February 29th, March 2nd and March 4th
Another day I went to downtown and visited the Asheville Art Museum – beautiful exhibits, student arts gallery, glass work, pottery, etc. Nearby was the Black Mountain Appalachian Craft Center and the Black Mountain College Museum, a tribute to Vera Baker Williams who was known for her children’s books and artwork. It’s funny because the BM College only operated about 24 years until 1957. Then I went to a place called the Marquee in the French Broad Art District. It was like a warehouse full of new and old furniture, knickknacks, artwork, etc. Almost too much to take in unless you spent hours there.
Two days later I went back downtown and visited the Moogseum. It was all about the creation of the Moog synthesizer by Bob Moog and the production of sound waves for electronic instruments. They even had hands on equipment so you could create sounds with a theremin. You have to go there to really appreciate it. Fascinating especially for my musical friends (Iike Danny – who lives in NC now – I got a brochure for him, he will love it!). Next door was the Momentum Gallery – a wide variety of artwork, lots of it very contemporary.
After that, I walked a few blocks over to the Grove Arcade. The building was constructed from 1920 to 1929 by E. W. Grove (who passed away before it was completed) – the FIRST indoor shopping mall in the US! In 1942, after Pearl Harbor, the military took it over and moved in lots of records and conducted weather research there. I knew that my father had been stationed in Asheville in WWII and he had done some weather work, but it was Vicki who told me about the Arcade and its history. After the war, it became the National Weather Records center. The military continued to control the building until the 90’s when it moved its records elsewhere and returned the building to public use. I could feel my dad with me as I walked thru it!
I added a few photos at the end that weren’t actually in Asheville. On March 4th I met up with Dawn Kucera (we worked together in the 70’s in Hawaii) and met in Hendersonville near where she lives. We had our second lunch together, and remembered to take photos! After that I went to the Bill Moore Community Park and walked the trails.
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