Julianna Chioma | November 18 – December 16 2025

Julianna Chioma is a Nigerian-American emerging artist working out of Asheville, NC. Through the interdisciplinary gestures of painting,ceramics, textiles, and installation her work explores myth and narrative surrounding themes of sex, power, identity, cultural and social perceptions, trauma, suffering, and modes of healing. By casting mythological characters adapted from their favorite cartoons in the role of avatars of the psyche and forebearers of truth, the work unfolds to reveal an epic journey of loss, discovery, and growth. Inspired by the trick mirror play of psychological horror, surrealism, and Nigerian folklore she builds up stratified renderings encased in stitches, paint, and mud in an effort to communicate the complex tapestry of black womanhood.

Nava Lubelski | May 2025

, ,

During her residency, Nava will be working on a large-scale immersive environment constructed of the delicate details associated with traditional folk handcrafts. Using needlework in expressive, chaotic and destructive ways has long been a signature in her work and with this project her approach is to challenge the viewer to find beauty in the breakdown, seeing tangles and snarls as intricate lace, and allowing the seductive and satisfying qualities of embroidery to be used in service of memorializing stains and other random marks.


Artist statement:
My work combines painting and sculpture with traditional crafts, primarily those considered “women’s work”. I have used stitching in my best-known series and examine acknowledging chaotic experience within these hybrids of painting and needlework: embroideries are hand-stitched over splatters and drips on canvas; structural lacework plugs gaps and rips; tablecloths and blankets are posited as sculptures and damage is repaired by sewing around spills or holes and discarded snarls and tangles of thread, along with fabric scraps, are given new life as improbably wild, yet delicate lace forms and irregular patterns. Throughout my work I play with scrambling dichotomies like craft/art and with allowing traditionally meticulous media to be used in roughly expressionistic and improvisational ways that suggest layered meanings and reinterpretations of experience. My overall approach is one I have termed “imperfectionism” and it engages craft tradition with questions about why we define value as being yoked to traditional techniques, virtuosic skill and perfectionist labor.

Bio:
Nava Lubelski was born and raised in New York City and lives currently in Asheville, NC. Lubelski’s work has been exhibited widely at museums such as the Queens Museum of Art (permanent collection); the Museum of Arts & Design in NYC (permanent collection); the San Diego Museum of Art; the National Museum of Decorative Arts and Design in Oslo; the Mint Museum in Charlotte, NC and the Asheville Art Museum. She has shown solo or semi-solo with Tracey Morgan Gallery in Asheville, LMAKprojects in New York, OH&T Gallery in Boston, P|M Gallery in Toronto, Luis de Jesus in Los Angeles and Margaret Thatcher Projects in NYC. Additional exhibitions have included numerous university, commercial galleries and small museums throughout the US as well as in Berlin, Stockholm and Sydney. Lubelski’s work has been reviewed in The New York Times, LA Times, Toronto Globe and Mail, Art Forum, ArtNews and The Village Voice, among many others, was the subject of a feature in American Craft, and has been included in many international contemporary art books, such as Radical Decadence (New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2017) and De Fil en Aiguille (Paris: Pyramyd Editions, 2018). She has received grants from The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Center for Crafts and the North Carolina Arts Council. Lubelski received a degree in Russian Literature & History from Wesleyan University and spent a year as a student in Moscow, Russia.

Croctober with Dan and Joey | October 2025

We’re thrilled to announce that these artists have been rescheduled to October of 2025, after being unable to come into the residency in October 2024 due to Hurricane Helene.

Born and raised in the picturesque land of Asheville, North Carolina, D aka Dan aka Daniel (only when people are mad at him) is an artist whose creativity flows as freely as their love for Crocs. Known for their distinctive style, they merge the comfort of these iconic clogs with their vibrant artwork, often found sporting a pair in every imaginable color while creating masterpieces. Whether they’re recreating famous paintings or replacing famous people’s faces with their favorite shoe, you can bet their Crocs are always the muse for their next big idea. In the world of art, D proves that the right footwear can truly inspire greatness—or at least a lot of chuckles.

Jade Aster / The Moon Talkers | August 27 – September 24 2025

Jade Aster is the creator of The Moon Talkers, an instant astrophotography and telescope pop-up. You can often find them in their front yard, sharing views of Saturn, Jupiter, and the rest of the sky with neighbors passing by. Two years ago they picked up an instant camera and began experimenting with astrophotography. Capturing the craters of the moon and dark spots of the sun on instant film, they find it to be one of the most creative activities they can do.

Martha Skinner | July 2025

,

Martha Skinner creates drawings that are spaces and performances –playfully subverting and transforming issues through works emerging as celebrations of life. At Lamplight she’ll be weaving herself into a drawing within a drawing of drawings –a durational performance in collaboration with light, space and the visitors to the sliver of space as a series of participatory performances.

Artist Statement:

I create drawings that are performances, installations, products. Playfully subverting and transforming issues that need addressing through works emerging as celebrations of life.

From inhabitable to wearable, drawings as vehicles for connection. Transforming the world one drawing at a time. Playful, inspiring, transformative.

I wait and work with the light and some days I make the light.

Drawings you hang in your home.

Drawings I inhabit and you experience.

Drawings we inhabit and create together. 

Drawings you take wherever you go.

From immersive and participatory to tiny and personal. Connection.

My life is a drawing. I am the drawing. The drawing is my process.

Biography:

Martha Skinner, born in Colombia, is an international multi-media artist. With a Masters in Architecture & Urban Culture, her career as an artist, researcher, professor and public speaker spans 25 years.

