LAAFF’in in 2011– 10 Year Anniversary for this All Asheville Free Street Festival!

The 10th annual LAAFF is right around the corner in Downtown Asheville on Labor Day Weekend Sept 3-4th on Lexington Ave. 

A handful of Dreamspider bands and friends are performing at the Fest:

• Stephaniesid is doing their CD release at their show on Saturday Sept 3d at 7:30 on the main stage.
• Galen Kipar Project plays on Sunday 2:45-3:30 pm on the main stage
• Jonathan Scales Fourchestra on Sunday 5:45-6:30pm on the Mai Stage
• Spork! on Sunday 1:15-2pm on the Main stage

Also, be sure to check out 23 Skidoo & The Family Band (Sat 11am Main Stage), Santos (Sat. 1pm bobo stage) , Paper Tiger (Sat 3:15 Main Stage), Vertigo Jazz Project (Sat 4:15 Main Stage), The Secret B-Sides (Sun 6pm bobo stage), Lotion (Sun 2:30-3:10 Mountain Xpress Walnut Stage), GFE (Sun 8:15 MX WaLnut Stage), Ten Cent Poetry (Sun 11:45- 12:30 Main Stage), Jeff Santiago y Los Gatos Negros (Sun 1:45- 2:30 main stage), Zansa (Sun 6:30-7:15 Main Stage), Moses Atwood Band (Sun 4:45-5:30 main Stage) and lots of oither great stuff.

For the full schedule and lots more fantastic Asheville bands check out the Mountain Xpress: http://www.mountainx.com/ae/2011/083111laaff-bandsschedule#.Tl-jfWoglIE

The Xpress also did this wonderful interview with Stephaniesid about their album release:

The new Stephaniesid album, Starfruit — despite its name-association with things tropical and celestial — was conceived in a dark basement. “A universe leapt out of the grayness,” says front woman Stephanie Morgan.

An advance listen of the album reveals lush pop, layered vocals, rich horn parts and a certain velvety darkness (perhaps it’s the snarl of baritone sax or echoes of reverb ). But even through an edge of bitterness (despite dance beats and bells, the track “Starf—ker” is not without teeth), the record is backlit by undeniable sparkle.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE:http://www.mountainx.com/ae/2011/083111ripe-for-the-picking#.Tl-m_WoglIE

LAAFF is not only a music festival, it is also a arts and fun festival.. So be sure to wander around and stumble into many other fabulously freaky things that will happen both day! Here are some fantactic pics of last years LAAFF by local Photographer Lissy Whelan with Bright Life Photography:

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Fun Pictures and Comments about LAAFF 2010

LAAFF took place on Sunday Sept 5th in downtown Asheville and was a complete success! Thank you to everyone involved; we appreciate all of our volunteers, performers, vendors, staff, costumers, fellow freaks, photographers, and all of the LAAFFers!!!! Check out some of my pictures below.

Some of the comments we have been receiving on facebook are:

Zen Sutherland “A huge thanks to you, and everyone who worked long before, during and after! It was a masterpiece!”

Steven J. Rash -“oh man. the fest was fantastic as usual. i’m already counting down the days to LAAFF 2011. thanks again!”

Paper Tiger at LAAFF 2010

Daniel Simmons “A day I will remember forever!”

Molly Kummerle “had such an amazing day/night yesterday – thank you thank you thank you!! kudos on another rocking fest ;)”

Cute Mustasheville kid on the LaZoom Bus

Jason Kimenker “You rock!! Thanks for helping to make LAAFF such a pleasure to work. I had a really great time, thank you thank you thank you!!”

Jeremy Long “Another great festival. Thanks for making it as fun and unique as Asheville itself.”

Dreamspider Erin

Darlene Wright “I’ve gone every year except for the first. I go to many festivals, but this is by far my favorite one. I look forward to it every year. It occurs on or near my birthday and is a great way to celebrate it. I look forward to many more years of it.”

Alien Dancing to Woody Pines aat LAAFF

Patty Dougherty Haberman “Fun, Freaks, Family, Food, Finds, and Favorite…..LAAFF”

Jason V. Martin “My favorite Asheville festival..favorite period!!”

