The Bascom: A Center for the Visual Arts

09/02/2026

More than 60 members of the Art League of Highlands-Cashiers gathered on The Bascom's Terrace Monday to hear from botanical and scientific illustrator Margie Bauer.

Bauer walked through her own path first: years working as a chemist and traveling internationally to promote American agriculture, before returning full time to the art of plants that had drawn her in from the start. A short film from PlantPop captured that journey, and Bauer shared it with the group before turning to her current work in watercolor, pen and ink, fabric art, and mixed media.

She then led the room through a Zentangle exercise before moving to her sewing machine for a quilting demonstration, piecing hand-dyed fabric into the layered botanical work she's known for.

Learn more about the Art League at artleaguehighlands-cashiers.com.

Art League of Highlands Cashiers

09/01/2026

Built by the Community, For the Community

For more than forty years, The Bascom has brought art, connection, and creative experience to the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau. "Framing the Future" is how we make sure that continues: an all-weather Terrace for gatherings in every season, and a stronger endowment to protect free access to exhibitions, education, and outreach.

Your investment in The Bascom's future makes a lasting impact on our Plateau communities and visitors to our region as The Bascom creates visual art experiences that inspire and empower us all through seeing, thinking, and doing. Would you consider joining us in support of this important endeavor? Every gift matters in the collective impact of generosity. Every donation is deeply appreciated!

Learn more at TheBascom.org/framingthefuture

With gratitude,
David Bock and Mark Mahaffey
Framing the Future Campaign Co-Chairs

Visit Highlands NC Jamie Temples Raynor Cashiers Area Chamber Visit North Carolina

08/30/2026

Five days of building larger-than-life ceramic heads wrapped up Friday in the Studio Barn.

Ceramic artist Thaddeus Erdahl, one of three featured artists at last fall's Bascom Clay Symposium, returned to Highlands to lead the workshop. The focus was expression rather than exact likeness, using gesture, exaggeration, and surface to communicate mood and character. Participants worked both solid and on armatures, covering structure, proportion, and armature logic, with instruction on when to refine and when to distort and how to keep the hand visible in the finished work.

The week opened with a low-fire soda firing. Participants brought bisque-fired pieces to include, and instructor-made test tiles went in alongside them to show the effects of surface and atmosphere before those insights were applied to the sculpted heads. Several participants took part in the firing and soda spraying.

Don't miss upcoming opportunities to gather around clay, including the Bascom Clay Symposium on Saturday, September 26, with Alexander Thierry, Andrew Godfrey Shaw, and Tiffany Thomas. Demonstrations run 10 a.m. to noon and 1:30 to 4 p.m. The event is free, learn more at TheBascom.org.

08/29/2026

For sixteen years, late summer in Highlands has meant dahlias. This year, The Bascom hosts the 16th Annual Dazzling Dahlia Festival September 10–12, with a Single Bloom Competition, Studio Pottery Show, workshops, and a floral design showcase on campus. Full details at TheBascom.org.

The festival falls during Dahlia Week (week of September 6), Mayor Patrick Taylor's annual proclamation honoring dahlias' place in Highlands. Any business is welcome to join in: put a dahlia vignette in your window or by your entrance, no obligation, no judging.

Posters, social cards, and rack cards are available at The Bascom or at bit.ly/dahliamediakit. Tag if you post your vignette and we'll share it.

08/28/2026

Thank you Rotary Club of Highlands for inviting us to speak about the upcoming Dazzling Dahlia Festival. We so enjoyed being in the company of friends and sharing a delicious lunch together.

To learn more about the Dazzling Dahlia Festival, visit us at thebascom.org.

The Rotary Club of Highlands recently enjoyed an informative presentation hosted by club member and Bascom Executive Direction Billy Love, covering the upcoming Dazzling Dahlia Festival. The Festival, celebrating its 16th year, will take place September 10th to 12th with all events at The Bascom, A Center for the Visual Arts.

Details for the Dazzling Dahlia Festival can be found on The Bascom’s website at

https://thebascom.org/all-events/events-by-type/special-events/dazzling-dahlia-festival-2026. Admission and all programs are free to the public.

08/28/2026

This exhibition honors the women whose artistic contributions have shaped, strengthened, and expanded the cultural landscape of the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau and the broader Southern Appalachian region. Bringing together works across media, Voices of Influence reflects the impact of women as artists, mentors, teachers, and community builders, and highlights their creative legacies.

Through diverse materials and approaches, participating artists explore the many ways women’s creativity informs both personal expression and collective identity. The exhibition considers the relationship between artistic practice and place, acknowledging how the mountain environment has long nurtured women’s artmaking and how, in turn, their work has shaped the region’s artistic character.

Intergenerational themes thread throughout the exhibition as traditions are carried forward, reinterpreted, or newly imagined. Resilience, identity, and transformation surface in many forms, inviting viewers to reflect on the evolving narrative of women in the arts and the imprint of their creative voices.

Voices of Influence: Celebrating the Impact of Women in Art is on view in Thompson Gallery through November 28. Join us for the Fall Reception on Thursday, September 10, from 5–6:30 p.m., celebrating the fall season's exhibitions. Light refreshments served. Free and open to all.

08/27/2026

Blue ribbon talks, three new exhibitions, and jewelry by Kate Furman — all this September. - https://mailchi.mp/thebascom.org/thesocialedit082726

08/27/2026

September Classes: Dahlias in Paint, Clay, and Collage - https://mailchi.mp/thebascom.org/theclassedit082726

08/26/2026

In the summer of 1951, Jo Sandman studied painting with Robert Motherwell and Ben Shahn, drawing with Joseph Fiore, and photography with Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind. One season at Black Mountain College. She later called it galvanizing, and it settled the question of what she would do with her life.

What followed was a studio practice of more than sixty years, moving between painting, drawing, experimental sculpture, installation, and photography, always guided by curiosity about what a material could be asked to do.

Jo Sandman/TRACES with Black Mountain College is on view in Bunzl Gallery through January 9. Join us for the Fall Reception on Thursday, September 10, at 5 p.m. to celebrate the season's exhibitions. Free and open to all.