CURVE Studios to celebrate 30th anniversary in Asheville River Arts District

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Congratulations, Pattiy and company. Get out and help these folks celebrate. Here’s the press release:

CURVE Studios & Garden is celebrating 30 years in Asheville’s River Arts District as part of the RAD Second Saturday Celebration on Oct. 12.

Studios will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. with demonstrations, classes, an artist talk, birthday cake and—in keeping with CURVE’s long tradition of “bringing people to art and art to life”—the unveiling of a public art sculpture in the garden.

On October 13, 1989, Pattiy Torno bought the Standard Oil Company buildings (circa 1916) at 6 – 12 Riverside Drive to make a punk rock and all-ages club called Squash Pile. The club was open from 1990-1991.

When Torno renovated the buildings “it was a complete gut job… the roofs, plumbing, electric, heat, doors, windows, everything except the exterior walls needed work,” she says.

”The fruits of these labors created live/work studios, supporting hot glass, woodworking, photography, ceramics, painting and metal sculpture studios. The floodwaters of 2004 that inundated CURVE changed live-work studios to retail and working studios.

In 2005, working with neighboring artists, friendly building owners, as well as city and county government, Torno successfully advocated to “name the mile long section of the French Broad riverfront that was already full of artists” as Asheville’s River Arts District.

Now, thanks to the River Arts District Transportation Improvement Project (RADTIP), CURVE has new addresses. Riverside Drive is now River Arts Place.  Come see some of the many changes that include new and improved roadways, sidewalks, greenways, bike lanes and public art, all part of the RAD TIP Project.

In celebration of 10 years at CURVE, ceramic artist Cassie Butcher will give an artist talk “Unearthing the Soul” from 2-3 p.m. in 5 downstairs. Cassie is one of 11 artists currently working here at CURVE.

Silver River Center for Chair Caning, the only chair caning school and museum in the USA, has created an 8-foot-tall chair arch to honor Torno’s three decades of contributions to the RAD.

Built by chair nerds, Brandy Clements, Dave Klingler, and Lucy Kruesel, the CURVE garden Chair Arch is inspired by a chair arch built in 1877 by the furniture makers of High Wycombe, UK to welcome Queen Victoria. The Chair Arch will be unveiled at 4:30 p.m. in the garden with a bit of the bubbly.

Here’s the schedule:

-10 a.m. to 6 p.m.: extended open studio hours for all studios

2 p.m.: Cassie Butcher Artist Talk “Unearthing the Soul”

4 – 6 p.m.: drinks and snacks in the garden

4:30 p.m.: Chair Arch unveiling • with bubbly in the garden

5 p.m.: CURVE 30th Birthday Cake cutting

Plenty of parking is available at CURVE and in two adjacent public lots & a free trolley will be available to take visitors around the River Arts District from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. This event will happen, rain or shine.