Around town: The Whale hosts Grown-up Book Fair in West Asheville

West Asheville, North Carolina – The Whale in West Asheville is teaming up with The POP Project to host a grown-up book fair on Saturday, June 15, 1-4 p.m. The Grown-up Book Fair will feature stands from local booksellers as well as book-related beverages and mimosas from the Whale. There will also be a signing table for local authors to sign and showcase their work.

Participating authors:

• Kristen Dwyer, author of Some Mistakes Were Made and The Atlas of Us
• Anne Fitten Glenn, author of Asheville Beer: An Intoxicating History of Mountain Brewing and Western North Carolina Beer: A Mountain Brew History

A book from R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series, autographed by illustrator Tim Jacobus, will be raffled off at the event. The Whale is asking for book donations to The POP Project, a volunteer-led organization that works to bring books to those who don’t have access otherwise. All ages are welcome.

The Whale is at 507 Haywood Road No. 10.

Connecting art and literacy

The Asheville Art Museum has extended its Literacy Through Art (LTA) program to Mills River Elementary and Atkinson Elementary Schools in Hendersonville. Through the LTA outreach program, expanded with the help of the Community Foundation of Henderson County, the Asheville Art Museum collaborates with fourth-grade teachers from both urban and rural schools to integrate literacy skills with artistic expression and critical thinking.

About the LTA program:

• The program offers nine in-classroom lessons to incorporate images of artwork from Asheville Art Museum into writing and drawing prompts.
• The Asheville Art Museum is at 2 S. Pack Square.

Award funds dance-film project

Trillium Arts, an arts residency center in Mars Hill, will host an open dance rehearsal and film screening at the Red Barn Studio at Odonata Farm on Saturday, July 27, 4-7 p.m. The presentation follows the announcement of Xavier Núñez as Trillium’s 2024 ACE Fellowship in Dance awardee.

Fellowship project:

Xavier Núñez plans to work with director and short-form documentary filmmaker Tim Whalen to produce a dance film titled Mates for Life: Barn Owl.

The Red Barn Studio at Odonata Farm is at 5640 Paint Fork Road, Mars Hill.

Preserving a Picturesque America

Ferguson Family YMCA will feature the artwork of Scott “Doc” Varn alongside the originally published images from Picturesque America through Saturday, August 31. Varn is an artist, historian, and environmentalist who founded the organization Preserving a Picturesque America (PAPA) to artistically translate images from the 1800s publication Picturesque America through painting, drawing, printmaking, and photography.

The Ferguson Family YMCA is at 31 Westridge Market Place, Candler.

Salvage Station to close by year’s end

Salvage Station announced that it will close by the end of the year. The 7-acre riverfront property was once a salvage yard that founder Danny McClinton transformed into a sprawling outdoor music venue. The venue remains booked for the rest of the year. Salvage Station is at 466 Riverside Drive.

Sly Grog returns

After suffering severe fire damage in 2021, Sly Grog Lounge has reopened with a fully booked calendar of shows. The lounge, which features drinks, live music, and performances, reopened on May 17 with a three-night concert series.

Sly Grog Lounge is at 271 Haywood St.