Black Mountain College Museum & Arts Center Announces Fall Exhibition And Events In New Permanent Home

Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center (BMCM+AC) has announced its fall 2018 season of exhibitions and cultural events in Asheville.

On September 28, 2018, BMCM+AC will have a permanent place to call home for the first time in their 25-year history. This new home at 120 College Street will be a relocation and expansion to a newly renovated building on Pack Square Park in the heart of downtown Asheville, NC. The new 6,000sf space will include:

- 2,500sf of flexible exhibition/event space with a 200+ seating capacity

- a permanent Black Mountain College history and research center

- an expanded library and education center with over 1,500 BMC-related texts

- on-site storage for BMCM+AC's permanent collection and research center

This project helps solidify the museum as the preeminent Black Mountain College resource and a vital international art center, preserving the history of Black Mountain College and continuing its far reaching legacy. By providing a space for incubation and cross pollination at a pivotal point in world history, Black Mountain College became a globally recognized center of innovative ideas in education and the arts. Notable alumni and faculty include R. Buckminster Fuller, Josef and Anni Albers, Charles Olson, Robert Rauschenberg, John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Ruth Asawa and Ray Johnson.

120 College Street is a historic site built in 1925, when it was the home of The Asheville Times newspaper. The renovation preserves the historic qualities of the building, including Prohibition-era tin ceilings and brick flooring on the lower level, while creating a comfortable and inviting space for exhibitions, performances, research and programming. Not only does move extend the possibilities for the space, it is transformative because it includes a path to ownership within five years, making it the museum's first permanent home in its 25 year history.

Construction at 120 College Street was completed in early August 2018, with generous support from a $200,000 grant from the Buncombe County TDA and $200,000 raised by the BMCM+AC board covering construction costs. Architect Patti Glazer and contractor Beverly-Grant are leading the project, and Randy Shull, the artist who led the renovation of the original BMCM+AC location at 56 Broadway, is designing key aspects of the project, particularly the library, the museum shop, and the front desk area.

120 College Street opens on September 28, 2018 with the landmark exhibition Between Form and Content: Perspectives on Jacob Lawrence and Black Mountain College. This exhibition contextualizes the work of influential African American artist Jacob Lawrence through not only historic artworks but contemporary commissions in response to Lawrence's legacy. The opening coincides with BMCM+AC's 10th annual ReVIEWING Black Mountain College Conference at UNC Asheville.

Executive Director Jeff Arnal says, "Central to our mission is to preserve, celebrate and advance the legacy of BMC and the story of Jacob Lawrence's BMC experience is one that needs to be told. Both the historical art and new commission portions of this project will look at art, culture, and race and examine issues of equality that are vital to our national conversation. The summer of 1946 was one of Lawrence's first, direct experiences with the Jim Crow south, and although there was a welcoming atmosphere at BMC, the artist and his wife never left the campus for the entire eight weeks of their stay. In addition to the significance of Lawrence's work and the 1946 BMC Summer Institute, this project represents an ambitious new direction for BMCM+AC, both programmatically and artistically. While we have included contemporary work in our past programs, this will be the first time we are commissioning a series of new work on this scale. The scope of the project is designed to look past creative silos, we are interested in how contemporary art and performance can exist in dialogue with historical art."

Between Form and Content: Perspectives on Jacob Lawrence and Black Mountain College
September 28, 2018 - January 2019
Curated by Julie Levin Caro and Jeff Arnal
BMAC+AC | 120 College Street | Asheville, NC
Link: http://www.blackmountaincollege.org/funding-secured-jacob-lawrence-exhibition/

