Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
I love the RiverSculpture festival, an exhibition of sculpture that’s been held at French Broad River Park for the past two years. But the festival has suddenly decided to shun the location included in its name and will be held this year in Woodfin.
Yes. Woodfin. I think this is an awful decision. I readily admit that this is simply a visceral reaction based on my love of the river park and my general West Asheville allegiance. Last year’s festival was great, and a great success, down by the river. Why change?
I have no idea what the new location looks like. I have no idea if the festival folks truly ran out of space at the river park or not. I’m just reacting to the news.
So I don’t like it. What do you think? I’d like to hear your reactions.
Here’s the press release. Here’s the RiverSculpture.com web site.
Third Annual RiverSculpture
A Contemporary Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition,
September 27, 2008 – January 5, 2009
Exciting changes are afoot for RiverSculpture. This year the town of Woodfin and Reynolds Mountain will host the exhibition on the spacious grounds of Reynolds Village, the site of the soon-to-be built downtown Woodfin.
The decision to leave the familiar confines of Asheville’s French Broad River Park for uncharted territory in Woodfin was a big surprise to the growing community of RiverSculpture fans. But by its third year, RiverSculpture was coming into its own, with a record number of submissions from five states, a prominent New York juror and too many large scale works to fit in the riverside park.
This sent the RiverSculpture organizers on a hunt for satellite exhibit locations to host the additional works in other communities – and that led the way to exciting new possibilities.
Welcome to RiverSculpture at Reynolds Mountain
RiverSculpture’s new location is less than 500 feet north of the Asheville city limits and easily accessible from both Rt. 19/23 (Future I-26) and Merrimon Avenue/Rt. 25.
The new dates, September 27, 2008 – January 5, 2009, encompass the leaf season as well as the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year holidays — allowing all of us to enjoy the sculpture in a full range of natural settings. The exhibition is free and open to the public seven days a week with plenty of parking.
The new work, from accomplished sculptors in three states, includes new and returning artists working in a range of traditional and environmental media. In addition, a series of special events during October integrates kids’ art, music, dance and theater with contemporary sculpture.
i am dissapointed, and know that Arlene and Robert have been sweating and fighting the uphill battle that the Buncombe Parks and recs pose for them. I will go to Woodfin to see the project and will love taking photos there, but i sure do wish it could have been different…
While I admit to a preference for the event staying in Asheville, my understanding is that it is no longer a viable option. The artists were not being given the support that they needed. A few well placed phone calls should reveal as much. It is a shame that a city known for sustaining public art should fall so short of expectation and need for this project. Kudos to the River Sculpture crew for seeking out another venue to try to continue this worthwhile project rather than letting die a sad, unsupported death. They did not “sell out” but rather sought out a venue that met their needs.
I get the feeling a lot of the posts here are the work of the organizers themselves. Clearly, they are worried. And, they should be. This was a bad move.
It is a shame to not have this event in a public park. I have a strong distaste for such real estate developments. The setting in Woodfin will never compare to the river park, and I think the show will suffer as a result. It will be years before that development is complete and in the meantime, one could not choose a more unattractive area.
The Citizen Times had a good article about this today. Interesting that the one of the organizers is also a sculptor whose work is exhibited in his own show. That seems like a huge conflict of interest!
The AC-T reports Parks and Rec offered them $20,000, a substantial increase over previous years. Was the deal breaker that the cultural arts superintendent didn’t want Winkler to include his own work and for the Public Art Board to appoint a member of the jury?
this should be about supporting the arts, NOT funding the event organizers! winkler had a good idea and lucked out finding a great location, but they made outrageous demands on the city government and were very hard to deal with in the process over the past few years. some on city council are not pleased about this and will be looking into the situation. thats not going to change the fact that they did totally choose to sell-out to reynolds mountain. ugh is right!
"Yes indeed, look {sic} like the organizers sold-out to the people behind Reynolds Mountain."
