Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Center for Craft, Creativity & Design seeks community input



The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design (CCCD) and UNC Asheville recently partnered to launch the Center for Creative Entrepreneurship (CCE) in downtown Asheville. CCE will offer business workshops and classes designed specifically for makers and students with support from Mountain BizWorks.

CCCD seeks your input via a short 10-minute survey to ensure that programming is relevant to the WNC maker community.

As a special thank you, all participants will be entered for a chance to win a $250 Visa gift card and two tickets to a Blind Pig Supper Club event.

"The Capitol Steps" brings comic relief to Diana Wortham Theatre - Oct. 29th




The Capitol Steps visit Diana Wortham Theatre just one week before the presidential election, bringing much needed comic relief with their witty, satirical show, What to Expect When You’re Electing: Saturday, October 29 at 8:00 p.m.

The Capitol Steps is a very popular attraction, especially just before a national election. Therefore, seating is no longer available for the scheduled Friday 8:00 p.m. and Saturday 3:00 p.m. performances, but seats do remain for the Saturday 8:00 p.m. performance. The Saturday evening performance is a special benefit for the theatre. Ticket holders are invited to attend a pre-performance reception at 7:00 p.m., prior to the 8:00 p.m. performance. Delectable fare provided by local favorites Lex 18 and Strada; wine provided by Empire Distributors; and water is provided by Blue Moon Water.

The Capitol Steps began as a group of Senate staffers who set out to satirize the very people and places that employed them. Born in December 1981 when some staffers for Senator Charles Percy were planning entertainment for a Christmas party, they decided to dig into the headlines of the day, and created song parodies and skits which conveyed a special brand of satirical humor. Taken together, the performers have worked in a total of eighteen Congressional offices and represent sixty-two years of collective House and Senate staff experience.

“The Capitol Steps combine music and comedy with current events and create a truly eclectic performance out of such serious material,” says John Ellis, Managing Director of the Diana Wortham Theatre. “With the upcoming presidential election, the Asheville area could use a few great laughs just one week before it’s time to cast a vote.”

Since they began entertaining, The Capitol Steps have recorded more than thirty albums, including their latest, What to Expect When You're Electing. They've been featured on NBC, CBS, ABC, and PBS, and can be heard twice a year on National Public Radio stations nationwide during their Politics Takes a Holiday radio specials.

The Capitol Steps’ Asheville performances are made possible by Performance Sponsors Shiner Antiorio & Kathy Robinson, Patty & Gary Coleman, and Friday night’s performance is sponsored by PNC Bank; and by Mainstage Special Attractions Series Sponsors Henry LaBrun, PBI Commercial Interiors, and Ward & Smith, P.A.; with additional support provided by Media Sponsors WCQS 88.1 FM and WNC magazine.

The entrance for the Diana Wortham Theatre is marked by the location of the theatre’s marquee between 12 and 14 Biltmore Avenue. Patrons enter the theatre through the breezeway between Marble Slab Creamery and White Duck Taco, and into a large interior courtyard with multiple glass doors which lead to the theatre’s lower lobby and box office. The intimate theatre seats just over 500 and boasts exceptional acoustics and sightlines, making it the premier performance space in Western North Carolina. The Mainstage Series is supported by a grant from the North Carolina Arts Council, a state agency. The Mainstage Series 2016/2017 Season Sponsors are the Asheville Citizen-Times, Blue Moon Water, Creative Energy, 67 Biltmore Downtown Eatery & Catering, the North Carolina Arts Council, and the Renaissance Asheville Hotel. To obtain more information on the Mainstage Series or to purchase tickets, call the theatre’s box office at (828) 257-4530 or visit www.dwtheatre.com.

Grovewood Gallery hosts annual Holiday Sip & Shop - Dec. 9-10 and Dec. 16-17


The Holiday Sip & Shop event at Grovewood Gallery will take place over two weekends: December 9 - 10 and December 16 - 17, from 10am - 6pm each day. During this special event, all gallery merchandise will be 10% off. Holiday shoppers can also take in craft demonstrations by local artists and enjoy complimentary wine, warm cider and cookies.


DEMONSTRATION SCHEDULE:
All demonstrating artists will have original works of art for sale (10% discount does not apply to demonstrators’ artwork or custom/special orders).

December 9 (11am – 4pm)
  • Painter Cynthia Wilson will demonstrate acrylic layering on canvas. Cynthia, known for her brilliantly colored landscape paintings, was juried into the inaugural Art in Bloom show at The Gallery at Flack Rock and was recently featured in Who's Who in American Art.
  • Fiber artist Karen Kennedy will demonstrate needle-felting using locally dyed wool, creating pumpkins and snowmen. Karen is a graduate of Haywood Community College's Professional Crafts Program

December 10 (11am – 4pm)
  • Doll maker Charlie Patricolo will work on cloth dolls in various stages of completion and transform them into delightful creations full of life. Visitors will have the opportunity to enter a free drawing for one of Charlie’s signature dolls.

December 16 (11am – 4pm)
  • Jewelry artist Terri Lefler will talk about her design process and demonstrate stone setting. Terri studied under master metalsmith Bill Churlik of Earthspeaks Art, where she developed the foundation and methods that underlie her style. 
  • Fiber artist Karen Kennedy will demonstrate needle-felting using locally dyed wool, creating pumpkins and snowmen.

December 17 (11am – 4pm)
  • Jewelry artist Joanna Gollberg will demonstrate silversmithing, stone setting, and metal piercing techniques. Joanna teaches jewelry making at Penland School of Crafts and at Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts and has written four books on making handcrafted jewelry: Making Metal Jewelry, Creative Metal Crafts, The Art & Craft of Making Jewelry, and The Ultimate Jeweler's Guide - all titles published by Lark Crafts.


ABOUT GROVEWOOD GALLERY:
Grovewood Gallery, which will mark its 25th anniversary in 2017, is a nationally recognized gallery that showcases fine American art and craft. The gallery is housed in the historic weaving and woodworking complex of Biltmore Industries, located adjacent to The Omni Grove Park Inn in north Asheville. Free parking is available on-site.

Grovewood’s 11-acre campus is also home to Asheville’s only Antique Car Museum, the North Carolina Homespun Museum, Golden Fleece Restaurant, 9 working artist studios, and an outdoor sculpture garden. The property, with its six cottages built from 1917 - 1924, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

To learn more, visit grovewood.com or call 828.253.7651.