Dj Candice B at the Bobo Stage

Alice Smyth “Thanks everyone for giving me a great day of FUN! Loved every minute of it and the weather sure was great! I will be sure to make it next Labor Day as well! (o;”

Sandy Scholze “saw the photos in Garys posts. Its fun to see all the costumes.Kinda like mardi gras and halloween all rolled into one

Vending Coordinators: Rebeccaand Rose Hecht

and here are some fun #LAAFF tweets:

@tracyhyorth: #LAAFF is really Asheville’s Mardi Gras. Just takes place in September. Aren’t we lucky?

@aRagingMuse: At the poetry van the Asheville Horns are funkin’ up my world as all the stars start to shine… #LAAFF -ing all the way

@adam_casto Fests like #LAAFF spoil me. keep checking the fridge hoping 4 tacos, pizza, ice cream,loaded hot dogs,various beer.

Mountain Xpressers: James Fisher and Mackensy Lundsford

@zensutherland: @lexfest It was the best #LAAFF so far! Can’t wait for you to see ’em all (whew, i took over 6 gig of shots)

@elizzlebizzle:guh, I am so beat from [#LAAFF &] repping @trashincavl. met Oscar the Grouch, drank a lot of kombucha, saw a lot of freaks

RT @ayanaberry: Totally. My favorite fest in #avl RT @jar_e: Thank you @Dreamspiderweb for making another wonderful day… So much fun! @lexfest #laaff

RT @papertigermusic: BEST.  #LAAFF.  EVER. thank you asheville, paper tiger loves you 😉

RT @mackensy: Feeling a little fuzzy-headed to be giving interviews today. I have a LAAFF-over. #laaff

Sanders, Sipe, Pond, and Cardine

RT @hopicecream Thank u @lexfest and everyone else for giving #Asheville reason to celebrate the local community! Had a blast 🙂 #LAAFF

RT @mxenv: Loved the labels on the waste bins at #LAAFF today: glass, plastic, and LANDFILL. That’s the truth…LANDFILL doesn’t mean GONE

Tall Bike Freak: The Reverend Michael Mooney

RT @robinplemmons laughed really hard @ #LAAFF. Best part is meeting customers who get me & love my creations. smiled so much my cheeks hurt

RT @phetched: Scrumptious Hardcastle dawgs, Pisgah Pale, Kovacs & the Polar Bear + sexy @robinplemmons at #LAAFF… now it’s naptime. #zzzz

RT @AskAsheville: 12seconds – Alien dances to Woody Pines at #LAAFF in Asheville http://tiny12.tv/R2D03 #avlent

RT @AskAsheville: Laughing my A-S-S off! This is such a cool event! #LAAFF w/ @thesavvyeater @avlcustomcloset)

Fun guy, AskAsheville Gary, and AVL Custom Closet Amanda

RT @AskAsheville Great #wedding #photo of Jack & Rosetta at their #LAAFF marriage in downtown #AVL – http://su.pr/1KM88P #avlpics #avlwed

RT @aRagingMuse: Beautiful with Archrivals soundtrack! RT @rsulock: awesome #LAAFF footage from Jesse Hamm for Xpress! http://bit.ly/c6r2ME #avlent

Bike joust! RT @AshevilleLife: RT @fobes RT @ ashevillein : call it a draw then? #LAAFF #avlevent http://flic.kr/p/8yrQVR

Jenny Juice's Songwriter Lounge

RT @houseofdevochka: Dudes. Seriously. @lexfest was amazing! I’m going to bed. Right now. For three days. Or 5 hours. #laaff

RT @AskAsheville: People… I am talking about 169 photos of the Lexington Ave Arts and Fun Festival #LAAFF in Asheville NC right here.. http://su.pr/3ai4ud#

Bright Life Photography- Lissy multitasking at LAAFF 🙂

RT @lyndacd: #LAAFF: Lex Ave Arts & Fun Festival – Still the best fest in Asheville! Great day with interesting people, food, music, fun!

AVL Beer, Jenny Juice, Bob 7, Amy

RT @Iveys: Body paint & a human float. Asheville’s Mardi Gras. #laaff http://plixi.com/p/43517320

RT @adam_casto: Enjoyed spending time downtown at #laaff today. Need to make an effort to get out more. We really do have a wonderful city here. #AVL

Robin Plemmons

RT @SocialLifeAvl: Just got lil one a mocha oreo from the @hopicecream tent with @robinplemmons @lexfest #LAAFF

RT @SocialLifeAvl: I just saw that. My daughters wants to it. BAD RT @ncmattj: http://twitvid.com/M6VW9 – Street Jousting at #LAAFF

Lulu and Dreamspider Erin

RT @SocialLifeAvl: Downtown is packed for @lexfest #LAAFF alot of culture, music, food and vendors.

