Black Mountain COLL(A)GE
Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center
May 29, 2026 – September 5, 2026
From left to right, top to bottom: Ray Johnson, NOITHNG, c. 1980s. Altered Carl Co. necktie. Collection of BMCM+AC. Gift of Michael and Hanna Manes. | William McGee, Untitled, 1990. Paper collage on vintage postcard. Collection of BMCM+AC. Gift of Connie Bostic. | Suzi Gablik, The Tangled Bank #6, 1978. Collage and paint on canvas, 30 x 30 inches. Collection of BMCM+AC. Gift of the Artist. | Roberta Blair, Untitled [Color Study], c. 1944. Construction paper mounted on matboard. Collection of BMCM+AC. Gift of David W. Lowden | John Urbain, Green Sky, 1988. Mixed media and paper collage on masonite. Collection of BMCM+AC. Gift of Catherine and Michael Urbain.
From Josef Albers’ matière exercises to Charles Olson’s 1951 “Glyph Exchange,” cutting up and rearranging found material was a way of life at Black Mountain College. Techniques of accumulation, selection, and reinterpretation—broadly interpreted here as collage—can encompass two-dimensional visual works, three dimensional assemblages, poems, performances, and more. This exhibition traces the presence of collage through the history and legacy of the renowned liberal arts college. Some of the 20th century’s most influential collage practitioners, including Robert Rauschenberg and Ray Johnson, studied at BMC. Many other students took up collage as a life-long medium, including Irwin Kremen, William Douglas McGee, Jo Sandman, John Urbain, Mary Parks Washington, and Susan Weil. Still others continued to experiment with cut-ups while working in other realms of creative production, such as the writer and critic Suzi Gablik. Finally, collage continues to exert a powerful influence on today’s art ecosystem. Selected works from contemporary collagists will contextualize the medium’s trajectory and provide a window into the future. This exhibition pieces together a wide array of ever-shifting stories, rearranging the moving parts to assemble a visual and sonic exploration of Black Mountain COLL(A)GE.
Curated by Kira Houston
Images from left to right, top to bottom: Ray Johnson, NOITHNG, c. 1980s. Altered Carl Co. necktie. Collection of BMCM+AC. Gift of Michael and Hanna Manes. | William McGee, Untitled, 1990. Paper collage on vintage postcard. Collection of BMCM+AC. Gift of Connie Bostic. | Suzi Gablik, The Tangled Bank #6, 1978. Collage and paint on canvas, 30 x 30 inches. Collection of BMCM+AC. Gift of the Artist. | Roberta Blair, Untitled [Color Study], c. 1944. Construction paper mounted on matboard. Collection of BMCM+AC. Gift of David W. Lowden | John Urbain, Green Sky, 1988. Mixed media and paper collage on masonite. Collection of BMCM+AC. Gift of Catherine and Michael Urbain.
Related Programs
OPENING RECEPTION: Black Mountain COLL(A)GE
Friday, May 29, 2026 – 5:30–8pm | Free and Open to All
Join us for the opening reception of Black Mountain COLL(A)GE, hosted at BMCM+AC on Friday, May 29th from 5:30 – 8PM. This reception is free and open to all.
Saturday, June 13th, 2026 at 12PM
Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center {120 College Street}
Workshop $15 Per Participant
Collaboration was an integral part of the creative process at BMC. This ELEMENTS workshop, facilitated by contemporary collagist Travis Medford, will explore the collaborative possibilities of collage. Participants will create collaborative collages in dialogue with each other. [Tickets on sale soon!]
ELEMENTS of BMC: Collage Across Space and Time
Saturday July 18, 2026 at 12PM
Queer Artist Field Trip!
With Liz Williams of Southern Equality Studios
Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center {120 College Street}
Southern Equality Studios is a program that explores how the arts can be a catalyst and force in achieving lived and legal LGBTQ equality across the South. In this multigenerational workshop, participants will create collage postcards imbued with messages of joy, and will also learn how to create a stop-motion video as part of the creative process. Registration will be available through Southern Equality Studios.
Sonic Collage: Installation and Performance with Drones in the Garden
Thursday August 27th, 2026 at 7PM
Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center {120 College Street}
Free and Open to All
Join us for an evening of poetry + music co-curated by Drones in the Garden, an experimental art collective creating seasonal performance platforms for WNC musicians and writers. This community event will explore the sonic dimensions of collage, and will also feature a floating botanical collage installation created through community collaboration.