Martha converses with our built environment through visualizations of the cycles of life to address temporal, social and environmental issues of our delicate ecology. She utilizes this methodology in her work to filter, transmit, capture, and commemorate the intangible qualities of the passing of time with playful representations of the relationships between humans and the environment in which they are situated.

Martha’s work has been recognized by various awards and internationally-recognized publications and exhibitions.


Highlights of Martha’s career include:

  • 1999 Walter B. Sanders Fellow at the University of Michigan
  • Creator of Notation A/V, a seminar about the merging of drawing and moving image and creator CiTy- 
SCAN, The City as Bodies in Movement (body of research), and 10^10, The Exponential Power of Design
  • TEDx speaker (2015): The Exponential Power of Design
  • Creator of several Living Maps of cities which include NY A/V, a moving document and installation on 
Broadway Street (acquired by the NY Historical Society, and featured in the book “Installations by Architects” and as part of an international travel exhibition. Also received Best of Category Award from Concept Category of ID Magazine.
  • Professor at Clemson University (2001-2014) & founding partner at field office (1997-2010)
  • Exhibitor at 10th Venice Biennale, 4th International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam & Black Mountain 
College Museum, {Re}Happening and NFT Liverpool
  • Five awards from I.D. Magazine, & a Next Generation Award from Metropolis Magazine
  • Receipt of a People, Prosperity and the Planet Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
  • 2nd prize – Sun Shelter Competition.

Martha lives in Marshall, NC.

The Actor’s Center of Asheville | June 2025

,

The Actors Center of Asheville (TACA) will be spending the month of June, 2025 at Lamplight AVL. TACA’s black box theatre & studio were lost in Hurricane Helene. As a result, they have been moving around since the flood and will be spending the month of June generating work, art, creative connection and as much artistic contributions to the community as possible. TACA not only lost their brick and mortar location in Helene, they also lost their scholarship fund for students struggling financially. All offerings will go towards rebuilding the scholarship fund, and opening the new TACA location, hopefully by Summer 2025. TACA has always been a place where artists come to train, create their own work, and book as a screen actor.  They will be offering live performances, musical events, classes and workshops during their stay at Lamplight AVL. Kevin Patrick Murphy’s wife and business partner Kellin Watson is a local internationally successful singer/songwriter and musician and will be hosting songwriting workshops and live performances throughout the month as well. Live theatre, film screenings, & the opportunity for collaboration & performance for all will be open to the public.

More About The Actor’s Center of Asheville:

Students explore their potential through scene study, improvisation, character development and much more. The Actor’s Center of Asheville offers Acting classes, Audition shooting, & coaching, workshops, One on One Private Coaching for film, television, commercials, industrials, performance, singing, & even songwriting. The Actor’s Center Of Asheville is lead by Instructor and professional working actor, Kevin Patrick Murphy. With over 20 years experience as an actor and acting teacher, Kevin Patrick Murphy has developed a well-rounded and realistic approach to bringing students in and helping them discover their strength & power as actors. While The Actor’s Center of Asheville specializes in the craft & technicalities of acting on screen, large importance is also placed on training actors to create their own work to workshop in class among peers, encouraging students to support one another, building a strong network of committed artists working together.

The Actor’s Center Of Asheville has helped facilitate students in finding and signing with not only prominent agents in the southeast, but with the right agent for each individual. We are proud to have earned a high booking success rate among our students & clients, who have booked & appeared in several major feature films, TV shows, and Commercials.

Reba Fraser | February 2025

,

Through traditional batik techniques, I create pieces that merge precise geometric patterns with the organic nature of wax and dye. Coming from a multi-generational line of textile makers and learning alongside my mother, I’ve evolved these inherited techniques into my own visual language. From my first encounter with batik, the relationship between wax, dye, and textile felt wonderfully intuitive, leading me to explore increasingly complex patterns that honor both tradition and innovation. While my company Good Goodies explores loose, flowing forms in everyday textiles, my batik practice at Lamplight will intentionally push toward highly controlled designs – creating a fascinating tension between structure and spontaneity.

Nate Northrup Open Studio | Saturday January 25 1-4pm

, , ,

Join us as our current artist in residence, the amazing Nate Northrup, hosts an open studio to share his work! Saturday 1/25, from 1pm to 4pm. Stop on by!

SWANNATOPIA RETURNS!!! “Alive at the Bait ‘n’ Tassle” | December 17 2024 – January 6 2025

Welcome back to our dear friends, Swannatopia!

Join us at Swannatopia’s Annual Holiday Light Show Eggstravaganza!

Open Dec 21 2024 – Jan 5 2025 at Lamplight AVL – 821 Haywood Road

Experimental Art Club does ChandeLURES!

An ALIVE shop and vernacular habitat fro late night hangs.

A tangential part of Deer Freaks… and Decoys! on view Sept 27 – Mar 15 below and in conjunction with The Farm at Black Mountain College at BMCM+AC

For more information, visit swannatopia.com or call 256-EGGS-4-US

Nate Northup | January 9 – January 29, 2025

Artist’s Statement: “My work explores the layered complexity of time, memory and perception, where  seemingly chaotic fragments coalesce into a larger, more harmonious whole, reflecting the process of accumulation – layers of information, emotions and experiences building upon one another. Relationships between subjects are often unclear or shifting, allowing the viewer to experience multiple interpretations and draw their own connections while offering a space for personal meaning to emerge.”