Arts scene
Brand marketing, quilting classes at SCC
There will be a brand marketing and quilting class offered at Southwestern Community College in Sylva.
From 6 to 8 p.m. June 4, “Marketing Your Personal Image and Brand: Your Personal Palette” will explore practical techniques you can implement to enhance your brand. The components of image include effectively communicating, presenting our thoughts and ideas successfully to others, exploring appearance and attitude, using nine steps to result-oriented networking, and gaining visibility. The class will be led by Nyda Bittmann-Neville, vice president and director of marketing and communication of Asheville Savings Bank and CEO of TNB Consulting Group. Seminar fee is $30 per person.
From 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Wednesdays from June 5 to July 24, “Learning to Quilt” teaches the basics of making a quilt, fabric choice, templates, rotary cutting, piecing by hand and machine, borders, “sandwiching” three layers, methods of quilting, finishing, and binding. Each student will create a finished quilted piece during the eight-week course.
Expert quilt maker Linda Nichols will impart her knowledge and skill from more than 30 years of quilting and teaching experience. Students must bring to class a sewing machine and the knowledge of how the machine works, the machine’s owner’s manual, needles for machine and hand stitching, scissors and thread. The course fee is $80 per person.
www.southwesterncc.edu or 828.339.4497.
SCC offers summer art portfolio classes for high schoolers
Printmaking with instructor Frank Brannon will start the Summer Art Portfolio Program from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., June 3-6, at Southwestern Community College in Bryson City.
SCC’s Nantahala School for the Arts is offering these programs for high school students grades nine to 12 and recent graduates. It is designed to enhance student’s art skills and help prepare a portfolio for college admissions into a fine arts program. Students will have exposure to what it is like to take an art class in a college setting while making new connections with professional artists from the region. Each instructor is a practicing professional artist and a professor of art at SCC. Students will learn advanced skills and processes beyond the high school level. All projects will make up a refined art portfolio for future use.
Cost for the program is $20 for one week, or $60 for all three weeks. This program is in part funded in part by the Cherokee Preservation Foundation.
www.southwesterncc.edu/finearts.
Wheel throwing, hand building at Riverwood
There will be a wheel throwing and hand building class offered at Riverwood Pottery in Dillsboro.
Wheel throwing will run from 6 to 8 p.m. June 4. The class is every Tuesday through Aug. 6. Cost is $160, which includes tools, materials and firing.
Hand building will run from 6 to 8 p.m. June 5. The class is every Wednesday through July 31. Cost is $160, which includes tools, materials and firing.
828.586.3601 or www.riverwoodpottery.com.
Watercolor film to be shown in Swain
A “Big Brush Watercolor” film will be shown during the next Art League of the Smokies meeting at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday, June 4, at Swain County Center for the Arts in Bryson City.
The film by Ron Ransom is packed with practical watercolor instruction condensed from seven hours of filming this well-known artist from the UK. Ransom demonstrates his big Hake brush techniques both on location and in the studio with close-up shots of every stroke. His subjects include nature, buildings and people in rural landscapes and in a street scene.
The event is sponsored by Swain County Center for the Arts and Swain County Schools. It is free and open to the public
828.488.7843 or www.swain.k12.nc.us/cfta.
Recycled fashions hit The Bascom
A high-fashion exhibit of recycled materials, ReDress: Upcycled Style by Nancy Judd, is currently on display until Aug. 18 at The Bascom in Highlands.
These dramatic fashions are not what they appear. Instead of real fur, jewels and luxe fabrics, they are made of such components as aluminum cans, tires and plastic grocery bags, and even crime scene tape.
Judd created Recycle Runway and its same-named website while working as the recycling coordinator for the city of Santa Fe, then as executive director of the New Mexico Recycling Coalition. In 1998, she founded the Recycle Santa Fe Art Market and Fashion Contest, recognizing that art and fashion could be combined to motivate the public to be more environmentally conscious.
828.526.4949 or www.thebascom.org.
Want to learn to draw?
There will be a beginner/intermediate drawing classes from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays from June 4-20 at Gallery 1 in Sylva.
A master artist, Julie Jacobson will instruct drawing fundamentals through extensive studio-based exercises and studies. Supplies are provided, except paper, which will only be provided for the first class.
