Joyce Cole is January's Museum Shop Artist of the Month

Cole says:

"Being born in New York City allowed me to be part of the 1960's art world. I was known for my paintings of large scale geometric shapes and grids. Over these forms, I employed a spray technique which created soft impressionistic overlays. At that time there were no other artists using my spray method with hard edge geometric grid forms. My paintings are shown in various galleries and Museums.

Presently I am continuing to use hard edge geometric shapes which are influenced by the Bauhaus and the Suprematists. In particular of interest to me are the artists Kandinsky and El Lissitsky.

To quote the art critic Peter Frank:

"Joyce Cole has always been, first and foremost, a Colorist. Irrespective of her mode of choice at any moment, no matter how severely abstract, gaily figurative or intricately between. Cole still employs a palette which glows like a pre-storm sunset - warm and iridescent - or like a blue streetlight at night - deep and tenebrous. Joyce Cole must have taste buds and hair follicles receptive to color to paint like this."

The Asheville Art Museum is proud to spotlight the Docents at the Museum! Docents volunteer their time to create inspiring and creative experiences for groups of all ages who come through the Museum. They give tours that help visitors learn about art, collecting, and the Asheville Art Museum. The Docents are continually learning more about art through trips to artist studios, art landmarks, and other artistic outings.

The Asheville Art Museum docents are one of the essential faces and voices of the Musuem in the community and the Museum thanks each of them for their inspiring energy, their strong dedication, and their rigourous passion for art, the Museum and Asheville.

To learn more about becoming a Docent, click here!

Image credit: Asheville Art Museum Docents 2009

"While growing up one of three daughters to an accidental German emigre' and a gregarious Queens engineer, I was encouraged to absorb the culture, art and human expression of wherever we lived: various parts of America and Puerto Rico, and during our regular visits across the pond. Shortly after receiving a BFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design, I ran off to the mountains of Western North Carolina to seek my adventure and find a place to hang my hat. I have found it here in Madison County where I work and live with my partner and a menagerie of dogs, cats and wildlife." 

-Leslie Goodrich

 Come by the shop to check out Leslie's whimsical and inspiring artwork!

Exploring the Permanent Collection with a Work of the Week

THIS WEEK: March 8 - 14, 2010

William Wegman, Red Detachment,

2006, Polaroid photograph, 24.25 x 20.75 inches. 2007 Collectors' Circle Purchase. Asheville Art Museum Collection. 2007.33.02.96

William Wegman is best known as an art photographer noted for compositions of his Weimaraner dogs in various costumes, poses and scenarios. Wegman received international attention for his images of his first Weimaraner dog, Man Ray. Man Ray became so popular that the Village Voice named the dog "Man of the Year" in 1982.

This work is currently in the Museum's newest exhibition Limners to Facebook: Portraiture from the 19th to the 21st Century , which includes formal portraits, self-portraits, portraits of animals and portraits of friends, models and celebrities. In this case, Wegman's photo captures both a portrait of an animal and a celebrity.

The Museum is dedicated to collecting contemporary photography, and in this work, Wegman uses a specific way of photographing his subject. In 1978, Wegman was invited to use the newly developed Polaroid 20 x 24 inch camera. This camera produces large format "contact" prints renowned for their color and detail, but only produces one unique print at a time. Red Detachment is an example of his continued work with the Polaroid 20 x 24 camera.

For more information on this work and artist, visit our Permanent Collection online!

After moving to Asheville in 2006, Jim Caskowski attended The Southern HIghlands Folk Art Guild Show at the Civic Center. It was there he found himself spellbound in front of a woodturning demonstration and found the outlet for "the artist inside looking for a medium."

Jim joined the North Carolina Woodturners' Association, bought a small lathe, attended lessons and began the journey that has brought him to the Asheville Art Museum. During this time, Jim has produced beautiful craft pieces at his studio in his Fairview home.

Come by the Museum Shop and see Jim's stunning woodwork for yourself!

This summer the Asheville Art Museum had another fantastic group of Summer Interns! They helped out in departments such as Development, Curatorial, Communications, Visitor Services and even with Non-Profit Law. This year the interns had a chance to help the Museum celebrate its 60th Anniversary at the Celebrate 60! Party at The Orange Peel. They helped us throw a fabulous party and everyone had a great time. The Museum would like to thank the interns for all of their hard work, enthusiasm and dedication. Thank you!

Summer Interns 2009 (from left): Eva Bland, Corinne Longman, Rachel Leaptrot, Matt Blalock, Emily Weidie, Jon Spoon, Nancy Sokolove (Adult Programs Manager) and Alex Fisher.

Joen Goodman has always loved working with color, texture and design. She has a degree in textiles from Carnegie Mellon University. Joen worked for five years as a buyer for a home furnishing store owned by a Bauhaus weaver and then for five years as a costume designer. She had a business in London for 17 years selling antique textiles, American quilts and all forms of needlework supplies.

