River Arts District
Asheville, North Carolina
Along the French Broad River in Asheville, North Carolina, is an arts community that over the past 40 years has become a major hub for artists in the United States. The River Arts District, as it is known to today, began its renaissance in the late 1970s with Bill Goacher and his wife, who purchased many of the industrial properties as an investment and began to rent the spaces to artists. In the mid-1980s, Highwater Clays became the first arts-based business in the city, and in 1987 Porge and Peter Buck purchased a building they named Warehouse Studios.
Over the next decade, the region continued to thrive with many other artists purchasing buildings in the city. These spaces not only became places where they worked, but where other artists rented studios and created their art. In 1994, the district held its first Studio Stroll. Today the event is the largest in the River Arts District with more than 220 artists opening their studios to the public during the second full weekend in November. For 2019, the Studio Stroll will happen November 9 and 10 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., both days.
In 2005 the River Arts District experienced a burst in growth, with the majority of the industrial buildings built at the turn of the 20th century now being artist spaces. The repurposing of meat factories, textile warehouses, general stores and more, has allowed for unique characteristics in the properties and outstanding renovations to nearly blank-slate interiors for the artists who call the city home.
Art found within the district is not just restricted to the studios walls. Artists have painted their building facades, there are outdoor sculptures on sidewalks and tucked away in alcoves and murals can be found around every corner. Some are painted on shipping containers and others are sculptural in nature, beckoning visitors inside the studios.
In addition to the annual Studio Stroll, the River Arts District hosts Second Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every month. During the events, there are gallery exhibitions, demonstrations, workshops, live music, wine tastings and more. Visitors can walk the mile-long district or hop on and off the free trolley between 11 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. to visit the 23 buildings that house artists working in countless mediums, styles and genres.