Weaverville Art Safari

Every spring and every fall, the communities of Weaverville, Barnardsville, and Alexander hold the Weaverville Art Safari.  Established in 2001 to help promote the arts, the Weaverville Art Safari is a self-guided tour of local artists' studios located in the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina.



Jason and I stumbled upon this gem of a tour during our first trip to Asheville in 2008.  When I got the opportunity to accompany my friend, Angela, to Asheville AND stay with Amanda, John, Craig, and Rebecca at their cottage in the mountains, I seized the opportunity.  I was so happy to find out that the tour would also be that very weekend.  It was meant to be.

After a delicious breakfast at the Over Easy Cafe, we began our tour on a gorgeous Saturday morning.  With 41 artists on the safari, we had to be selective with our limited time.  Although we eventually ran into some April showers, we ended up visiting 17 of the 41 studios on our handy dandy map.  Their specialties ranged from pottery to hand carved wood work to paper sculptures to wearable art.   The tour had a well-balanced variety of show-cased artists.

Craig and Rebecca

Amanda, me, and John

As a new artist, I loved being able to visit established artists and see their work and creative spaces in such a personal way.  So many of them were willing to share their techniques and tell stories about how they started their artistic careers.  When you're new to the creative journey, it's so comforting to hear that you're not alone and see that it IS possible to make a living following your creative dream.  If nothing else, you leave feeling inspired.



The next safari is in November, right around the time the Blue Ridge Mountains are exploding with autumn colors.  If you are an art lover and are able, please go... and take me with you.

"Man will begin to recover the moment he takes art 

as seriously as physics, chemistry or money." 

- Ernst Levy