Long Ago and Far Away. Fleta Monaghan, artist
Asheville’s River Arts District artists continue to dazzle during Second Saturday festivities on July 13, with most studios open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Special evening events will also be held at some locations. As usual, the free trolley will operate throughout the district from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Free parking is available at Riverview Station, Wedge Studios and along Depot Street.
“Second Saturdays are important to the arts community as a whole to keep people interested in the arts and to expose people to different classes and mediums they may not otherwise learn about,” says Jessica Hall of Bluebird Designs, a part of Ignite Jewelry Studios that she and Nora McMullen, of Nora Julia, co-own. Ignite has a newly built-out metalsmithing studio with large viewing windows so that visitors can watch jewelers work. Hall and McMullen will offer workshops with information available on their websites.
For those whose art browsing spills into the evening hours, Daidala Ciders in The Historic Cotton Mill Studios will hold a reopening party from 12–8 p.m. The taproom will be moving into a new ground floor unit in the same building. The new space will offer an outdoor area for tasters of owner Christopher Heagney’s finely crafted, small-batch ciders.
The LEAF Easel Rider returns with Irene ‘Jenny’ Pickens and James Love as featured artists this month. “Second Saturday is important because it’s an event for local artists to highlight our artwork and to be open and interactive with residents and visitors of Asheville,” Love says.
Other events throughout RAD’s 23 buildings include demonstrations, artist talks and live music. Several exhibitions will be held, including at 310 Art, Philip DeAngelo Studio and Odyssey Co-op Gallery.
For a complete schedule of events and times, a map and a studio guide to the district’s artists, visit RiverArtsDistrict.com.
