UNC Asheville Students Lead Public Art Talks at Asheville Art Museum

How an Art History Degree Connects Classroom Learning with Community Engagement

By UNC Asheville

March 27^th, 2026

For Sadie Bowen, a double major in Art History and Studio Art at UNC Asheville, stepping in front of a museum audience to deliver a public talk about African American art was both a challenge and a turning point. Bowen, one of several UNC Asheville undergraduate students putting their art history degree to work through hands-on experience in public speaking, research, and community engagement, is preparing for a career in the arts with help from the Asheville Art Museum's Friday "Art Break" series.

This initiative provides students the opportunity to deepen their skills in ways that mirror the professional demands of the field, and for many, to lay the groundwork for graduate study, including an art history master's program.

The Art Break program is part of ARTH 386: Arts of the African Diaspora, taught every two years by Eva Hericks-Bares, Ph.D., a senior lecturer in Art & Art History and Humanities 214 Coordinator. The course centers on the museum’s African American art collection.

Art History major Sadie Bowen leads a talk for the Asheville Art Museum's "Art Break" series

The Art Break series is free for members or included with museum admission, and invites visitors to engage in dialogue with museum staff, volunteer educators, and student presenters. These informal gallery talks offer a deeper exploration of the art on display in a short, accessible format. Since 2019, UNC Asheville students have contributed by presenting original research directly in front of the selected works.

The project bridges classroom learning with life skills that extend into professional and community settings. Students begin by exploring the gallery and its archive, then select a work to focus on. They conduct deep visual analysis and contextual research before presenting their findings to museum visitors.

“I started working with the Asheville Art Museum to give students hands-on experience with both actual artwork and with the professional practices involved in museum work,” explains Hericks-Bares. “[This includes] researching artists’ biographies, publications, writing detailed catalogue entries, and providing education resources, such as giving public talks about the work.”

A UNC Asheville Art History student leads a public talk on Charles Alston at the Asheville Art Museum, turning academic study into real-world community engagement

““There’s an intimacy that comes out of that experience that deepened my understanding of the artwork and my personal connection to the artist.”

For Bowen, viewing the artwork in person made all the difference. “There’s an intimacy that comes out of that experience that deepened my understanding of the artwork and my personal connection to the artist,” Bowen explains. The public presentation component added another layer of professional development. “The format of the presentation was also a huge learning opportunity — learning how to speak to the public about an artwork and its creator in a way that will, hopefully, bring them in with interest and enthusiasm for the work in just 5–7 minutes was a challenge. I learned a ton, edited my talking points, and came back with a final talk that I was really proud of.”

While students like Bowen benefit from on-the-ground research and presentation experience, the museum gains valuable contributions to its archives, including new insights into works not currently on display. It’s a mutual exchange that affords students a unique opportunity to make a meaningful mark on the broader arts community before they even graduate.

UNC Asheville Art History student Sadie Bowen engages the Asheville community with a public talk on African American art at the Asheville Art Museum's "Art Break" series

“They feel really connected to their artwork,” Hericks-Bares says. “It’s a good boost of confidence, and it really shows them [how] if you dive deep into something, you have tangible benefits…and you can really help propel scholarship forward in that way.”

While many participants in ARTH 386 are Art History majors, the program draws students from a wide range of fields, all of whom gain valuable experience engaging with art in meaningful ways. Bowen speaks to the universal value of the practice: “I think everyone across the board benefits from sitting with art. Spending extended time observing, researching, and meditating on something outside of yourself is an incredible practice, regardless of what that ‘something’ is, or what your major might be.”

Hericks-Bares echoes this sentiment, noting that the program teaches students to take ownership of their work and their learning. “There are a lot of pieces where you are in charge, and where you have to really step up to the plate — and so I feel that most students, in some way, really grow from this experience.”

Art History students at UNC Asheville lead "Art Break" talks at the Asheville Art Museum, building real-world skills through experiential learning in one of the Southeast's most vibrant arts cities

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