Bakersville, NC

Annual Bakersville Christmas Tree Lighting

The annual Bakersville Christmas Tree Lighting Festival will take place the Friday night, November 27th, the day after Thanksgiving, at 6 p.m.  Due to the restoration in progress at the historic courthouse, the Festival will take place on the south end of the Creek Walk (Rhododedron Park).  A magnificent tree  has been donated by  Ronnie McKinney of Bakersville.  There will be ample parking across the street, at Bowman School, and Henline’s parking lot.  Caroling will take place immediately after the lighting ceremony and Santa will be waiting to greet visitors at the Bakersville Flower Shop.  Some of the  shops will be open and serving refreshments.

 

Plans are being made for ongoing caroling events at the new bandstand near the pavilion on the Creek Walk.  Bakersville Baptist Church is hard at work on its Bethlehem walk.  Times and dates will be announced.

 

The annual Christmas Parade will be held on December  5th in downtown Bakersville and the ever popular Toe River Arts Council Tour will also take place that week-end.

Akira Satake, Lindsay Rogers, and ASU ceramics students at CLG

On November 7^th Crimson Laurel Gallery will present two exhibits: Yakishime – Kohiki – Yuuyaku – New work by Akira Satake with guest artist Lindsay Rogers and Mud Summer: an internship experience.

Akira will feature Yakishime, Kohiki and Yuuyaku which are three distinct styles of pottery with their origins in ancient Asian tradition. Akira was born in Osaka, Japan has been living in the U.S. since 1983 In 2003 he relocated to Swannanoa, North Carolina, where he built a Japanese Kyushu-style oil kiln and a wood-fired kiln. For Akira the act of creation is a collaboration between himself, the clay and the fire. Akira has been influenced by natural events such as undulations in sand that has been moved by wind and rock formations as well as the crackle and patina of the weathered walls of ancient structures.


Lindsay Rogers was influenced by the antique pottery that surrounded her in her youth and the many hands and stories that those antique pieces had experienced. She is excited at the prospect that her work possesses this potential and her hope is that each piece she creates will stand alone as a ceramic representation of of how she interacts with the world. Lindsay began her work in ceramics in 2001 in New Haven Connecticut and was offered a residency in Natchez, Mississippi in 2005 where she worked with potter Conner Burns. She is currently working as a resident artist at the EnergXchange in western NC.

“Mud Summer, an internship experience” will include the work of Appalachian State University ceramics students Jaime McKay, Jessica Wood, Lindsey Elsey and Blake Kennedy and the Mitchell County potters and sculptors who have served as their mentors throughout their internships including Bakersvlle residents Melisa Cadell, Courtney Martin, John Britt, Michael Hunt and Naomi Dalglish.

The exhibits open on November 7^th and an artist reception will take place on November 21^st at 6pm. The exhibits will remain at Crimson Laurel Gallery through the end of the year.