Asheville Creative Arts’ (End of) Summer Soiree
Celebrating 11 years of Innovative Arts for All Ages
while laying a foundation for a bold future
Old Town District
110 Black Mt. Ave, Black Mt
*rain or shine
Saturday Sept 19, 2026
12pm – 3pm
Story Time! Arts & Crafts! Open Mic! Food & Drink! Joined by people and organizations who make the Swannanoa Valley a special place to live and work
Donations Accepted (NOTAFLOF).
Can’t make it but still want to support?
Schedule of Events:
Food from Che Fai Italian Food Truck, Iced Coffee from Peri Social House, plus make-your-own bouquet with Little Farm NC, throughout
12pm – Welcome and Story Time with Black Mountain Library Children’s Librarian, Ms. Lulu!
12pm – Swannatopia’s Experimental Art Club is digging up a new season with the sweetest of sweet potatoes! All the soil’s a stage for this sweet potato ballet! We will make custom potutus, adornments, slippers for our potatoes to wear in collaboration with local tuber enthusiasts.
1pm – Open Mic & DJ Destro– tell us your best joke! We’ll provide some source material from the shelves of the Black Mountain Library, and a beat…
2:45pm – closing remarks
Special thanks to our Corporate Sponsors: Kathleen Cook and Mosaic Realty, Mast General Store, Che Fai Black Mountain, and more in formation.
Special thanks to our Community Partners who make the Swannanoa Valley a beautiful place to be: Chifferobe Home and Garden, Little Farm NC, Swannanoa Communities Together, Swannanoa Grassroots Alliance and more in formation
Art Swannanoa
Monthly gatherings for artists living and working in Swannanoa who are using art to strengthen our local community, and building community to strengthen the arts. Join the Art Swannanoa Google group for announcements of meeting dates and times, training and grant opportunities for artists in the Swannanoa Valley.
We are pleased to share the first cohort of grantee who each received $5000 in support of projects that sustain creative placekeeping efforts in the wake of Helene. Each of these artists are uplifting the culture and resilience of Swannanoa while investing real dollars in recovery.
Carolina Corona – a community created mural celebrating the beauty of resilience and the power of nature installed at Bounty and Soul Latino
Herb Way – photographs and text that will tour to galleries and community spaces inside and outside of Swannanoa showing the resilience of local residents
Jenny Pickens – art pop ups with painting for all ages that create a space that fosters relaxation, conversation and healing
Jerry Pope – oral histories and story circles that will be woven into a performance piece premiered in Swannanoa in September 2025 marking the one-year anniversary of the storm
Rebecca Williams – collecting stories from local residents to be made into an multi-media sound installation in Swannanoa
Melanie Wilder – sewing circles that build community and foster healing
Make a tax-deductible contribution to support our next cohort of artists living and working in Swannanoa (indicate Swannanoa Artists in the notes section)
Thank you to our generous sponsors who are making Art Swannanoa possible, including, a WNC Recovery Grant from the Center for Craft
And program support for Oral History gathering which comes in part from North Carolina Humanities, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities
