Black Mountain College was founded in North Carolina’s Swannanoa Valley in 1933 by a band of academic dissidents, led by John Andrew Rice (whose papers are housed in Appalachian’s W.L. Eury Collection) and closed its doors in 1957, yet to this day remains the greatest academic adventure ever launched on American soil.
Appalachian State University and Black Mountain College (BMC) share the same geographic backdrop and each locale has witnessed similar changes in rural livelihoods, demographics and ecologies that have reshaped the cultural meanings of place in southern Appalachia. Appalachian continues BMC’s tradition of progressive, experiential education with commitment to collaboration and respect between students and faculty.
This spring semester will link BMC to place by drawing from archives, original field interviews, regional news, excerpts from the exhibition’s companion publication “Appalachian Journal,” and many visiting speakers on the subject. Each of these activities promises to have wider impacts on student learning at Appalachian, public education programming and external partnerships.
The events for February are as follows:
Movies at the Museum - M.C. Richards: The Fire Within
Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018 at 6 p.m. at the Blowing Rock Art & History Museum (BRAHM).
In this film, we witness M.C. Richards engaging in contemplative questioning regarding the nature of art, imagination, wholeness, community and our place in the cosmos. She inspires us to live creatively, to believe in ourselves and to experience the sensuality of existence.
After the film, there will be a discussion led by M.C.’s student and friend Cynthia Bringle. Cynthia graduated from N.Y. State College of Ceramics in Alfred, N.Y. She is a North Carolina Living Treasure and holds an honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from Memphis College of Art.
Admission for this event is $5 for students with an ID, seniors, active military, or EBT cardholders and $7 for general admission.
John Andrew Rice, the Founder of BMC with Katherine Chaddock
Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018 at 7 p.m. Room 415, Rough Ridge, Plemmons Student Union on Appalachian State University’s campus.
Chaddock is a biographer of John Andrew Rice (the founder of BMC) and the author of "Visions and Vanities: John Andrew Rice of Black Mountain College" (1998). She is currently a Distinguished Professor Emerita at the University of South Carolina. This event is free and is open to the campus and community.
“Black Mountain College: 1933-1957, History and Legacy”
Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018 at 6 p.m. at the Blowing Rock Art & History Museum (BRAHM).
Alice Sebrell is the Program Director for the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center in downtown Asheville. She has been on the staff of the museum since 1999. Over the past 19 years she has worked on many exhibitions, publications and events, both large and small. She co-organizes the museum’s annual conference ReVIEWING Black Mountain College which is co-hosted by UNC Asheville. This talk is free for museum members and $5 for non-members.
Scholars and Scones - “Democracy and Education: Black Mountain College and How We Think”
Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018 at 11 a.m. at the Blowing Rock Art & History Museum (BRAHM).
This talk explores the role of pragmatism in shaping the philosophy of education at Black Mountain College. The reason the arts were so highly valued at BMC was not simply because the arts provided a way of seeing the world anew, but more because this emphasis on integrating experience into learning was central to pragmatic ways of thinking about how we learn.
Clark Maddux is a professor of interdisciplinary studies and Director of the Watauga Residential College at Appalachian State University. He has published one volume of Cotton Mather's Biblia Americana and written and presented on John Dewey and the role of reflection in service-learning, most recently in the Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, and at the annual meeting of the Society of Early Americanists.
Complimentary breakfast goods from Ugga Mugga Bakery and locally-brewed coffee from Hatchet Coffee Co. will be served. Free for members and a donation of $5 for non-members.
ArtTALKS: Frank Hursh
Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018 at 6 p.m. at the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts, Downtown Boone.
Frank Hursh has led a fascinating life dedicated to the arts and arts education. He attended Black Mountain College (BMC) from 1949 until 1950 and has been a working artist and educator in Mexico since 1956. His impressive resume includes animation for cartoon classics such as Rocky and Bullwinkle and Fractured Fairy Tales, innovative work as a teacher/educator and the design of the University of the Arts Mexico, where he created a layout reminiscent of Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer’s original plan for the BMC campus. This event is free and is open to the campus and community.
ArtTALKS
As part of the of the exhibition at the Turchin Center “Creative Democracy: The Legacy of Black Mountain College,” ArtTALKs are led by exhibiting artists, scholars and practitioners who provide deeper insight into their creative practice, the context for the exhibition and the historical and contemporary issues that influence them. Participants are encouraged to ask questions and engage in discussion. ArtTALKS are free and open to the public.
For additional information about the entire semester's events, visit: cas.appstate.edu/black-mountain-college. For exhibition information visit: tcva.org/exhibitions or blowingrockmuseum.org. And for a detailed timeline about Black Mountain College, visit: appalachiaonline.appstate.edu/black-mountain-college-semester
Venue Locations for Black Mountain College events:
BRAHM: Blowing Rock Art & History Museum, 159 Chestnut St., Blowing Rock, N.C.
TCVA: Turchin Center for the Visual Arts, Lecture Hall, 423 West King Street, Boone, N.C.
Belk Library: Belk Library and Information Commons, Room 114, Appalachian State University, Boone, N.C.
###
About the Turchin Center exhibition: January 12 – June 2, 2018
“Creative Democracy: The Legacy of Black Mountain College” features the artwork of many of the artists who attended and taught at Black Mountain College during its colorful 24-year history. Some of those artists are still working. The exhibition looks at the legacy of the Black Mountain College artists, what the Black Mountain experience meant to them, their influences on one another and their continuing place in the art world. The exhibit showcases paintings, furniture, sculpture, clay, collages, glass, textiles, books and poetry.
About the Blowing Art and History Museum (BRAHM) exhibition: November 24, 2017 - April 7, 2018
“Arts at the Center: A History of Black Mountain College” explores several components of the rich history of BMC and its relationship to North Carolina. John Andrew Rice, Jr. founded the College with the idea that the arts should be at the center of a liberal arts education. Some of the world’s greatest modern artists, writers, performers, musicians and even scientists served as students and faculty at Black Mountain College, including Josef & Anni Albers, Charles Olsen, Merce Cunningham, Robert Rauschenberg, Willem & Elaine de Kooning, Buckminster Fuller, M.C. Richards and many others. "Arts at the Center" shares an overview of the history and concepts behind Black Mountain College alongside historic photographs and artwork created by some of its most recognized students and faculty.
About Appalachian State University
Appalachian State University, in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, prepares students to lead purposeful lives as global citizens who understand and engage their responsibilities in creating a sustainable future for all. The transformational Appalachian experience promotes a spirit of inclusion that brings people together in inspiring ways to acquire and create knowledge, to grow holistically, to act with passion and determination, and embrace diversity and difference. As one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina system, Appalachian enrolls about 19,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors.
By Ellen Gwin Burnette
Feb. 2, 2018
BOONE, N.C.
Black Mountain College Semester 2018 at Appalachian State University Feb. Events
Black Mountain College Semester 2018 at Appalachian State University Feb. Events