1000 x 90

December Programs, Events, Exhibitions at Blowing Rock Art and History Museum

Try something new this holiday season and make a trip to the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum, located at 159 Chestnut Street on the corner of Chestnut and Main.

This nonprofit museum aims to promote the visual arts, history and heritage of the mountains through educational programs, exhibitions and significant permanent collections.

The museum operates from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.

Admission is free for museum members, $7 for adults, $6 for seniors and active military, $4 for students and children and free for children ages 4 and under. Groups of 10 or more can enjoy discounted admission of $5 per person.

On Thursdays, enjoy “Be Our Guest” specials and simply make a donation of any amount for admission.

Free parking is available for museumgoers in the adjacent deck.

Listed below are the variety of events, activities and featured exhibitions you can enjoy throughout the month of December at BRAHM.

For more information, call 828-295-9099 or visit blowingrockmuseum.org.

EVENTS AT BRAHM:

Cedar and Shotguns: Old Christmas in Appalachia

Tuesday, Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. / $5 per person

Albert Chevallier Tayler. The Christmas Tree, 1911. Oil on canvas.
Albert Chevallier Tayler. The Christmas Tree, 1911. Oil on canvas.

Get to know Johnson City, Tennessee native, author and teacher Amy Tipton Cortner, who will intertwine personal recollections of childhood Christmases in the mountains of eastern Tennessee with an overview of Christmas traditions in different parts of Appalachia.

After the talk, enjoy some old-fashioned Christmas goodies, a stroll through the galleries and some lovely music in the atrium from the Shorthand String Band.

Cortner has authored two chapbooks, one novel and many essays. Her work has been published in anthologies including Appalachian Inside Out and Listen Here: Women Writing in Appalachia.

 

Mark Nystrom, Winds, November 29, 2005, Mansfield, MA, Process.2005.01

Coded Responses: A Talk with Artist Mark Nystrom

Thursday, Dec. 10 at 11 a.m. / $5 suggested donation

Artist and designer Mark Nystrom will show interpretations of wind, music and the news and discuss the processes that create them in this “Scholars with Scones” talk. Natural forces and data fuel Nystrom’s artistic practice. Hidden within them are patterns, forms and meaning ripe for extraction, analysis and interpretation. Like the translation of a text from one language to another, his work is a translation of information.

His work has been shown across the country and he is currently working as an associate professor of graphic design in the department of art at Appalachian State University.

 

Live Jazz Duo with Maureen Renihan and Mike Holstein

Maureen Renihan and Mike Holstein.

Saturday, Dec. 12 from 2:3-4 p.m. / Free

Experience the beauty of live jazz in BRAHM’s Atrium, with an informal performance by vocalist Maureen Renihan and bass virtuoso Mike Holstein. Just drop by or stay for the whole thing! Our galleries will also be open, with many brand-new exhibits. Get the details here.

 

Christmas Caroling

Friday, Dec. 18 at 12:30 p.m.

Come out and raise your voice in song! The Threshold Singers will be leading the songs n the museum’s atrium, but all are welcome to join in on their holiday favorites!

The Threshold singers are a group of local folk who like to harmonize and sing together. They perform locally, often bringing music to local rest homes, and sometimes pop up unexpectedly (flash mob style) at other venues!

 

 

Afternoon Art Club: Ages 6-10

Tuesday afternoons, Dec. 1, 8, 15 / $5 for non-members

Registration is required. Free for members.

 

Doodlebug Club: Ages 3-5

Thursday afternoons, Dec. 3, 10, 17 / $5 for non-members

Registration is required. Free for members.

 

CALL FOR EXHIBITION PROPOSALS:

The museum is also accepting exhibition proposals at this time for the Alexander Community Gallery. Located on the second floor of the museum, this gallery features monthly exhibitions of artwork by local, regional and community artists. Solo and group exhibitions are considered. The deadline to submit for exhibition space in 2016 is Feb. 1. Click here for details on how to submit your information.