Molly, Crissa, and Billy Jack

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Archive: LAAFF co-founder Kitty Love works to support Asheville’s artists

This is a great article about LAAFF co-Founder and Arts 2 People’s executive director, Kitty Love. I have worked with Kitty for 8+ years now on Arts 2 People and LAAFF as well as other projects and so appreciate the telling of the inception of LAAFF and news on the creation of an artist resource center in Asheville. Great article Jason! There are some long excerpts below, please follow the link to read the full article.

Margaret Lauzon, Kitty Love, and Erin Scholze (Dreamspider) at LAAFF 2009

For Love of Lexington: LAAFF co-founder Kitty Love works to support Asheville’s artists

by Jason Sandford • September 5, 2010 in the Asheville Citizen Times.

Kitty Love enjoys a good freak.

It’s a descriptor she’s adopted for a unique fundraising project and a noun a neutral observer might use for some of the clients who come into the Liquid Dragon tattoo shop she works out of on Lexington Avenue.

… …

“Anybody can be a freak,” Love said. “It’s just a way to describe who’s being their authentic selves.”

And it’s those emerging artists and creative types who help make Asheville the tourism destination it is, she added.

That’s why she’s spent the better part of the past decade supporting and promoting artists as executive director of the nonprofit Arts 2 People, as a staunch advocate for the creation of an artists resource center and as the promoter of sideline projects such as the “Freaks of Asheville” calendar and the Lexington Avenue Arts and Fun Festival .

…   …   …

Having a LAAFF

Love knew Lexington Avenue had something in its eclectic collection of independently owned clothing stores, record shops and restaurants. Love says she saw “a loose conglomeration of individuals coming together to share their unique perspectives in a way that is culture-changing.”

Love and her partner at the time, Michael Mooney, opened Sky People Gallery and Studio on the street. The gallery opened about a month before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The economy sputtered, so Love says she and Mooney dreamed up the Lexington Avenue Arts and Fun Festival the following year to give the area a boost.

“We really wanted to see that Lexington Avenue culture grow without getting gentrified,” Love says.

More an anything-goes block party than an official festival, the event took root with street games like Bowling for Karma — knock over the right Hindu god and erase that awful sin — and Baby-head Putt Putt.

Now in its ninth year, LAAFF is a full-blown, daylong event known for embracing Asheville’s freaky side.

“LAAFF is meant to show that individual self-expression is actually a more attractive product” than other festivals with a more corporate flavor, Love said.

Resources for artists

The Lexington Avenue festival is perhaps the most visible manifestation of Love’s passion, but she’s been working to support young artists through the nonprofit Arts 2 People she leads, and through the ongoing effort to create an artists resource center.

…   …

Arts 2 People, which survives on a shoestring budget, includes outreach and education projects. Love readily admits she doesn’t have the best skills when it comes to raising money and jokes that she needs a “development angel” to swoop in and help.

Love’s dream of creating an artists resource center may strike at her heart the deepest.

She said her mantra is “the wisdom is in the circle,” a guidepost for creating an umbrella organization that can offer young artist-entrepreneurs a wide range of support they need.

It will be “a professional development resource center” that can offer tips on where to find rental space, equipment or specific training, she said.

“When you’re someone who makes pots, that’s what you want to do. But you need to take pictures of your pots to market them, and you need to make business cards with pots on them to network,” Love said.

A resource center could also help identify the exact number of artists in Asheville — she guesses the number at between 6,000 and 8,000 — and the true economic impact they have.

Such a study would go a long way toward cementing the importance of artists to the local economy in the minds of decision-makers, she said.

For Love, it’s all about putting a face on Asheville’s artist-entrepreneurs — Asheville’s freaks, as it were.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE: http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20100905/NEWS/309050022

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Find out more about LAAFF! Video interview by AskAsheville

On Sunday, September 5, 2010 the Lexington Avenue Arts and Fun Festival http://LexFestAsheville.com is going to happen in downtown AVL. This is an Asheville Home Grown Festival that is one of the community highlights of the year. Videos by G Social Media-Gary http://GSocialMedia.com and Erin http://Dreamspider.net.

