Artist, Vickie Almaroad
Bonsais and Fiber Show This Month at The North Carolina Arboretum
North Carolina Arboretum will host two shows in October—the 21st Annual Carolina Bonsai Expo on Saturday and Sunday, October 8–9, and the Blue Ridge Fiber Show, opening October 1 and lasting through January 1, 2017.
The Carolina Bonsai Expo is a nationally known event featuring juried exhibits, workshops, free demonstrations and an ikebana exhibit. Live bonsai plants and supplies will be available for purchase as well. “The Expo brings out some of the finest specimens to be found in a seven-state region,” says the Arboretum’s bonsai curator, Arthur Joura, “so we are truly a regional show, one of the larger and better known bonsai exhibitions in the country.”
The show’s guest artist this year will be Dan Robinson, whom Joura calls a “folk hero” in the bonsai world with more than 50 years of experience and an individualistic approach to bonsai. “He is a tree guy and he expresses that love of trees in nature through his bonsai work,” which, adds Joura, “is the same thing I try to do with the Arboretum’s collection.” As part of recent renovations to the Arboretum’s Bonsai Exposition Garden, some of the collection will now be displayed year-round.
Sponsored by the Western North Carolina Fibers/ Handweavers Guild, the Blue Ridge Fiber Show (BRFS) is an international biennial competition in weaving, spinning and felting. “Visitors to the show will see a variety of fiber techniques in beautiful, well-executed pieces,” says BRFS committee head Joan Berner. There are more than 130 entries from 18 states, and most of the work will be for sale. Participants are amateurs, professionals and junior exhibitors, and past entries to the show have included wedding ensembles and tapestries.
Displayed in the upstairs gallery of the Arboretum’s Education Center, the show will be available for viewing during the “Winter Lights” holiday light show from November 18 to January 1, 2017.
Some of the Bonsai Expo events require preregistration and fees, but there are also free educational programs. The BRFS exhibit is free to the public, but there are parking fees for non-members. Visit ncarboretum.org or call 828.665.2492 for a schedule, registration information and parking fees and hours.
