Bianca Mitchell, Director of Marketing, The Bascom: A Center for the Visual Arts
July at The Bascom
The Bascom’s July lineup brings free exhibitions, hands‑on workshops, community events, and family‑friendly art experiences to its Highlands campus.
Community Day, Crafted Together
The Bascom hosts Community Day on Friday, July 3, filling its six‑acre campus with free art activities, demonstrations, exhibitions, and hands‑on creativity for all ages.
Art for Everyone
From glassblowing to quilt‑making, The Bascom’s July 3 Community Day offers a lively, free afternoon of creativity.
The Bascom and Blue Ridge National Heritage Area Present Connecting to Place: Blue Ridge Craft Trails Invitational 2026
Juried exhibition brings 20 craft makers from across Western North Carolina to Highlands, May 16–July 25
Design in the Making
Emerging Designer Elena Rizek brings her layered, expressive style to new projects at The Bascom this summer.
The Bascom Opens Photography Resident Exhibition April 18 with Free Artist Talk
The Bascom: A Center for the Visual Arts will open a new exhibition by Photography Resident Dean Kessmann on Saturday, April 18, 2026, in the Joel Gallery, with a free public artist talk at 3:00 p.m. Kessmann is a Professor of Photography at The George Washington University’s Corcoran School of the Arts and Design who spent his spring 2026 sabbatical in residence at The Bascom, his first formal artist residency in nearly two decades.
Realism to Abstraction
The Bascom’s spring–summer exhibition showcases Photography Resident Dean Kessmann’s quietly transformative images, works that blur the line between representation and abstraction while inviting viewers into a slower, more attentive way of seeing.
