Art in the Heart

UNC Asheville Community Members Featured in City of Asheville’s On-Going Art Installation Series

By UNC Asheville

November 2^nd, 2022

The creative work of UNC Asheville faculty, staff, students and alumni will take center stage in downtown Asheville as part of the City’s Art in the Heart series, featuring installations, artwork, and performances in Pack Square Plaza taking place over the course of six months. The former site of the Vance Monument, Art in the Heart “is a way to unite, heal, and strengthen the community… [and] will help spark important conversations on how to make this public space a place that reflects Asheville’s diverse community and history,” according to the City’s press release.

“Leah & the Rabbit”

Aaron Snook, Adjunct Lecturer in Drama

Mikayla Wilson, Alumna

Theatre Performance

September 17, 2022

“Leah & The Rabbit,” created, written and directed by UNC Asheville alumna Mikayla Wilson, uses puppetry to tell the story of Leah Erwin, a woman who was enslaved by the Vance family in Buncombe County.

“Leah Erwin is one of 27 known enslaved people who were owned by and lived with the Vance family. Leah’s story is paired with the tales of Br’er Rabbit, a popular folk story character that was passed down by enslaved people but appropriated by white storytellers with racial bias,” Wilson said.

“Many Black people were brought to Asheville for cheap or enslaved labor to support the tourist industry in the antebellum period. Now, Black people must compete with systems that favor the wealthy or privileged,” Wilson continued. “This story is meant to question the people who are being removed from Asheville and who can afford to stay.”

“We saw this as an opportunity to perform the show both in front of where the Vance Monument once stood and on the grounds where enslaved people were likely bought and sold,” said Aaron Snook, drama faculty at UNC Asheville and co-founder of the American Myth Center, which presented the show.

“It was a radical piece of art. Speaking for myself, I couldn't fully realize how impactful it would be to do the show at that location until we were there with an audience to witness it. The audience, from young to old, seemed to really enjoy the piece and we're hoping to bring it back to the same location later this year.”

“Room in the Sky”

Jackson Martin, Associate Professor of Art

Sculpture

September 18 – October 30, 2022

“Room in the Sky,” a sculpture by Associate Professor of Art Jackson Martin, features 12 colored flags hanging from a steel frame.

“I chose an overall form that directly relates to the old monument base, but also one that represents both healing and inclusivity -- a plus sign. The solid colored flags that hang from the structure are intended to represent groups that experience discrimination and prejudice in this country, including the LGBTIQA and BIPOC communities,” Martin explained. “Many of my students, closest friends and family members have been affected by discrimination and prejudice, and I am honored to stand as an ally in the fight for equality!”

Martin said he was particularly excited by the opportunity to create a site-specific and site-responsive work.

“These types of opportunities allow me to shift outside of my normal way of thinking, encouraging me to imagine something entirely different,” Jackson said.

"Homesick"

Leslie Rosenberg, STEAM Studio Technician

In collaboration with Ethan Schultz, and Liz Trader Williams

Sculpture and Interactive Experience

November 5-30

STEAM Studio technician Leslie Rosenberg worked with collaborators Ethan Schultz and Liz Trader Williams to create “Homesick,” an interactive sculpture that addresses the housing crisis in Asheville and its impact on unhoused people and people in the service industry.

“We wanted to use the platform of the former Vance Monument to call attention to this poignant issue,” Rosenberg said. “Our sculpture will be interactive in nature, inviting the public into conversations around the housing crisis.”

The sculpture will feature fabric-covered steel rod frames in the shapes of houses, with images and interview text projections at night, along with audio. Below the sculpture will be an opportunity for the public to describe their experience of home by answering questions about their experiences of home in chalk.

“I think the significance of this piece is its setting,” Rosenberg said. “Pack Square is the center of town and a powerful spot where the Vance Monument once stood. The former monument represents racism, the patriarchy, and old ways of thinking. Our piece, as well as the other installations, opens up dialogue for new ideas, for the under-represented, a chance for social justice, reclamation, and new conversations.”

2523: A Speculative Monument

Briar Coleman, Student

Sculpture

February, 2023

UNC Asheville student Briar Coleman is looking toward the future with their sculpture, “2523: A Speculative Monument,” which imagines what a monument will look like 500 years from now.

“Like speculative fiction, my hope is that this monument can serve as a moment of dreaming about how we could live differently,” Coleman explained. “We need deep imagination. We need to practice asking new questions. If this piece is successful it will contribute to that need. What could our monuments look like in our wildest dreams? What do those dreams tell us about ourselves today?”

Coleman’s vision for the monuments of tomorrow departs from the tradition of statues carved from stone or an Egyptian-style obelisk. A monument in the future might be made of something completely different – namely, air.

“I plan to project images and text depicting a speculative future monument onto a column of fog as a way to help us remember that the future is not fixed,” Coleman said.

Coleman decided to participate in the Art in the Heart project in order to engage in the ongoing conversations around monuments, how we chose to remember the past and how we imagine the future. They hope their project will envision a future Asheville “that has gone a long way to heal from its past; one that is not just equitable, but deeply flourishing and maybe even unrecognizable in its beauty.”

Coleman’s work is still in progress, and they hope to include BIPOC artists and organizations as collaborators on this project, so that their visions of the future can be at the center of the piece. Interested parties are invited to email briarart@protonmail.com.