Opening Reception for The Farm Exhibition at Black Mountain College

Join us for the opening reception for The Farm at Black Mountain College hosted at BMCM+AC in conjunction with the ReVIEWING BMC 15. Refreshments will be offered. All are invited to come dressed in a BMC-themed costume.

EXHIBITION

The story of Black Mountain College (BMC) has grown to mythical proportions since the liberal arts school officially closed its doors in 1957. Countless books, exhibitions, and artworks have been created to capture what it was like to live and learn at this singular college and to chart its unparalleled cultural legacy. But before this exhibition and accompanying book, nobody had written about the farm at BMC in any great detail.

Built on more than a decade’s worth of deep, original archival research, The Farm at Black Mountain College exhibition constitutes a deep new history of BMC. By focusing on the farm, the exhibition sidesteps the popular paradigm of approaching BMC through its famous faculty and students, and instead offers a new cast of characters, one that includes mostly students, women, and farmers. It spotlights the importance of collaboration, both on campus among students, faculty, and faculty families, and in the community with farmers and organizations in nearby cities and towns. Finally, the exhibition shows what happens when communal living is no longer communal, and offers a detailed account of the final dark days of the college, a dramatic and often dangerous story.

The opening reception and a keynote lecture will take place in conjunction with BMCM+AC’s annual ReVIEWING BMC conference hosted at UNC Asheville. Exhibition themes will correspond to co-curator David Silver’s book The Farm at Black Mountain College, to be published in partnership with Atelier Editions. 

Curated by David Silver and Bruce Johansen