Lexington Avenue is going to be filled with Awesomeness this Sunday as the Arts and Fun Festival http://LexFestAsheville.com takes over downtown Asheville.

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Winner announced for the LAAFF T-Shirt Design Contest Through Creative Allies!

LAAFF Sponsor, CreativeAllies.com, gives everyone the chance to submit poster, t-shirt, and logo designs to famous musicians like Jack Johnson and the Indigo Girls–as well as to nonprofits, small local events, festivals and businesses looking for new designs. There’s no cost to use the site, and it’s free to request art or upload a design. Any band, business or non-profit can post a request for a t-shirt, poster, flyer, logo or other graphic, offer a cash prize, and select from the entries submitted.

The Lexington Ave Arts and Fun Festival ran a contest sponsored by Creative Allies for a T-Shirt design that will be printed and available for purchase at LAAFF on Sunday Sept, 5th.

The Creative Allies LAAFF T- Shirt Design Winner is: http://creativeallies.com/creation/7534

First runner up: http://creativeallies.com/creation/7622

2nd runner up: http://creativeallies.com/creation/7531

…The winning design will be available in Both Men’s and Women’s shirts at LAAFF! Stop by Creative Allies booth next to the info booth to pick one up!

LAAFF it up: tips for a freaky fringe festival’s t-shirt design tips:

The Lexington Arts and Fun Festival (LAAFF) is an annual indie street festival in Asheville, NC. LAAFF is looking for a new t-shirt design to sell to attendees and spread the word. LAAFF is a nonprofit community endeavor, so the winning design helps fund more community-focused fun. 

LAAFF is a freaky, fringe-y, family-friendly celebration of Asheville’s artistic and musical communities. It fills three city blocks with local art, food, beer, music, street performers and random acts of creativity. Multiple stages showcase rock and roll, indie pop, funk, folk, ragtime, reggae, worldbeat,  bluegrass, old time and African drumming. Also on hand are clowns, magicians, contortionists, belly dancers, modern dancers, vaudeville actors, hula-hoopers,bicycle-jousters and more.

To help you better understand the festival, Creative Allies spoke with two of its organizers, Erin and Kitty, asking them questions about the design they’re looking for.

Please tell our designers three VERY SPECIFIC things designers should think about when creating your design:

* We want to convey the idea of quality, inspired creativity

* A life filled with art and fun, love and diversity; freedom of expression

* Deeply unique images that express an alternative-culture approach

“My ideal design is” (give us two or three short phrases that describe what you really want):

* explosive creative expression, surprise, fringe, music and art

* heartfelt connection to life, the joy and power of creativity

* collaborative spirit, community

I suggest designers to stay away from (specific things that really turn me off)

* swoosh people

* literal art or music  images, (paintbrushes, pallettes, music notes)

* clip art; a prepackaged look

Do you have images or video that would inspire our designers?

Yes! The official LAAFF website: lexfestasheville.com

Video links & links to our twitter and facebook accounts – http://lexfestasheville.com/welcome

The LAAFF Manifesto –http://lexfestasheville.com/manifesto

Arts 2 People Mission – http://lexfestasheville.com/arts2people

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Announcing the 9th Annual Lexington Ave Arts and Fun Festival ~ Downtown Asheville ~ Sunday, Sept 5th, Free!

Sunday, September 5, 2010
Labor Day Weekend
All Local ~ All Original

11am – 9pm
~ FREE and Kid Friendly~
director@lexfestasheville.com
North Lexington Ave.
Asheville, NC 28801
www.arts2people.org
www.lexfestasheville.com

Join us in the annual FREE end-of-summer celebration of Asheville’s artistic and musical communities, The Lexington Ave Arts and Fun Festival. LAAFF is entering our 9th year of filling three blocks of N. Lexington Ave in downtown with all local art, food, beer, music, street performers, and random acts of creativity. LAAFF takes place on Sunday, September 5th, 2010.

LAAFF has become the showcase event for all types of talent on multiple stages and performance areas including rock and roll, indie pop, funk, folk, reggae, world beats, singer-songwriters, bluegrass, old time, African drummers, clowns, magicians, contortionists, belly dancers, modern dancers, vaudeville actors, break dancers, hula hoopers, and more. LAAFF has grown over the years to become known as Asheville’s largest independent street festival with upwards of 15,000 in attendance.

