Professor Carolyn Ford To Be Featured In New Art Museum's Exhibition

Limestone College Professor of Art Carolyn Ford will have her artwork featured in the inaugural exhibit “Appalachia Now! An Interdisciplinary Survey of Contemporary Art in Southern Appalachia” for the new Asheville Art Museum opening later this month.

“Appalachia Now!” will be the first exhibition in the new museum that opens on Thursday, Nov. 14. The exhibition provides a regional snapshot of the art of the 21st century – a collective survey of contemporary Southern Appalachian culture.

The exhibition explores the consolidation of tradition and present-day perspectives existent in contemporary artistic representations of life in this region. It will celebrate contemporary artists living and working in Southern Appalachia, focusing on Asheville as a nucleus of creativity within the broader area of its adjacent states of Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Overall, the museum researched over 700 artists for consideration in the exhibition. The selected 50 artists, including Ford, represent all media, including painting, sculpture, new media, dance, and film. The artists were selected through recommendations from regional museums, curators, art organizations, and through an open submission process.

“I am honored to be one of the selected artists in this juried exhibit that will represent the region,” Ford said. “Although much of my work is about wanderlust and travel experiences, in observing other country's unique culture, the narrative of this body of work featured in this exhibition has branched into depictions of appreciation of home, heritage, traditions, crafts, and folklore. When learning abroad, I find that those key elements are repeated, yet vary per location, uniting all cultures.

“Support of the arts and fostering a greater appreciation of arts and crafts as historical signifiers is so important not only in exhibitions like this, but also in the schools from elementary to university,” she continued. “From fine tuning motor skills to communication, marketing, historical documentation, or therapy, art has its place if we open our minds and value its worth. I'd like to thank our Limestone College President Dr. Darrell Parker for his efforts and energy in updating our labs so that our students can experience a craft rich in tradition, but evolving, in contemporary art.”

The Chair of the College’s Art Department, Ford has worked at Limestone since 2003, serving almost 10 years as Department Chair and Exhibition Curator.

The Asheville Art Museum is located in downtown Asheville. Admission is $15. Visit www.ashevilleart.org for more information.