The Asheville Art Museum is a leader in the arts for Western North Carolina and the Southeast. It is the only organization of its kind providing cultural and educational experiences for residents and visitors to the 24 county region.

The Asheville Art Museum offers a wide and exciting variety of programs and facilities for all ages to enjoy: Adult & College Classes & Workshops; Lectures & Discussions; Film Screenings; Concerts; Tours; Homeschool Programs; Children & Family Programs; and
Student & Teacher Programs

Completed in 1895, Biltmore House was the summer residence for the George Vanderbilt family and is still privately held by his descendents. The estate encompasses over 8,000 acres. While Biltmore House is the focal point of the estate, the gardens and the sweeping landscape providing a fitting backdrop for this magnificent 250 room chateau. The estate also has a winery, a farm, an Inn, and various restaurants.

Opened in 1980, the Center showcases the finest in traditional and contemporary craft of the Southern Appalachians. It houses the Guild’s century-old Allanstand Craft Shop, exhibitions in three galleries, a library and an auditorium. The Guild's Permanent Collection is featured in an exhibition of craft permanent from Appalachia.

Built from granite boulders hewn from Sunset Mountain, The Grove Park Inn opened in 1913. In the decades since it has become one of the South’s most famous and venerable resorts.

The lobby is known as The Great Hall — and for good reason. Measuring 120 feet across, the hall features 24-foot ceilings and two gigantic 14-foot stone fireplaces.

In addition to its Arts & Crafts interior, fine dining, shopping, a complete Sports Complex and a championship golf course, you'll find the magnificance of a truly world class spa. The resort's meeting facilities provide modern convenience in an out-of-the-ordinary historic atmosphere.

Riverside Cemetery is located in the Montford Historic District, a short walk or drive from downtown. Riverside Cemetery offers visitors a unique journey into Asheville’s past. It also offer insight into cultural diversity, architecture, religious customs, and landscape design.

It is a place of beauty - a place where you can walk, take photographs, paint and visit the grave sites of prominent writers Thomas Wolfe and O. Henry.

The Thomas Wolfe Memorial, a victorian structure originally run as a boarding house Wolfe's mother, was immortalized as "Dixieland" in Wolfe's epic autobiographical novel, Look Homeward, Angel. The house was constructed in 1883. It is preserved almost intact with original furnishings arranged by family members very much the way it appeared when the writer lived there. Memories, kept alive through Wolfe's writings, remain in each of the home's 29 rooms.

The North Carolina Maritime Museum is driven by its mission to preserve and interpret all aspects of North Carolina's rich maritime heritage through educational exhibits, programs and field trips.

The Maritime Museum is open 360 days each year from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. weekdays, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturdays, and 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. on Sundays, closing only for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day holidays (call for exact dates).

The History Center at the Folk School features exhibits on 20th century Appalachian culture. the Fain Archives and History Center include school records, photographs, artwork and items of memorabilia of the rich crafts heritage that has made the Folk School a historical landmark.

The Wheels Through Time Museum has thousands of items that link man and machine. Many are fine works of art gathered from around the world. A rare collection of early 1900 "Goodrich Girls" Lithographs, grace the automobile collection. Also, an original "Mountain Water Color" from 1909.

The motorcycle memorabilia collection is astounding. Rare original factory lithographs, panoramic photos from the teens and twenties, posters, pictures, era clothing, a vintage oil can collection, trophies, and autographed pictures, etc.

The Thomas-Fletcher Cemetery contains 33 graves, circa 1865-1869, 24 with marked headstones. The first sheriff of Henderson County, Robert Thomas (1806-1865) is buried there. He was elected in 1838 and served through the formation of Henderson County. Persons buried in the cemetery descend from the Fletcher and Hooker families.

C. G. Memminger, a native of Germany, was the secretary of the treasury of the Confederacy from Charleston. His grave and summer home is nearby.

The Celebration of Women in the Arts was created to honor women artists by celebrating their creativity and imagination and their diverse contributions to the cultural life of our community. The Celebration includes an exhibition of visual art in the Patton Building Rooms 150/151 from 9:00am to 9:00pm as well as a performance at 7:30pm in the adjacent auditorium.

The exhibit includes works from a range of media, such as sculpture, paintings, fiber figures, wooden tables, jewelry, photographs, ceramic art, hand woven pieces, and gourd art. The performance includes a variety of art forms such as instrumental and vocal music, dance, theater, mime, performance poetry and puppetry.

Seating is available on a first come, first served basis. Admission is free.

