A virtual waterfall of talent has given rise to the largest, most diverse artist participation to date in this spring’s studio tour in Kenilworth, one of Asheville’s historic neighborhoods.
The Kenilworth Art Studio Tour is scheduled for Saturday & Sunday over Memorial Day Weekend, May 24 and 25, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.
In its ninth appearance on Asheville’s cultural map, this year’s tour will feature 17 Kenilworth residents and 8 visiting artists all exhibiting at 15 studios in the neighborhood, along with nine additional artists showing their work at Harvest House on Kenilworth Road.
The total outpouring of 34 artists represents the highest-ever participation by more than fifty percent. And, unique among area art tours, the Kenilworth show drapes across a tightly drawn space, under a blanket of two miles square, so it’s easy to get around to all the studios, including serious browse-time at each one, in a short day or less.
Signs for individual studios will be visually well-positioned along the route with easy and accessible parking indicated on tour maps available at information posts throughout Asheville and at Kenilworth Presbyterian Church. “Van Gogh” lunches will be for sale at the church from 12 to 3 p.m. both days.
Kenilworth, a largely arts and crafts ridge-and-hollow neighborhood known for its off-square, roly poly streets and intersections, has traditionally been the home of dozens upon dozens of artists of immense range and a greatly varied genre. This year will be no exception.
“We are crazy excited,” says Teddy Jordan, recent president of the Kenilworth Residents’ Association. “This show is so interesting because we get such a creative mix of aspiring artists with beautiful fresh work alongside established, ever-evolving professionals working in clay and glass and wood, with encaustics, photography, ink and oils and other media. It’s a privilege to coordinate the event.”
This year’s brochure (available at the Chamber and around town) along with a web site for the tour (kenilworthartists.org) lists all the participants, features images of their work, shows where they will be on the route map and cross-references additional artist information via individual web sites.
All in all, it’s an enormous range of cascading talent that, as an example, includes: the functional and sculptural blown glass work of Sam Stark; the hand-dyed and hand-printed clothing of Jude Stuecker; the off-center, whimsical, brush-stroke art of Vanessa Bell; the charmed and charming teapots of Ann and Sandy Batton; the encaustic, mixed media narratives of Lynn Bregman Blass; and the large “abstract” paintings of artist Irving Greene, among many, many others.
“The Kenilworth show is basically an adventure in exhilaration,” says Diana Gillispie, an exhibiting artist (tile and maiolica pottery maker) who has taken a leadership role in the tour this year. “It’s a lot of fun to jump from artist to artist, but within each artist’s work there are many layers that reflect the risks taken. It’s just a lot of fun to explore.”
Patrons for this year’s tour include: Adams & Adams Construction, Ambiance Interiors, City Mac & City Mug, Katuah Market, Longview Builders and the Kenilworth Residents’ Association.
Again this year, each artist will donate 5% of his or her sales to Loving Food Resources, a Kenilworth-based non-profit that provides basic necessities for people living with HIV/Aids.
The Kenilworth Art Studio Tour, Saturday & Sunday, May 24 and 25, 2014, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. Visit www.kenilworthartists.org for more details.
