How to Recycle an Old Building Into a Work of Art

The Black Mountain Center for the Arts, located in the old City Hall at 225 W. State Street, offers the Black Mountain Clay Studio as part of its mission of “bringing art to the people and people to the arts.” The Clay Studio, a renovated garage, is located adjacent to the Center next to the gardens at the back of the building.

The renovation of the old City Garage into the new Pottery Studio was funded by a grant from the Janirve Foundation and much of the new equipment was funded by a grant from the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina. Work on the project began in 2005. The Pottery Studio opened for classes in January of 2008.

The clay studio is equipped with 6 electric wheels, 2 electric kilns and kiln room, a slab roller, wedging table, extruder and glazing station. In addition, area potters donated other valuable equipment and supplies. Executive Director Gale Jackson had a vision to make the studio as visually appealing from the outside, as it would be functionally appealing to potters and students from the inside.

Julia Burr, (jcburrdesigns.com and jcburr.com) Black Mountain sculptor and installation artist, was engaged to turn the west-facing wall into a mosaic tile mural. The concept she designed is a contemporary splash of color that also serves as a backdrop for signage identifying the site as the Black Mountain Center for the Arts.

David Seils (wallsculpture.net), an Asheville artist, was commissioned to create a three- dimensional bas-relief mountain scene on the east-facing wall. According to Seils, he revived an art style - relief sculpture - that has been used for thousand of years to decorate walls and the frieze of buildings. In that type sculpture the artwork was tediously carved, chiseled, or cut out in marble or limestone to only a degree of a few inches to create the illusion of depth. With the advantage of new materials -white cement, silicon sand, and lime - the same effect can be accomplished by building up the relief sculpture instead of carving.

Most viewers are curious about the application process of Seils’ work. David explains, “The sculpture is applied rapidly using a mason’s hawk and trowel. The three- dimensional relief artwork begins to take shape within a few minutes as the materials begin to harden. Additional material can be added to make changes or adjustments, allowing for more depth and detail to the sculpture. The finished sculpture is usually not painted, but left natural to give it an elegant look.”

Gale Jackson, Executive Director of the Center was on-site coordinator, with MWB Construction as General Contractor. Front elevation design was by Appalachian Land Planning & Design. Deck design and general carpentry was by All That & More, Inc. MisKimmen’s Brothers Brick masons, Peterson Electric, and Black Mountain Stove and Chimney were other contractors for the renovation. Some exterior work was performed by a work crew from the Women’s Correctional Center and interior painting was completed by a work crew from the NC Department of Corrections in Marion.

The Pottery Studio, not only a transformation and renewal of an old building into a Black Mountain artistic showpiece with the two mural walls, is also distinctive in that it offers a fully equipped professional pottery teaching studio not attached to an educational or municipal institution or commercial clayworks. The Black Mountain Center for the Arts is proud to offer this exceptional opportunity to the general public to learn and experiment with an arts and crafts form that is one of the oldest known to humankind.