New Exhibition On View- Romare Bearden: Ways of Working

On view through January 22, 2024
The Van Winkle Law Firm Gallery - Level 1

Romare Bearden (Charlotte, NC 1911–1988 New York, NY) African–American writer and artist, is renowned for his collages. Throughout his career, he was also constantly experimenting using various techniques to achieve his artistic goals. This exhibition highlights works on paper and explores many of his most frequently used mediums including screen-printing, lithography, hand colored etching, collagraph, monotype, relief print, photomontage, and collage. Bearden’s voice was so singular that it transcends his ways of working. Bearden’s work reflects his improvisational approach to his practice. He considered his process akin to that of jazz and blues composers. Starting with an open mind, he would let an idea evolve spontaneously.

This exhibition is made possible in part by the Judy Appleton Fund. Many thanks to the Jerald Melberg Gallery for the loan of these important artworks, and to Mary and Jerald Melberg for their long-standing support of the arts, artists, and the Asheville Art Museum.

Members Reception—Celebrating the Opening of Romare Bearden
Thursday, August 10 - 5–7pm

The Van Winkle Law Firm Gallery and Multipurpose Space - Level 1

Museum Members are invited to join us for the reception of our new exhibition—Romare Bearden: Ways of Working. Explore the new exhibition, enjoy the ambiance of Jazz and Blues tunes inspired by the Harlem Renaissance, and a silent film about Romare Bearden throughout the evening. Wine and beverages are available for purchase at the pop-up bar. Please register in advance.

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Exhibition Tour: Feast Your Eyes On
The Art of Food!

Thursday, August 10 - 6–7pm
Free for Members or included with Museum admission

Art enthusiasts and foodies alike can explore the many identities of food in daily life: whether a source of pleasure, a reason for gathering, a mass-produced commodity, or a reflection of social ideologies and divisions.

This exhibition features works from influential postwar artists, including Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, David Hockney, John Baldessari, Ed Ruscha, and more.  This exhibition includes over 100 artworks in mediums, including drawings, paintings, photographs, prints, sculptures, and ceramics by 37 artists.

Join our Volunteer Educators for a Tour of Intersections in American Art

Sunday, August 13 - 2–3pm
Thursday, August 17 - 6–7pm
Free for Members or included with Museum admission

This exhibition tour focuses on the Museum’s Collection of American art of the 20th and 21st centuries, exploring the connection between art and artists of WNC/Southern Appalachia and the US at large.

Intersections of American Art presents three themes loosely derived from and inspired by Black Mountain College. Many objects reflect Time & Place in which artists created them, capturing a particular moment, a national mood, or geographical location. Other artists took risks through Experiments in Material & Form, using non-traditional art materials or questioning what defines a painting, sculpture, photograph, or other art form. Some artworks are enriched by Collaboration & Interdisciplinary Dialogue, in which multiple artists worked together or partnered with musicians, scientists, or other professionals in the creative process.

This exhibition is organized and curated by the Asheville Art Museum. Major support for this project is provided by the Henry Luce Foundation. This project is also funded in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

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August’s Thursday Night Live Features a Performance by Harpist Jessie Meltz

Thursday, August 17 - 6–8pm
Free for Members or included with Museum admission
Registration not required

Enjoy an evening of live music in the Museum’s Windgate Foundation Atrium featuring Jessie Meltz and her harp. Jessie enjoys using her wide repertoire to provide her audiences with an eclectic musical experience. The harp is capable of playing far more than classical music and she often surprises those listening with song choices ranging from those familiar classical standards to pop and rock and roll favorites. You will be amazed to hear all the musical possibilities of the harp! Top off your evening with the stroll through the galleries and enjoy a light fare at the Museum’s Perspective Café.

Closing Soon—Altruistic Genius: Buckminster Fuller’s Plans to Save the Planet Concludes August 21
On view through Sunday, August 21 - Appleby Foundation Exhibition Hall

Discover the inventions and designs of R. Buckminster Fuller through an introduction to Fuller’s strategies for the sustainability of humans and the planet relating to housing, transportation, mathematics, and engineering. 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. Over 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.

This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts and The Maurer Family Foundation.

Save the Date! Join Us for a Free Community Day: The Art Food on September 2

Visit the Asheville Art Museum for free on Saturday, September 2, between noon–5 pm, and celebrate the exhibition, The Art of Food: From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation. Enjoy an afternoon of creativity and community engagement featuring programs that explore how food and culture inform one another. Event highlights include public tours of The Art of Food, art-making activities for all ages, a panel discussion about Appalachian Foodways, and a live performance by jazz, funk, and pop music trio Industrial Coffee Pot.

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Volunteerism is Essential to the Museum’s Mission—Apply to Become a Volunteer Educator

A volunteer educator is a rewarding and wonderful way to share your love of art with students, children, and adults. Volunteer educators give tours to Museum visitors, primarily for school-aged and student groups but also for groups of all ages, abilities, and varied interests.

Our learning & engagement staff provides ongoing volunteer educator trainings, which include exclusive previews of new exhibitions and behind-the-scenes discussions with Museum curators, artists, scholars, and other special guests. Volunteer educators also have the opportunity to visit local artists’ studios and cultural attractions.

Volunteer educators are an essential component of the Museum’s education programs and provide an invaluable service in advancing the Museum’s role as a vibrant community center. Many of our volunteer educators have expressed that volunteering at the Museum is one of their most gratifying experiences. Training begins in the fall for the upcoming exhibition season.

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Work of the Week

Untitled by George Bireline
On view in Judith S. Moore Gallery - Level 3

Flat expanses of color are carefully balanced in this monumental painting on unprimed canvas. Closely observed, the interactions of the color blocks create after images that seem to move across the surface and offer suggestions of depth. Part of a series of large-scale horizontal works exhibited at the Andre Emmerich Gallery in New York City, this artwork exemplifies Bireline’s exploration of Color Field painting, a movement championed by noted art critic Clement Greenberg who praised Bireline’s work in that arena.

Always attuned to new ideas in the arts, Bireline changed his artistic focus over the course of his five decade-long career. A master of tromp l’oeil, he famously utilized color and form, symbols, and allusions to literature, history, and matters of belief to respond to the world around him. As a faculty member at the North Carolina State University School of Design from 1956 through 1986, he taught generations of students. Bireline was always experimenting. His classroom, studio, and paintings all served as reminders to continue looking and learning.

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