LAAFF is an experience the whole family can get into. Kids will love making art, dancing, getting their faces painted and having fun all day long. Kids are also in on the act showing off their breakdancing, parading, and making music. The big “kids” will enjoy the ever popular bicycle jousting, local brews provided by the Asheville Brewers Alliance, an eclectic culinary and artistic experience, as well as the new big people game: Big Wheels for Big Kids. There will be lots of fun new vendors as well as old favorites with a ton of variety.

Created specifically for LAAFF by Co-Founder Michael Mooney, LAAFF’s ever popular Bicycle Jousting is always a mainstay attraction! This is a fun and safe bike joust where contestants are armored up with foam and helmets. The sit upon bike with banana seats and wheel with elliptical hubs which make the bike bounce up and down like riding on a horse. Each contestant holds a long pole with a boxing glove on the end..If they can reach each other they try and joust the other off the bike. It is extremely fun to watch and a great activity that Michael created as an event at LAAFF. To see the gear in advance go to Pack Place’s Front Gallery… will you dare to ride?

LaZoom Tour Bus hosts a rolling LAAFF theatre for the day! If you just want to enjoy an easy going ride… LaZoom has traveling sideshows with a variety of acts (Including kids acts and adult only acts) throughout the day in 40 minute loops around Asheville. This is set up as an affordable way to fund-raise at LAAFF with extra entertainment to the festival.

Various arts schools and organizations have in the past teamed up to create the LAAFF Kids area. There is always face painting and a chill out zone for parents with babies who may need to sit down and relax, breastfeed, or change a diaper.

As part of an ongoing commitment to improve and expand the role of the Lexington Avenue Arts Festival in the community, greening efforts and more emphasis on environmental issues will continue to increase. The core principle of being an all local event has been a foundation of the festival’s efforts to support local artists, musicians, restaurants, and non-profits. For instance, using water sales as a way for local non-profits to raise funds and involving the Asheville On Bikes organization to host a bike corral, encouraging participants in the festival to ride bikes, use public transportation, and carpool to limit their impact. Reducing waste has always been an important goal, and last year composting was added to the recycling and reuse efforts. Many of the food and beverage vendors are now using compostable cups and utensils. The festival will continue to include local non-profits, especially environmental and arts organizations and hopefully will showcase renewable energy in LAAFF’s to come. For more info email greening@lexfestasheville.com.

LAAFF also has a great merchandise area with LAAFF T-shirts, water bottles, and performer merchandise. 100% of performer merch proceeds goes back to the bands themselves. There is also a silent auction to raise fund for Arts 2 People of which some donated items are available to see on our “silent auction” page of this website. We accepting items up through the morning of the festival each year. Email vending@lexfestasheville.com if you would like to donate or be a vendor at the event.

LAAFF relies on community support to ensure our success each year. LAAFF is a volunteer driven event, with a core staff, put on by and for the community. Your tax-deductible contribution ensures the ongoing successes of this much anticipated yearly Asheville celebration. LAAFF is a project of 501(c)3 non-profit Arts 2 People.

To get involved email director@lexfestasheville.com for info on how to plug in. For publicity inquiries please email dreamspider@gmail.com.

FIND LAAFF on the web:



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Afromotive & Josh Blake’s Jukebox play the Lab for the World Cup Celebration!

For more info visit: https://dreamspider.wordpress.com/2010/05/18/funk-and-world-beats-at-the-lab-for-the-world-cup-kickoff-on-saturday-june-12th/

You can also find this event on Facebook

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LAAFFing all the way to the weird: Beloved Lexington festival celebrates eight years

by Alli Marshall in Vol. 16 / Iss. 6 on 09/02/2009

The Mountain Xpress

www.mountainx.com

Photos by Jonathan Welch

If memory serves, my eighth birthday involved a swimming party in our backyard pond and carob cupcakes that none of my friends would eat (but decades later still laugh about). For the Lexington Avenue Arts and Fun Festival’s eighth, the day-long celebration promises costumes, a parade, a couple dozen performers, jam sessions, DJs, visual art, costumed revelers, bicycle jousting, local food and beer and spontaneous creative expression (and heck, maybe a carob cupcake, too). LAAFF knows how to throw a party.

