Our Inaugural Second Saturday Event On February 8th

Show and Tale Creative and our fellow Asheville Artist Coalition members will be opening our gallery and studio doors for the first Second Saturday event of the year featuring the documentary Through A Lens Darkly!

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The Asheville Artist Coalition is located in the South Slope neighborhood of Asheville, North Carolina. Home to a variety of artists, craftspeople, and creative collectives, as well as a shared gallery space, The Asheville Artist Coalition building boasts a massive and much-beloved mural, Bower Power by the late artist Lara Nguyen, which was created when the building was reinvented and reopened under the moniker “The Refinery” in 2016. Since then, the building, tenants, and neighborhood have seen many changes, but 207 Coxe Avenue has remained a bustling landmark for creators and collectors alike.

Every second Saturday of the month, the Asheville Artist Coalition will open the doors of the Refinery Building in South Slope to the public for a free movie and gallery stroll of the artists who reside there. The film will be shown in our gallery space and will focus on various artistic mediums.

While the studios are open to whoever comes, as is the gallery space before and after the movie, you should RSVP for the movie to reserve your seat. The RSVP link is below below.

There will be snacks and drinks, with free parking available while spots last in our back lot and along Coxe Ave.

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This Month's Movie

Through A Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odgHrU1T9a8

RSVP for the Movie

There are 23 total seats available. Please follow the registration link to make sure you can reserve your seat. Seats are folding chairs and a couch that counts as two seats. The movie will start at 5 p.m.

Second Saturdays Movie Night

February 8, 2025, 4:00 – 9:00 PMAsheville

Register Now

The first documentary to explore the role of photography in shaping the identity, aspirations, and social emergence of African Americans from slavery to the present, Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People probes the recesses of American history through images that have been suppressed, forgotten, and lost.

Bringing to light the hidden and unknown photos shot by professional and vernacular African American photographers, the film opens a window into the lives of black families, whose experiences and perspectives are often missing from the traditional historical canon. African Americans historically embraced the medium as a way to subvert popular stereotypes as far back as the Civil War era, with Frederick Douglass photographed in a suit and black soldiers posing proudly in their uniforms. These images show a much more complex and nuanced view of American culture and its founding ideals.

Inspired by the book Reflections in Black by photo historian Deborah Willis, the film features the works of esteemed photographic artists Carrie Mae Weems, Lorna Simpson, Anthony Barboza, Hank Willis Thomas, Coco Fusco, Clarissa Sligh, James Van Der Zee, Gordon Parks, and many others.