Day Trip with BRAHM: Glassblowing Workshop & Pottery Center Tour

- THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELED -

It will be rescheduled to a later date: Please check back at blowingrockmuseum.org/trips for further updates.

Location: STARworks NC in Star, NC & North Carolina Pottery Center, Seagrove, NC

Date: TBA

Price: $175/person (open to BRAHM members only). Not a BRAHM member yet? Sign up here!

Deadline to register: TBA

Details

BRAHM Members are invited to take a day trip to StarWORKS in Star, NC for a guided tour of the facility and to participate in a glassblowing workshop in the center's hot shop. Each participant will make a small glass bowl that will be theirs to keep.

Participants will also enjoy light Dutch lunch togehter in the StarWORKS cafe 

After our time at StarWORKS, participants will vanpool to Seagrove for a self-guided tour of the North Carolina Pottery Center.

Questions or to register by phone, call BRAHM at 828-295-9099

Schedule

8:00 AM: Participants vanpooling from Blowing Rock meet at BRAHM parking deck to ride down in passenger van. (Participants coming from other areas are welcome to meet us at StarWORKS.

11:00 AM: Arrive at Starworks, tour the facility

12:00 PM: Light lunch in STARworks Café

12:30 PM: Glassblowing workshop 

2:30 PM: Leave STARworks 

3:00 PM: Arrive at North Carolina Pottery Center

4:00 PM: Leave for Blowing Rock

7:00 PM: Arrive in Blowing Rock

BRAHM members are invited to an exclusive tour of artist Michael Sherrill’s Retrospective Exhibition at the Mint Museum in Charlotte.  The artist, himself, will lead a guided tour of the exhibit.  

The trip is limited to 20 people, and interested members should call BRAHM to register at (828) 295-9099.  The participants will meet in Charlotte for the tour at 11:00 AM.  The tour will be followed by a Dutch treat lunch. Cost is $20 for members at the $150 level and above and $30 for all other members. This includes the tour and admission to the Museum. The registration deadline is March 18th.

Trip costs are non-refundable.

In his delicately rendered sculptures, Michael Sherrill seeks to elicit a sense of wonder from viewers and to make them see things fresh. Working with clay, glass, and metal, his exquisite floral forms have the allure of Martin Johnson Heade’s passion flower and orchid paintings and the botanical engravings of John James Audubon, at the same time they are remarkably new. This retrospective will illustrate the artist’s evolution over his more than 40-year career and highlight his contributions to contemporary art, craft, and design.

Image Credit: Michael Sherrill, Temple of the Cool Beauty (Yucca), 2005, polychrome, porcelain, Moretti glass, silica bronze, The Mint Museum Collection, Gift of Ann & Tom Cousins

BRAHM Invites You To Experience Chihuly in the Garden at the Historic Biltmore Estate
June 7-8, 2018

Join your fellow members of BRAHM on a special getaway to visit the Chihuly Exhibit at the Biltmore Estate and enjoy the artistic charm of Asheville. We will depart from the Museum on Thursday, June 7th by chartered motor coach. Upon arrival in Asheville, we have planned a special behind the scenes visit to the studio of Alex Gabriel Bernstein. This award-winning artist skillfully combines power and sensuality in sculpted glass.

Following this visit, we will have delicious lunch at Fig located in the Biltmore Forest shopping complex. This four-star restaurant is known for its delicious seasonal offerings. Following lunch, you will have some time to browse the boutiques and galleries located in the surrounding shopping area. In the afternoon we check in to our accommodations for tonight – the fabulous Inn on Biltmore Estate. Styled after English and French manor houses, this elegant inn is the next best thing to a trip to Europe. It has won numerous awards including the prestigious Forbes 4 diamond award and was chosen by Southern Living as one of the South’s Best hotels. You will have some time to relax and enjoy your lovely surroundings before we head out to dinner at Chestnut. Co-owned by manager Kevin Westmoreland and head chef Joe Scully, Chestnut opened its doors in 2012 in an historic building in downtown Asheville. It has quickly gained a strong reputation for its creative, locally-sourced menu.

Friday, June 8th is sure to be the highlight of this journey. Following breakfast, at the Inn we have reservations to visit the incredible exhibition – Chihuly at Biltmore. Dale Chihuly is perhaps the most famous of the many outstanding American glass artists and his work is exhibited all over the globe. He is well-known for his ambitious and immersive site-specific installations in gardens around the world. This is the first time that Mr. Chihuly has created such an exhibit for a garden in North Carolina.

His most recent exhibitions have been at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens and New York Botanical Gardens. The creations by Chihuly and his team will turn the Biltmore Gardens and Grounds into a wonderland. You will also have time to do a “self-guided” visit to the spectacular Biltmore House. Following our morning at the Biltmore Estate, we will go into downtown Asheville where you will have time for lunch on your own and independent pursuits. Our glorious day will finish off with visits to two outstanding private collections located in nearby Weaverville.

We return to Blowing Rock in the early evening, having spent a wonderful two days with friends, exploring the best that Asheville has to offer.

Cost Per Person
Double Occupancy = $710 Single Occupancy = $850

To Register: Complete the enclosed registration form and mail it with full payment (make checks payable to Old World Travel) to Old World Travel, 129 Ridgewood Avenue, Charlotte, N. C. 28209. If you are paying by credit card, you may also scan your registration form and payment information to oldworldt@gmail.com. For additional information, contact trip coordinator Kathy Price at Old World Travel at (704) 372-0340. Space is limited and reservations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.

