Upcoming Events
Calendar
Afternoon Art: Rose B. Simpson- Car Paintings
Tuesdays, 3:30 - 4:30 pm | Ideal for 6-12 year olds: Creative art-making activities highlighting a variety of artists and methods.
Mindfulness Meditation Group
Make time for yourself on Wednesday evenings for a weekly mindfulness and meditation Group. The gatherings will explore meditation, mindfulness and consciousness. Combining years of meditation practice experience with his lifelong passion of living in service to others, Eric Devrie will be guiding the weekly meditation group.
Winter Art Market Nov. 30 - Dec. 1
BRAHM is honored to offer the space and the marketing to these Fairs free of charge to the artist and craftspersons as a part of the museum’s effort to help rebuild arts infrastructure in the region.
Afternoon Art: Edvard Munch "The Sun" inspired cards
Tuesdays, 3:30 - 4:30 pm | Ideal for 6-12 year olds: Creative art-making activities highlighting a variety of artists and methods.
Mindfulness Meditation Group
Make time for yourself on Wednesday evenings for a weekly mindfulness and meditation Group. The gatherings will explore meditation, mindfulness and consciousness. Combining years of meditation practice experience with his lifelong passion of living in service to others, Eric Devrie will be guiding the weekly meditation group.
Doodlebug Club
1st & 3rd Thursdays, 9:30 - 10:30 am | Ideal for preschool-aged children & an adult: Process-based art activities plus storytime.
Clasped Weave Tapestry: Clasped Weave
This event is in partnership with the Watauga County Project on Aging.
Clasped Weave Tapestry: Clasped weave, also called meet and part, is a traditional technique for weaving with two weft elements. Students can explore landscape themes to create pictorial weaving (tapestry).
Winter Art Market Dec. 7 - 8
BRAHM is honored to offer the space and the marketing to these Fairs free of charge to the artist and craftspersons as a part of the museum’s effort to help rebuild arts infrastructure in the region.
Sit and Stitch - High Country Fiber Meet Up
Bring your own supplies and projects to work on and workshop with the group! Bring friends or make new ones.
Ready to start a new project? Why not try some winter weather items for folks heavily affected by the storm?
Afternoon Art: Kandinsky inspired painting
Tuesdays, 3:30 - 4:30 pm | Ideal for 6-12 year olds: Creative art-making activities highlighting a variety of artists and methods.
Mindfulness Meditation Group
Make time for yourself on Wednesday evenings for a weekly mindfulness and meditation Group. The gatherings will explore meditation, mindfulness and consciousness. Combining years of meditation practice experience with his lifelong passion of living in service to others, Eric Devrie will be guiding the weekly meditation group.
Sit and Stitch - High Country Fiber Meet Up
Bring your own supplies and projects to work on and workshop with the group! Bring friends or make new ones.
Ready to start a new project? Why not try some winter weather items for folks heavily affected by the storm?
Winter Art Market Dec. 13 - 15
BRAHM is honored to offer the space and the marketing to these Fairs free of charge to the artist and craftspersons as a part of the museum’s effort to help rebuild arts infrastructure in the region.
Studio Saturdays -Felted Ornaments
Studio Saturdays
Youth aged 12-18 are invited to join us at BRAHM every second Saturday from 11:00 am until 1:00 pm this winter and spring for directed studio time inspired by famous artists. Explore new styles and processes for making art. Meet new friends and express your creative side.
Free for the community. Reservations encouraged.
Afternoon Art: Matisse Goldfish
Tuesdays, 3:30 - 4:30 pm | Ideal for 6-12 year olds: Creative art-making activities highlighting a variety of artists and methods.
Mindfulness Meditation Group
Make time for yourself on Wednesday evenings for a weekly mindfulness and meditation Group. The gatherings will explore meditation, mindfulness and consciousness. Combining years of meditation practice experience with his lifelong passion of living in service to others, Eric Devrie will be guiding the weekly meditation group.
