?

The Annual Fund benefits exhibitions, educational programs, and community outreach initiatives. By donating to the Annual Fund, you can help the Museum continue to provide high-quality exhibitions and educational programs that inspire and engage visitors from our region and beyond. 

Your donation can make a significant impact on the Museum's ability to fulfill its mission and promote and celebrate the visual arts in Western North Carolina. Additionally, donating to the Annual Fund is an excellent way to support the local community and ensure that the arts continue to thrive in the region.

Many thanks to our dedicated supporters who’ve already contributed— We deeply appreciate your commitment to the Museum and to keeping the arts in WNC vibrant. We couldn’t be where we are today without you—and your involvement is crucial as we look forward to the next 75 years!

Show Your Support!

Cast Your Vote in the Best of WNC and Show Your Appreciation for the Asheville Art Museum!

There’s one more week to show your appreciation for the Asheville Art Museum in Mountain Xpress’ annual listing of the region’s top-rated places and services. Now through April 30, you can vote for the Museum in several categories as The Best of WNC in the weekly newspaper’s online poll.

Thank you for your support! Remember, you must vote in for least 30 categories for your votes to be tallied. You don’t need to be local to log in and vote. All entrants are entered in a prize drawing.

Show Your Love!

Work of the Week

Head by José de Creeft

On view in the SECU Collection Hall • Level 3

José de Creeft learned from a range of sculptural traditions but ultimately arrived at his own spontaneous approach to form and material. He began to model clay and carve wood at an early age, serving as an apprentice to a wood carver in Barcelona beginning at age 13.

A few years later, he observed Inuit artisans carving ivory near his home in Madrid, which inspired him to explore direct methods of carving. He continued this interest after immigrating to the United States in 1929. In addition to teaching at The Art Students League and the New School for Social Research in New York City, de Creeft taught stone and wood carving in 1944 at Black Mountain College. There, he met sculptor and painter Lorrie Goulet, the woman he would be married to for the rest of his life.

Explore Our Online Collection Database