Arts in Highlands NC and Cashiers NC
Both professional and community theater keep playgoers entertained while music festivals, Chamber music and bluegrass music can also be enjoyed year-round. Highlands NC and Cashiers NC has always attracted visual artists thanks to the luxuriant setting, and the number of fine art galleries encourage collectors to make frequent forays. There are writers’ groups, lectures and classes of all types. Search below to get your creativity fix.
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.
Leslie Jeffery
Leslie Jeffery’s vibrant abstract paintings – shaped by a lifetime of color, movement, and mountain inspiration – invite viewers into a world where form dissolves and emotion leads the way.
Shaping Clay, Shaping Community
After 15 years at The Bascom, ceramics director Frank Vickery has shaped a thriving, welcoming studio where artists of all ages discover the joy of clay and community.
Music That Moves a Community
The Highlands‑Cashiers Chamber Music Festival’s spring residency brings the Terra String Quartet into schools, senior centers, and community spaces to share world‑class chamber music up close. The program continues the festival’s long tradition of fostering connection through artistry.
JAM in the Mountains
Blue Ridge JAM gives local students a musical pathway rooted in Appalachian heritage, offering instrument instruction, cultural enrichment, and community connection for young musicians.
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.