Doodlebug Club
1st & 3rd Thursdays, 9:30 - 10:30 am | Ideal for preschool-aged children & an adult: Process-based art activities plus storytime.
Surface Design on Fabric: Stamping, Stenciling, Screen printing
This event is in partnership with the Watauga County Project on Aging.
Surface Design on Fabric: Stamping, stenciling, screeprinting, monoprinting, and painting are all ways to create original designs on fabric. Students can select fabric from an assortment of cotton, rayon or silk, or provide their own fabric. We'll be using water- based, nontoxic inks and paints.
Cork & Canvas 1/24 Winterfest
Learn to paint in a relaxed atmosphere, inspired by “A Clear Winter.” Each participant goes home with a finished work of art. All materials, including canvasses, acrylic paint, brushes, and aprons, are provided. Our trained instructor will lead you step-by-step.
Wine, beer, and light snacks are complimentary.
Surface Design on Fabric: Stamping, Stenciling, Screen printing
This event is in partnership with the Watauga County Project on Aging.
Surface Design on Fabric: Stamping, stenciling, screeprinting, monoprinting, and painting are all ways to create original designs on fabric. Students can select fabric from an assortment of cotton, rayon or silk, or provide their own fabric. We'll be using water- based, nontoxic inks and paints.
Cork & Canvas 1/25 Winterfest
Learn to paint in a relaxed atmosphere, inspired by “A Clear Winter.” Each participant goes home with a finished work of art. All materials, including canvasses, acrylic paint, brushes, and aprons, are provided. Our trained instructor will lead you step-by-step.
Wine, beer, and light snacks are complimentary.
You CAN Draw
BRAHM is excited to welcome local children's book author Christine Nishiyama for a program called You CAN Draw! This program is presented in conjunction with the exhibition the Beulah Campbell Collection.
Cork & Canvas 2/14
Learn to paint in a relaxed atmosphere, inspired by “Novo Dio” Each participant goes home with a finished work of art. All materials, including canvasses, acrylic paint, brushes, and aprons, are provided. Our trained instructor will lead you step-by-step.
Wine, beer, and light snacks are complimentary.
Beulah Campbell's Legacy: Celebrating Children's Literature and Art
"Courtesy of University Archives, Appalachian State University"
About the Program:
Many believe that literature serves as a window to the world for children, and Beulah Campbell embodied that belief throughout her life. As a professor of elementary education at Appalachian State University, she understood the vital connection between illustrations and text in children's books. Over her 40-year career Beulah built a collection of original artwork by renowned children’s book illustrators, while also fostering a deep appreciation for children’s literature in her students. She developed lasting relationships with these authors and illustrators, bringing them to Boone to collaborate directly with her students. The artwork she collected reflected both the rich heritage of Appalachia and the diverse cultures of the United States, teaching future educators the importance of ensuring that students can see themselves represented in the books they read and the art they admire. Speakers Margaret Gregor and Jackie Eagleson will discuss Beulah’s legacy and the art she collected.
About the Speakers:
Margaret Gregor - Margaret Gregor is the Martha and Nancy Lee Bivens Distinguished Professor for Children and Reading at Appalachian State University and the Coordinator of the University Library’s Instructional Materials Center. She holds an MALS from the University of Kentucky and an Ed.D. in HIgher Education from the University of Virginia. Her research interests include children’s literature, information literacy instruction, and the value and impact of international librarian exchanges.
Jackie Eagleson - Jackie Eagleson is an Information Literacy Librarian for the Social Sciences and Assistant Professor at Appalachian State University. Jackie received her BA in American History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, MLIS from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and Graduate Certificate in Online Learning and Professional Development from Appalachian State University. Her research interests include information literacy, instructional technology, and children's literature.
Zoe & Cloyd Artist Songs of Our Grandfathers Talk
BRAHM is excited to host a 3-day artist residency with the band Zoe & Cloyd.
Zoe & Cloyd Songs of Our Grandfathers Concert at App Theatre - not at BRAHM
BRAHM is excited to host a 3-day artist residency with the band Zoe & Cloyd.
Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame
Music is an important thread in the fabric of our culture. Wilkes Heritage Museum Director, Jennifer Furr, will discuss the creation of the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame and how it links our region together.
Blue Ridge Ballads Revisited
This presentation and performance traces the history behind ballads from the Blue Ridge Mountains. While strongly associated with European and British Isles traditions, balladry in the Blue Ridge mountains of western North Carolina and southwestern Virginia reflects a broad range of cultural influences, including roots in and stories connected to African and Native American experiences.
Hatch Show Print: Every Poster Tells a Story
About the Program:
Hatch Show Print is a letterpress poster and design shop located in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1879, HSP is still designing and printing over 700 jobs a year, using the original wood type found on countless posters advertising live music, carnivals, circuses, and vaudeville and minstrel shows of years gone by, combined with hand carved imagery that spans the history of the shop. Though the 145 year old business is known for its twentieth century country music posters, the work the shop has put out over five generations in operation reflects changes in technology, communication arts, and commerce, as well as the evolution of popular entertainment.
About the Speaker:
Celene Aubry is the Director and Print Shop Manager at Hatch Show Print, one of America’s oldest surviving letterpress show poster and design shops. While the business thrives as a letterpress, expanded programming includes a visiting artist program, a gallery showcasing print-centric art, and hands-on tours and workshops from the education space. In between poster runs and whatnot, Celene also enjoys analog photography, making cyanotypes and van Dyke photo prints specifically.
About Hatch Show Print;
Opened in 1879, Hatch Show Print is recognized around the world for its nineteenth and twentieth century posters and billboards advertising the stars of country music, rock n’ roll, jazz, carnivals, circuses, and variety shows. This tradition continues today with its limited-edition prints and posters for shows and artists appearing live in the twenty-first century, as well as prints, cards, gifts and more designed by the shop’s staff who draw inspiration from the vast collection of wood and metal type and hand-carved print blocks created in the shop.
This program is made possible in part by a grant from America 250 NC, an initiative by the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
Cork & Canvas 5/16
Learn to paint in a relaxed atmosphere, inspired by Three Trees in Spring. Each participant goes home with a finished work of art. All materials, including canvasses, acrylic paint, brushes, and aprons, are provided. Our trained instructor will lead you step-by-step.
Wine, beer, and light snacks are complimentary.
Cork & Canvas 6/19
Learn to paint in a relaxed atmosphere, inspired by Farmhouse in a Wheat Field. Each participant goes home with a finished work of art. All materials, including canvasses, acrylic paint, brushes, and aprons, are provided. Our trained instructor will lead you step-by-step.
Wine, beer, and light snacks are complimentary.
Cork & Canvas 7/18
Learn to paint in a relaxed atmosphere, inspired by Charing Cross Bridge. Each participant goes home with a finished work of art. All materials, including canvasses, acrylic paint, brushes, and aprons, are provided. Our trained instructor will lead you step-by-step.
Wine, beer, and light snacks are complimentary.
2025 Blowing Rock Plein Air Festival
The Blowing Rock Plein Air Festival is a four-day, open enrollment plein air painting event. It takes place in the beautiful mountainous area surrounding the town of Blowing Rock in western North Carolina, from Tuesday, August 19, to Saturday, August 23th, 2025.
Clasped Weave Tapestry: Clasped weave
This art class is held in partnership with the Watauga County Project on Aging.
Clasped Weave Tapestry: Clasped weave, also called meet and part, is a traditional technique for weaving with two weft elements. Students can explore landscape themes to create pictorial weaving (tapestry).
Doodlebug Club
1st & 3rd Thursdays, 9:30 - 10:30 am | Ideal for preschool-aged children & an adult: Process-based art activities plus storytime.
Mindfulness Meditation Group
Make time for yourself on Wednesday evenings for a weekly mindfulness and meditation Group. The gatherings will explore meditation, mindfulness and consciousness. Combining years of meditation practice experience with his lifelong passion of living in service to others, Eric Devrie will be guiding the weekly meditation group.
