Asheville Art Museum
ReRe invited me to go see the ‘Wyeth Exhibition’ at the Asheville Art Museum (an exhibition of multiple generations of Wyeth artists’ paintings).
I headed up to the “Casa de Donner” (aka my parents' house) on a Thursday night & stayed over. The accommodations were nice, but I was a little upset that I didn’t have turn-down service and voiced my concerns to my parents the next morning at breakfast - before ReRe & I headed out to the Museum.
So once we arrived in downtown AVL we found a parking lot right off Biltmore Ave. (But there’s also one off Market Street that’s pretty close.) The one off Biltmore Ave. is the one with all the tiny cars (see photo below for reference).
After admiring the grand architecture of the Museum facade & the large glass ball outside, we excitedly headed in through the main entry glass doors & checked in with the lady at the desk. (ReRe had purchased tickets online in advance - so we just needed to get our stickers to enter the Wyeth exhibit).
Immediately we headed to the ‘Perspective (rooftop) Cafe’ - on the 4th floor of the museum. The cafe has an amazing view of the Blue Ridge Mountains & a super scrumptious menu - abundant with fresh salads, wraps, and vegan options.
I had the ‘Vegetable Hummus Wrap’. It was absolutely delicious, abundantly wholesome & fresh.
The wrap was made with quinoa, fresh veggies, some pickled things & such, and local ‘Roots’ hummus. Quite possibly the best veggie wrap I’ve had in all my lives.
The rooftop patio is the perfect place to get some landscape photos or enjoy the view.
It was *so* peaceful - there was a couple quietly enjoying coffee at a bistro table out on the patio.
I headed over to the ledge of the rooftop to bask in the mountain air and take some mountain photos when my dress flew up due to the refreshing mountain breeze.
I was really into my photography sesh, so didn’t notice my dress had been coming up over my boy shorts until it came up all the way to my bra - that’s when the (seemingly) nice couple got up and left.
(If you’re reading this - random people simply trying to enjoy the serene & beautiful Asheville topography on a lovely quiet afternoon, I sincerely apologize.)
So anyway - after taking some photos, I sat back down with ReRe (who was also visibly horrified from my dress debacle). “You saw that?” I asked. “I did,” she replied as she stared down at her sandwich, expressionless.
I decided to break the ice by saying, “I’d like to see the haunted section of the exhibition.” “What section?” ReRe asked. “The haunted section,” I replied.
We headed down to the 3rd floor of the museum & into the Wyeth exhibition.
Naturally, I skipped over the seascapes and headed to the haunted section.
My favorites from the haunted section were;
"Pumpkinhead Meets Lighthouse"
"Grown man being touched by shadow of random museum-goer lady"
"Blood in Bowl"
"Rip Van winkle vs. My Handbag"
"Don’t fucking talk to me; I’m with my crow friends."
*I’ve had renamed the photos to my liking, not actual names of photographs*
"#86" (by Jamie Wyeth) was my *absolute favorite* painting in the *entire* museum. The caption describes that Jamie likes to paint the “hostile side of nature”. You go, Jamie - you animal advocate, you! (#86 *is* the actual name of this painting.)
Stop by the ‘Charmed’ gift boutique off Biltmore Ave. - on your way back to your vehicle - they’ve got some pretty fancy candles, appropriate gift cards & other fun goods for sale.
After leaving Asheville & the museum - I was so inspired by NC Wyeths ‘Rip Van Winkle’ oil painting I decided to fall asleep under a tall oak tree in my parents' gated golf community - in hopes I would wake from my slumber 20 years later once the current world had ended & Paradise had fully formed.
I *actually* woke up to security guards asking me why I was crying in the fetal position outside the community gym. (I do weird things when I sleep). When I explained to them that I was hoping to pull an “Asheville Art Museum inspired Rip Van Winkle” they were like, “oh yeah, ok - that makes sense… enjoy your slumber.” & I fell back asleep in the grassy knoll.
Note; the Wyeth exhibition travels & is onto its next destination. That being said; Asheville Art Museum houses lots of other super neat stuff. Like this gun shooting hearts and turning into a werewolf - que snake in background;
