Sheri Kahn is the Executive Director of the Fine Arts League of the Carolinas. She was born in New York City living in the Bronx as a child and moved to Greensboro, NC in the late 1960s. She holds a Master’s Degree in History and has taught at East Tennessee State University and Northeast State Community College prior to moving to Asheville full-time in 2009.
Kahn brings with her to the Fine Arts League a background in academic administration and instruction. Her desire is to grow the school while maintaining the integrity of its mission, dedicated to teaching art in the tradition of the Old Masters.
Rapid River Magazine: Tell us a little about The Fine Arts League of the Carolinas and what it offers the Asheville area.
Sheri Kahn: The Fine Arts League of the Carolinas is a Classical Art School. We believe we that as a school, we can be the primary anchor for classical art programs in our very rich and varied art community. We serve all Asheville residents through our Master’s Apprentice Program, our Youth Summer Camps, After School Programs, our Professional Enrichment Workshops in August, as well as our community at large through our 3-day workshops and 1-week workshops taught by our faculty.
Currently our School Director, Christopher Holt is TAPAS trained and working in the Asheville and Buncombe County school systems, and we will be sending Alisa Lumbreras, to the TAPAS program this year as well.
RRM: Talk a little about your Renaissance Fresco Program.
SK: The Renaissance changed forever the way we look at art. Our Da Vinci Head Logo, epitomizes what we do within the walls of our school. Da Vinci and Michelangelo are probably the two most famous fresco masters of the Renaissance period. Their techniques inherently required the use of scientific principals as they completed their fresco paintings.
At The Fine Arts League of the Carolinas, we follow in the footsteps of the old Renaissance masters. Our Founder Ben Long, IV worked as an apprentice to Pietro Annigoni. Long learned the many processes that it takes to create a Fresco in the style of the Renaissance Masters. He is the artist and creator of North Carolina’s Fresco Trail. Long’s apprentices are our core faculty. To be a true Renaissance Fresco artist, it takes years of dedication, drawing, painting, sculpting, and then working in the wet plaster.
Our school, located here in Asheville, is the only school in the world, that we are aware of, that teaches a fresco program. It take 3 years as a full time student, before one can become an apprentice. There are workshops on Fresco in the country and Florence, Italy. But only Asheville has an in depth program of study to create these timeless masterpieces.
It should be noted, that because of the masterful efforts by Ben Long, North Carolina has the most frescos of any state in the United States. Charlotte has the most, with its most prominent in the Bank of America Building on Tryon St. The Municipal building also has a very remarkable fresco dedicated to the men and women of the Charlotte police force. If one goes there, please look at the name tag of the officer in the painting. I believe you will see a reference to our Renaissance heritage.
RRM: Does The Fine Arts League of the Carolinas offer any scholarships or work programs?
SK: Yes. The Fine Arts League offers a scholarship, through the Vadim Bora Scholarship Fund, to full-time students who meet our financial requirements. Vadim was a dear instructor at our school. And thanks to the scholarship, in his name, his memory will live on. We also have workstudy programs for our full-time students as well. Both the scholarships and workstudy programs are limited, but we are hoping that with more donations to the Vadim Bora Scholarship Fund we will be able to serve more deserving students in the future.
RRM: The Fine Arts League of the Carolinas is moving downtown this summer. Tell us a little about the new space and what it brings to the school.
SK: This is very cool! We simply grew out of the space on Depot St. Mountain Housing Opportunities has been a wonderful partner in our growth and development. I wish we could have worked with them further. But by being Downtown, we feel we have found a good fit for both exposure and growth. Our new school space has doubled and with it we have the ability to move forward in enrollment and programs to meet the educational needs of incoming students as well as the needs of the community.
RRM: The Fine Arts League of the Carolinas helps students work with both sides of their brain. Please explain what this means.
SK: As I mentioned above, we are a classical art school. Many folks may not know what that really entails. Da Vinci was both a brilliant artist and an inventor. He used scientific principals to create his art and propose innovative ideas. Only now in the modern age do we understand his genius. We at the Fine Arts League of the Carolinas incorporate science into the creation and development of our art. We are chemists, in that we make our own ink, brushes, glue, and pigments.