The home of America's poet, Carl Sandburg, is quite a baronial estate for an old socialist. It was designated as a National Historic Site in 1968 to honor Carl Sandburg's compelling collection of stories about the American people; their plights, struggles, joys and hopes as told through Sandburg's poetry, prose, journalism and biography.

Free Admission for grounds, trails, and barn.

The 30-minute house tours are offered daily, except Christmas day. Tours begin at 9:30am; the last tour departs at 4:30pm. Tours are limited to 15 visitors. From Memorial Day until October and weekends throughout the year, tours are offered every half an hour. November through Memorial Day, tours are offered once an hour on the half-hour only.

Tour Fees: $5 (adults); Under 16 years Free

Special programming in Summer months. Call ahead to inquire.

Also, from June until mid-August, live performances of Sandburg's Rootabaga Stories and excerpts from the Broadway play, The World of Carl Sandburg, are presented at the park amphitheater.

Locally owned and operated by Howard and Barb Molton, you can enjoy movies in a more comfortable setting than other theaters and enjoy a variety of food and beverages. Wine and beer are available. Reservations encouraged but not required. All seats, all shows are $7.00.

In 1961, by a Act of the North Carolina General Assembly, Flat Rock Playhouse was officially designated The State Theatre of North Carolina.
The Flat Rock Playhouse hosts over 80,000 patrons annually and is a major contributor to the local economy and the Arts in North Carolina.

The community of Flat Rock began around 1807. Throughout Flat Rock the affluent Charlestonians, Europeans and prominent plantation owners of the South’s low country built large summer estates in the English manner. The entire district of Flat Rock is included in the National Register of Historic Places.

The church and the cemetery grounds are open to the public daily from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. Gates are locked at 4pm. Vehicles left in the parking lot after 4pm may be locked in overnight.

Group Tours: Call the church office to schedule your visit. at least one week in advance. Docents for tours may be also scheduled through the church office.

The Historic Woodfield Inn was built in 1852 as The Farmers Hotel. The Inn served as the first stage coach stop along the Old Indian Trail. Confederate soldiers were garrisoned at the Inn to protect the Flat Rock community during the Civil War. After the turn of the century, the Inn was sold and renamed the Woodfield Inn.

Built 1859. Grave of “Bill” Nye. Memorials to many famous southerners.
US 25 at Fletcher / 1935

The Baker-Barber Collection chronicles the history and life of Western North Carolina from 1884 to the mid 1990s. The collection includes photographs of urbanization, transportation, recreation, tourism, family life, business, news, events, and portraits of the region's residents. The Baker-Barber Collection was made possible through a generous grant from Mr. Jody Barber to the Community Foundation of Henderson County.

Blue Ridge Performing Arts Center features a grand marble lobby, a cozy 98 seat theatre, a 20 seat digital screening room and a recording studio. The center is a venue for all types of musical entertainment, live theatre, foreign films, ballroom dance classes, host to various writers, speakers, community events, art shows, class reunions, weddings, parties and children's events.

Our season is comprised of literary, curriculum and character education based classics that are as entertaining as they are educational.

The 2007-2008 Season marks the Theatre's fifth anniversary of providing professional theatre to young audiences. This year the Theatre is expected to provide more than 500 performances in 10 states before tens of thousands of young people. The 2007-2008 Season has also become our biggest with seven productions, a dozen professional actors, an expanded touring region (We now tour throughout Virginia) .
With invitations to perform in the mid and far west, the Theatre enjoys a national reputation.

Located five miles west of Hendersonville on Broyles Road, The Center for Craft, Creativity and Design (CCCD) is a regional center of the University of North Carolina with a strong nonprofit support organization. It is located on the fifty-acre UNC Asheville Kellogg Center in Hendersonville, North Carolina.

CCCD convenes national meetings, supports research in the area of craft and design, and curates exhibitions for a small gallery space and the sculpture and public art on the property's one-mile Rudnick Nature Trail. CCCD also manages an adjacent Conference Center, a multimedia rental facility serving area nonprofits, educational and corporate needs.

.

The Chewning House, now known as the Claddagh Inn, is a large, rambling frame boarding house. The house was built before 1906, and had a complete transformation between 1912 and 1922 when it was enlarged from a two-story building to the present three-story building with twenty guest rooms. The house retains architectural integrity from the 1920s period. Each stage or its architectural evolution represents the growth of Hendersonville as a tourist resort during the early twentieth century. It was placed on the National Register in 1989.

2007 is the seventh year of the Foothills Highland Game, which celebrate Celtic heritage.