The class is $100 for JCVAA members, $120 for nonmembers.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 843.614.7428.
Writer’s residency sets up shop at WCU
The 2013 Squire Summer Writing Residency will be July 11-14 at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee.
Workshops include:
• “Poetry with Kathryn Stripling Byer” – North Carolina’s first woman Poet Laureate. Byer has published six full-length collections of poetry. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, Hudson Review, Boston Globe and Georgia Review.
• “Fiction with Elizabeth Lutyens” – Lutyens’ novel-in-progress, Medicine Island, was a semi-finalist in the 2011 William Faulkner – Wisdom Competition. A faculty member of the Great Smokies Writing Program at UNC Asheville since 2006, she currently teaches its by-invitation Prose Master Class and is editor-in-chief of its online literary magazine, The Great Smokies Review.
• “Creative Nonfiction with Catherine Reid” – Reid has edited two anthologies and served as editor of nonfiction for a literary journal. Her essays have appeared in such journals as Georgia Review, Massachusetts Review, Fourth Genre and Bellevue Literary Review. She is currently the director of creative writing at Warren Wilson College, where she specializes in literary nonfiction and environmental writing.
Registrants also will enjoy meals together and have the option of staying overnight in on-campus accommodations. Admission is limited to the first 50 registrants who sign up for one of three three-day workshops Registration is now open.
Open call for art grants in Jackson County
The Jackson County Arts Council is offering mini-grants for creative arts and cultural projects, community programs, education and events. Applications for Grassroots Grants are due by June 30.
The public schools may apply to support cultural enrichment programs in the schools. Colleges and universities may apply for funding if the proposed program will serve the broader countywide population. The council encourages applications that emphasize cultural diversity.
A grant application assistance day will run from 10 a.m. to noon and 3 to 5 p.m. May 28 at the Jackson County Library Annex. The applications are available at www.jacksoncountyarts.org.
Funding for these grants is contingent upon the Jackson County Arts Council receiving funding from the North Carolina Arts Council and matching funds from Jackson County commissioners.
828.507.9820 or 828.354.0253.
Student art on display in Highlands
Ceramic works from students at Highlands High School will be on display through July 14 at The Bascom in Highlands.
The pieces come from The Bascom’s outreach program, where it partners with the school to provide classes in ceramics. Available to students in grades nine through 12 the school, this hands-on course teaches far more than simply ceramics. Last August, each student made 10 bowls to donate to the Empty Bowls project to help raise funds for local food pantries.
www.TheBascom.org or 828.526.4949.
Exhibit puts spotlight on Appalachia crafts
Showcasing local crafts and techniques, Appalachia, the newest exhibit from the Haywood County Arts Council, will run from May 30 through June 29, at Gallery 86 in Waynesville. An artist reception will be held at the gallery from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, June 7.
The display focuses on the numerous genres of intricate local crafts and techniques. With the sheer importance of the arts and crafts movement amid the rich history of Southern Appalachia, the exhibit will highlight several local artists and how their work ultimately impacts the heritage of the region.
828.452.0593 or www.haywoodarts.org.
Ballroom dance class offered at WCU
A ballroom dance class will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. Mondays from May 13 to June 17 in the Breese Gym on the campus of Western Carolina University.
Learn the basics of leading and following in a social ballroom dance setting, along with dance styles such as the waltz, tango, cha-cha, swing and fox trot. Partners will rotate throughout the class and participants need not have a partner to attend.
The cost of the class is $59 or $49 for WCU students, faculty and staff.
learn.wcu.edu or 828.227.7397.
SCC offers summer clay classes in Swain
Southwestern Community College will be offering numerous classes this summer at the Swain Center campus in Bryson City.
• “Heritage Arts Independent Study: Ceramics” from 6 to 8 p.m. every Monday from May 6-29.
• “Beginning & Intermediate Wheel” from 6 to 9 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday from May 16 to Aug. 8.
• “Clay: Experimental Topics” from 6 to 9 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday from May 16 to Aug. 8.
• “Clay: Throwing Problems” from 1 to 4 p.m. every Monday from May 20 to Aug. 12.
As well, there will be other classes starting throughout different periods of the summer.
828.366.2000 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