Afternoon Art: Jaune Quick-to-See Smith- Memory Maps
Tuesdays, 3:30 - 4:30 pm | Ideal for 6-12 year olds: Creative art-making activities highlighting a variety of artists and methods.
Two-Headed Diver Exhibit Focus Tour
As the high country works to recover from disaster, join docent Sam Reep for an inspiring, mindful gallery experience that explores two artists’ struggles to triumph over adversity. Husband and wife team Rickie Barnett and Lynne Hobaica, collectively known as “Two Headed Diver,” live in the Spruce Pine area and were hard hit by Hurricane Helene. We’ll discuss how their artwork speaks to love, loss, and the resilience of the human spirit.
Community Expressive Arts - Zine Making Workshop
Ideal for anyone over 18: Creative art-making activities with an emphasis on expressing emotion through making a mixed media “zine.'“
Clasped Weave Tapestry: Clasped weave
This art class is held in partnership with the Watauga County Project on Aging.
Clasped Weave Tapestry: Clasped weave, also called meet and part, is a traditional technique for weaving with two weft elements. Students can explore landscape themes to create pictorial weaving (tapestry).
ARS POETICA II Reception
Come celebrate the artists and poets of ARS POETICA II exhibition!
Mindfulness Meditation Group
Make time for yourself on Wednesday evenings for a weekly mindfulness and meditation Group. The gatherings will explore meditation, mindfulness and consciousness. Combining years of meditation practice experience with his lifelong passion of living in service to others, Eric Devrie will be guiding the weekly meditation group.
Afternoon Art: Wendy Red Star - Portraits
Tuesdays, 3:30 - 4:30 pm | Ideal for 6-12 year olds: Creative art-making activities highlighting a variety of artists and methods.
Studio Saturdays - Cherokee Bears
Studio Saturdays
Youth aged 12-18 are invited to join us at BRAHM every second Saturday from 11:00 am until 1:00 pm this winter and spring for directed studio time inspired by famous artists. Explore new styles and processes for making art. Meet new friends and express your creative side.
Free for the community. Reservations encouraged.
Clasped Weave Tapestry: Clasped weave
This art class is held in partnership with the Watauga County Project on Aging.
Clasped Weave Tapestry: Clasped weave, also called meet and part, is a traditional technique for weaving with two weft elements. Students can explore landscape themes to create pictorial weaving (tapestry).
Doodlebug Club
1st & 3rd Thursdays, 9:30 - 10:30 am | Ideal for preschool-aged children & an adult: Process-based art activities plus storytime.
Mindfulness Meditation Group
Make time for yourself on Wednesday evenings for a weekly mindfulness and meditation Group. The gatherings will explore meditation, mindfulness and consciousness. Combining years of meditation practice experience with his lifelong passion of living in service to others, Eric Devrie will be guiding the weekly meditation group.
Afternoon Art: Cherokee Bears
Tuesdays, 3:30 - 4:30 pm | Ideal for 6-12 year olds: Creative art-making activities highlighting a variety of artists and methods.
Sit and Stitch - High Country Fiber Meet Up
Bring your own supplies and projects to work on and workshop with the group! Bring friends or make new ones.
Ready to start a new project? Why not try some winter weather items for folks heavily affected by the storm?
Vibrant Landscapes Workshop in Watermedia with Lyudmila “Lucy” Clark
Embark on a colorful journey into the world of vibrant landscape painting, where the beauty of nature comes alive on canvas. Led by acclaimed artist Lyudmila Tomova Clark, a.k.a. Lucy, this workshop invites you to explore the dynamic interplay of color, light, and form, as you learn to capture the essence of landscapes with energy and expression.