Enjoy Celtic Music, Highland Dancers, the Parade of Tartans, Pipers and Drummers, Sheep Dog Demonstrations, the Caber Toss, Tugs of War, and Other Feats of Strength.

The Grey Hosiery Mill, built in 1915 with additions in 1919 and 1947, is the only historic industrial building remaining in the city of Hendersonville.
The Grey Hosiery Mill now houses the City of Hendersonville's Water Dept.

The Henderson County Genealogical and Historical Society, Inc. was organized in 1983. It is a non-profit, educational, and cultural organization that promotes research into the heritage of Henderson County by collecting, preserving and publishing the history of Henderson County, North Carolina and of her people.

Downtown Hendersonville was entered into the National Register of Historic Places in March of 1988. The serpentine street features planter boxes brimming with seasonal flowers and trees; and businesses such as specialty shops, antique stores and restaurants

Hendersonville, as a small community, can be proud that it has its very own symphony orchestra. As a symphony orchestra, we not only perform a six-concert season, we also make a significant contribution to the community by providing performance opportunities, scholarships and musical enrichment and education programs for the young people of the area.

Located in the over 100 year-old historic Hendersonville Depot at the corner of 7th Ave. and Maple Street. The 40+ member Apple Valley Model Railroad Club (AVMRC) has constructed an HO model railroad representing Hendersonville and Western North Carolina. What a great place to bring your out of town friends or grandchildren too!

Example of late 19th and early 20th century tobacco farm. It is now owned by the Henderson County Public Schools and operates as a heritage education center and farm museum. The farm features an 1870's brick house, a barn-loft museum, 10 historic buildings, two nature trails and 15 acres of fields and streams.

Route used by Indians and settlers in crossing the Blue Ridge. Named for Capt. Thomas Howard, 1776 militia leader

Baptist college chartered in 1861 as Judson Female College, later became coeducational. Operated 1882-1892 which stood three blocks southwest of marker site.

The Kanuga Lake Historic District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior in 1995. It encompasses all the original Kanuga Lake Club property plus the Chapel of the Transfiguration and the outdoor St. Francis of Assisi Chapel which dates from the earliest Episcopal conferences in 1928. The green cottages look just as they have looked for almost a century but today have all been refurbished and are together the most complete collection of Richard Sharp Smith housing in the nation.

Built ca. 1911 as a single family residence, the Mary Mills Coxe House is notable as one of only a handful of pebbledash houses remaining in Henderson County. The house itself is a two-and-one-half-story frame, Colonial Revival-style dwelling set on a raised basement and stuccoed with pebbledash siding.

The Museum displays minerals, fossils and materials for the benefit and education of the public, especially children.

The Museum is dedicated to the preservation of agricultural & domestic equipment, buildings, implements, utensils, methods and literature indigenous to rural life In 19th century Western North Carolina.

Gallery specializing in art produced by self taught artists from the Southern United States , with an emphasis on art made by African-American and Appalachian artist. We have spent the past seven years traveling across the south, buying this art directly from the artist and documenting their unique cultures

Opportunity House, Inc., was founded in 1958 by a group of conscientious citizens who saw a need for a new kind of organization in their community. Their mission was to create a cultural center for fellowship and activities of interest in the fine arts and crafts. The center would serve newcomers, retirees and hobbyists.

The Art League of Henderson County meets monthly at Opportunity House and hosts new exhibits of original artwork in its halls, the Sylvia Campbell Gallery, and in the Grace Etheridge room.

The Cedars is a large, three-and-a-half story brick veneer hotel, built in a Neo-Classical Revival style. It was added to the National Register in 1989.

The Cedars today provides a place to hold weddings, group meetings, etc.

The Aloah Hotel is one of the few hotels in Hendersonville still operated as a hotel. Known later as the Carson House and since the early 1930s as the Hendersonville Inn, the Aloah is one of the last of the town's hotels, and its plain sturdy brick design and ample wrapround porch reflect comfort and continuity. It is representative of the Inns, Boarding Houses, and Hotels property type.

The King-Waldrop House is a two-story residence built c. 1881 that exemplifies features of both the Queen Anne and the Italianate building styles. Its most distinctive feature is a square three-stage cupola with a concave pyramidal roof.

It is one of the few surviving homes in an area of Washington Street which was once mainly residential.

"The First Air Museum in the 'First in Flight' State," was founded in April 1989. The Museum displays award-winning restored and replica antique and vintage aircraft, as well as flying and static antique aircraft and aviation memorabilia

The works of recognized artists are displayed in an environment where "the heart finds art." Media represented by our artists includes Original Paintings, American Handmade Craft, Handcrafted Furniture, Sculpture, Art Glass, Etchings in Crystal, Wood Art, Pottery, Basketry, Photography, Lamps & Shades, and Jewelry.

