If the Nazis hadn't taken over the Bauhaus school, Black Mountain College probably would not have developed the gravitas it now has in our collective Western Art-oriented memories...
Your tour of Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center begins with a mention of its ex-pat and one-time Tarheel founder, Mary Holden Thompson. Thompson realized Europeans seemed to know more about the historic college in the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains than folks back home.If you too have spent extended time in Paris —or perhaps other European cities with a similarly vibrant art scene—this doesn't surprise.During Fall of '23 for example, there were at least four exhibits at major Paris art museums where the big names associated with Black Mountain College were key to curators' explications of the art works on view.You know these big names too—- William de Kooning, Josef and Anni Albers, Merce Cunningham and John Cage, Robert Rauschenberg, Cy Twombley, etc.
If the Nazis hadn't taken over the Bauhaus school, Black Mountain College probably would not have developed the gravitas it now has in our collective Western Art-oriented memories.Through happenstance, Josef and Anni Albers found a safe haven at Black Mountain College from Nazi Germany.Others from the Bauhaus followed.
At the Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center in Asheville, North Carolina you find a research library and expanding collections related to the artistic contributions from both teachers and students from the school.There are also film screenings and performances in the spirit of Black Mountain College such as a recent concert paying homage to the musical innovations by John Cage.
You too might find the archival photos lining the museum's hallways to be a superlative salute to the school's contributions to mid-Century Western art.You see Buckminster Fuller's first attempts at geodesic dome building.You see costumes from the Bauhaus-type theater at Black Mountain College credited to Alexander Schawinsky and reminiscent of those you find later in Rauschenberg's scenic and costume designs for Cunningham choreography.
For Europeans seeking an off-the-beaten-path adventure, Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center provides a quick pit stop before embarking on a hike of the Appalachian Trail that can take months to walk completely.Asheville North Carolina is a popular tourist destination for Americans but perhaps still relatively undiscovered by travel-going Europeans.
Museum exhibit images and exterior image courtesy of Black Mountain Museum and Arts Center.
Postcard and Blue Ridge Mountain images from public domain wikimedia.