A mission of Art Expeditions is to showcase art museums throughout the United States and the world to help art lovers access art in their neck of the woods and around the globe!

This week I’m diving into Art Museum highights from my home state of North Carolina.

The Tar Heel State has strong cultural ties with the arts from the American Indian pottery and artistry of The Cherokee, Lumbee and beyond to folk art and pottery at Seagrove, to mountain arts and crafts at Penland to fine art and contemporary artists.

In 1947, North Carolina was the first state to allocate funds for a state museum of art -The North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, the vision was to ensure that all North Carolinians would have access to fine art without having to travel out of state. This People’s Collection would be ‘owned’ by the people of North Carolina.

• North Carolina also has state owned Hisory and Natural History Museums in Raleigh, NC Zoo (Asheboro) and the state funded North Carolina Symphony (based in Raleigh, but tours around the state). Each of these institutions consistently rank as top museums/performing cultural arts organizations.

Today we’re going to highlight a few of North Carolina’s Amazing ART MUSEUMS by region.

FYI: North Carolinians divide our state into three geographical regions:

1. The Mountains (western part of the state in Appalachian/Blue Ridge Mountain region); This area is one of the most culturally important areas for folk art and North Carolina homegrown art.
2. The Piedmont: The hilly middle of the state, which includes major cities like Raleigh (capital city), Greensboro, Winston-Salem…
3. The Coastal Plain: Farms, beaches and lots of artistic inspiration in this scenic section of NC’s flatland

Western Region/Mountains:

The Western Area of North Carolina is one of the most diverse and enjoyable for art lovers. The beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains has long attracted art communities and been a hub in major movements in folk art, arts and crafts movement and contemporary art. Throughout the mountains you’ll discovery unique galleries featuring AMAZING North Carolina artists from a variety of backgrounds.

Asheville:

• River Arts District: as mentioned above this is a hotspot for Art in Asheville
• Biltmore Estate – though technically a historic mansion (the largest in America) – Biltmore’s architecture by Richard Morris Hunt combined by glorious gardens designed by Frederick Law Olmstead is an art lovers paradise. George Vanderbilt was an avid collector of art throughout his world travels and the house features works by Renoir, family portraitist John Singer Sargent and even a Monet…newer art additions include an installment by famed glass artisan Chiluly
• Asheville Museum of Art: Focus on artists related to Western North Carolina (WNC) and Southern Appalachia, artists who studied or taught at Black Mountain College (1933-1957) and handmade objects created in the region— including Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians artists, historic regional craftspeople, and contemporary studio craft as exemplified by the Penland School of Craft
• Penland School (closer to Spruce Pine, 1 hour north of Asheville) – premier folk arts school in the US
• Folk Art Center off Blue Ridge Parkway (

Boone:

• Turchin Center for Visual Arts: Part of App State, this is the largest visual arts center in Western North Carolina.

Blowing Rock:

• Check out Art in the Park in the summer for contemporary (living today) artists every summer
• The BRAHM is a small, but mighty art museum featuring great exhibitions, unique permanent collection and on-site classes
  • Moses Cone Manor: The Cone Family who made their fortune in textiles (Greensboro area and Baltimore) were major art collectors and friends with masters like Matisse. You can tour their mountain estate – a center of art and influence in the community for years just outside of Blowing Rock. It is now a NPS run historic site.

Cherokee:

• The Museum of the Cherokee Indian

Hickory: The furniture capital of North Carolina (and the world) with High Point (about an hour east of Hickory), this town has long been a hub of artisans and fine craftsmanship.

• Hickory Art Museum

Charlotte:

Not quite in the mountains, but west of the central Piedmont, Charlotte is a diverse arts community and one of the largest cities in the Southeast.

• The Mint Museum (two museums in one, Uptown location in heart of ‘downtown’ Charlotte and original Mint Building location: North Carolina’s first art museum is hometo a unique collection of American Art, Arts and Crafts, Modern Art and more.
• Bechtler Museum of Modern Art: also located in Uptown (downton) Charlotte – this is a wonderful museum and well worth a visit for contemporary and modern art lovers.

Piedmont:

Winston-Salem:

• Hanes Art Gallery (WFU)
• Reynolda
• Old Salem and MESDA
  • Old Salem is a living historic village like Colonial Williamsburg, which takes you back to the Colonial Moravian Settlers who carved their land in this area they called ‘Wachovia.’
  • MESDA is one of the most important museum for Southern Decorative Arts. It is located in the heart of Old Salem and you can visit the two areas in one trip.

Greensboro:

• Weatherspoon Art Museum at UNCG: The permanent collection features highlights from The Claribel and Etta Cone collection including Matisse and Picasso Prints, as well as an excellent collection of Asian Art.
• NC A&T Museums Diverse African American art collection

Hillsborough: An artsty town with Revolutionary History – it was a major spot in the American Revolution. They don’t have an art museum, but stroll downtown

Chapel Hill:

Home to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, this hub of culture and baskeball has one of the best art museums in the southeast:

• Ackland Art Museum: highlights include works by Delacroix, Bernard, Pissarro and more…

Durham:

• Nasher Art Museum (Duke University) – Great Medieval art and modern arts collection(s)

Raleigh:

• North Carolina Museum of Art
  • Home to one of the best Renaissance Collections of Art in the Southeastern US as well as Rodin, Monet, Pissarro and more…Read my blog feature about the NCMA here

• CAM: Rotating exhibits of modern art in Downtown Raleigh
• GREGG: NC State’s Museum of Art and Design

Coastal Plain:

Wilmington:

Cameron Art Museum

Greenville – Greenville Art Museum

Looking for a great museum in your area, check out our US Guide to Art Museums here