Experience art & discover history… from home!
Featuring a variety of artistic challenges, deep-dives, unique gallery tours, program highlights, and youth engagement to connect with you no matter where you are.
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If you enjoy our programs, please support BRAHM by becoming a member or donating at www.BlowingRockMuseum.org/support. No gift is too small.

Curator’s Corner: Marjorie & Louis
We are excited to bring you new exhibitions this summer, including Marjorie & Louis." We'll keep you posted on the opening date of this exhibition, but we plan to have it up when we can open our doors to the public again! Marjorie & Louis" tells the story of an unlikely, yet loving marriage between two artists who spent many years together in the community of Blowing Rock, NC. The name Marjorie Daingerfield may stand out to some who are familiar with her father, Elliott Daingerfield, a well renowned early 20th century American painter. Like her father, Marjorie grew to become a professional artist, but rather than picking up a paintbrush, she became a sculptor, with bronze as her primary medium. She would spend many memorable summers in Blowing Rock alongside her second husband, Louis Lundean.

Art Lesson with Ms. Jennifer: Henri Matisse
Let's create a cut-out collage like Matisse! Follow along with Ms. Jennifer as you create your very own Matisse-inspired collage. When you’re done, be sure to share a photo of your finished masterpiece with us!

Lil' Docent Tour: "Branching Out" with Aiden
Join lil' docent, Aiden Smith, for this raw and unedited tour of Branching Out: Works in Wood from NC. (This tour was filmed during the installation process of the exhibition, so you’ll notice a few things out of place.) We wish you could tour this breathtaking exhibition in person as we're sure you would be as impressed and delighted as this six-year old! We remain hopeful you'll get a chance to come visit soon once it's safe to gather again.

Artist Inspiration: Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse began an interest in art as a young man when he was sick and stuck inside. His mother bought him an art set and he was hooked! He went on to paint and sculpt for the rest of his life. Matisse spent many years confined to a wheelchair or his bed, but did not let this stop him from creating. Some of his most famous, colorful work was created during this time, such as his cut-outs. Here we see Matisse drawing a head for the decoration of Chapelle du Rosaire in Vence in his studio/room in the Hotel Regina, in Nice-Cimiez, 1950.

Oral History Minute: Jennifer Maxwell, Office of Sustainability
With Earth Day right around the corner, we highlight the work of Jennifer Maxwell, Sustainability Program Specialist for the Office of Sustainability at Appalachian State University.

Staff Highlight: Dianna Cameron, Curator of Exhibitions & Collections
Dianna has worked for BRAHM since July of 2014, when the Museum was a mere three years old. She has grown and evolved in her position, as have BRAHM’s exhibitions and collections under her direction. Talk to Dianna and you will quickly find that she is always thinking strategically, and carefully considers the history, current state, and mission of BRAHM’s permanent collection and exhibitions when exploring future projects. And, as most who have visited BRAHM in the past couple of years will agree, the quality of exhibitions and their relevance to local history, contemporary artists, and Southern Appalachian culture is evident.

Young Artist Weekly Showcase: George Rodrigue's Blue Dog
Did you create a Blue Dog to celebrate late artist George Rodrigue? If so, reply with an image in the comments.
Check out the awesome creations by our friends Ellie and Declan!

At-Home Watch Party: “The Last Dragons”
Check out this video as a reminder that we share the rivers with some incredible wildlife and it is important for us to respect their habitat. Our friends over at Freshwaters Illustrated produced this intimate glimpse at North America's Eastern Hellbender. Hellbenders are an ancient species of salamander that lives as much in myth as in reality and in many waters, myths are all that remain of these sentinel stream-dwellers.

Throwback Thursday: “The Art of Native Plants”
"The Art of Native Plants" was a group exhibition juried by artist Lynn Duryea, who before retiring, taught ceramics for many years in the Art Department at Appalachian State University in Boone. We had a lot of great submissions from artists around the state, all of whom made work featuring native plants that grow here in North Carolina at all times of the year. It was a bright, fun exhibition that featured artwork created using a diverse selection of mediums, including painting, printmaking, ceramics, sculpture, wood, fibers, metals, and photography.