One of the most widely regarded American artists of the 20th century, Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000) is known for his paintings, drawings, and prints that hover between abstraction and socially inspired narrative realism, chronicling African-American history and experience during his lifetime. Between Form and Content will be the very first exhibition to focus on Lawrence's experiences during the summer of 1946, when Josef Albers invited Lawrence to teach painting at Black Mountain College. In addition to Lawrence's paintings, the exhibition will feature artworks byGwendolyn Knight Lawrence, Josef and Anni Albers, Leo Amino, Jean Varda, Ruth Asawa, Ray Johnson, and Beaumont and Nancy Newhall. It will also examine Lawrence's paintings, pedagogy, and legacy in a contemporary context, through the lens of four multimedia artists: Animator/filmmaker Martha Colburn, composer/performer Tyondai Braxton, installation artist Grace Villamil, and writer and interdisciplinary artist Jace Clayton (DJ Rupture).

Programs for this exhibition will include installations by animator Martha Coburn, composer/performers Tyondai Braxton and Grace Villamil; installation / performances by Jace Clayton aka DJ Rupture, Brooklyn Rider, Theo Bleckman and Ben Monder; workshops and lectures with former Lawrence student Barbara Earl Thomas and Fritz Horstman of the Albers Foundation; a lunchtime Perspectives Series, film screening, as well as community events with local artists and arts organizations including Cleaster Cotton, Easel Rider and DeWayne Barton.

Related Programs:
120 College Street Opening Celebration Featuring Theo Bleckmann and Ben Monder
Saturday, September 8, 2018 at 8PM
BMCM+AC | 120 College Street | Asheville, NC
Tickets: Free and Open to the Public
Link: http://www.blackmountaincollege.org/performance-theo-bleckman-ben-monder/

Take a first look at BMCM+AC's new home at 120 College Street with an inaugural concert by Grammy Award-nominated singer and composer Theo Bleckmann and jazz 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.

ReVIEWING Black Mountain College 10
September 28-30, 2018
UNC Asheville Reuter Center | 1 Campus View Rd. | Asheville, NC
Tickets: Conference: $75 Non-members / $40 BMCM+AC Members
Keynote: $25 Non-members / $10 BMCM+AC Members
Keynote Panel: $25 Non-members / $10 BMCM+AC Members
Daily Admission: $50 Non-members / $20 BMCM+AC Members
Tour of BMC Campus: $15.
Link: www.blackmountaincollege.org/reviewing

The annual ReVIEWING conference explores the history and legacy of Black Mountain College through presentations, workshops, and performances. This year's keynote speaker is art historianDr. Leslie King Hammond leading a keynote panel to include Tyondai Braxton, Martha Colburn, and Jace Clayton (DJ Rupture). Highlights of this year's conference will include never before seen films of Black Mountain College by instructor of photography Hazel Larsen Archer and presentations and performances on Black Mountain College's Summer Art Institutes. Open to the public.

Say It Loud
Saturday, September 29, 2018 from 6:00pm-10:00pm
22 London Road | Asheville, NC
Tickets: Free
Link: https://bit.ly/2M0htcx

BMCM+AC celebrates the opening of Say It Loud, an exhibition of contemporary art from the collection of Hedy Fischer and Randy Shull. Say It Loud includes work from eighteen prominent African American artists including Kehinde Wiley, chosen for the official portrait of President Barack Obama and ninety-two year old Betye Saar, a founding member of the Black Arts Movement in the 1970's.

PERSPECTIVES Lunchtime Conversations @ BMCM+AC
Wednesday, October 10, 2018 at 12:00pm
Wednesday, November 14, 2018 at 12:00pm
Wednesday, December 12, 2018 at 12:00pm
Wednesday, January 9, 2019 at 12:00pm
BMAC+AC | 120 College Street | Asheville, NC
Tickets: Free
Links:
Cleaster Cotton: http://www.blackmountaincollege.org/perspectives-cleaster-cotton/
Barbara Earl Thomas: http://www.blackmountaincollege.org/perspectives-barbara-earl-thomas/
Clarissa Sligh: http://www.blackmountaincollege.org/perspectives-clarissa-sligh/
Darin Waters: http://www.blackmountaincollege.org/perspectives-darin-waters/

Explore BMAC+AC's exhibition Between Form and Content: Perspectives on Jacob Lawrence and Black Mountain College along with an artist, historian, or scholar who will give perspective and context to the work from their particular point of view. Guest Speaker: Cleaster Cotton, artist and teacher.

