Women are key figures in the history of Appalachia and its music. From the mothers of miners, pioneering women of bluegrass, and activists, the songs of women have long endured. Music sustains movements and carries stories throughout generations. By way of music, women brought the region’s issues to mainstream audiences through their songs. Giving a voice to the underrepresented and oppressed, these women asserted themselves in the heavily male-dominated music industry and became the voices of future generations. This talk examines some key women in Appalachia whose voices transcended generations and transformed the music we know today. 

This presentation and performance traces the history behind ballads from the Blue Ridge Mountains. While strongly associated with European and British Isles traditions, balladry in the Blue Ridge mountains of western North Carolina and southwestern Virginia reflects a broad range of cultural influences, including roots in and stories connected to African and Native American experiences.

Join BRAHM’s Curator of Exhibitions & Collections, Gabe Wilson, for a special evening we’re calling Cocktails with the Curator. Patrons can expect one part gallery tour, two part conversation, and a splash of cocktail party.

BRAHM is excited to host a 3-day artist residency with the band Zoe & Cloyd. 

BRAHM is excited to host a 3-day artist residency with the band Zoe & Cloyd. 

Join BRAHM’s Curator of Exhibitions & Collections, Gabe Wilson, for a special evening we’re calling Cocktails with the Curator. Patrons can expect one part gallery tour, two part conversation, and a splash of cocktail party.

Artist Anna Buckner will be here to deliver her talk, “Motherhood and Mythmaking,” and discuss her inspiration, process, and art.

Join us for an exclusive breakdown of Appalachian ballad singing culture presented by 8th generation musician Donna Ray Norton. Norton has released three albums, been featured in countless concerts, documentaries and festivals and is a highly regarded member of the Madison County ballad singers and storytellers.

Free for Members and the public.

Inspired by early 20th century and mid-century modernist landscape architects Thomas Church and Roberto Burne Marx, Ron Cutlip has crafted a successful residential, commercial, and golf course design  career around a “Gardens are for People” philosophy. Believing a good design touches the human spirit, Ron developes a sense of art between structures and their gardens as a place to live in.

In 2010 with an exceptional landscape design practice in New York and at Rockefeller Center,  Ron and his family vacationed in and fell in love with Blowing Rock, and have never left. Ron’s local public projects have included the Regional Welcome Center on US 321, the Blowing Rock School playground, and most recently the gardens of the new Embers Hotel where his design softens a sharp architectural image to appear as though it has grown there all along.

With a nod to the BRAHM exhibit recognizing local artist and sculptor Alex Hallmark, who was commissioned by the Blowing Rock Garden Club for “The Gardener” sculpture in the Memorial Gardens, Ron will discuss garden design ideas for including meaningful art and space in our private gardens as “a place for people”.

Maud Gatewood rose to prominence in North Carolina as an aggressively independent voice in the visual arts. She also participated in the evolution of art across America, helping to sustain figurative art and simultaneously adding her unique viewpoint to hard-edged abstraction and, arguably, to pop art. This talk presents Maud Gatewood as a national figure in the arts via comparison with her many peers, including artists as diverse as Richard Diebenkorn, Frank Stella, and Alex Katz.

Amanda Szot has a BFA in Sculpture from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and is an In-House Sculptor at the Western North Carolina Sculpture Center and the Preparator at BRAHM.  She has a very active studio practice, often combining cast iron, wood, stone, beads, and found objects into images conveying her personal connection and the human relationship to the natural environment.  She will talk about her love of materials and their importance to the finished sculptures, as well as the process of casting iron from concept to finished work.

Join us for a discussion around Public Art with two people responsible for the placement of a lot of public art in the area! Amber Bateman, Executive Director of Watauga Arts Council and Lee Carol Giduz, former Executive Director of the Caldwell Arts Council. The speakers will share their experiences selecting and placing public art.

Free and open to the public.

This lecture will discuss how metal casting has influenced civilization in terms of sculpture production, early spiritual ideation, and modern day conveniences from industrialization.

Free for Members; $8 General Admission

Was North Carolina painter and educator Maud Gatewood a ”modernist”? What in fact does that label mean? If so, to what extent? Martha R. Severens will explore these questions in her lecture August 4 in connection with the exhibition, The Hard Edge & The Soft Line: A Retrospective of Maud Gatewood at BRAHM.

Join BRAHM’s Curator of Exhibitions & Collections, Gabe Wilson, for a special evening we’re calling Cocktails with the Curator. Patrons can expect one part gallery tour, two part conversation, and a splash of cocktail party.

Hear from MountainTrue’s Watauga Riverkeeper, Andy Hill, about dam removal projects in the High Country and the state of dam removal in the Southeast. We hope you enjoy learning about this conservation topic and it’s connection to improving water quality and habitat for sensitive and rare aquatic species.

The Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park and Museum has helped to redefine Wilson, NC. By utilizing Vollis’ incredible, kinetic sculptures the downtown has become vibrant and community connection and economic development have followed.

Join us for a special screening of “Maud Gatewood: Facing the White Canvas.”

In 2021, #1 NYTimes bestselling author Jan Karon launched a nonprofit museum in her hometown of Hudson, NC, with a mission to advance the common good through literacy, creativity, and community. Join museum director Sarah Thomas to hear Jan's story from her childhood in Caldwell County to her years in Blowing Rock and her vision for having a positive impact on her local and global communities. Thomas will also share details about the museum's Oral History Library as well as outreach programs for educators, students, and creatives.

Join App State’s Dr. Neva J. Specht for an in-depth look at the iconic Beaux-Arts Cone estate (known originally as Flat Top Manor) near Blowing Rock.

Lynne Hobaica and Rickie Barnett are multimedia artists based out of Bakersville, NC. They have been working together for over 5 years both on individual work and collaboratively under the name Two Headed Diver. In these talks, they will each share their personal journeys as artists - how they came to this point and the history and inspiration of their work together. Be prepared to laugh, to cry, and to consider life with new eyes.

Join artist Jody Servon for a discussion about embracing creativity while grieving. Her book and collaborative project, Saved: Objects of the Dead (Artsuite, 2023), with CA-based poet Lorene Delany-Ullman is a visual and poetic narrative of how grief manifests and how material possessions help harbor memories. Their book candidly embraces a topic Americans often avoid talking about, even though it is an experience we share: the death of a loved one.

Join Jim Walters as he takes you on his journey across NC and discusses the 19 major frescoes in the state. He will cover how fresco painting began as the “poor person’s Bible” and who Ben Long, the artist that has given NC these marvelous paintings, is. Jim will also discuss the art of fresco painting, with props and demonstration.

Dr. Margret Kentgens-Craig will talk about Frank Lee Craig, one of the featured artists in the exhibition Pulp & Bind, who was also an architect, musician, and writer. She will address her late husband’s challenging transition from being a principal in a major architecture firm to a new calling as a visual artist, after a devastating diagnosis with terminal brain cancer. This was facilitated by his education and training at the Bauhaus-inspired NC State University’s School of Design which had provided him with the fundamental and universal principles and skills of art production. Although he had made small pieces on occasion for years, now he dove into art-making with a passion, producing a massive collection of works that ranged from multi-media collages and photography to paintings, drawings, jewelry**,** and found-object sculptures, amazingly ending up with success, both in Germany and NC.

The impact of the Bauhaus in this process will be another aspect of her presentation as well as her unusual dual role as Craig’s wife but also trained academic professional to preserve his legacy.

Immigrants have played a vital role in shaping the cultural, social, and economic fabric of many countries around the world, and the High Country is no exception. Back in June of 2023, Immigrant Connection of the High Country and Q’ Pasa Appalachia decided to bring this project to light to showcase the beauty of the tapestry of immigrants' roots here in Boone and the surrounding areas.

“The Tapestry of Our Roots” refers to the diverse backgrounds, experiences, and contributions of individuals who have migrated to the High Country. This tapestry is often rich with stories of perseverance, resilience, and the pursuit of a better life. Immigrants bring with them their unique traditions, languages, and customs, enriching the cultural landscape of their new home. They also contribute to the economy by starting businesses, creating jobs, and adding to the country's overall productivity.

A Tapestry of Our Roots serves as a reminder of the power of diversity and the strength that arises from different perspectives and backgrounds coming together. It is a testament to the human spirit and the universal desire for a better future.

Dr. Don Presnell will provide an overview of the life and career of Theodor Suess Geisel.

Join us for an interesting lecture with Mike Carpenter of the Exploring Joara Foundation. He will talk about:

the expeditions of De Soto (in NC in 1540) and Pardo (1567-1568) (routes and goals)

the establishment of Fort San Juan and the settlement of Cuenca (the first inland European settlement) and its destruction

How our country could be different today if things had gone differently for the Spanish in 1567-1587

The discovery and documentation of the Spanish occupation at the Berry Site and ongoing excavations

The programs and public archaeology opportunities offered by the Exploring Joara Foundation

Dr. Will South, author of numerous books on both California Impressionism and Modernism, asks the question: How can simple, straightforward landscape paintings, however pleasant, made over one hundred years ago, be relevant in a world where humans are glued to their phones and consume hundreds of images per day, If not per hour? South provides a thumbnail historical context in which to gain an understanding of long-ago California art, and helps us see how a healthful and positive message may still be felt in the numerous beautiful paintings now on view at the Blowing Rock Museum of Art.