Asheville artist's exhibition coming to Asheville School

36 Views of Mt. Pisgah/Elseetoss features the work of Asheville artist Stephen Lange. The exhibition will be on display in Asheville School’s Crawford Art Gallery April 2-30. Asheville School’s art department will host a public reception at 6:30pm on Thursday, April 2.

Statement from Asheville School’s Art Teacher, Casey Arbor:

With one foot in the past and the other in the future, Lange’s artwork amalgamates both in a unique way. Lange uses a creative technique to embed hidden images in his holographic artwork. It is only when the viewer moves that the hidden image appears. He refers to his work as “four dimensional painting.” Within each image there exists two images. When asked to speak of his work Lange says, “I am creating an art form that not only appeals to the code breaking nature of the human mind, which is wired for pattern recognition; but it is also a technique invented to hide my steps. It seems impossible and that is compelling. Can you think of a better use for modern materials or modern art than distracting us from the digital book of the 21st century?”

Asheville School is a nationally acclaimed co-ed, college preparatory, boarding and day school for students in grades 9 through 12. The school’s 285 students represent 20 states and 15 countries. Recent graduates have been accepted to Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, Caltech, UCLA, UNC-Chapel Hill, Davidson, NC State, University of Virginia, Emory, Duke, Wake Forest, and Yale among others. Visit www.ashevilleschool.org/app to download the app today.

"A Streetcar Named Desire" gets its ACT debut

 

When planning the theatre’s 69^th season, staff pored through the theatre’s production history looking for shows that had not yet been produced. “We were all surprised that our history did not include a production of Streetcar,” said Susan Harper, Executive Director of Asheville Community Theatre. “ACT was the first non-professional theatre to produce Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie after its Broadway run, but for unknown reasons, we had never produced Streetcar.” So, for the first time in 69 years, Asheville Community Theatre will open A Streetcar Named Desire. The Pulitzer Prize winning drama will open Friday, April 17 on the Mainstage and run through Sunday, May 3, 2015 with performances Friday and Saturday nights at 7:30 pm and Sunday afternoons at 2:30 pm.  Tickets are available online, over the phone, or in person at the Asheville Community Theatre Box Office.  

As a special promotion, Asheville Community Theatre is offering “The Big Easy Ticket” available for all three Opening Weekend performances. All adult, senior, and student tickets for the Friday, April 3; Saturday, April 4; and Sunday, April 5 performances are priced at $18.00. Other Opening Weekend perks include complimentary champagne on Opening Night, complimentary chocolate on Saturday night, and a talk-back with the cast and crew after the Sunday matinee.

A Streetcar Named Desire is set in the small New Orleans apartment of Stella and Stanley Kowalski. Blanche DuBois, Stella’s older sister, is an attractive but fading Southern belle who arrives at the apartment with the news that Belle Reve, the DuBois family plantation, has gone bankrupt. Conflicts build between the three in the small, steamy apartment, with the brutish and sensual Stanley becoming increasingly cruel and violent. As a result, Blanche’s already tenuous ability to separate reality from illusion becomes gossamer thin.

The show is directed by Jerry Crouch, who is well known for his direction of blockbuster musicals, including The Addams Family, Hairspray, and Chicago.  

“Streetcar has always been my favorite play (non-musical) of all time,” shared Crouch. “To share my love and reverence of this Tennessee Williams' classic with a new generation of ACT audiences is an honor and it is a gift to direct this fabulously talented cast.”

A Streetcar Named Desire features a cast of 12, and three of the four leads are making their ACT debuts. Dan Clancy (A Few Good Men, The Philadelphia Story) returns to the ACT Mainstage as Stanley and is joined by Jennifer Russ as Blanche, Devyn Ray as Stella and Robert Walker as Mitch, all of whom are making their ACT debuts. They are joined onstage by Kathy O'Connor, Steve Turner, Adrian Suskauer, Ben Goldfinger, Mike Vaniman, Meda Thurston, and Ruth Planey.

“Interestingly, our Mainstage is officially named the Heston Auditorium after Charlton Heston,” added Harper. “Heston directed our 1947 production of The Glass Menagerie. We’re very proud of our history, and we’re proud to continue our long tradition of producing American classics with A Streetcar Named Desire.”

For more information about A Streetcar Named Desire or about Asheville Community Theatre, please visit www.ashevilletheatre.org.

Who is Wilma Dykeman and what is RiverLink doing in her name?

Join RiverLink Executive Director Karen Cragnolin and Jim Stokely, Wilma Dykeman's son and President of the Wilma Dykeman Legacy, for two informative presentations -- Friday, April 10 and Friday, May 8, both from 4 to 6 p.m. -- at RiverLink's Warehouse Studios, 170 Lyman Street in the heart of the River Art District.

The event is free, but seating is limited so reservations are a must.
Please visit: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0e4caea82ba1f49-whoiswilma

to reserve your seat today. Parking is available in the 12Bones lot.

Karen and Jim are teaming up to present:

"Who is Wilma Dykeman and What is the Wilma Dykeman RiverWay All About?"

  

RiverLink raised $250,000 to develop four consensus plans for the RiverWay: transportation, economic development, landscape and architectural for the rebirth of the French Broad River watershed as a destination where everyone would be welcomed to live, work and play. The resulting Wilma Dykeman RiverWay Plan consolidated 20 years of previous planning that RiverLink had initiated into a comprehensive plan designed to promote and protect the French Broad River, conserve land, control storm water and attract mixed-use, mixed-income multi-modal development. The Wilma Dykeman RiverWay Plan gained the adoption and support of all local and regional governments  as well as over 40 civic organizations as the official blueprint for the rebirth of the urban riverfront and a demonstration project for the entire watershed.

The plan was funded with contributions from Buncombe County, NCDOT, the City of Asheville, TVA,  Progress Energy (now Duke Energy) and Mr. and Mrs. Robert Schaub. The Wilma Dykeman RiverWay Plan has attracted millions of dollars for its implementation and is credited with providing a new  vision and direction for the river and its uses.

Join us either -- Friday, April 10 or May 8 -- from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. to learn more about Buncombe County native daughter Wilma Dykeman and her work and how it motivated  a new look at the rivers in America and how the French Broad benefited from her attention and insight. The March 6 program filled up in a matter of days, so advanced reservations are highly suggested. 

See http://riverlink.org/conserve/rivision-at-work/wilma-dykeman-river-way/ for more information on the Dykeman Plan.