Performance: The Jacob Lawrence of Jacob Lawrence by Jace Clayton aka DJ /rupture
Friday, October 19, 2018 at 8:00pm
BMCM+AC | 120 College Street | Asheville, NC
Tickets: $8 for BMCM+AC members + students w/ID // $10 for non-members (https://bpt.me/3596434)
Link: http://www.blackmountaincollege.org/performance-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.

Curator's Talk with Julie Levin Caro
Thursday, October 25, 2018 at 7:00pm
BMCM+AC | 120 College Street | Asheville, NC
Tickets: FREE for BMCM+AC members + students w/ID / $8 non-members
Link: http://www.blackmountaincollege.org/curator-talk-jul/

Julie Levin Caro, co-curator of Between Form + Content, discusses the fruits of her multi-year research process into Jacob Lawrence and the impact of BMC and Josef Albers on Lawrence's painting and teaching.

Jacob Lawrence Community Day
Saturday, November 3, 2018 from 12:00pm-4:00pm
BMCM+AC | 120 College Street | Asheville, NC
Tickets: Free
Link: http://www.blackmountaincollege.org/jacob-lawrence-community-day/

Join us for a fun, free day in the museum celebrating Jacob Lawrence's art and life. The event includes tours of the exhibition, poetry, and hands-on art activities for all ages, presented in partnership with the Easel Rider art crew with teaching artist Cleaster Cotton and artist and poet DeWayne Barton.

Performance: Healing Modes by Brooklyn Rider
Wednesday, November 7, 2018 at 7:00pm
BMCM+AC | 120 College Street | Asheville, NC
Tickets: $10 for BMCM+AC members + students w/ID / $15 non-members
Link: http://www.blackmountaincollege.org/performance-brooklyn-rider/

"[Brooklyn Rider's] superb playing is matched only by the thought, commitment and inspiration its members pour into projects...making the string quartet not a relic of times long gone, but a vessel for the shape of music to come" - NPR Music

BMCM+AC in partnership with UNC Asheville presents the Asheville debut of the eclectic string quartet Brooklyn Rider with their new project Healing Modes. The healing properties of music have been recognized from ancient Greek civilization to the field of modern neuroscience and expressed in countless global traditions. Beethoven's Opus 132 is among the most profound expressions of healing in the string quartet repertoire. This masterwork is presented in its entirety alongside five compact new commissions which explore the subject of healing from a wide range of historical and cultures perspectives. Composers include Tyondai Braxton, Reena Esmail, Gabriela Lena Frank, Matana Roberts and recent Pulitzer Prize winner Caroline Shaw.

Conversation with Barbara Earl Thomas
Thursday, November 15, 2018 at 7:00pm
BMCM+AC | 120 College Street | Asheville, NC
Tickets: FREE for BMCM+AC members + students w/ID / $8 non-members
Link: http://www.blackmountaincollege.org/conversation-barbara-earl-thomas/

Exhibition co-curator and art historian Julie Levin Caro leads a conversation with Barbara Earl Thomas, granddaughter of southern sharecroppers, artist, and former student of Jacob Lawrence. From 2008-2013, Thomas served as executive director of the Northwest African American Museum in Seattle, WA.

Josef Albers: Making and Learning
Saturday, December 1, 2018 from 9:00am-4:00pm
BMCM+AC | 120 College Street | Asheville, NC
Tickets: $40 for BMCM+AC members + students w/ID / $60 non-members (https://bpt.me/3595258)
Link: http://www.blackmountaincollege.org/josef-alberss-color-design-workshop/

Fritz Horstman, Education Coordinator at The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation leads this workshop exploring and expanding upon Josef Albers's classroom exercises from the Bauhaus, BMC, and Yale. In his time teaching at Black Mountain, Jacob Lawrence sat in on Albers's famous color course, and later recalled how important it was to his own painting. In the workshop, we will try Albers's color experiments and also investigate paper folding, design studies, and more.

