Back Pasture Footbridge. David Blanke, artist
The sixth annual Pastoral Palette Art Gala, presented by the Appalachian Barn Alliance, will take place Friday, May 22, and Saturday, May 23, at the historic Ivy Building on the A-B Tech campus. Proceeds from the event will contribute to the renovation of the historic farmhouse on the Smith Farm in Mars Hill, a project that aims to transform the structure into a welcome center. Once complete, the space will interpret both the agricultural history represented by the site’s five historic barns and the broader ecological story of the preserve.
The weekend begins May 22 from 5:30–8 p.m. with a ticketed gala, followed by a free public event on May 23 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., where visitors can view and purchase artwork. The gala will feature music by Abbey Winters as well as complimentary beverages and snacks.
Featuring artists affiliated with the Asheville Saints of Paint, the gala highlights a range of works inspired by the region’s landscapes, structures and evolving identity. “My artwork—landscapes in either oil or acrylic—highlights the natural and built environment of Western North Carolina; specifically, familiar waterfalls and waterways, rural roadways, barns and outbuildings,” says artist David Blanke. “My goal is to capture the vibrancy of the natural world as it exists around us and the ways that these scenes are forever changing and evolving, even as we regard them.”
Blanke’s contributions to the show include four pieces that reflect the diversity of his work. “Two pieces depict working barns; one showing an empty tobacco barn in a dawn silhouette while the other presents a low-key perspective on the weathered exterior of a structure under portentous dark clouds,” he says. “These seek to represent both the fragility and timeless persistence of rural work; their unceasing toils somewhat ironically set amongst nature’s transitory beauty. Two other paintings present more stylized scenes; one of an early morning sunrise over a lake and the other a tighter perspective on an old footbridge that crosses over to a fenced paddock.”
For Blanke, the significance of the gala extends beyond the individual art one will encounter there. “The Appalachian Barn Alliance Show is special in many ways, not the least for how it works to preserve and appreciate the surrounding farm structures of Madison County,” he says. “The show brings together and builds on the sense of community that exists amongst everyone who attends or participates; truly one of the core functions of art.”
Tickets for the gala are $50 each ($45 for ABA members). Learn more and purchase tickets at AppalachianBarns.org/pastoral-palette-art-show-gala.
