Since 2010, Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center (BMCM+AC) has hosted the {Re}HAPPENING inspired by John Cage’s 1952 Theatre Piece No. 1, an unscripted performance at Black Mountain College considered by many to be the first Happening. The annual {Re}HAPPENING brings together dozens of contemporary artists whose work responds to and extends the legacy of Black Mountain College visionaries such as John Cage, David Tudor, Merce Cunningham, Anni Albers, M.C. Richards, Ruth Asawa, Buckminster Fuller, Josef Albers, and Robert Rauschenberg.

The 2026 {Re}HAPPENING will celebrate the event’s 14th anniversary. This year’s boundary-pushing projects will engage visitors deeply with the living legacy of Black Mountain College. From installations to participatory workshops, the 2026 program is defined by radical experiments in movement, sound, and collective presence.

The {Re}HAPPENING is a one-day event at the historic campus of Black Mountain College, 20 minutes from Asheville. It is part art event, part fundraiser, and part community instigator, providing a platform for contemporary artists to share their responses to the vital legacy of Black Mountain College by activating the buildings and grounds of the BMC campus with installations, new media, music, and performance projects.

General admission brings in hundreds of visitors annually. In addition to providing a forum for regional artists and an accessible, immersive, educational experience for attendees, every year the event is a community collaboration between local businesses and arts organizations.

About Black Mountain College:
Founded in 1933, Black Mountain College was one of the leading experimental liberal arts schools in America until its closure in 1957. After the Bauhaus in Germany closed due to mounting antagonism from the Nazi Party, Josef and Anni Albers readily accepted an offer to join the Black Mountain College faculty. During their 16-year tenure in North Carolina, the Alberses helped model the college’s interdisciplinary curriculum on that of the Bauhaus, attracting an unmatched roster of teachers and students including R. Buckminster Fuller, Elaine and Willem de Kooning, John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Mary Caroline (M.C.) Richards, Ruth Asawa, and Robert Rauschenberg.

The Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center (BMCM+AC) was founded in 1993 to preserve the history of Black Mountain College as a forerunner in progressive interdisciplinary education and to celebrate its extraordinary impact on modern and contemporary art, dance, theater, music, and performance.

The Museum is committed to educating the public about the history of Black Mountain College and promoting awareness of its extensive legacy through exhibitions, publications, lectures, films, seminars, and oral histories. Through our permanent collection, special exhibitions, publications, and research archive, we provide access to historical materials related to the College and its influence on the field.

BMCM+AC provides a forum for multifaceted programming in a dynamic environment in downtown Asheville, North Carolina. Our goal is to provide a gathering point for people from a variety of backgrounds to interact – integrating art, ideas, and discourse.

General Information:
{Re}HAPPENING 14 will take place April 25th, 2026 from 3-10pm
TICKETS:
$30 Advance Adult Admission (ends at noon on 4/24)
$37 Regular Adult Admission
$15 for Youth 10-17 + Students w/ID
(Children under 10 free with ticket-holding adult)
PARKING:
$15 – Parking Pass
The $15 parking pass charge covers one vehicle to park on-site at the grounds. We highly encourage visitors to carpool whenever possible. Parking on the grounds is limited.
Purchase tickets online at https://www.blackmountaincollege.org/rehappening