The Fairy Tree. Daniel Iyari, artist
The Weaverville Art Safari, a free, two-day, juried studio tour, makes a perfect springtime weekend destination. The Spring 2025 tour will be held Saturday and Sunday, April 26 and 27, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. throughout the greater Weaverville area, and features the chance to meet more than 60 artists working in a variety of mediums, including paint, metal, fiber and wood.
Involved. Christy Vonderlack, artist
A visual artist from Veracruz, Mexico, Daniel Iyari moved to Asheville in 2019, having discovered the area while working in Black Mountain as a summer camp photographer. This will be his first time participating in the Art Safari. “I’ll be offering a variety of light painting photography prints,” he says, “and for the first time I’ll be showing my original paintings.” Iyari began working with light painting during the pandemic in 2020. The technique combines long-exposure photography and creative light placements. The layering of the shots results, he says, in “intricate and ethereal compositions.”
Iyari was among the River Arts District artists who lost art during Hurricane Helene’s flooding. “By attending these events and purchasing our art pieces, you not only enrich your collection,” he says, “but also play a crucial role in nurturing and supporting the arts community in Western North Carolina.”
Christy Vonderlack has been participating in the Weaverville Art Safari for eight years. “I’m an intuitive abstract painter working in acrylics,” she says. “I’ve been legally blind for the past 14 years and my work is my daily therapy. I fuse color and energy into something that, in the end, exudes a power and mystery.” For the tour, she is eager to share newly created pieces that reflect new directions her work has taken after recent workshops with favorite artists. “I find it so inspiring to meet and learn new techniques alongside some of the most amazing artists in the country,” she says.
“In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, it’s so important for people to get out and back to normal and to experience something joyful like this long-standing tour,” Vonderlack adds. “The Art Safari is also a great opportunity to do this with friends and family. And for us artists, it is the opportunity to show we are strong and moving on, some of us in amazing new directions.”
Learn more at WeavervilleArtSafari.com. Mark calendars now for the Fall 2025 Weaverville Art Safari scheduled for the first weekend in November.
