Executive Director Pamela L. Myers. Image David Huff. Dear friends of the Museum,
Twenty-nine years ago in July, the Asheville Art Museum opened its doors at 2 South Pack Square in the historic Pack Library building with contemporary additions. The 9,000 square feet of galleries and education facilities were the latest home of many for the Museum, which was founded in 1948 by a group of local artists. The 1992 move from the Civic Center—now Harrah’s Cherokee Center—was the result of a truly amazing public/private partnership designed to revitalize downtown Asheville. The collaborators understood that art, artists, and education were central to a healthy community, and the Museum was a key partner in visioning the future of our city.
In November 2019, the Museum opened its new 54,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facilities on the same historic corner of downtown. A truly 21st-century building—transparent and open to the park—now houses the Windgate Foundation Atrium, the Explore Asheville Exhibition Hall, the Appleby Foundation Exhibition Hall, and the SECU Collection Hall which includes 10 galleries. Many more exhibition and education facilities we built include the John & Robyn Horn Education Center, the Frances Mulhall Achilles Art Library, the Phillip C. Broughton Research Center, and the William Randolph Hearst Foundation Curatorial & Collection Center to name a few.
The realization of the dream for a vibrant, contemporary Asheville Art Museum anchoring the center of the city and the region, open and welcoming to all, was a long-term endeavor. It wouldn’t have been accomplished without the vision and commitment of staff, trustees, volunteers, supporters, and you, our Members. The challenges of opening the new Museum in late 2019, closing in response to the pandemic in early 2020, reopening in fall 2020, and importantly those posed by the uncertainties of the future, make your membership and Annual Fund support more important now than ever before. Your Annual Fund support is a gift to the entire community. Please consider renewing or upgrading your membership now, giving the gift of membership to friends and family, and making an Annual Fund gift. The Asheville Art Museum is more than a building, it is what happens within and beyond, throughout our community. Your support and participation keep our programs strong.
I look forward to seeing you at the Museum soon.
Sincerely
Pamela L. Myers
Executive Director