New Website Scavenger Hunt!
We’re so excited about launching our brand new website! We hope you have a few minutes to check it out! To encourage you to click around, we’ve hidden Sir BRAHM on one of the pages. Once you find him, click on his image and you’ll be entered to win a special BRAHM prize from our gift shop! We’ll choose a winner at 5pm on Earth Day, Wednesday April 22nd so you have a whole week to hunt! Good luck and enjoy the new site!

Curator’s Corner: Walter Launt Palmer
Spring is here! To honor and say goodbye to winter, today we’ll feature a work from our permanent collection. American Impressionist Walter Launt Palmer is most famous for his snow scenes, so much so that he has been referred to as "the painter of the American winter." Impressionists like Palmer were obsessed with capturing changes in light outdoors and how this altered our perception of (and even relationship to) the landscape. However, instead of risking frost and frozen limb to paint outside in the snow all day, Palmer used photographs he took to study the effects of natural light and then painted his scenes from memory.

Art Lesson with Ms. Jennifer: George Rodrigue’s “Blue Dog"
Let's draw and paint a Blue Dog like artist George Rodrigue! He became famous all over the world for his blue dog paintings and prints. Blue dog was featured on product labels, ads, and commercials. George used his fame to establish a foundation to support art education for local children.

Weekly Gallery Tour: Zak Weinberg
Zak Weinberg (b. 1993) is a multi-disciplinary sculptor and fabricator. Through the alter-ego, Grebniew Kaz (his name spelled backwards), a relationship has been forged with a laser cutter, creating and exhibiting machine fabricated wood relief sculptures. Each piece is an expression of universal language to celebrate the harmonious balance of difference.

The Easter Platypus
The Easter platypus was your original “support local” enterprise. She kept her business small scale and kept it local. Her eggs were organic and since she was free range, so were her eggs. She shared them year round within her community. She was happy.

Artist Inspiration: George Rodgrigue
This week we will highlight the late Louisiana artist George Rodrigue and his cheerful Blue Dog series. Raised in Louisiana, George Rodrigue began learning to draw and paint after he was found to have polio at age 8 and spent several months in bed. He later became one of the greatest success stories in American art. The Blue Dog Series, based on a cajun legend, brought international fame. His paintings of his cajun country heritage sought to preserve this legacy despite the rapidly changing world.

Oral History Minute: Renee Boughman, F.A.R.M. Cafe
In 2018 we interviewed Renee Boughman, executive chef of F.A.R.M. Cafe. She told us about the importance of sitting down and eating a meal together.

Staff Highlight: Sharon Caldwell, Business Manager
Sharon has been BRAHM’s Business Manager since November of 2017. While Sharon’s job is primarily to manage the museum’s finances and oversee the front desk, her actual tasks go far beyond these responsibilities. At any time, you could see Sharon checking the HVAC system, meeting with contractors, assisting caterers at BRAHM events, or straightening up the gift shop. This is partly because Sharon is well-versed in many positions, and partly because she is quick to say yes when another staff member needs help in their own area. Sharon can switch hats at any given moment and is readily willing to do so.

Young Artist Weekly Showcase
We love these artists' drawings and paintings inspired by Edvard Munch's mural "The Sun." They have really brightened our week.

Program Watch Party: Live 'n Pickin' with the Capozzoli Guitar Company
In our exhibit, "Sound Machines: Stringed Instruments of the Capozzoli Guitar Company" we have the rare opportunity to showcase pieces that are both works of art and instruments for creating art. In this program Chris Capozzoli will tell us about a few of his instruments and his friend Jeff Moretz will demonstrate the instruments in action.

Throwback Thursday: Elizabeth Bradford: Time + Terrain
Four years ago, we were honored to be able to collaborate with Davidson, NC based artist Elizabeth Bradford and guest curator Carla Hanzal to bring Elizabeth Bradford: Time + Terrain to our museum. Did you get to see Elizabeth's beautiful work in this exhibition?