Honeybees. Puma Love, artist
The annual Come to Leicester studio tour will take place on Saturday and Sunday, August 16 and 17, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The self-guided tour will allow participants to explore artists’ studios and purchase original works, with maps available for pick-up at all stops on the tour. This year’s tour will feature a preview at the Leicester Library, where attendees can see a sample of each artist’s work before deciding on their tour route.
Artist Sara Bell, who will be set up at Addison Family Farm with five other artists, believes the tour provides an invaluable opportunity for Leicester residents to come together. “Despite differences and being spread out, there is a strong sense of pride in being from Leicester, and this event allows people to see that and join together,” she says.
Matt Jones, artist
Puma Love, another participating artist, will be displaying his original art and notecard prints at the Sandy Mush Community Center on School Road. “I will have more to offer at this year’s tour because I am better prepared—more framed, original work and more prints,” he says. “This event draws people from downtown into our community in a major way. People get to see that there is more to Buncombe County than Biltmore and Patton Avenue.”
Matt Jones, a potter in Leicester’s Big Sandy Mush Valley, has participated in all of the Come to Leicester tours since they started. “My work has always sought to combine the formal vocabulary of traditional NC pottery with slightly more refined and careful decorative work, which I hope allows my pottery to sit comfortably in the present moment while honoring the collective past of this medium,” he says. “I treat the Come to Leicester studio tour as an open house weekend, inviting visitors to see the workshop, kilns and showroom. It allows the public a glimpse of what a full-time working pottery studio looks like and a chance to investigate the pottery for sale here and ask whatever questions they might have.”
Brad Worden, a ceramic artist and biologist, will be showing his work alongside five other artists at the Leicester Community Center, where he serves as coordinator. Worden’s functional pottery is inspired by nature, and his art often reflects the beauty and deeper meanings he observes in the natural world. “What is most important to me is that my work fits its intended purpose well and tells a story about the natural world, which can be beauty or something deeper,” he says.“The Come to Leicester Tour is the largest event of its kind in our community, bringing visitors from far and wide to our part of the world. Local businesses benefit from this art tourism, and we get to show off the beauty of our area and our art to a broad audience.”
The Leicester Library is located at 1561 Alexander Road. Visit ComeToLeicester.org for more information, including a printable tour map.
