ANNUAL REPORT 2020

Our world, just as yours, has changed dramatically in the last year. We have been forced to adapt and have taken the opportunity to look at our mission with new eyes. This has been a year where business as usual gave way to the unexpected, where we were called to be flexible while still holding steadfast in our commitment to the BMC legacy and our extended community.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Leap Then Look Active Archive Digital Residency  BIBLIOGRAPHY Here are some of the brilliant books we read and flicked through in preparation for this project. Most are available from the BMCM+AC bookshop! Back Home BMC...

FAITH IN ARTS: A CONVERSATION WITH MOLLY SILVERSTEIN

February 24, 2021 | Streaming – A Faith in Arts conversation with Molly Silverstein, poet, graduate student, and former BMCM+AC staff member. Silverstein currently studies at Harvard Divinity School, where her work focuses on spiritual care and counseling and the psychology of religion.

Light, Sound and Movement

Leap Then Look Active Archive Digital Residency  LIGHT, SOUND AND MOVEMENT The Light Sound Movement Workshop was a student-led initiative at Black Mountain College co-ordinated by artist and dancer Elizabeth ‘Betty’ and her husband, artist Warren ‘Pete’ Jennerjahn. It...

A Practice Ground and a Laboratory

Leap Then Look Active Archive Digital Residency  PERFORMANCE: A PRACTICE GROUND AND A LABORATORY There was a rich history of performance at BMC from the early years when Bauhaus theatre designer Xanti Schawinsky was employed to run the Stage Studies course. His...

Our Fingers Are Our Tools

Leap Then Look Active Archive Digital Residency  OUR FINGERS ARE OUR TOOLS “Our fingers are our tools” was an instruction Josef Albers gave to students before inviting them to explore simple materials like straw, corrugated cardboard, and newspaper. You might imagine...

THE HOW NOT THE WHAT

Leap Then Look Active Archive Digital Residency  THE HOW NOT THE WHAT   “I was drawn to Black Mountain because of its holistic approach, its informality, its lack of conventional institutionalism, and its earnestness. I liked the combination of intimacy,...

At Black Mountain Photographs Were Made Not Taken

Leap Then Look Active Archive Digital Residency  “AT BLACK MOUNTAIN PHOTOGRAPHS WERE MADE, NOT TAKEN” Julie J. Thomson Photography was first taught at BMC by Josef Albers until former student Hazel Larsen (later Larsen Archer) was employed as the first...

Make The Materials Perform

Leap Then Look Active Archive Digital Residency  MAKE THE MATERIALS PERFORM   A shortage of money and conventional art materials was used at Black Mountain College as a means of getting students to look around; to appreciate and use the things that were available...

Create A Space For Yourself To Make

Leap Then Look Active Archive Digital Residency  CREATING THE RIGHT ENVIRONMENT FOR EXPERIMENTATION Black Mountain College, the legendary liberal arts college in North Carolina, functioned between 1933 and 1957 and hosted many of the most influential artists,...

2020: A Year in Review

In a year marked by crisis, the history and legacy of Black Mountain College has been a source of insight and motivation for thousands of supporters like you around the world, whether visiting in person or engaging with us online. The historic perseverance and...

CITIZEN SPINS SESSION: BMCM+AC

February 18 + 19, 2021 | Citizen Vinyl Session Cafe and Bar – In this two-day Citizen Spins Session from the team at BMCM+AC, listen in to recordings from Black Mountain College icons like John Cage, David Tudor, and Lou Harrison as well as the influential figures that inspired them and those who are keeping that legacy alive.

CONVERSATIONS: FAITH IN ARTS

Ongoing | Streaming – BMCM+AC and UNC Asheville host conversations and interviews with a diverse group of artists, curators, faith leaders, and scholars to explore the role of arts in spiritual practice and religious life and the role of spiritual practice and religious life in the arts.

PERFORMANCE: SOFIA JERNBERG

December 9, 2020 | Streaming – Experimental composer and vocalist Sofia Jernberg presents two solo performances at Gränslandet that avant-garde icon Laurie Anderson calls “extraordinary” and “transcendent.” Sofia Jernberg is a Swedish experimental singer, composer, improviser, and performer. She grew up in Ethiopia, Vietnam, and Sweden. Since 2011, she lives in Oslo, Norway.

PERSPECTIVES: ASHER GAMEDZE AND ANOTHER TIME ENSEMBLE

December 2, 2020 | Streaming – For this performance, from a rooftop in historic Cairo, Asher Gamedze and Another Time Ensemble meditate and speculate on the possibility and necessity of another time. The performance will be followed by a discussion with Asher Gamedze.

Jacob Lawrence

Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence, Black Mountain College, 1946. Photograph by Nancy Newhall. Jacob Lawrence, “Windows,” 1977. Silkscreen, ed. 70/300. Collection of Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center. Gift of Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence. Jacob...

Joseph Fiore

Joseph Fiore, “#7-54 The Gathering,” 1954. Oil on canvas. Collection of Matt Chambers and John Cram. Joseph Fiore, “Ducks on Lake Eden,” 1947. Oil on cardboard. Collection of Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center. Gift of Janet Heling Roberts. Joseph...

Ingeborg Lauterstein

Ingeborg Lauterstein, “Portrait of Sewell Sillman,” c. 1948-49. Oil on masonite. Courtesy of The Johnson Collection. Ingeborg Lauterstein (Student 1948-1949) (b.1923-d.2012) Ingeborg Lauterstein, known as Inga, was born in Vienna, Austria, and lived there during...