Arts Craft Arts

WNC Crafts: Gallery of the Mountains Celebrates 40 Years with Appreciation Event July 27-28

Photos by Ryan Theede

By Hannah Van Vlack

Gallery of the Mountains, located within the historic Omni Grove Park Inn, is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a customer appreciation event on Saturday, July 27, and Sunday, July 28, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event will feature demonstrations by local artists, complimentary wine and a gallery-wide sale.

Gallery of the Mountains was founded in 1984 by Jim and Jane LaFerla. Upon the founders’ retirement in 2004, Asheville natives Barbara Blomberg, Marilyn Blomberg Patton and S.M. ‘Buddy’ Patton became the owners. Throughout four decades of business, the gallery’s mission has held steady. “Gallery of the Mountains has always supported craftspeople of Southern Appalachia, specifically aiming to find and uphold those who aren’t already represented or featured in the saturated artist community that is Asheville,” says gallery manager Brianne Stoehr. “Moreover, we purposefully look for artists who completely handcraft their work with materials and sources that are based in the US, as opposed to those who might purchase components made elsewhere to assemble their items.” The gallery continuously celebrates Appalachia’s artistic spirit by featuring more than 70 artists’ works responsibly crafted in small American studios.

Two Western North Carolina artists will be providing demonstrations during the customer appreciation event. Bryan Koontz, a plein air oil painter native to the region, will showcase his artistic process, which often begins outdoors. Both framed, original paintings of his favorite areas across WNC and giclée paper prints will be for sale. Kathleen Doyle, who forms a jewelling duo with her husband, Tom Reardon, will also be demonstrating during the event. The pair crafts all of their work on the Grovewood Village property and creates pieces specific to the Omni Grove Park Inn, providing patrons with a special token of their visit to the hotel. These two demonstrations of distinct types of art will give customers great options for work to watch and items to purchase.

The gallery is presenting other exciting, unique opportunities for guests as well. “As if these demonstrations wouldn’t be exciting enough to entice folks to come visit, we are also collaborating with the Omni Grove Park Inn to provide bottles of wine for the Sip & Shop element of our event, in conjunction with a 10 percent-off, gallery-wide sale,” says Stoehr. “We hardly ever have work on sale, being that the artists give love, time and attention to all of their individual pieces all year round, so this makes our 40th anniversary an even more special and singular weekend.”

Gallery of the Mountains is located in the Omni Grove Park Inn at 290 Macon Avenue in Asheville. Gallery hours are Monday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call 828.254.2068 or visit GalleryOfTheMountains.com. Hannah Van Vlack is a senior at Western Carolina University studying Writing and Editing in Professional Environments and Music.

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