No. It illustrates a key difference between business-minded, solution-oriented people evidently found in Woodfin and those who apparently work in Asheville’s government offices. The potential for this annual event and the additional tourist money it could bring is obvious.
It also underscores the silliness of having to fund a super-expensive flood plain study in order to continue with the temporary display of removable objects.
Quit assuming you know everything. The statement from Arlene is absolutely true. I know from meeting with the Winklers a couple of years ago that the relationship with Asheville Parks & Rec has always been strained. Parks & Rec make promises and don’t keep them. They say one thing and do another. Or they say one thing and do nothing.
Arlene & Robert Winkler sunk their own money into this venture and we should be thanking them for all they’ve done. It’s annoying as hell that everyone thinks they’ve jumped in bed with the big, bad developers. I’m for art and I’m for parks, especially the lovely French Broad River Park. But for the sake of the festival, I’m glad that Arlene & Robert found someone who will give support and recognize this for the great project that it is. I’m sure it was painful for them to have to relocate from such a wonderful place. Their whole deal was to bring art to the public as well as having a place to showcase work to support artists.
Hopefully with a new cultural arts superintendent things will turn around for the Festivals division and Parks & Rec. Between the RiverSculpture decision, and past disasters with Bele Chere and the Asheville Film Festival, the new superintendent has a lot of cleaning up to do.
If you want to help matters, direct your attention to Parks & Rec as Arlene suggests. And recognize that if you choose to attend the festival at Reynolds Mountain you WILL BE SUPPORTING THE WINKLERS AND THE ART COMMUNITY. Don’t let your hatred of developers keep you from recognizing this basic fact.
just why was the location for the exhibit changed so very late this year? city government apparently had issues with the show and the organizers. not sure how much good this will be for the reynolds mountain real estate developers. the increasing trend of commercialism and corporate sponsorship art shows is very uncool and should be avoided at all costs. this particular show was unique in large part because of its location in the river district of our city. that atmosphere will be impossible to reproduce with high-end houses and the town of woodfin as a backdrop. painful to see a sellout to greedy developers like reynolds mountain, the cliffs, biltmore park and the like.
I emailed RiverScuplture and this is the response I recieved from Arlene Winkler the co-curator:
"Please don’t assume we chose to move RiverScupture out of the park. Asheville Parks and Recreation is the reason, and where you should be directing your disappointment."
interesting…
The sculpture looked great in the old venue along the river. It is a shame it is being moved. But art exhibits require funding. When cities have constantly shrinking budgets to avoid the evil of raising taxes, the funding has to come from somewhere. Should the artists pay hundreds of dollars for the opportunity to show? Should visitors pay a fee to see the work? Should the organizers completely donate their time? These options might work for a one-time only event but not for something annual. The money has to come from somewhere. If y’all have ideas other than the real estate developers, you should let the organizers know.
Everyone knows that Woodfin is the armpit of Buncombe County. Putting a art sculpture exhibit at the entrance of Reynolds Mountain development is not going to change things or perceptions of Woodfin and these horrible real estate developers one bit.
How on earth can it still be called River Sculpture when it is no where near the river? It should really be named "Woodfin Reynolds Mountain Sculpture Festival" and the site is really barren and ugly.
This move is a big mistake.
The sculptures were a really nice seasonal addition to the river district and the park and to west Asheville. That part of town needs all the support it can get and already has an artist community along the river. That’s what’s sad about this and I hate to see it move. With Reynold Mountain, its becoming a lot more commercial, not local and of the people. Surely there is a better spot than Reynolds Mtn!
Wow.
So if it’s still a "RiverSculpture" festival and it’s in Woodfin, then it’s by the RIVER in WOODFIN, right?? Is it being sculpted at the POO PLANT, the PRISON or the LAND FILL? If it’s on the river and it’s in Woodfin, them’s yer options. The other side of Woodfin is a complete mess of red runoff covered by McMansions, where it used to be a beautiful mountain.
