February 1, 2019 {120 College Street} The BMC community faced political differences, both internally and externally, throughout its 24-year history. The college was born in 1933 during the Great Depression, lived through WWII, was deeply affected by Hitler’s rise to power, and closed during the Cold War. Though often viewed today as an idyllic mountain refuge, isolated from tumultuous global politics, BMC took shape in the context of (and in response to) world events. Through a rich variety of media—artworks, images, texts, and audio—this exhibition will explore the various political dimensions of Black Mountain College, both internal and external, that shaped the trajectory of the college and its community of people.
Wednesday, May 8 – 12-1pm PERSPECTIVES Lunchtime Conversations @ BMCM+AC. Explore our Aaron Siskind exhibition along with an artist, historian, or scholar who will give perspective and context to the work from their particular point of view. Guest Speaker: Diana C....
Saturday, May 4 – 1-4pm {Pack Square Park} Modular On The Spot. Modular On The Spot is an outdoor modular synthesizer picnic founded in Los Angeles by Eric ‘Rodent’ Cheslak and Bana Haffar. The idea came about on a camping trip to Arizona in 2014 where the...
Saturday, May 4 – 9-11:30am Papermaking Workshop with John Dancy Jones. Book artist and papermaker John Dancy Jones leads this hands-on workshop. Papermaking and printing have been substrates for cultural expression for all of history. Learn how paper is made, make a...
May 2, 2019 (120 College Street) – Aaron Siskind in Retrospect, a presentation by James Barron. James Barron is an art dealer based in Kent, CT. While still an art history student at Brown University, and working at a Providence photo gallery, he met photographer Aaron Siskind and sold 22 Siskind photographs to his parents. These vintage photographs form the core of this exhibition at BMCM+AC. James Barron will speak about Aaron Siskind’s photographs and his family’s friendship with Siskind through art and photography.
April 25 – April 28, 2019 {120 College Street} Neo Pastiche: Changes in American Music Festival with performers: Eugene Chadbourne, Anka (Carmelo Pampillonio + Marcyanne Hannemann), Petr Kotik (“There is Singularly Nothing”), Sarah Louise (Deep Listening inspired exercises), Deforrest Brown Jr. and Nick James Scavo (“Wrecked New American Music of a Cancelled Species”), Theodore Cale Schafer, Kimathi Moore and Elizabeth Lang, Jeff Witscher, Jaclyn Miller (aka Voice Training), S.E.M Ensemble (Julius Eastman’s “Macle” and John Cage’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, and Morton Feldman “For Philip Guston”)
Saturday, April 13 – 5pm Asheville Wordfest 2019 Poetry Reading. Introducing writers from Mars Hill University and UNC-Asheville. Three creative writing students from each university will read original work, representing different genres. The evening will be...
April 10, 2019 (120 College Street) – Explore our Politics at BMC exhibition along with an artist, historian, or scholar who will give perspective and context to the work from their particular point of view. Guest Speaker: Jon Elliston, co-curator of the exhibition, writer, and Senior Editor of WNC Magazine.
Saturday, March 30, 3-10pm {Re}HAPPENING AT LAKE EDEN. The {Re}HAPPENING is an annual afternoon and evening event at the historic campus of Black Mountain College – 15 minutes from Asheville. It is part art event, part fundraiser, and part community instigator,...
Thursday, March 21 – 7pm FILMS@BMCM+AC: One Fast Move or I’m Gone: Kerouac’s Big Sur. This 97-minute documentary takes the audience on a visceral ride of raw emotions and dramatic events based on Jack Kerouac’s brilliantly honest 1962 novel, Big Sur. The film is told...
March 15, 2019 {120 College Street} Participants learn key business, management, and communications skills and hear first-hand from artists who have used these tools to achieve success—as they define it. Topics include business management, goal setting, writing and talking about your work, and negotiation. In addition to lecture presentations, participants engage in interactive exercises, have the opportunity to meet with leaders in small working groups, and are given a Strategic Planning workbook to help guide their process. Consultant and arts activist, Colleen Keegan and NC based artist, Beverly McIver will lead the workshop.