We teach our students how to stretch a canvas and prepare the surface of the panel of canvas for the pigments and oils they wish to use for the piece. We are mathematicians, in that we utilize the Renaissance technique, first introduced by Masaccio, called Systematic Linear Perspective, as well as utilizing a geometrical grid system to enlarge original small pieces into large paintings. One can simply come by our school and see that happen.
We are anatomists. One of our most popular classes is our Anatomy class. In our Anatomy class, our students are introduced to the skeleton, muscles, tendons, articulations of each, in motion and stationary. It is a required class to all our students no matter their development.
Our third year students take the class along with our first year students. So, inherent in the technique of our teaching methods, we incorporate applied scientific principals. As Randy Pausch would say, “It’s a great headfake.” Students believe they are learning how to make art, but they are also learning how to think about making art.
RRM: What classes are taught here and what level of art experience does one need to begin taking classes.
SK: No experience is necessary, only the passion for creating art and the willingness to learn in the classical tradition is required. Our curriculum is designed to help students begin and work with students who already have some experience. If one applies to our program, our faculty does prefer to meet with them to get to know each student’s interest and level of accomplishment. Even if that accomplishment is at it’s most basic.
We have a 5-week intensive summer program, a fall session, and a spring session. We offer: Anatomy, Materials, Fundamental Drawing, Fundamental Painting, Landscape Drawing, Landscape Painting, Cast Drawing, Portrait Drawing, Portrait Painting, Long Pose Figure Painting, Etching, Sculpture, and Fresco. In the spring we also offer Pen and Ink, Pastels, and Charcoal.
RRM: What are the ages of the students here?
SK: The ages of our students are varied. Our full-time students are college age. Our part-time students range from college age to retirement age. Our after school and summer camp classes serve fifth grade through high school.
RRM: Tell us a little about some of the teachers here and what experience they bring.
SK: Our core faculty: John Dempsey, Christopher Holt, and Rebecca King were all apprentices of Ben Long, IV. They have all worked with Ben on frescos in North Carolina. Roger Nelson has and Michael Smith have worked with Ben on frescos as well. They, along with John Mac Kah, bring to the school formal classical training with Roger and Michael having worked with Ben on the frescos here in North Carolina as well. J.P Sullivan works out of Ben’s studio and is a master at the Materials class. All our faculty bios and CV are on our website.
RRM: What are some of the changes happening with the school due to the new location?
SK: Our school was and remains dedicated to teaching the skills needed to become an independent working artist. In today’s world we also know that what we do, will help any student who enjoys creating art grow in their skill level, as well as, emotionally, and cognitatively.
We are now able to open ourselves up to bring in new students who wish to build their portfolios so they may be better able to present themselves to a four year institution. We have the ability to serve the growing gap year population of students to better prepare them for college, simply through our program which helps them learn to focus, and think, before they act.
Our focus on drawing can help the student who wishes to go into architecture, web design, clothing design, furniture design, etc., to build the skills they need to fulfill their goals. As faculty and staff, we are re-dedicating ourselves to being better teachers, focusing on the students more heavily, and providing an enriching environment to learn and grow. The only technology we use in the classroom is our brain. To that end, we will continue to help our students connect their thoughts, ideas, and hand to create their own masterpieces.
Selected Classes
Summer 2012 Master/Apprentice
July 9 – August 10, 2012. Five-week intensive summer session. Full-time $1800; part-time $1000. Registration deadline: June 29, 2012.
Adult Summer Workshops
1 week, full day (M-F), $1,100/session. Sculpture with Brett Garling. Figure painting with Zhoaming Wu. Plein air painting with Kasey Sealey.
Fall 2012 Master/Apprentice
September 17 – December 7, 2012. Fall session full-time $2500; part-time $700 per class. Register by August 17, 2012 to receive a 5% discount on tuition, full and part-time. Registration deadline: September 14, 2012.
Spring 2013 Master/Apprentice
January 21 – April 19, 2013. Spring session full-time $2500; part-time $700 per class. Register by November 16, 2012 to receive a 5% discount on tuition.
Youth After-School Programs
Five-week sessions meet once a week for two hours: September – October, November – December 2012; January – February, March – April 2013. Five week session $150.
Open Drawing Sessions
7-9 p.m. Monday and Thursday evenings. $7, non-FALC student; $5 for FALC students, per session.