I guess it being planned for the poo-plant-prizony-dump side of town is the best we can hope for. I prefer that to becoming a promo or privatish amenity for the likes of "Reynolds Mountain."
I am not sure what all the fuse is about! The River Sculpture festival is a wonderful event and we are lucky to even have one. Where it is in our mountains should not make a difference. If you are looking for the facts about why it had to move in order to survive I would contact the people in charge. If you want to see it grow and maybe come back to the river district… GET INVOLVED! Show up at city meetings, find out how our city actually supports the arts or lack of. Find out how much city funding is actually given towards the arts and projects like the River Sculpture festival.
Most of Asheville’s successful art projects or programs here in our community are from individuals following their dreams. Those are the people you should applaud not criticize. I for one will be there with bells on….
Good luck in your new location!
There is definitely more to it than city bureaucrats… how about sustaining artistic integrity and appreciating a well-run event? It was well-run by organizers and there are times when art needs to follow funding to survive…parks and rec budget cutbacks and convoluted processes are not a great environment for sustaining a growing event.
I think that the real story here is that a valued event is doing what is necessary to sustain itself and partner with folks who allow – for whatever reason- artistic perspective and professionalism their due and an opportunity to inject art into an environment where it has been woefully absent.Isn’t Reynolds Mtn allowed to have a go at community involvement? Us vs. them mentality closes many doors to community collaboration that could lead us collectively to a stronger community.
What a stupid move! Somebody should have come clean on exactly what benefit comes from moving from a lovely public park to the domain of a real estate developer. And to now try and "brand" this art show "at Reynolds Mtn" just stinks of commercialism and lack of sensitivity for out city, region and arts community. I smell a rat!
Yes indeed, look like the organizers sold-out to the people behind Reynolds Mountain. They have even changed the name to include at Reynolds Mountain! Very sad news for our local arts community.
Ronnie Raygun sounds very much like one of the organizers of the event. There is a lot more to this than city govt bureaucrats….its pure greed. They sold out. Check into it…I smell a story!
What a HUGE MISTAKE! That site is just terrible when compared to the French Broad River Park.
Any way you look at it, Woodfin is one of the least attractive parts of greater Asheville.
Don’t let this quaint sculpture and art festival get out of hand with too many large pieces….keep it small and limit the number of entries, etc. The riverfront is one of Asheville’s best assets…Woodfin and Reynolds Mountain are definitely NOT.
The organizers should really be worried, because I just don’t think this will work out to anyone’s advantage. It will be hard to find up on that hlll behind all those tacky businesses along Merrimon Ave.
I just hope that they are not abandoning Asheville’s Parks & Recreation Dept. and have not jumped "in bed" with the Reynolds Mountain developers. Remember, these greedy people are the same ones who raped that mountainside to build huge homes.
Shame, shame!
I’ve seen some of the nonsense that the organizers of the River Sculpture Festival have had to put up with from the City of Asheville. They created a great event for the city, and the bureaucrats simply got in the way. It seems that the powers-that-be at Reynolds Mountain, in a show of apparently enlightened self-interest, recognized this as a valuable opportunity and jumped in without hesitation while the City of Asheville employees did absolutely nothing. I would have liked to have seen the festival stay where it was, but I can drive up to Woodfin. It’s not that far, after all.
I agree with you Ash! I’m at the French Broad park at least once a week and I love the life and art the sculptures add to the park. How dissappointing to see a great community event move to Reynolds Mountain and become an advertisement for a development that has so damaged our mountains.
I for one am beside myself with joy that Woodfin is coming into its own as a community. We have natural beauty, we are building our own downtown and will soon have a huge park. We are also just across the "border" from North Asheville, which will make the events even more accessible to North Asheville and Weaverville. Sorry for you loss though, I DO understand your loyalty to West Asheville. IMHO there are plenty of events to go around.