Sponsored by the Western North Carolina Fibers/Handweavers Guild complete with cash awards, the juried Blue Ridge Fiber Show, titled “Fiber Connections,” will be displayed in the Education Center at the North Carolina Arboretum through January 6. The international expo supports fiber artists of many genres and skill levels, including in the categories of accessories, yardage, tapestries, garments, home décor, weaving, spinning and felting.
Folks can also visit the Arboretum through December 31, 6-10pm, to see the fifth edition of Winter Lights, a unique illumination of the facility’s off-season garden landscape comprised of more than half-a-million LED lights in dozens of artistic installations. This year’s theme is “Fire and Ice.” Tickets are $18/general, with several levels of discounts for Arboretum members, kids, and large groups (see ncarboretum.org for more information).
Downtown Asheville gallery Blue Spiral 1 stages several exhibits running through January 4: Ceramics Invitational in the Main Gallery is a group show with Josh Copus, Kathy Triplett, Shalene Valenzuela, and many others; Lay It On: Impasto, Stacking + Layering, in the Lower Level Gallery, is another group show, this one highlighting Juniricho Baba, Tamie Beldue, Mike Dowley, and Charles Goolsby; in the Small Format Gallery, Michelle Erickson’s The Politics of Clay shows an impressive melding of contemporary techniques with modern politics; and, in the Showcase Gallery, painter John L Cleaveland Jr displays a winter-blues-beating panorama of French landscapes. For more info: bluespiral1.com.
The Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway makes for a sweet winter drive — but heats up inside via Forging Ahead: A Blacksmith Invitational, running in the Main Gallery through January 27. Featuring work from members of the Artist Blacksmith’s Association of North America, including such regional heavy hitters as Susan Hutchinson, the exhibit is a prime manifestation of both ancient and modern forging techniques, in a medium that continues dramatically to evolve. For more information, see the Folk Art Center link on southerhighlandguild.org.
Just before spring begins, on Saturday, March 9, the much-anticipated annual Art Affair celebrates its 10th anniversary in a new space, Ambrose West in West Asheville. The mobile bidding art auction/art gala benefits Open Doors of Asheville, a nonprofit that connects youth living in intergenerational poverty with individualized support networks and opportunities for education and enrichment. Art Affair last year raised $195,000. 7pm. For ticket information, see opendoorsasheville.org.
Hooking in the Mountains: Traditional to Contemporary, sponsored by the Tarheel Ruggers of Hendersonville, takes an art form that was once purely utilitarian (repurposing old rags into floor coverings) and has now emerged as a vibrant art form the group calls “painting with wool.” The exhibit runs March 8-29 at the Transylvania Community Arts Council Gallery in Brevard. See tcarts.org or wncrughooking.com for more information.