She started working with beads about six years ago and very shortly thereafter started selling her work in the Museum Shop. Joen loves working with beads and creating her own designs. She finds it is simply an extension of the work she has done most of her life with fabric, paint and collage. Joen is not concerned with the worth or value of the bead, only with the color, size, texture and interaction with the other beads in the piece.

"It is all about the visual effect of the finished article," says Joen.

Canadian born, David Wilson has been an independent glass artist since 1986. David has a varied glass education in the South Toe region, working for neighborhood artists and washing pots at Penland as a scholarship student. In 1993, a teaching assistantship in Penland's first neon workshop with Jacob Fishman fired in him a passion for experimental neon. Since then he has participated in every neon class at Penland, forging a hybrid of rare glass plasma and hot glass sculpture. Along the way, David developed a line of fluorescent glasses for artists under the name Glo-Glass. He shows his work locally, nationally and internationally. His studio is located in Celo, North Carolina where he lives with his family.

To view or purchase your own glass art by David and his wife, Loretta Forde, stop by the Museum Shop before these popular one-of-a-kind pieces go flying off the shelf!

Jessica Hetzel is a senior at Asheville High School and plans to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the fall. She has been interning with the Education Department this winter and spring to see behind the scenes of an art museum. She worked on a variety of projects including the installation of two new shows, the Scholastic Art Awards and the Fundred Dollar Bill Project. She has also spent a great deal of time working on research for an exhibition on next year's calendar. When Jessica is not at school or the Museum, you might find her on the soccer field.

The Museum sincerely thanks Jessica for her dedication and hard work.

NYC Art Seen

Join Asheville Art Museum Executive Director Pam Myers for an intimate and in-depth excursion into the New York art scene. Pam will accompany four guests on a five-day trip to the City, viewing private collections, enjoying exclusive visits to museums, studios, galleries and more. This trip will include such highlights as a private tour and lunch at the Rubin Museum and the Morgan Library, a photography focused gallery walk, brunch at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s trustees dining room, tour of the new Brooklyn Museum of Art with architects Polshek Partnership, studio visits, shopping at Dieu Donné, cocktails in two private homes with stunning collections, an guided visit to the Guggenheim Museum and more. Includes tours, cocktails, some meals and accommodations for four nights at the newly completed Standard Hotel, a Polshek Partnership designed boutique hotel in the meatpacking district. To be scheduled in Summer/Fall 2009 or Spring 2010 with sufficient advance notice.

Value: Approximately $3,000

Contributors:
Polshek Partnership Architects
Ward Mintz and Floyd Lattin
Marianne Manley
Rubin Museum
Morgan Library
Guggenheim Museum

Image credit:
Brooklyn Museum. Photo by Adam Husted.

Pampered Luxury

Indulge yourself from head to toe with this collection! Ready for a new look? Begin with a salon visit, and then a stunning new outfit, shoes to match and jewels to make it sparkle. Now you’re ready for a night on the town – how about a champagne tasting for six? Or a night out at the theatre? Relax from all the shopping and nightlife with a Spa Rejuvenation package from The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa, including overnight accommodations for two, all day access to the spa facilities with 80-minute spa treatments and lunch at the Spa Café. 

Value: Approximately $3,000

Contributors:
J. Kimmel Jewelry
Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa
Jewels That Dance
The Jazzy Giraffe
Battery Park Book Exchange & Champagne Bar
Tops for Shoes
Bellagio
Constance Boutique
Lola Salon
Asheville Community Theatre

Feast for the Senses

Enjoy a package of culinary delights sure to entice!

Invite your friends to spend an afternoon with Chef Mark Rosenstein of The Marketplace Restaurant, at his home cooking and then enjoying a sumptuous meal complemented by paired wines from his private cellar (for six).

After enjoying a locavore’s shopping spree at the Asheville City Market with a number of gift certificates ($205 total) to fabulous local purveyors, serve your grassfed steaks, heirloom tomatoes and wood-fired rustic bread on a wonderful collection of serving pieces and tabletop works of art from eight area ceramists.

After enjoying a private, in-depth tour of the Biltmore Estate Winery, reflect on the art of wine-making while sipping a collection of fine wines including a rare 20 year old Burgundy from the Renardes Vineyard, a 1989 Gay Pere and Fils Cote de Beaune Aloxe-Corton Corton-Renardes Grand Cru. Only 175 cases produced that year. Take the night off from cooking, and enjoy dinner at one of Asheville’s great restaurants.

