Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Snowed In and Shoveled Out!

Things have slowed down here at the Museum this week because of the great snow storm of 2009 in Asheville this past weekend. We have finally seen the remaining snowed-in staff members this morning (yes, Day 6) and have almost exhausted our snow horror stories. Who had power? Who made snowmen and sledded down the neighboring slope in a kayak (me)? Whose cars are still covered in 20 inches of snow?

I know that you are all curious so let me ease your mind. The Museum itself and its Pack Place neighbors received a healthy dose of the snow- but we have shoveled safe paths that lead you right to our door. So eat your big meals, unwrap your gifts, and get out of the house over the Holidays with a little dose of art at your local downtown Museum (three floors allow you to find your own space within our safe, warm walls while still remaining close to your family).

And from all of us at the Asheville Art Museum, we wish you a warm-electricity filled, snow angel making, crazy sledding time over the upcoming Holidays- and into the New Year.

See in 2010.

Images- The Asheville Art Museum Entrance. Saturday, December 19 (Day2); Staff Photo, December 2009.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Artistic Ads


Merely by accident, I found some very interesting advertisements from the Asheville Art Museum's advertising past. They are quirky and fun, with just the right amount of wittiness- and I felt like I had to share them with you. They effectively present the arts in a new way- and get you to think about the importance of the arts in all of our lives. They have become historical relics for the Art Museum (they are not really that old) but they also maintain their contemporary relevance. And like any ad campaign- they are incredibly catchy! I think they are great- Enjoy!












Let me know if you have ideas that are just as catchy...

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Hanging Lorna Blaine Halper

Today we are hanging Lorna Blaine Halper's solo show at the Asheville Art Museum!

It opens on Saturday, December 12th. Opening Reception is Sunday December 13th at 2pm.

And it is Free.





Lorna Blaine Halper was a student at Black Mountain College, a unique arts school located just outside of Asheville. Although it lasted only 24 years, from 1933-57, and enrolled fewer than 1200 students, Black Mountain College launched a remarkable number of the artists. The Museum is dedicated to collecting and preserving the art of Black Mountain College and continues to expand its Black Mountain College collection.


According to Assistant Curator, Cole Hendrix, Halper's "visual practice became dominated by an obsessive, introspective and sustained meditation on the line. Throughout her career Halper continually played with the terms of seeing, manipulating value, tone and scale to evince the descriptive qualities of line."




Lorna Blaine Halper: The Space Between is going up in the Museum's Community Gallery on the first floor. It is split by the Museum shop so both spaces have to be considered apart from each other and also together within the larger context of the show.


The Curators and Registrar/Preparator determine where the works should go, taking into account shapes, sizes, themes, and colors so that the pieces flow in a logical and creative way for optimal viewing. Then, the Museum's Executive Director considers the placement of the pieces, making changes as

necessary. Afterwards, the prep crew measures and hangs each piece on the wall, securing each side for added strength. The wall text is then placed onto the wall in the appropriate places and the exhibition is ready to open to the public.


Come out and visit this exciting exhibition!






Image Credits:

Lorna Blaine Halper, Untitled, 1965, oil on canvas, 34.13 x 48 inches. Gift of Lorna Blaine Halper. Asheville Art Museum Black Mountain College Collection. 2008.03.09.21; Lorna Blaine Halper, Untitled, nd, oil and ink on linen, 60 x 48 inches. Gift of Lorna Blaine Halper. Asheville Art Museum Black Mountain College Collection. 2008.03.10.21; Staff hanging the exhibition.



Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Getting Crafty




The BIG Crafty drops into Pack Place this Sunday, December 6th from 12-6pm.
The Asheville Art Museum hosts!

They have great local crafts by many, many artists plus holiday music, cupcakes and beer, fancy decor, and a lot of people! Don't miss the Asheville Art Museum's shop where the Holiday Market has been extended with more homemade goodies from area artists!


Because the Asheville Art Museum is hosting the Big Crafty in Pack Place, we all got a little excited and decided to do some crafts of our own! For an afternoon, we walked away from our computers, pushed up our sleeves, and made our way to the Studio where the Education Staff led us in a Paste Paper making session. It is so easy and fun to do- so read the recipe below and get crafty in celebration of this weekend's great local craft fair!










Basic Paste Paper Recipe:
Set 6 cups of water to boil in large saucepan. Meanwhile, mix 3/4 cup white rice flour (available in bulk foods) and ¾ cup white wheat f lour (cake flour is great) with 1 ½ cups of cold water. (You can use plain white wheat flour for the whole shebang if you want to.) Add water to the flour slo
wly, trying to make the paste as smooth as possible, you will thank yourself later. When your water is boiling add the cold-water paste mixture to the boiling water stirring constantly with a whisk. The paste will thicken immediately and turn somewhat translucent. As soon as it does this, remove the paste from the heat and let in cool. Once paste is no longer boiling hot, add 1tsp of glycerin (drug store) and 1tsp. of Dr. Bronner’s peppermint soap though any liquid soap will do the job. If the paste is lumpy use a blender to smooth things out. Mix the paste with water soluble paints like acrylic but tempera is fine if you are working with kids.

BE CRAFTY: Get a piece of blank, clean paper. Water it with a sponge (all of it- all the way to the corners) so it is wet but not soaking wet. Drop a few drops of colored paste onto the paper and spread it around with your fingers( too many colors will make it brown so be careful!). Use fun tools like old legos, rubber stamps, whatever to make cool designs... When finished- spread them out to dry for a day- and then iron from the back side to make them flat. They are excellent as homemade cards, wrapping paper, etc. It can get messy! So make sure that you have plenty of water and that you do this in an area you can clean up afterwards (studio, kitchen, e.g.) Wash off the table every time you start a new piece of paper and HAVE FUN!