So, as downtown Asheville’s most unique shopping district gears up for its most unique festival, what sort of tricks does LAAFF have up its sleeve? For starters, a new director. In July, Frank Bloom stepped into that leadership role, and really, who better? Bloom brings a wealth of experience (he’s managed food and beverage outlets for a NASCAR track, booked shows for Emerald Lounge, run sound for both Donna The Buffalo and Acoustic Syndicate, worked as drum tech for Mickey Hart’s Global Drum Project and performs with Asheville’s Thunderdrums).

Next on the roster of important deets: Beer. LAAFF has, since the beginning, taken a local-brews-only stand. This time around, better than a selection from a single local brewery, Asheville Brewers Alliance (comprised of eight beer crafters) is involved. Wash the suds down with an array of snacks from Crepes of Wrath, Rosetta’s Kitchen, Blue Daisy Cafe, Mela Indian Restaurant and more. You’ll need the sustenance — this is a marathon day of fun.

Speaking of fun, the best way to get into the spirit of LAAFF is to come in costume. Yeah, Asheville is pretty open to all manner of dress. Jeans and flip-flops are de rigeur, dresses are paired with boots, dudes wear skirts, wings and horns are perfectly acceptable accessories. Even so, why pass up a chance to spend a day in full festive regalia? Dress as your favorite alter ego and then cut loose with the newly added Big Wheels for Big Kids activity or saddle up for a round of bike jousting. (What not to look for this year: Daredevil Michael Mooney won’t go for a third attempt at a Guinness World Record for the three-story tall bike ride. Mooney — as “Medieval Knieval” — will lead the foam armor- and banana-seat bicycle jousts.)

Don’t have a costume? Never fear: Honeypot hosts Sew Your Own Art Clothes.

OK, LAAFF is a whole lot of activity, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of chances to cool your heals and just be entertained. Sit back and take in a (mobile) show on the LaZoom bus (LEAF in Schools and Streets’ Youth at Jazz and singer/songwriters Oso Rey and Ash Devine with Quetzal perform on the 40-minute tour loops. Tickets are $2 for kids and $3 for adults. Sketch comedy troupe The Feral Chihuahuas put on an adults-only show). Beat the heat in one of Lexington Ave’s shady courtyards where Celtic, bluegrass, old-time and DJ sessions take place.

There’s more, of course. LAAFF tends to morph the way organic, homegrown things do. Most of it’s mapped out (check the festival Web site for more info), but the street performers, musicians, artists and attendees who show up have a way of adding their own personal, unique and perfectly wacky touches.

Gracie May is adorable, but please leave dogs at home!

There’s more, of course. LAAFF tends to morph the way organic, homegrown things do. Most of it’s mapped out (check the festival Web site for more info), but the street performers, musicians, artists and attendees who show up have a way of adding their own personal, unique and perfectly wacky touches.

who: Lexington Avenue Arts & Fun Festival
what: All-local music and arts celebration
where: Lexington Ave. between the I-240 overpass and College St.
when: Sunday, Sept. 6 (11 a.m.-9 p.m. Free. http://www.lexfestasheville.com)

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Archive: AMP: Turning concrete into art

Thursday, 16 July 2009

NCDOT, town and local artists beautify Asheville bridge http://www.maconnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5110&Itemid=85 Macon News ASHEVILLE – As motorists drive down heavily traveled Lexington Avenue in Asheville, they will see something other than graffiti. The I-240 bridge underpass is now home to the Asheville Mural Project. It strives to replace the graffiti with elaborate and colorful paintings, which reflect the unique history, context and culture of Asheville. The project is an unprecedented collaboration between the N.C. Department of Transportation, the city of Asheville and the non-profit organization Arts 2 People. To date, 11 local artists have volunteered to work on the project. Before the project began, commuters driving on Lexington Avenue under the I-240 bridge saw concrete “tagged,” or written on, with offensive graffiti. Despite efforts by NCDOT and the local police to stop the graffiti, the “taggers” continued to deface the property. “We hope this mural inspires graffiti artists to use their talents and energies in other ways,” said NCDOT Division 13 Operations Engineer Ken Wilson. “Asheville is a beautiful place, and this effort helps us celebrate that beauty.” Asheville artists have painted a mural on the I-240 bridge underpass that had previously been defaced by graffiti. Eleven different artists have worked on the project. A local non-profit called Arts 2 People is raising money to complete the project. The Asheville Mural Project was proposed in May 2005 by Project Coordinator Molly Must. She became inspired after seeing concrete art in Canada. A little over a year after approaching the city of Asheville and NCDOT, she received permission to start the project. Must held a “call to artists” and selected six artists who volunteered to work on the project. They worked collectively to design and paint the mural. Five more artists are now working to complete the project. In contrast to graffiti, these artists do not use spray paint. Instead, they use a specialized form of acrylic paint, which is expensive. To afford supplies for the remainder of the project, they are accepting donations on these two Web sites, www.ashevillemuralproject.org or www.arts2people.com. For more information on the Asheville Mural Project, contact the NCDOT Communications Office at (919) 733-2522.

