June 2011

Black Mountain Center for the Arts in Black Mountain, NC, Features Art & Flowers Exhibit

June 16 - 19, 2011, marks the fifth year the Black Mountain Center for the Arts in Black Mountain, NC, will bring to the public its Art in Bloom event.

Located in the old City Hall in the town known as the “front porch of western North Carolina,” this stand-alone arts center puts a different twist on the Art in Bloom concept. Major museums throughout the US host Art in Bloom (or Bouquets to Art) as a fundraiser, wherein floral designers are invited to use flowers and natural materials to interpret works of art in their collections. At the Black Mountain venue, there is no large permanent art collection. Instead, a gallery exhibit of fine art and craft on loan from regional galleries is put together in a concentrated area on one floor.

Floral designers from both western and Japanese-inspired Ikebana traditions are invited to participate. Designers work diligently on their interpretations, choosing from color, theme, texture and line to wow attendees with an arrangement that leads the eye to see more than it would notice at first viewing; sometimes only a single flower petal picks up the art work’s subtleties.

As soon as the designs are in place, the opening event of Art in Bloom takes place - the Preview Party at 6pm on June 16, 2011, giving ticket holders the first glimpse of the divine designs and an opportunity to meet the floral designers. The Preview Party includes a sumptuous buffet from local chefs and restaurants, a beverage bar, and flower-infused desserts from nearby Ultimate Ice Cream. This year partygoers will be greeted by live violin music by Keithie Knowles to invite them to partake of both the delights to the eyes in the gallery and to the taste buds in the dining room. Tickets to the Preview Party are $30 with reservations recommended. On the three days after the Party, admission to the Art in Bloom exhibit is $5, or is included in any of the event tickets.

Activities throughout the weekend continue the Art in Bloom’s 2011 theme of “Cultivate your Passion.” On Friday and Saturday from 10am-4pm there is a self-guided Cottage Garden Tour of 5-7 private gardens in Black Mountain. Tickets at $15 are good for both days and include a discount to various Black Mountain restaurants for lunch. On hand at each garden are volunteer docents and local artists who are painting en plain air. The paintings they produce will be on display and for sale at BMCA on Sunday, June 19, 2011 from noon to 4pm.

Honorary Chairs are chosen each year to headline the event. This year’s chair is John Cram, entrepreneur and gardener from Asheville who helped bring a renaissance to western NC in the arts and crafts industry with his New Morning Gallery, Fine Arts Theater, Blue Spiral 1 Gallery, Bellagio Art to Wear and Bellagio Everyday.

Friday afternoon from 2-4pm, June 17, Bellagio and Bellagio Everyday will present art to wear in the Art in Bloom Tea and Fashion Show. Emceed by actress Callan White-Hinman who teaches theater at Montreat College, the show will introduce both designer and street wear fashion and jewelry. Art in Bloom tea party-ers will enjoy a variety of locally made delicacies and desserts. Tickets to Tea and Fashion show are $20.

On Saturday morning, June 18, 2011, the Art in Bloom activity is “From Kitsch to Classic” a continental breakfast event featuring a panel of regional artists and gardeners, including Honorary Chair Cram, showing and discussing garden art, both functional and out-of-the-ordinary. Tickets to this event are $15.

Tickets may be purchased through the office at 828/669-0930. More information is available at their website, (www.BlackMountainArts.org). Art in Bloom is a fundraiser for the non-profit Black Mountain Center for the Arts.

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