Films at BMCM+AC: Jacob Lawrence: The Glory of Expression
Thursday, January 10, 2019 at 7:00pm
BMCM+AC | 120 College Street | Asheville, NC
Tickets: FREE for BMCM+AC members + students w/ID / $8 non-members
Link: http://www.blackmountaincollege.org/film-screenings/

Narrated by Ossie Davis and written and directed by David Irving, this 28 minute film traces the life and work of Jacob Lawrence, emphasizing the narratives in his paintings and his studio process. The evening also includes a screening of a film about artist Jean Varda, BMC faculty during the Summer session of 1946 and Martha Colburn's film installation Hammer-Camera-Scissors (The workers of Jacob Lawrence) with a post-film discussion led by Julie Levin Caro.

Hammer-Camera-Scissors (The workers of Jacob Lawrence) is a multi-screen installation of short animated films dedicated to re-animating the simple and beautiful paintings of Jacob Lawrence as seen through the eyes of filmmaker Martha Colburn. Highlighting a selection of paintings that celebrate the workers in Jacob Lawrence's paintings. The paintings come to life through the art of cut-out paper animation and build, sew, haul and hammer.

Collaboration with Hood Huggers International
Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from October 1, 2018 - January 12, 2019
Downtown Asheville, NC
Tickets: Downtown Walking Tour: $20 Adult / $10 Youth (ages 4 - 17). 4 person minimum per tour.
Driving Tour: $30 Adult / $15 Youth (ages 4 - 17). 5 person minimum per tour.
Link: www.hoodhuggers.com/hood-tours/

BMCM+AC is teaming up with Hood Huggers International! 120 College Street will be included in Hood Tours for the run of this exhibition. Hood Huggers International, founded by visionary poet and artist DeWayne Barton, explores the past, present and future of African Americans in Asheville. Visit Hood Huggers' webpage to learn more and book a tour:www.hoodhuggers.com/hood-tours/

More information and links to ticket sales are available at http://www.blackmountaincollege.org/events.

The Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center (BMCM+AC) preserves and continues the legacy of educational and artistic innovation of Black Mountain College (BMC). We achieve our mission through collection, conservation, and educational activities including exhibitions, publications, and public programs.

Arts advocate Mary Holden founded BMCM+AC in 1993 to celebrate the history of Black Mountain College as a forerunner in progressive interdisciplinary education and to explore its extraordinary impact on modern and contemporary art, dance, theater, music, and performance. Today, the museum remains committed to educating the public about BMC's history and raising awareness of its extensive legacy. Our goal is to provide a gathering point for people from a variety of backgrounds to interact through art, ideas, and discourse. For more information visithttp://www.blackmountaincollege.org

The story of Black Mountain College begins in 1933 and comprises a fascinating chapter in the history of education and the arts. Legendary even in its own time, Black Mountain College attracted and created maverick spirits, some of whom went on to become well-known and extremely influential individuals in the latter half of the 20th century. A partial list includes Willem and Elaine de Kooning, Robert Rauschenberg, Josef and Anni Albers, Jacob Lawrence, Merce Cunningham, John Cage, Cy Twombly, Kenneth Noland, Susan Weil, Vera B. Williams, Ben Shahn, Ruth Asawa, Franz Kline, Arthur Penn, Buckminster Fuller, M.C. Richards, Francine du Plessix Gray, Charles Olson, Robert Creeley, Dorothea Rockburne and many others who have made an impact on the world in a significant way. Even now, decades after its closing in 1957, the powerful influence of Black Mountain College continues to reverberate.