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Archive: Up Walnut to the future

by Steve Shanafelt in Vol. 12 / Iss. 5 on 08/31/2005

Mountain Xpress, http://www.mountainx.com/

The arts community on Lexington Avenue is nearly a victim of its own success.

Having shaken off a long-standing reputation as one of downtown’s seedier neighborhoods, the area is rapidly being developed into a more upscale, if still largely arts-oriented, part of the city. Now, with cries of over-development and gentrification becoming commonplace, the Lexington community seems to hunger for events that can unite them.

The street “has changed a lot,” agrees Lexington Avenue Arts & Fun Festival organizer Erin Scholze. “I think that after losing certain things on this street” — namely, seminal coffeehouse/nightclub Vincent’s Ear — “people have started to look forward to LAAFF even more.”

Founded four years ago by Kitty Brown and Michael Love of Sky People Gallery & Design Studio, the one-day event has gained crowds every season. Along the way, the old Lexington Avenue, with its dive bars and rampant panhandling, receded into the shadows.

“LAAFF promotes Lexington Ave. as a safe, fun street,” says Scholze. “It’s not the scary street that it used to be 10 years ago.”

But apparently too safe equals no fun. And therein lies the controversy: “As the street has gotten better, other people are afraid that all the freaks and artists are going to get pushed out. But LAAFF lets you see that the creative spirit of this street is going to thrive, no matter what.”

And it has thrived. With events that range from the kid-happy chaos of bicycle jousting (complete with wacky bikes and padded lances) to the more bohemian fun of an “art car” contest (think automobiles re-imagined as sculptural canvases), LAAFF has found its niche in downtown culture. The festival also highlights artists who often find themselves overlooked by the larger area festivals. Not that it’s a reactionary thing.

“A common misconception … is that LAAFF started as a response to Bele Chere,” explains Scholze. “That’s completely not true. It started as a way to showcase our community. We’re trying to attract people to see what we already have in Asheville, not what we can bring in from outside.”

But while the festival’s organizers want to keep the content entirely local, they are also hoping to lure in plenty of out-of-towners. Not so they can move here — more to show them what they’re missing.

“Because of events like LAAFF, a lot of people who come in to town get to see Asheville for what it really is,” says Scholze. “They aren’t seeing it as a place that’s being taken over by corporate money and people from out of town. They are seeing something that is strictly local.”

And the locals-only cause is one that evokes unusual generosity in its adherents.

“It’s amazing that people want to be involved even though they aren’t getting paid,” Scholze marvels, pointing out LAAFF headliners like local Afrobeat stars Toubab Krewe, among a host of acts who have donated their talents. “Some of these musicians could make a fortune playing somewhere else, but they really want to play here for free instead.”

Even the local merchants, many of them once skeptical about what problems the event would bring to the street, have joined on. Some are even hinting that the festival should expand.

“We’ve gotten a lot of stores to get involved with us, too,” says Scholze. “This year, BoBo [Gallery] and the Shady Grove Courtyard have offered their space, which is great, because now we don’t have to put everyone in one area.”

What’s more, LAAFF has gotten so popular that even some non-Lexington businesses are hopping on the bandwagon. At the request of local merchants, this year marks the first that the festival will extend its borders to include Walnut Street.

“I can see the festival eventually expanding beyond Lexington Ave.,” Scholze says. However, “it can only expand as far as the people in the community will let it.”

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The Lexington Avenue Arts & Fun Festival takes place Sunday, Sept. 4, from 11 a.m.-10 p.m., and includes arts vendors, beer and food booths, kids’ activities, two music stages and an art auction. Bands will include: Strut, Toubab Krewe, Stephanie’s Id, the Great Slide, Cabo Verde, Fifth House, Mad Tea Party, the Buckerettes, Aaron Price, and Christina Aurea. Free. See www.arts2people.org for more information.

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