For more than 40 years, Asheville’s Stephens-Lee High School was more or less synonymous with “secondary school” for African-Americans in Western North Carolina. Its athletes won championships, its band attracted attention across the state, and the school itself served as a focal point for the local black community. The school’s doors closed in 1965, and … Read more
When the N.C. Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services closed the All Creatures Great and Small animal shelter in Hendersonville last month, it inherited a big problem: the more than 130 dogs and nearly 30 cats remaining there. Many of the animals had health problems due to chronic neglect; many more of them had behavioral … Read more
Recently, the lunch buffet at the Ritz offered the following: yams, fried fish, chicken wings, greens, mixed vegetables, green and baked beans; respectable Southern fare, as has been served there for decades. Soon, the selection in that room will feature curried goat, jerk chicken and salt fish. But Ritz owner and local attorney Gene Ellison … Read more
Whenever there’s a storm, Geoffrey Stone pays close attention to how many inches of rain we get. And he’s sure to take note when the forecast calls for cloudy days. That’s because Stone, who lives with his wife, Susan, at Earthaven Ecovillage near Black Mountain, relies upon the sun and the rain even more than … Read more
Folk singer Arlo Guthrie is on vacation someplace where he can’t get phone reception, but, for some reason, he can get e-mail. In this, the age of information, such a vacation begs for speculation. The Perhentian Islands of Malaysia? Nome, Alaska? Amish country, perhaps? Precious friend: Arlo Guthrie may be an icon of the ‘60s … Read more
The sophomore slump is musical cliché because, more often than not, it’s true. For every brilliant second album that tastefully expands of the qualities that endeared an audience to the artist, there are ten overblown, overproduced bands looking to make their masterpiece and falling flat on their collective faces. Perhaps the most dizzying fall in … Read more
When Valentine’s Day rolls around, the romantically inclined are drawn to certain tried-and-true measures. Roses, chocolates, and (if at all possible) a violinist bowing the soulful strains of some time-tested chestnut. “The Blue Danube,” perhaps, or “Hungarian Dance No. 1 in G minor.” The salacious side of Strauss: Daniel Meyer, the Asheville Symphony’s musical director … Read more
History is filled with stories of powerful, influential rulers. Their lives and legacies are often considered reflections of their times, representing the culture and the people during their reigns. Their stories can bring the past to life in profound ways, with their turmoil, triumphs, passions and torments becoming symbolic of something far greater than a … Read more
Cathryn Griffin has “an eye.” This term, usually reserved for collectors and curators, simply means that this is a person with an uncanny ability to see things that the rest of us usually miss. And yet, her photography is infused with gentle irony and subtle wit and, occasionally, a kind of scary anticipation that hints … Read more
If you venture off to New York during the summer, you might find that your favorite commercial gallery is showing work by an artist you never heard of. In Asheville, the seasons are reversed. Taiyo la Paix’s “Elizabeth (Ma Between Brain Surgeries)” Here, the galleries are more apt to exhibit work by new artists during … Read more
