Special Installation | Sustainable Creativity

From September–October 2024, the Asheville Art Museum’s Learning & Engagement department is partnering with OpenDoors Asheville to host an afterschool STEAM program for local high school students. OpenDoors is an Asheville-based non-profit with a mission to “strengthen community by eliminating the race-based opportunity and achievement gaps for students through education.” They have served the Asheville community since 2011. In the last year, they worked with 118 BIPOC students in pre-K through college, plus their 89 families, on tutoring, summer camps, enrichment programs, transportation services, and college support.

The STEAM afterschool program is structured around themes presented in the exhibitions Ginny Ruffner: Reforestation of the Imagination and Bill Viola’s Moving Stillness: Mount Rainier, on view in the Appleby Foundation Exhibition Hall. The program provides students the opportunity to create related artwork exploring the themes of sustainability, environmental impact, climate change, and/or conservation in the world they live in. In conjunction, they will have a chance to express their personal identities and practice social-emotional skills.

Throughout the program, Blossman Companies Education Gallery will be updated to feature student work as it progresses over eight weeks. Blossman Gallery will open to the public later this Fall to feature the student artists’ work. Once complete, student artwork and related materials will be on display in the Blossman Gallery for the duration of the Ginny Ruffner and Bill Viola exhibitions, from Fall 2024-January 20, 2025.