Current

Presenting powerful photography by indigenous artists redefining identity, culture, and storytelling through a contemporary lens.

"Coatlicue & Las Meninas" is the newest addition to Pedro Lasch’s ongoing series "Black Mirror/Espejo Negro." Throughout the series, Lasch creates a dialogue among works of art from early modern Europe and pre-Columbian sculptural figures, employing the mirror as an emblem that interrogates the tension between presence and absence, colonial histories, and the politics of visibility. "Coatlicue & Las Meninas: The Stanford Edition" (2007/2025) is the first artwork commissioned for “What Can Become of Us?,” a collaboration between the Stanford Institute for Advancing Just Societies (IAJS) and Zócalo Public Square, envisioning new perspectives on migration, America’s diverse communities, and how people come together across differences.

Showcasing Collection prints from 1905 to the 1940s, Iron and Ink explores connections between industrial labor, urbanization, and the growing middle class. The exhibition highlights works by WPA artists from the 1930s whose powerful images of machinery, skyscrapers, and daily life—both at work and recreation—capture this transformational era in American society.

"Flora Symbolica: The Art of Flowers" explores the meanings and messages of flowers in American art of the 20th and 21st centuries, highlighting the timeless connections among art, nature, and human experience.

This is the second iteration of the interactive exhibit "Forest Feels" by Amanda N. Simons. Visitors are invited to make this blooming forest your own. Contribute some flowers and signs of the changing season. Let’s celebrate growth and progress. The warm months are arriving in Asheville, and the city will look much different. So, let’s celebrate that difference together.

A response to the exhibition Asheville Strong: Celebrating Art and Community After Hurricane Helene, visitors are invited to add their own unique designs to a community canvas highlighting how art brings people together. The Asheville Strong community canvas was made possible by local artist Nate Barton, local non-profit Art Kit Aid, and Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff!

The Asheville Art Museum is a regional affiliate partner of the annual Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, hosting an annual juried competition for students in grades 7–12 from all across Western North Carolina.

"Asheville Strong: Celebrating Art and Community After Hurricane Helene" is a special, non-juried exhibition which celebrates the strength and diversity of our regional arts community acknowledging the significant impact of Hurricane Helene on the lives of artists across Southern Appalachia. Our aim is to provide an opportunity and venue for impacted artists to showcase their work, connect with each other and collectors, and join together in a collective act of resilience.

This exhibition explores how the land, the people, and the built environment of Asheville and its surrounding environs were interpreted through early 20th century vintage postcards. Some images show the sophisticated architecture of the region, including views of downtown Asheville, the Biltmore Estate, and Grove Park Inn. Other images show views of the scenic mountains and landscapes that first drew tourists and outdoor enthusiasts to the region.

This exhibition traces the historical, stylistic, and conceptual origins of work that either embraces or refuses the element of chance in ceramics, looking at modern and contemporary work made in Western North Carolina.

One of two inaugural exhibitions is Intersections in American Art, the major reinstallation and reinterpretation of the Museum’s Collection in a much-enlarged gallery space.

Art and artists often encourage us to consider our place in the world. Artworks in the Windgate Foundation Atrium and Museum Plaza bring many separate parts together to make a unified whole and offer a variety of possibilities for how to navigate our physical world on regional, national, and global levels.