Designed for artists of all levels, this workshop offers a hands-on exploration of techniques to infuse your landscapes with vibrancy and life. Whether you prefer watercolor, acrylic, or oil, you will discover how to use color boldly and confidently to evoke mood, atmosphere, and emotion in your artwork. Under Lyudmila's expert guidance, you will learn to see the world with fresh eyes, find inspiration in the vivid hues of nature, and translate them onto your canvas with passion and creativity. From sweeping vistas to intimate scenes, you will learn to compose compelling compositions that draw viewers into your world and leave a lasting impression.
Mindfulness Meditation Group
Make time for yourself on Wednesday evenings for a weekly mindfulness and meditation Group. The gatherings will explore meditation, mindfulness and consciousness. Combining years of meditation practice experience with his lifelong passion of living in service to others, Eric Devrie will be guiding the weekly meditation group.
Afternoon Art
Tuesdays, 3:30 - 4:30 pm | Ideal for 6-12 year olds: Creative art-making activities highlighting a variety of artists and methods.
BRAHM & Firelight Books present: An Evening with Frances Mayes
This event has sold out. If you would like to join the waitlist please contact Willard Watson, BRAHM programs director at Programs@blowingrockmuseum.org or 828-295-9099 ext. 3006.
Join us for an intimate evening with New-York Times best-selling author Frances Mayes. She'll be talking about her life and her newest novel, “A Great Marriage.”
Tickets include a copy of the book, a glass of wine and light refreshments.
About the Book:
A Great Marriage
When a perfect wedding is called off just days before the big event, it sends two people—and their families—reeling, in this poignant novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Under the Tuscan Sun and Women in Sunlight
A great marriage is an elusive thing, and only a few know the secret to making one.
Dara Willcox, in New York for a weekend, meets Austin Clarke at an art gallery. If love at first sight can happen, it happens to them. These two vivid, ambitious people are on different courses—he’s British, working temporarily in New York. She’s from North Carolina, set on law school. They don’t care. They will make their lives together happen. At their April engagement dinner at Dara’s family home, her mother, Lee, sets a beautiful table, and the family and close friends gather to celebrate. Rich, Dara’s father, raises a toast. Suddenly, Lee spills the wine, a brilliant red stain splashing onto the tablecloth and onto Austin.
Days later, Austin hears unsettling news from London that wrecks their plans. Dara abruptly cancels the wedding. She refuses to reveal the reason, not even to her best friends or her parents or grandmother, disrupting their family tradition of openness. As everyone knows, Lee and Rich have a great marriage, and Charlotte, her grandmother, had a colossal one, to the late Senator Mann. Charlotte literally wrote the book on the subject: She’s the author of international bestsellers on what makes a good or possibly a great marriage.
While Dara escapes to California and Indigo Island, South Carolina, Austin, back in London, faces a major tragedy, the consequences of which are life-altering. But it’s Lee, Dara’s mother, whose impulsive visit to London alters their fate.
With her signature warmth, humor, and incisive style, beloved author Frances Mayes creates a multigenerational probe into the complexity of love and the great mystery ride of marriage. A novel of casual choices and fateful consequences, A Great Marriage introduces two unforgettable families and the arrival of a stranger who rearranges their futures.
About the Author:
Frances Mayes is the author of the now-classic Under the Tuscan Sun, which was a New York Times bestseller for more than two and a half years and became a Touchstone movie starring Diane Lane. Other international bestsellers include: “Bella Tuscany,” “Everyday in Tuscany,” “A Year in the World,” and three illustrated books: “In Tuscany,” “Bringing Tuscany Home,” and “The Tuscan Sun Cookbook.” She is also the author of two novels, “Swan” and “Women in Sunlight.” She has written six books of poetry and “The Discovery of Poetry.” The most recent books are “See You in the Piazza” and “Always Italy.” Her books have been translated into more than fifty languages.
Postponed — Blowing Rock History Exhibit Reveal
This event has been postponed to a later date. All existing registrations will be honored for the new date.
