Mission
Asheville Creative Arts provides high quality, professional theatre, performance, and arts experiences to audiences of all ages, and offers technical assistance for sibling social enterprises and organizations.
We create opportunities for meaningful employment for Asheville residents, provide access to professional development and resources that support the creative practice of artists, provide opportunities to create and share work with the public, and tools, and infrastructure that allow community leaders to do their best work in service of Asheville’s audiences and community members. We do this by offering multiple programs:
- Performance and Art – immersive and innovative live theatre productions oriented to young people 0-18 years old and their families that explore contemporary themes, such as migration, humanity, the power of personal narrative. We serve multigenerational audiences.
- Developing a Future Generation of Artists, Audiences and Administrators – classes and apprenticeships in various artistic disciplines, curation and program management; on-site residencies in schools and community centers affiliated with partner organizations.
- Creative Placekeeping – public art in partnership with local community-based organizations that activates community spaces and helps Asheville address questions being asked, including those focused on revitalization, gentrification and reparations.
- Technical Assistance – fiscal sponsorship and financial support to projects and organizations doing mission based work which are not nonprofits.
We use theater to reflect and elevate the communities we represent and serve, and as such we are committed to presenting the stories of all its participants.
History
Founded in 2013 by Abby Felder and Robbie Jaeger as an organization serving multigenerational audiences with innovative theatrical work, the Mountain Xpress noted that “ostensibly, ACA produces children’s theater, but the company’s ambitious works appeal to both youths and adults.” In honor of contributions to the cultural landscape, Mayor Esther Manheimer declared July 18, 2014 “Asheville Creative Arts Day,” and our work which is regularly reviewed by local press and featured in outlets such as Blue Ridge Public Radio, Macaroni Kid, and others, was called “excellent” by the Asheville Citizen Times.
Asheville Creative Arts has a proven track record of creating theatrical experiences that are both aesthetically innovative and supportive of social-emotional growth. Our programs are designed to encourage young people to hone their voice, and for all who participate to listen deeply and look closely, as we believe these are the building blocks for a better world.
Our process for creating work is multidisciplinary, highly collaborative, and provides platforms center the voices and experiences of our audiences. The developmental process for THE WARP & THE WEFT (2019) included content gathered during residencies with young people and from the cast members themselves. These young people who attended performances and performers alike identified how profound an experience it was to see themselves and their voices in the context of professionally produced art. In 2022 we became the first theater in Western North Carolina to offer theater for the very young – performances meant for ages birth to 5-years old. Working in partnership with professional artists and early childhood specialists, we brought to life performances which are entertaining for all ages, and which provide space for the littlest theater goers to gain skills that are useful for literacy and emotional self-regulation.
Asheville Creative Arts is the only producing theater in Western North Carolina developing work in the way that we are, and bringing this work to the populations that we do.