The Air Fair features skydiving, antique car rally, Air Museum open house; rides available in antique aircraft and modern scene aircraft. Free admission and free rides.

Located in Oakdale Cemetery. Referenced in Thomas Wolfe's first novel "Look Homeward, Angel." This angel was among the statues sold by Wolfe's father from the porch of his tombstone shop in Asheville.

Church was organized before 1792. The present building is there. First building stood 1 mile south.

Penland School of Crafts is a national center for craft education located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina. It encompasses about 400 acres and 41 structures.

Penland offers one-, two-, and eight-week workshops in books & paper, clay, drawing, glass, iron, metals, photography, printmaking, textiles, and wood. The school also sponsors artists' residencies, educational outreach programs, and a craft gallery.

In the interest of protecting the focused atmosphere of its classes, the Penland's teaching studios are not open to the public. The Penland Gallery sponsors tours of the campus on Tuesdays and Thursdays, mid-April through early-December. Because tour sizes are limited, it is recommended calling ahead for reservations.

An interpretive site for the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail, this state-of-the-art facility traces the story of the Cherokee from the earliest inhabitants of the area 11,000 years ago to the present. An extensive exhibit of artifacts and photos is enhanced with computer generated holograms and other imagery, sound, and special effects that leave a lasting and haunting impression on the visitor.

Oconaluftee Village is an 18th century Cherokee village where you may see a dugout canoe under construction, pottery and baskets being created, or a blow gun demonstrated.

The Oconaluftee Village's pathways take visitors through rhododendron thickets and along streambeds to houses constructed of woven saplings plastered with mud, as well as to other, more modern dwellings. At the council house and dance grounds, the guide presents a lecture on Cherokee traditions.

The Cherokees are still in touch with their ancient art and craft traditions. A rich scope of arts and crafts is available in Cherokee to admire and acquire. The Qualla ArtsWithin the Qualla Boundary, you’ll find outstanding galleries including the Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual, the shop at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, The Seven Clans Art Guild, and LIFT Contemporary and LIFT cafe.

"Unto These Hills" made its debut July 1, 1950 and tells the history of the Cherokee in a dramatic venue. The play is marking its 57th season. In 2006, “Unto These Hills” featured a new script, new director, new score, new choreography, new set design, new costuming and new cast members ­all aimed at conveying a more culturally authentic, historically accurate and Cherokee-centered experience.

Mountainside Theatre is built on the site of an old nursery. The terrain provides a natural bowl with excellent acoustics. The site orientation is such that the sun sets behind the audience, and the rising moon provides a backdrop for the dramatic action.

The Cradle of Forestry in America is the site of the first forestry school in America - the Biltmore Forest School founded in 1898. The Forest Discovery Center features interactive exhibits and a movie about the creation of the school and the history of forestry conservation. The sites features the museum, 8 historic buildings, a restored saw mill and logging locomotive, as well as curriculum-based programs.

The Museum exhibits the lifelong collection of Jim Bob and Dottie Tinsley. The artifacts, paintings, drawings, sculptures, engravings and research materials for the ten books Jim Bob Tinsley wrote are all part of the collection. The museum also houses the Transylvania County Heritage Center featuring permanent displays and exhibits centered around the heritage of Transylvania county.

Hours of Operation: Tues-Sat 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm (May-Dec)
Thurs-Sat 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm (Feb. April)

The N.C. Museum of Art in Raleigh is home to the first state art collection purchased with public funds that were committed by the General Assembly in 1947. The collection spans more than 5,000 years, from Egyptian to 20th century masterworks. The collection of European paintings and sculpture from the Renaissance to the Impressionist period is internationally celebrated. Other galleries include African, American, Oceanic art, and Jewish ceremonial objects. Films, concerts, educational programs and workshops are offered.

Admission is free to the Museum and the permanent collection. There is a charge for special exhibitions and some programs, such as concerts, films, classes, performances, etc. For more information call the Box Office at (919) 715-5923.

HOURS
Tuesday–Thursday and Saturday 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
Friday 9 a.m.–9 p.m.
Sunday 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

Since its founding in 1902, the North Carolina Museum of History has been an exciting place to explore North Carolina history. The museum encourages visitors to discover the past; to reflect on their own lives and their place in history; and to preserve state, regional, and local history for future generations.

Hours
Tuesday through Saturday: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Sunday: Noon to 5:00 p.m.

Admission: Free