The Asheville Art Museum is pleased to announce its reopening on Wednesday, October 30, with pay-what-you-wish admission for visitors from areas affected by Hurricane Helene, spanning North Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia regions. Pay-what-you-wish invites residents from designated counties to experience the Museum’s exhibitions while contributing any amount they choose. Temporary hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 11am to 6pm, with closures on Monday and Tuesday.
The Museum Store and Perspective Café will be open during Museum hours, offering a selection of unique gifts and locally crafted items by Western North Carolina artists.
What visitors can look forward to:
Guests will enjoy a variety of exhibitions exploring themes of sustainability and humankind’s impact on the environment, as well as the Collection. Highlights include:
- Ginny Ruffner: Reforestation of the Imagination—This exhibition merges art and technology, depicting fantastical landscapes where imagination plays a role in ecological renewal.
- Moving Stillness: Mount Rainier, 1979—A powerful installation that invites viewers to reflect on the relationship between humankind and the natural world.
- Forces of Nature: Ceramics from the Hayes Collection—Showcasing diverse ceramic works inspired by natural forms and processes.
- Intersections in American Art and Western North Carolina Glass—Featuring works that celebrate regional artistry and craft traditions.
The Museum is also reopening the Wells Fargo ArtPLAYce with its recent installation, Forest Feels, a response to Reforestation of the Imagination by Ginny Ruffner. Visitors are invited to engage in two distinct realities: observing the installation as it exists and actively shaping its evolution through participation.
Continuing its commitment to community engagement, the Museum will offer free art and wellness programs in the Windgate Foundation Atrium or on the Museum Plaza, including daily activities like coloring, games, and special drop-in art projects.
“We’re thrilled to reopen our doors, inviting the community back to a space for inspiration, creativity, and connection filled with exhibitions and a unique Collection of American Art of the 20th and 21st centuries and art of Western North Carolina and Southern Appalachia,” said Pam Myers, Executive Director of the Asheville Art Museum. “This moment reaffirms our commitment to supporting and uplifting Asheville through the arts.”
Eligible residents for pay-what-you-wish admission include those from the following Helene-affected counties:
NORTH CAROLINA: Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Cherokee, Clay, Cleveland, Forsyth, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Surry, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes, Yadkin, Yancey.
TENNESSEE: Carter and Cocke
GEORGIA: Rabun
EASTERN BAND OF CHEROKEE INDIANS
While admission is pay-what-you-wish for these regions, donations remain crucial to support Museum staff and ensure the ongoing care of the Collection. Contributions help sustain the Museum’s mission during this rebuilding period and can be mad at any time through our online donation portal.
For updates on exhibitions, programs, and admission details, visit ashevilleart.org.
