Angel of Light. Cilia Vee, artist
Asheville-based artist Cilla Vee presents Angel of Light, a durational performance in the Asheville Art Museum’s oculus window, viewable outdoors from the plaza and beyond, on Tuesday, March 9 from 7 to 8 p.m. Marking the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 state of emergency declaration for the city of Asheville, Angel of Light brings promises of hope and redemption. For the past year the Angel has held vigil over the city—a small, dim light at the end of the tunnel, growing larger and brighter until finally visible to all.
Angel of Light is the most recent piece in Cilla Vee’s pandemic performance series VIGIL: Prayers of Healing for the Living and the Dead, and was created specifically for her home community of Asheville. The series was developed over the summer in New York through the art organization Chashama’s “Enliven NYC” grant funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts. Cilla Vee performed 30 prayers in 30 days in a storefront gallery space on the Brooklyn Bridge Park waterfront, viewable through the storefront window. Upon completion of her NYC residency, Cilla Vee felt compelled to bring VIGIL to her home community and create a performance specifically for the city of Asheville.
“Since reopening the new museum in November 2019, we’ve been excited to include performance as a part of the Asheville Art Museum’s offerings in experiences of American art,” says Hilary Schroeder, assistant curator. “The performance of Angel of Light in the museum’s oculus window—marking almost a year since the museum had to close its doors due to COVID-19—presents our community with a chance to contemplate the tumultuous past year from the safety of our spacious outdoor plaza.”
This performance is free to view from the Museum’s outdoor plaza; social distancing is required.