Included Features: Roundtrip private motor coach Blowing Rock; one-night hotel accommodations at the elegant Inn at the Biltmore Estate; lunch at Fig; dinner at Chestnut; breakfast at the Inn at the Biltmore Estate; admission to Chihuly at the Biltmore and the Biltmore House; private visits to specified studios and homes in the Asheville area; taxes and gratuities on included features; escorted by Old World Travel; donation to BRAHM in the amount of $75.00.

Features NOT included: Luggage handling at the hotels; meals or sightseeing not specified as part of the itinerary; alcoholic beverages

Tour Costs: Tour costs are based on rates in effect on April 2, 2018 and are subject to change.

Refunds and Cancellations: Cancellations will be subject to penalties for all non-recoverable costs not to exceed the full cost of the trip. There will be no penalties if the space can be resold. Trip cancellation insurance will be available through Old World Travel and is strongly recommended. Information on travel insurance will be mailed to you once the trip is declared a definite “go.”

Responsibility: OLD WORLD TRAVEL and/or its agents and BRAHM act solely as the agents of the various companies over the lines of which tickets are routed and this tour operated. Company and tour organizers assume no responsibility or liability in connection with the services of any aircraft or other conveyance, which may be used either wholly or in part in the performance or its duty to the passenger. The tour operator hereby reserves the right to cancel or alter, as she deems necessary. No refunds will be made for any part of this tour in which you choose not to participate.

This exciting 4-day trip includes visits to the Museum of Fine Arts, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Peabody Essex Museum and the recently renovated Harvard Art Museums!

Itinerary:

Wednesday, September 13th

Group flights have been arranged from Charlotte, NC (CLT) to Boston, MA on American Airlines departing at 9:40 AM. (If you would like to be on the group flights, please select the option including flights during your registration). Upon arrival into Boston, the group will meet with their driver and private coach for a transfer to Boston's Newbury Street for a group lunch. After lunch, you'll proceed to the Boston Public Library for a private group tour of the first free municipal library in the United States. Once the Boston Public Library Tour concludes, the group will be transferred to the hotel for check in and an evening at your leisure.

Thursday, September 14th

This morning the group will have a private guided tour of the Museum of Fine Arts. With more than 450,000 works of art, and over 1,000,000 visitors per year, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston is the 55th most-visited art museum in the world. Following the group tour, you'll have some time to explore the museum on your own and have lunch in one of the museums four dining options. In the afternoon the group will reunite at the museum entrance and head to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Over three decades, Isabella Stewart Gardner traveled the world and worked with important art patrons and advisors Bernard Berenson and Okakura Kakuzo to amass a remarkable collection of master and decorative arts. Following the tour, the group will have the option to return by coach to the hotel, or stay in the area for an evening at your leisure.

Friday, September 15th

This morning you'll have an early start with a private transfer to Salem, MA for a visit to the Peabody Essex Museum, located approx 1 hour outside of Boston. The Peabody Essex Museum is considered one of the oldest continuously operating museums in the United States, combining the collections of the former Peabody Museum of Salem and the Essex Institute. Following the guided tour the group will remain in Salem for a group lunch near the harbor. After lunch, you'll head back toward Boston, stopping at the Harvard Art Museums for a student-led tour of the newly renovated museums. The Harvard Art Museums are part of Harvard University and comprise three museums: the Fogg Museum (est. 1895), the Busch-Reisinger Museum (est. 1903) and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum (est. 1985). In 2008, the Harvard Art Museums' historic building was closed for a major renovation and expansion project, and was re-opened in 2014. Once the tour concludes, you'll have some free time to explore the museums on your own before the group transfers back to the hotel for an evening at your leisure.

Saturday, September 16th

For your last day in Boston, the group will check out of the hotel in the morning and transfer to Boston's SoWa neighborhood, known for it's art galleries and shopping districts. Each Saturday morning, local SoWa vendors and artists host the award-winning SoWa Open Market, which you'll have time to explore and grab an early lunch. For those members on the group flights, the group will reunite at 11:45 AM for a transfer back to the airport and return to Charlotte on American Airlines at 2:40 PM. The group flight will arrive in Charlotte at 4:57 PM and services will conclude.

Costs:

Complete Trip including Airfare: $2,220.00* per person (+$700.00 additional single supplement)
*Cost of trip is based on double occupancy and a minimum of 20 participants. Round trip economy tickets on group flights between Charlotte and Boston are included in this cost.

Complete Trip without Airfare: $1,850.00 per person (+$700.00 additional single supplement)
*Cost of trip is based on double occupancy and a minimum of 20 participants.

Complete Trip cost includes:
- Air-conditioned private motor coach for all tours and activities
- Entrance fees to all museums as outlined in itinerary
- Two group lunches as listed in itinerary
- 3 nights at a 4-star hotel centrally located in Boston
- All gratuities for coach drivers and group meals
- Fully escorted travel
- $150.00 Tax deductible donation to BRAHM

Price does not include:
- Travel Insurance (option to add insurance during registration)
- Personal expenses
- Luggage cost for flights
- Other activities or services not listed in the itinerary

Important Payment Dates and Deadlines:
- A non-refundable deposit of $750.00 per person must be paid by Friday, June 30, 2017
- Final payment must be made by Friday, August 04, 2017.
- Please note, unless otherwise indicated, Aladdin Travel will change the full remaining balance to your card on August 04, 2017.

Refunds and Cancellations: In the event of cancellation prior to Friday, August 04, 2017 payment will be refunded less the non-refundable deposit of $750.00 per person. No refunds will be given on or after Friday, August 04, 2017.