ARTS AVL HISTORY

Arts AVL (2022- Present)

Since rebranding as ArtsAVL in late 2022, the Asheville Area Arts Council has deepened its role as Buncombe County’s designated nonprofit arts agency—strengthening our creative sector through strategic advocacy, vital grantmaking, meaningful connection, and impactful public art initiatives.

Connection
ArtsAVL continues to expand access to and visibility for the arts across Buncombe County. In 2023, the launch of a new Creative Portal microsite and the free ArtsAVL Connect Trolley linked residents and visitors to key arts destinations in Downtown Asheville and the River Arts District—driving a reported 46% increase in sales and 52% increase in foot traffic on Trolley Days. In 2025, the Redefine the Weekend campaign further amplified local arts experiences across Asheville, the RAD, Black Mountain, and Weaverville through storytelling, advertising, and an interactive online hub.

Advocacy
ArtsAVL has emerged as a leading voice for the creative sector in Western North Carolina. Since 2022, the organization has:

  • Led the Arts Coalition and annual State of the Arts Brunch
  • Published major research including the Buncombe County Creative Earnings Report, Arts & Economic Prosperity 6, and Creative Spaces Study
  • Advocated for continued public investment, securing a $130K Arts & Culture block grant and maintaining key city and state arts funding
  • Laid the foundation for Buncombe County’s first Cultural Recovery Plan (2026–2030) with community-wide engagement and new studies on cultural assets, the regional music ecosystem, and the WNC craft supply chain

Grants
ArtsAVL’s regranting efforts have grown dramatically. From FY22 to FY25:

  • Annual grant awards increased by over 200%, with $392,432 regranted through 100 awards in FY25 alone
  • Over 2,200 grants totaling nearly $3 million have been invested in local artists, arts education, and organizations since FY19
  • Relief funding following Hurricane Helene brought $1.4 million to artists and arts businesses across WNC

Asheville Area Arts Council (2001-2021)

In 2001, Asheville Arts Alliance changed its name to the Asheville Area Arts Council. During this time, the arts council had multiple changing roles – fundraiser for arts organizations, trainer for educators, arts program host and collaborator, exhibition gallery, property owner, and financial and career development resource for artists. While all of these initiatives were important, they did not quite meet the needs of the overall creative sector. The arts council began a period of intensive assessment in 2019 to better understand the needs of the entire local arts community, and restructure the organization to best meet those needs.

In 2019, the creative industries generated $1.6 billion in sales and supported 14,000 jobs. The Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation industry alone grew 53% from 2015-2019 — double the growth rate of the Construction industry over the same time period. 

This unprecedented growth was thrown into turbulence by the COVID-19 pandemic, when the Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation industry experienced the greatest percentage of employment loss in Buncombe County — an overall loss of 34%. Arts Council actively tracked the effects of the pandemic on the arts, releasing a countywide Creative Jobs Report and stepping even more into arts advocacy to help ensure a sustainable future for regional arts. 

Community Arts Council of WNC (1979-2000)

In 1979, the Civic Arts Council merged with the Western North Carolina Arts Coalition (a group of individual artists and arts organizations) to form the Community Arts Council of WNC. “The purpose of the merger [was] to create a single, unified organization that [could] serve as sort of [an] “umbrella” for arts efforts in the entire Western North Carolina area.” It was also at this time that the arts council officially incorporated as a 501(c)(3) organization.

During the next two decades, the arts council worked to help fund area arts programs through a United Arts Fund drive. This joint fundraising effort helped many organizations during a vital time in their development and supported the concentrated efforts to revitalize Asheville’s downtown area.

By the mid-1980s in was clear that the Asheville Civic Center did not offer enough space to house multiple arts organizations as originally envisioned, so in the late 1980s a new plan was proposed for Pack Place Education, Arts, & Science Center to house the Asheville Art Museum, the Colburn Memorial Mineral Museum, The Health Adventure, and a 500-seat theatre (later to be known as Diana Wortham Theatre). The Community Arts Council of WNC played a large role in fundraising for this project. It was also at this time that the Community Arts Council of WNC changed its name to the Asheville Arts Alliance with the goal of working as a primary fundraiser for arts organizations in Buncombe County.

Pack Place Education, Arts, & Science Center opened on Pack Square in 1992, and remained there until 2014 when it was disbanded to allow for the expansion of the Asheville Art Museum and Wortham Center for the Performing Arts. The Colburn Mineral Museum is now known as the Asheville Museum of Science and located on Patton Avenue near Pritchard Park.

Civic Arts Council (1952- 1978)

The Asheville Area Arts Council is the second oldest arts council in the state of North Carolina. It was founded in 1952 as a working committee of the Junior League (as many of the arts councils across the US were at the time) and was called the Civic Arts Council.

Almost from the start, the Civic Arts Council had one major goal and that was to build a Civic Arts Center to house multiple arts organizations, including the Asheville Art Museum, Colburn Mineral Museum, Asheville Community Theatre, and Asheville Symphony Orchestra. Though initial attempts to build the Civic Center were unsuccessful, a $3M bond referendum was passed to build the center in 1971. “The new facility encompass[ed] the existing [Haywood] Auditorium and add[ed] an exhibition hall, a banquet hall, meeting rooms, and an arena for conventions, concerts, sports, and family show productions. It also include[d] exhibit and rehearsal areas for the Asheville Art Museum, Colburn Mineral Museum, and the Asheville Symphony Orchestra.” By the time the funding came through, the Asheville Community Theatre had already begun a capital campaign of their own and the theatre opened in its current location on Walnut Street in 1972. The new Asheville Civic Center opened its doors in 1974.