 

EXHIBITIONS AT BRAHM:

“Truth Beneath These Hills: Uncovering the History and Heritage of Mining in Western North Carolina”

On display through April 23 in the Stevens Gallery

Geologists have a saying: “Whatever cannot be farmed, must be mined.” Few regions demonstrate this better than western North Carolina. From the Native Americans who first uncovered minerals and gems thousands of years ago to the miners who today excavate materials crucial to the Silicon Age, mining has profoundly shaped the technology, environment, culture and community of the High Country.

The exhibition is guest curated by the following graduate students of Dr. Andrea Burns at Appalachian State University: Kathryn Burke, Jessica Cottle, Caitlin Finlayson, Jackson Osborne, Bonnie Roane, Carson Sailor, Colby Stevens, Jimmie Vaughn and Nicholas White.

 

“Ward Nichols: Look Again”

On display through March 26 in the Rankin West Gallery.

A native of West Virginia, Ward Nichols (b. 1930) made his home nearby in North Wilkesboro, NC. His hyper-realistic paintings are visualized from photographs he takes of everlasting landscapes, abandoned structures, and everyday objects.

Spend a little more time with his paintings, however, and Nichols offers rewards through quirky details, such as humorous compositions, nonfunctional door hinges, and hidden eyes that lock unexpectedly with those of the viewers. Ward Nichols: Look Again encourages visitors to ponder the mundane and experience the beautiful within it.

Nichols is represented by Blue Spiral 1 in Asheville.

 

“A Retrospective of Eliot Clark”

On display through March 26 in the Atwell Gallery.

Eliot Candee Clark (1883-1980) was born in New York and was poised to become a prominent artist at a young age. After a rock was thrown at his head and cracked his skull at age eight, he became bedridden for a time and immersed himself in his art. After his recovery, he exhibited at the New York Watercolor Club, the Society of American Artists, and the National Academy of Design, where he eventually became an active member, exhibitor, and president (1956 – 1959).

Influenced by his father and mother, both artists, Clark graduated high school at 15 and traveled the world, from France and India to Georgia and North Carolina, and painted plein air along the way. He became best known for his naturalistic landscapes, but was also a skilled writer and published several books on artists and arts organizations of his age. Clark died at the age of 97 in his second home in Charlottesville, Virginia, but his paintings remain in collections across the country, including the Metropolitan and Smithsonian. The works on display at the Museum are loaned by Lamont Hudson, a close friend of Clark, and show a broad range of his work.

 

“Elliott Dangerfield”

On display in the Rankin East Gallery.

Eliot Candee Clark (1883-1980) was born in New York and was poised to become a prominent artist at a young age. After a rock was thrown at his head and cracked his skull at age eight, he became bedridden for a time and immersed himself in his art. After his recovery, he exhibited at the New York Watercolor Club, the Society of American Artists, and the National Academy of Design, where he eventually became an active member, exhibitor, and president (1956 – 1959). Influenced by his father and mother, both artists, Clark graduated high school at 15 and traveled the world, from France and India to Georgia and North Carolina, and painted plein air along the way. He became best known for his naturalistic landscapes, but was also a skilled writer and published several books on artists and arts organizations of his age.

Clark died at the age of 97 in his second home in Charlottesville, Virginia, but his paintings remain in collections across the country, including the Metropolitan and Smithsonian. The works on display at the Museum are loaned by Lamont Hudson, a close friend of Clark, and show a broad range of his work.

 

Selections from the Collection:

On display in the atrium, upstairs hallways and the Schaefer rotunda.

The Museum has dedicated three exhibition spaces to its permanent collection. Works in the collection range from prominent American Impressionists, such as Elliott Daingerfield and William Charles Anthony Frerichs, to works by more locally based artists, including Philip Moose and Herb Cohen. The opening display is guest-curated by Jonathan Stulhman, Senior Curator of Modern, American, and Contemporary Art at the Mint Museum, Charlotte. Selections from the Collection will be revisited annually and select works will be rotated each fall.