Ashlee Lanier, guest curator of the Blowing Rock History Exhibit will discuss the process involved in reimagining the history exhibit. A multi-year collaboration between BRAHM and the Blowing Rock Historical Society has produced a wonderful new experience for the museum's patrons. This talk will cover the ins and outs of working as a public historian in Appalachia, as well as their favorite tidbits from the new exhibition.
About the Speaker:
Ashlee Lanier was born and raised in Wilmington, North Carolina. She's had a love of history from a young age and after receiving a BA in Osteoarchaeology from North Carolina State University in 2014 she decided to focus on museums and collections work. Lanier received her Master's in Public History from Appalachian State University and immediately delved into the museum world professionally.
She has worked for a variety of museums and historic sites up and down the east coast from an underwater archaeology center, a historic mill museum, a bluegrass museum, and a handful of other unique institutions.
Ashlee has been the Exhibits Curator for The North Carolina Arboretum located in Asheville, NC since 2018. She is particularly passionate about film history, film preservation, and the history of World War I. Lanier and her husband, Graham reside in Asheville.
Free and open to the public. Online registration requested.
Mindfulness Meditation Group
Make time for yourself on Wednesday evenings for a weekly mindfulness and meditation Group. The gatherings will explore meditation, mindfulness and consciousness. Combining years of meditation practice experience with his lifelong passion of living in service to others, Eric Devrie will be guiding the weekly meditation group.
Afternoon Art
Tuesdays, 3:30 - 4:30 pm | Ideal for 6-12 year olds: Creative art-making activities highlighting a variety of artists and methods.
Facing the White Canvas: Maud Gatewood documentary screening
The Hard Edge & The Soft Line: A Retrospective of Maud Gatewood. Gallery View. 2024.
Join us for a screening of Facing the White Canvas: Maud Gatewood followed by an opportunity for a guided tour of the exhibit.
Audience members over the age of 21 will get a chance to enjoy BRAHM’s signature Maud Gatewood Cocktail, our variation on a Sea Breeze.
About the film:
In this revealing documentary, Maud Gatewood gives us insight into the determination and creative process that have led to her becoming one of the most admired painters to emerge from the American South. For over 50 years Maud Gatewood has been an inspired laborer, producing an extraordinary body of work. Honors have come to her as a painter, an advocate of the arts, and an active citizen.
Gatewood is known for being tough and demanding, yet in her paintings, reverence and tenderness seep into every rendering of landscape and people. Through her eyes we become acquainted with the passion for landscape and the human condition which powers her works. Looking at her paintings, we get a feeling for the woman behind them. She is revealed as empathetic and complex. From her roots in the small town of Yanceyville in the North Carolina Piedmont to her excursions around the globe, Maud Gatewood has explored subjects and techniques as a painter, a teacher, and a traveler. She has not only an observant eye but the extraordinary talent required to select and interpret the interaction between nature’s forces and mankind.
The subject of this film is a woman both uniquely gifted and ordinary, a woman who has faced the white canvas of her paintings and her life with vision and fortitude.
It’s when you see a big mass of Maud’s work and really start reflecting on it that you do feel it’s very centered in this sense of the land and of what’s enduring behind the whole human enterprise.
--Reynolds Price (North Carolina poet and novelist)
Community Expressive Arts Session - Adults
Ideal for anyone over 18: Creative art-making activities with an emphasis on expressing emotion
Community Expressive Arts Session - Youth
Ideal for 6-16 year olds: Creative art-making activities with an emphasis on expressing emotion
Doodlebug Club
1st & 3rd Thursdays, 9:30 - 10:30 am | Ideal for preschool-aged children & an adult: Process-based art activities plus storytime.
Mindfulness Meditation Group
Make time for yourself on Wednesday evenings for a weekly mindfulness and meditation Group. The gatherings will explore meditation, mindfulness and consciousness. Combining years of meditation practice experience with his lifelong passion of living in service to others, Eric Devrie will be guiding the weekly meditation group.
Afternoon Art
Tuesdays, 3:30 - 4:30 pm | Ideal for 6-12 year olds: Creative art-making activities highlighting a variety of artists and methods.