Photo courtesy David Huff Creative The Asheville Art Museum, in partnership with UNC Asheville, will launch the UNC Asheville Student Membership Initiative, January 1, 2020, offering every degree-seeking student at UNC Asheville an active student membership to the Museum during their enrollment at the University.
The UNC Asheville Student Membership will include unlimited free general admission to the Asheville Art Museum, a subscription to the Museum’s e-newsletter, and access to the rooftop sculpture terrace and Perspective Café as well as the Frances Mulhall Achilles Art Library during open hours.
Students can use their UNC Asheville ID as their membership card.
“The visual arts are essential to a well-rounded liberal arts education, and interaction with the arts leads to the development of creative thinking skills that are necessary for success in today’s society,” said Asheville Art Museum Executive Director Pamela L. Myers. “The Museum is a unique resource in the region providing opportunities for learning, engagement and inspiration. Offering all UNC Asheville students easy access to important original works of American art of the 20th and 21st centuries will be an invaluable educational resource and build a vibrant relationship between the students and their community art museum, which will hopefully engender lifelong relationships with museums.”
UNC Asheville faculty and staff, as well as members of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, are eligible for discounted Museum memberships for educators and seniors for $50 annually.
“UNC Asheville is in the business of human potential. Every day on campus, our students and faculty explore the intersections between the arts and science, community and culture, passion and purpose,” said UNC Asheville Chancellor Nancy J. Cable. “The UNC Asheville Student Membership Initiative with the Asheville Art Museum further extends the University’s reach into the heart of downtown Asheville to provide an even richer educational experience for every single UNC Asheville student.”
As part of the initiative, the Asheville Art Museum will also begin with three paid internship opportunities for UNC Asheville students, with positions in the fall, spring and summer semesters, with the potential to grow the program.
The Museum is honored to have received generous leadership support in the form of a challenge grant for this pilot initiative from 2020–2024. To make a contribution to the challenge or find out more, contact Asheville Art Museum Campaign Manager Rebecca Lynch: rlynch@ashevilleart.org.
The Asheville Art Museum celebrates its grand opening after three years of renovations and expansion on Nov. 14, 2019. Five UNC Asheville alumni and one faculty member will share their work in the opening exhibition, Appalachia Now! An Interdisciplinary Survey of Contemporary Art in Southern Appalachia. The inaugural exhibition runs from Nov. 14, 2019 to Feb. 3, 2020. The UNC Asheville alumni and faculty artists were among 50 selected for this juried exhibition from more than 700 artists considered.
