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ArtsvilleUSA

ArtsvilleUSA

Written by: ArtsvilleUSA
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Straight from the Blue Ridge Mountains, join host Elise Wilson from ArtsvilleUSA for a top-ranked craftsmanship podcast exploring heritage craft, contemporary art, and the stories behind Western North Carolina artists. Create a deeper connection to artists and the arts history of WNC as we explore handcrafted pottery, woodworking, glass blowing, metal sculpture, from Asheville, Boone, and beyond. Listen now and celebrate creativity with ArtsvilleUSA.Copyright 2026 ArtsvilleUSA Art
Episodes
  • Spencer Beals Mobilizes Art in Defense of the UNC Asheville Woods

    Spencer Beals Mobilizes Art in Defense of the UNC Asheville Woods
    Jul 22 2026

    In Asheville, a battle is playing out over a 45-acre forest bordering UNC Asheville and the Five Points neighborhood, a haven for tricolored bats, box turtles, bobcats, and great horned owls, less than a mile from downtown. The controversy reached a turning point when, as recently reported by Asheville Watchdog, a university-appointed advisory committee recommended against building a large-scale stadium on the site, calling the project “misaligned with UNCA’s identity” and urging the school to prioritize student housing, retail, open community space, and the preservation of green areas. Still, new development proposals continue to threaten this patch of urban wilderness, keeping it at the center of one of Asheville’s most heated land use debates.

    At the heart of the fight to protect the woods is Spencer Beals, a local artist with a background in ecosystem sustainability and a lifelong passion for nature. Last December, he gathered more than 30 local artists for “Batland,” a guerrilla installation of over 40 painted wooden bats, placed secretly by night on branches throughout the woods. Spencer and his collaborators created detailed, hand-drawn maps—now on view in full at the ArtsvilleUSA gallery wall at the Ferguson Family YMCA—and stashed them in a homemade outdoor library, transforming the forest into a massive scavenger hunt for families, students, and neighbors.

    Spencer leads nature journaling clubs along these trails, helps organize rallies, and works closely with Save the UNCA Woods, a community group that’s collected over 17,000 petition signatures and flooded city boards with letters. He consults with wildlife biologists and listens to longtime residents who say they’ve never seen so many people in the woods.

    Now, Spencer is speaking with Elise Wilson, executive director of ArtsvilleUSA, about the intersection of art, advocacy, and community building in Asheville. Their conversation explores how artists can shape public discourse, mobilize communities, and influence the fate of the city’s remaining green spaces.

    Episode Credits

    Host: Elise Wilson, ArtsvilleUSA Executive Director

    Guest: Spencer Beals, artist and environmental advocate

    Produced by: ArtsvilleUSA / Arterial Inc.

    Audio editing: Maggi Van Dorn

    Newsletter: Subscribe to the ArtsvilleUSA Newsletter for more stories and updates on the arts and crafts scene in Western North Carolina.
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    40 mins
  • RED Metal Rising: Rachel David on Art as Activism in the Public Sphere

    RED Metal Rising: Rachel David on Art as Activism in the Public Sphere
    Jun 24 2026

    If you’ve ever rounded a corner in Asheville and come face-to-face with a monumental ripple of forged steel, chances are you’ve stumbled across the handiwork of Rachel David of RED Metal. In a city teeming with murals and microbreweries, her abstract public sculpture “Fluvial”—a centerpiece of ArtsvilleUSA’s Open // Air exhibition—refuses to be neatly filed away in the usual taxonomy of public art. Installed along the urban trail outside the old S&W Cafeteria and forged in the wake of Hurricane Helene, the piece is Rachel’s meditation on how water carves, erases, and remakes everything it touches.

    In this episode, we explore what it takes to create art that belongs to everyone, from smashing through the old boys’ club of metalsmithing to designing with a community’s anxieties in mind. Along the way, Rachel recalls professors who nudged her off one path and onto another, wrestles with the realities of survival as a craftsperson, and muses on the power of public art in a city still haunted by the memory of a life-changing storm.

    Get Involved / Where to Find More

    Explore “Fluvial” in person in downtown Asheville or virtually in Open // Air.

    See Rachel’s work at upcoming open studio tours: American Craft Council nationwide tour (July 18), the Haywood County Studio Tour (September, check the Haywood County Arts Council for details), and The Big Crafty (July 11 - 12).

    Watch for new work in the Haywood Community College Sculpture Garden later this year.

    Follow SIBS and SPARC to plug into inclusive metalsmithing.

    Contact & Social

    Website: www.redmetal.net

    Instagram: @__redmetal__

    Facebook: @redmetal1245

    Episode Credits

    Host: Elise Wilson, ArtsvilleUSA Executive Director

    Guest: Rachel David, Red Metal

    Produced by: ArtsvilleUSA / Arterial Inc.

    Newsletter: Subscribe to the ArtsvilleUSA Newsletter for more stories and updates on the arts and crafts scene in Western North Carolina.
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    52 mins
  • How a Small College in the Blue Ridge Mountains Became a Launchpad for Craft Professionals

    How a Small College in the Blue Ridge Mountains Became a Launchpad for Craft Professionals
    May 20 2026
    This episode is a special rerun, originally published on May 16, 2024, in celebration of the Haywood Community College Professional Crafts Graduate Show. The show is hosted online at ArtsvilleUSA in collaboration with the Southern Highland Craft Guild, with the in-person exhibition on view at the Folk Art Center through September 16.Ask any working artist what they wish they’d learned in art school, and you’ll likely hear the same answer: how to make a living doing what they love. For almost half a century, the Haywood Community College Professional Crafts Program—a beloved training ground for craft artists in the Blue Ridge Mountains—has been rewriting the rules around art school curriculum, blending hands-on mastery in wood, fiber, jewelry, and ceramics with essential business skills and a clear career roadmap that won’t leave them stranded post-graduation.In this episode, ArtsvilleUSA founder Louise Glickman brings listeners inside the Haywood Community College Professional Crafts Program through a candid conversation with two of its most respected faculty members: Amy Putansu, who leads the fiber/textiles department and whose work earned national attention in ArtsvilleUSA’s A Tale of Two Cities exhibition, and Brian Wurst, wood instructor. Together, they explore the evolution of craft education, the economic roots of creativity in Appalachia, and what makes Haywood’s approach to teaching so distinctive—not just in the studio but in preparing students for real-world careers and lifelong success in craft.Get Involved / Where to Find MoreHCC Professional Crafts Program: Learn more about immersive, hands-on courses in wood, fiber, ceramics, and jewelry.HCC Professional Crafts Grad Show: See the exhibition online at ArtsvilleUSA or at the Folk Art Center through September 16, 2026.Graduating student roundtable: Read our conversation with recent graduates of the program, Allison Teeples, Esi Hutchinson, and Christine Savage-Mindel.A Tale of Two Cities: Explore Amy Putansu’s work featured in ArtsvilleUSA’s commemorative exhibition reflecting on the 20-year milestone of Hurricane Katrina and the first-year milestone of Hurricane Helene.Contact & SocialWebsite: haywood.eduInstagram: @haywood.studiosFacebook: @haywoodccEpisode CreditsHost: Louise Glickman, Artsville USA FounderCo-host: Elise Wilson, ArtsvilleUSA Executive DirectorGuests: Amy Putansu and Brian Wurst, Haywood Community College Professional Crafts FacultyProduced by: ArtsvilleUSA /Crewest Studio / Arterial Inc.Newsletter: Subscribe to the ArtsvilleUSA Newsletter for more stories and updates on the arts and crafts scene in Western North Carolina.
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    31 mins
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