March 13, 2019 {120 College Street} Explore our Politics at BMC exhibition along with an artist, historian, or scholar who will give perspective and context to the work from their particular point of view. Guest Speaker: Jay Miller, co-curator of the exhibition, Professor of Philosophy, and Director of the Warren Wilson College Honors Program.
February 13, 2019 {120 College Street} Explore our Politics at BMC exhibition along with an artist, historian, or scholar who will give perspective and context to the work from their particular point of view. Guest Speaker: Connie Bostic, co-curator of the exhibition, artist, and BMCM+AC board member.
December 4, 2018 – Performance: “The Future Leaks Out.” A quadraphonic modular synthesizer piece in which spoken-word audio recordings are cut up in a similar manner to the Surrealist “Exquisite Corpse” game, or the cutup literary method or Brion Gysin and William S. Burroughs. Realized using the Make Noise Morphagene and other synthesizer modules. Composed and performed by Eric “Rodent” Cheslak and Walker Farrell.
October 19, 2018 {120 College Street} “The Jacob Lawrence of Jacob Lawrence” by Jace Clayton aka DJ /rupture. Presented in conjunction with African Americans in WNC & Southern Appalachia Conference, The Jacob Lawrence of Jacob Lawrence is a video and performance by Jace Clayton. The video is a hand-drawn animation with texts that form part of the script for the performance. As Clayton and vocalist Arooj Aftab perform, their voices will be transformed and processed live, using the sonic mutations to extend and transform the themes of the source text.
September 8, 2018 (120 College Street) – Performance of original works by vocalist Theo Bleckmann and guitarist Ben Monder. For over 15 years, the Theo Bleckmann & Ben Monder Duo has been touring the U.S., Europe, and Asia creating a unique approach to what might be called “jazz art song”, blurring the boundaries between jazz, classical, ambient, and rock.
November 16, 2018 {Asheville Museum of Science} Open only 23 years, from 1933 to 1956, Black Mountain College has become famous for the many artists who were faculty or students at the college. These individuals have had a profound influence on modern and contemporary art. Recently there have been national and international exhibitions dedicated to the influence and legacy of BMC. There is now an extensive collection of literature on the college. Most of this work has focused on the arts and artists from BMC. However, BMC was not just an art school. It was a liberal arts college based on John Dewey’s theories of education. There was a full spectrum of liberal arts classes, including classes in the sciences such as mathematics, chemistry, physics and biology. The college always had at least a few science faculty. Just as BMC was able to attract many great artists because of WWII, they were also able to attract some amazing science faculty. For a small undergraduate college tucked back in the southern Appalachian Mountains, the list of distinguished science faculty is surprising. This talk will give a brief overview of a few of the notable individuals who taught in the sciences at BMC.
October 1, 2018 – January 12, 2019 {120 College Street} BMCM+AC is teaming up with Hood Huggers International for the run of the Jacob Lawrence exhibition. Hood Huggers International, founded by visionary poet and artist DeWayne Barton, explores the past, present and future of African Americans in Asheville. Visit www.hoodhuggers.com/hood-tours/ for more info and to book a tour.
January 10, 2019 {120 College Street} Jacob Lawrence: The Glory of Expression. Narrated by Ossie Davis, this 28 minute film traces the life and work of Jacob Lawrence, emphasizing the narratives in his paintings and his studio process. Written and directed by David Irving. We’ll also screen Uncle Yanco, a film about artist Jean Varda, BMC faculty during the Summer session of 1946 and Martha Colburn’s film commissioned for the exhibition Between Form and Content, reflecting on the work of Jacob Lawrence. With post-film discussion led by Julie Levin Caro.
January 9, 2019 {120 College Street} Explore our Jacob Lawrence exhibition along with an artist, historian, or scholar who will give perspective and context to the work from their particular point of view. Guest Speaker: Dr. Darin J. Waters is the Executive Director of the Office of Community Engagement, and an Associate Professor of History at UNC Asheville, co-host of The Waters and Harvey Show, and scholar of African American history in Asheville.