Value: $3,500

Contributors:
Mark Rosenstein – The Marketplace Restaurant
Bill and June Lenoci
Nick Joerling
Karen Newgard
Leah Leitson
Michael Kline
Courtney Murphy
Judith Duff
Tom Turner (image above: Porcelain Ewer)
Joy Tanner
Asheville City Market
Hickory Nut Gap Meats
Flying Cloud Farm
Wild Salmon Company
Green Jade Herbal
Farm & Sparrow
GAS Distributors
Mela Indian Restaurant
The Corner Kitchen
Bouchon
Bill Lynch -- Biltmore Estate Wine Company

Hot Glass

Add this stunning work of art by renowned glass artist Stephen Dee Edwards to your collection: Physallia, 2005, glass, hot worked, 11.75 x 12.15 x 10.25 inches (value: $4,000). Edwards states that his “work represents a 30 year fascination with nature and our relationship to it.” Edwards is Professor of Glass Art at Alfred University, Alfred, NY, and former president of the Glass Art Society Board of Directors. His work is in the collections of museums around the world included the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC; The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI; Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo, Japan; Glasmuseum Ebeltoft, Ebeltoft, Denmark; Asheville Art Museum; Oberglass Museum, Barnbach, Austria and many more.
Spend a day in Charlotte touring the region’s foremost private studio glass collection and a complimentary visit to The Mint Museum.

Value: $4,000+

Contributors:
Sonia and Isaac Luski
The Mint Museum

Art Exploration

Let your creativity run wild!

At the John C. Campbell Folk School, you will choose from over 840 classes in 50 different subject areas. The Folk School recently earned the title of one of the “100 Best Vacations to Enrich Your Life” from National Geographic.


Suzie Millions, author of The Complete Book of Retro Crafts, welcomes you and a group of friends to her studio for a fun and quirky “make & take” session. Perhaps you will spend an afternoon making Suzie’s “Reinbeer” — perfect for the holidays!

Explore the art of ceramics at Odyssey Center for the Ceramic Arts. Classes (once a week for nine weeks) are offered in pottery, sculpture (figurative and abstract), hand building, tile making, glazing and other surface embellishments, brush making and kiln building for beginning to advanced students.

The Asheville Woodworking School at Asheville Hardware beckons with an introduction to woodturning class. The novice wood turner will learn the basic knowledge needed to make a few simple turning projects. You will learn how to cut and select lumber for turning projects and will learn to make a mallet, ornament, and a bowl with guided instruction.

Natural dyeing, lace crochet, art quilts, felted vessels — if it is textile, Cloth Fiber Workshop has a class for it! Choose from the wide variety of weekend workshops and pick the one that is perfect for you.

Artist James Yaun will introduce you to the complex and delicately beautiful world of lampworked glass with a two-hour private session.
Now that you have gotten the urge to create, enjoy a brunch and campus tour of Penland School of Crafts so that you can explore new paths to take on your creative journey.

Value: $2,370

Contributors:
John C. Campbell Folk School
Suzie Millions
Odyssey Center for the Ceramic Arts
Asheville Hardware
Cloth Fiber Workshop
James Yaun – TC Glass Arts
Penland School of Crafts

Caribbean Escape

Explore the sun-drenched tropical beauty of St. Maarten with a week stay in the three-bedroom penthouse apartment (sleeps six) at The Atrium Resort. This quiet, beachfront resort overlooks the calm Caribbean Sea and sits on a half-mile of natural beach. Use the penthouse as your home base as you explore all the island has to offer: duty-free shopping, gourmet dining, live music, snorkeling, kayaking, chartered tours of St. Maarten’s beaches and lagoons, and day trips to neighboring islands St. Barth's and Anguilla.

Value: $3,850

Contributor: Festiva Resorts

Mexican Idyll

Enjoy a lovely vacation in the Yucatan — a week in Merida, Mexico in an elegant mid-century modern home meticulously renovated by artist Randy Shull. Lush tropical gardens, 60-foot lap pool, custom furniture and fine art all make for a relaxed and inspired atmosphere. Sleeps six comfortably, cleaning service and gardener included; conveniently located.

A city of about one million people, Merida is a wonderful mixture of colonial city and cosmopolitan destination and is a United Nations World Heritage Site. From Merida, you can visit cathedrals and churches, Mayan ruins, museums, haciendas and cenotes (underground rivers). Enjoy live music, wonderful restaurants and shopping at the old-world market.


Value: $2,500

Contributors:
Hedy Fischer & Randy Shull

Celebrate 60! Raffle Winners

Congratulations to the following winners of the Celebrate 60! Raffle! We thank everyone who participated for their support of the Asheville Art Museum and for helping us to celebrate 60 and strong!

Hot Glass: Sherwin Meeker

Pampered Luxury: Delphia Lamberson

NYC Art Seen: Ladene and Russell Newton

Feast for the Senses: Terry Finder

Caribbean Escape: Eric Cox

Mexican Idyll: Marianne Elrick Manley

Art Exploration: Robert Sauer

John Geci

John Geci has studied and worked at Penland School of Crafts making the amazing glass pieces he is so well known for today. John loves the fact that artists are able to recycle waste resources in such a way that they are able to power studios and greenhouses in an eco-friendly manner. EnergyXchange has furnished the first glass shop in history that is not harmful to the environment. 

Stop by the Museum Shop and pick out your John Geci glass work to take home today or click here to visit the Shop online and check out more of John's work now!