Fair posters symbolize event’s unique staying power
For half a century, New Morning Gallery in Biltmore Village has sponsored the Village Art & Craft Fair, which features high-quality juried selections of jewelry, paintings, ceramics, glass, garden art, and more from at least 100 regional and national makers. Local volunteers sell food — the meatloaf sandwiches are famous — and the beer tent is a recently added attraction.
Since the beginning, in 1972, charming illustrated posters have promoted the event — and over the years, those posters have become an artistic entity in their own right. Each year’s design has been eagerly anticipated, and the posters are now sought-after collectibles.
Originally, the illustrations depicted mountain landscapes, festival tents, and similar themes. The 1977 poster, with its abstract curling clouds and dominant shade of kelly green, is sweet and slightly psychedelic — like a backdrop for Puff the Magic Dragon.
In 1981 it was a rather minimalist portrait of a white cat staring back at the viewer with blue eyes. And it was that bohemian image that started the trend and grew the tradition. The cat theme took on a life of its own.
As Leah Chang, office manager at New Morning Gallery, explains, “The posters for the following two years [1982 and ’83] didn’t have a cat in them, and people lodged complaints, saying, ‘Where’s the cat?’ So, the cat came back in 1984.”
Curious cats often asked John Cram — the influential late founder of the gallery and the festival — why the posters featured felines. Reportedly, he always gave the same enigmatic reply: “The answer is in the question.”
Some theorize it’s because Biltmore Village used to have a large population of feral cats back in the 1980s and ’90s. “We don’t know why,” Chang admits, “or where they went. Maybe they relocated to the River Arts District.”
The posters have reflected Asheville’s personality and changing moods. Early on, imagery was decidedly tranquil. But in 1997, as Asheville whispered its way into the national conversation, a busier design served as a harbinger of what was to come, for both the city and the posters. By 2017, the frenetic poster art mirrored Asheville’s population explosion.
Last year’s poster was designed by local artist/entrepreneur Connie Bostic, a peer of Cram. For this year’s 50th-anniversary event, New Morning Gallery employee Cara Alexander created a poster she says was originally inspired by nighttime views of Asheville visible from the Blue Ridge Parkway.
“Then, one evening when I was driving home,” she recalls, “the golden light shining through the leaves of the trees and reflecting off the clouds made it click. I realized adding the sunset would bring it all together.”
Those who look closely may spot a family of black bears. But locating all 50 cat paws that Alexander hid throughout her composition may take a little longer.
New Morning Gallery and Bellagio Art to Wear sponsor the 50th Anniversary Village Art & Craft Fair Saturday, Sept. 10 (10am-6pm) and Sunday, Sept. 11 (12-5pm), rain or shine, on the grounds of the Cathedral of All Souls in Biltmore Village. Free admission. For more information, visit newmorninggallerync.com/2022-craft-fair.