Asheville Art Museum: Asheville, North Carolina

Worth a visit! In a visitor-friendly town

By Davidhuffcreative - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0 — Asheville Art Museum. A museum worth visiting

Towns like Asheville, North Carolina, population 94,00, don't always have a well-designed museum, filled with worthy art, rooftop views, and a cafe. The Asheville Art Museum is worth a visit!

The numerous windows, wide open staircases, and expansive spaces, are the result of a major renovation that began in 2016 with the museum re-opening in 2019. The renovation incorporated the previous building which was originally a library from the early 20th century.

Window at the Asheville Art Museum opening onto Pack Square — The Oculus, Asheville Art Museum

The Oculus, one of the new spaces, is an excellent viewing spot--a 15 foot high viewing window where you feel like you're stepping out into Pack Place, the center of downtown Asheville.

The collection of more than 7,500 works of art and an additional archival collection of nearly 5,000 archival drawings is from the 20th and 21st centuries. About half comes from the Southeastern part of the United States.

The exhibits are a combination of permanent and temporary. Works include paintings, sculpture, photographs, decorative arts, prints, drawings. Some of the artists in the collection include Annie Albers, Sallie Middleton, Will Henry Stevens, Robert Rauschenberg, and William Waldo Dodge, Jr.

Additional Info

Hospitality: Staff are friendly and helpful. You can easily make reservations online to visit, but you can also drop in and purchase your ticket. While there is seating, and more has been added recently, there are some spaces with no place to sit and contemplate the art.

Rooftop seating, Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, North Carolina — Rooftop at the Asheville Art Museum

Mental Wellness: The open spaces, delightful nooks and crannies, and windows onto downtown Asheville provide a pleasant sense of calm and relaxation.

Surprises: The Perspective Cafe has a small but surprisingly fun menu! There's also an outdoor rooftop seating area. Be sure to stand in the Oculus, the window on the third floor where you "step out" into Pack Square. And skip the stairs and take the elevator so you can see the art work covering the walls.

Website: Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, North Carolina

Have you been to the Asheville Art Museum? What impressed you?

[Note: The photo of the front facade of the Asheville Art Museum is by Davidhuffcreative - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0.]