Community Calendar

What does it mean to care deeply while participating—directly or indirectly—in systems that cause harm?

Author Melanie D.G. Kaplan joins us to share her new book Lab Dog, the remarkable story of a beagle's past, and the future of animal research. In conversation with local chef Jason Sellers, Melanie will help us grapple with our relationship to a species we love and exploit, while giving us a reason for hope. This event will include adopted beagles who were bred for use in research.

In Lab Dog: A Beagle and His Human Investigate the Surprising World of Animal Research, journalist Melanie weaves together memoir, investigative reporting, and ethical inquiry. The story begins with a beagle she loves—and unfolds into a searching exploration of the scientific, legal, and moral systems that shape how animals are used in research.

What does it mean to care deeply while participating—directly or indirectly—in systems that cause harm?

Author Melanie D.G. Kaplan joins us to share her new book Lab Dog, the remarkable story of a beagle's past, and the future of animal research. In conversation with local chef Jason Sellers, Melanie will help us grapple with our relationship to a species we love and exploit, while giving us a reason for hope. This event will include adopted beagles who were bred for use in research.

In Lab Dog: A Beagle and His Human Investigate the Surprising World of Animal Research, journalist Melanie weaves together memoir, investigative reporting, and ethical inquiry. The story begins with a beagle she loves—and unfolds into a searching exploration of the scientific, legal, and moral systems that shape how animals are used in research.

Melanie D.G. Kaplan is a former MIT Knight Science Journalism Fellow and Vermont Law School Animal Law Media Fellow, who brings rare access and clarity to a world most of us never see: laboratories, regulatory bodies, scientists, activists, and the quiet contradictions many well-meaning people live with when care, progress, suffering, and necessity collide. https://melaniedgkaplan.com

Jason Sellers is the owner and chef at Plant, a James Beard Award-recognized restaurant in North Asheville. https://plantisfood.com

Meredith Parks is a multifaceted singer-songwriter and performer from Gastonia, North Carolina. After spending the first part of her career working in Los Angeles as an actress and background singer, she re-energized her focus on her own music, resulting in her debut album Trying to Find My Way. Her musical approach blends a mix of genres, aiming to match the emotional ups and downs of her personal journey with a wide range of powerhouse vocals and intimate storytelling. Trying To Find My Way is available on all streamers now.

We host a house show in our basement, we been doing this for 15 years now and Amanda was our 1st ever house show. We are open to the public, doors at 6, we serve good at 7 (on us) and music starts around 8:30. Tickets available on Freshtix.

Datrian Johnson and Mike Rhodes Fellowship

The word craft-itarianism was coined by 2026 Center for Craft Curatorial Fellow Alyssa Velazquez to name artistic projects that generate employment, raise awareness, or offer therapeutic support through craft. These programs provide a space where people affected by addiction, incarceration, and gun violence can find solidarity while learning a skill.

Craft-itarianism: Community Action Through Craft celebrates nonprofits and artists who believe in—and actively practice—the power of craft to support and empower individuals and communities.

This exhibition was curated by 2026 Center for Craft Curatorial Fellow Alyssa Velazquez. Launched in 2017, the Curatorial Fellowship supports emerging curators exploring new ideas about craft with mentorship, professional development, and a $5,000 honorarium to realize an exhibition.

On view February 27, 2026–September 27, 2026.

This is an exhibition of multiple artists works as they pertain to the interpretation of relationships between color and mood. Consider the emotional power of color and the way it evokes story, atmosphere and meaning. This exhibition hopes to reveal a playful and experimental interaction through color's ability to shape perceptions and influence emotions. 

Join us for our 3rd annual ADULT spelling bee at Leveller Brewing Co! It will be held on Sunday, April 12th kicking off right at 5pm! The winner will receive the 2026 crown and the cash pot! To sign up, please email katarina@levellerbrewing.com and Katarina will provide you with everything you need. If you've been to this event in the past, you know it fills up QUICK so get here early! We are buzzzz-ing with excitement! $5 entry fee.

"Cosmic Charlie really is a great band - these guys do this music the way it should be done: having the conversation in their own voices.”
--David Gans, Grateful Dead Hour
Cosmic Charlie was born in the musical Mecca of Athens, Georgia. From its summer 1999 inception, the band swiftly cemented its reputation as a band that puts a unique and personal twist on the Grateful Dead catalogue. Cosmic Charlie is a Dead cover band for folks that are ambivalent about Dead cover bands.
Rather than mimicking the Dead exactly, Cosmic Charlie chooses to tap into the Dead’s energy and style as a foundation on which to build. The result is a healthy balance of creativity and tradition, where both the band and its audience are taken to that familiar edge with the sense that, music is actually being MADE here tonight.
Moving and shaking even the most skeptical of Deadheads, Cosmic Charlie storms into a town and plays with an energy that eludes other bands, an energy that sometimes eluded the Dead themselves. Those precious moments during Dead jams when the synchronicity is there and all is right with the world--these are the moments that Cosmic Charlie relishes and feverishly welcomes with open arms.
Clearly, Cosmic Charlie’s audiences are also eager to partake in these moments, and together with the band, they have indulged in many memorable evenings. Most nights, Cosmic Charlie walks onstage without a setlist, not even knowing what the first song will be. Any Dead tune can rear its head at any moment, and fan requests are always welcome. “INSPIRATION, MOVE ME BRIGHTLY" is Cosmic Charlie’s mantra, allowing the music to truly play the band.

A Multi-Media Journey of Resilience, Fiber Art, and Painting by Julie Miles

Three summers ago, in a lightkeeper’s house-turned-museum off the coast of Maine, Julie Miles was asked a simple but piercing question: “Who are you outside of your family?”
“Made of This” is her answer.
After an eight-year hiatus from painting to support her family through her husband’s early-onset Parkinson’s diagnosis, Miles returns to her artistic practice with work rooted in resilience, devotion, and rediscovery. What began as an homage to her farming grandparents evolved into an immersive exploration of material, labor, and belonging.
For this body of work, Miles learned to process and spin raw wool, dye fibers with plants over an open fire, and weave twill cloth on a vintage four-shaft loom. She turned to pinhole photography to create self-portraits in the landscapes of her Michigan youth—beaches, open fields, and rural expanses that echo memory and identity.
Blending fiber, photography, and painting, “Made of This” honors both the harshness and tenderness of life. It invites viewers to dwell in the quiet space where grief and joy coexist, where materials “dictate” their own becoming, and where loving it all—labor, loss, beauty, play—leads to a life well lived.
Join us for the opening reception on April 3rd and experience a powerful return to art shaped by devotion, discovery, and the enduring act of making.

April 3 – 26
Monday – Friday, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Reception: April 3, 5:00 – 6:30 PM
at the Black Mountain Center for the Arts