May 16th – Jul 31st, 2026
Opening Reception: Sunday, May 17th, 1-3pm

Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, Black Mountain College existed for just twenty-four years, yet its influence on American art, music, dance, and poetry remains unparalleled. Gallery C is proud to present Black Mountain College: Avant-Garde Art from the Experimental School, 1933-1957, a sweeping survey of works born from one of the most radical educational experiments of the twentieth century. Founded on the belief that art was not peripheral to learning but central to it, Black Mountain attracted a constellation of visionary faculty and students, among them Josef and Anni Albers, Robert Rauschenberg, John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Jacob Lawrence, Jean Varda, Cy Twombly, and Willem de Kooning, whose ideas would reshape the cultural landscape of postwar America. The works assembled here span painting, printmaking, and mixed media, and reflect the school’s embrace of experimentation, collaboration, and process as ends in themselves. More than a historical retrospective, this exhibition is an invitation to experience the electric spirit of a community that dared to imagine education and art as inseparable from life itself.

Gallery C is pleased to offer two special events in conjunction with this exhibition. On Thursday, May 22nd, we invite the public to walk the very ground where this remarkable story unfolded: the BMC Museum and Arts Center will host a guided walking tour of the original Black Mountain College campus at Lake Eden, offering a rare and atmospheric glimpse into the physical world that shaped so many towering artistic careers. Then, on Thursday, May 28th at 5:30 p.m., join us at Gallery C for a lecture and slide presentation by Professor Brian Crisp entitled “Democracy in Action: Life at Black Mountain College.” Drawing on rich visual materials, Professor Crisp will share the tantalizing stories of the personalities that guided (and challenged!) the day-to-day rhythms, governance, and communal ideals that made Black Mountain College a living experiment in democratic creativity. Reservations are required for both events, and tickets are $20.00 per person. To reserve your place, please call us at 919-828-3165 or email art@nullgalleryc.net. We warmly encourage all those moved by this exhibition to deepen their engagement through these unique opportunities.

Opening Reception for the exhibition  is Sunday May 17th, from 1:00 – 3:00 pm.