BOONE’S CULTURE

Boone remembers and creates culture

BY JORDYN DANIELS

The rich and noteworthy history of Boone creates the perfect environment for arts and entertainment to flourish. Boone is riddled with bright mementos of past achievements, like the Doc Watson statue on King Street. This is juxtaposed by venues where new ideas and creators come together to create art and music that will one day be memorialized.

Boone citizens and visitors are given the opportunity to witness the creation of history and expression of culture through these local entertainment venues. This seemingly small community brings the very best performance stages, art galleries throughout town, and music venues. Boone offers venues both small and large for audiences to take in a wide range of artists.

In the heart of downtown King Street, the Jones House Cultural and Community Center offers hosts outdoor and indoor concerts through-

PHOTO SUBMITTED Located on King Street in the heart of Boone, the Jones House is a historic building that originally was home to one of the first physicians in the area. Now, it serves as a center for cultural heritage in the High Country.

out the year, an art venue that

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SHOPLOCAL YEAR-ROUND!

Learn more at BRWIA.ORG

PHOTO COURTESY APPALACHIAN STATE UNIVERSITY Appalachian State University’s Turchin Center for the Visual Arts offers free admission to visitors.

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features local masters of their craft as well as a hub for many local events throughout the year. The Jones house is a historical building that roots itself in the center of town and brings atmosphere and entertainment to any event held there.

To learn more about the Jones House’s and future events, visit www.joneshouse. org.

Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts

A 1,673-seat venue, the Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts brings a variety of acts from across the world to Boone. The state-of-the-art venue has welcomed stars from Broadway’s Sarah Jones to future stars honing their crafts as current Mountaineer students. The venue also hosts a variety of annual events and festivals such as the Appalachian Summer Festival. For information on upcoming events, visit theschaefercenter.org.

Valborg Theatre

The main stage for the Department of Theatre and Dance at App State, the Valborg Theatre holds 334 seats and has a slate of four shows for its 2022-2023 productions. To find more information about performances at the Valborg Theatre, visit theatreanddance.appstate. edu.

L.G. Greer

Studio Theatre

This small, 80-seat theater is also used for performances for the theatre and dance departments at Appalachian State University. A hotbed of student creativity, this theater sees student-led projects, one-act plays and other shows of student expression on campus. To learn more, visit theatreanddance.appstate. edu.

The Appalachian

Theatre

The Appalachian Theatre of the High Country is a historic landmark on King Street, which reopened its doors to the public in 2019. In 1950, the theater was damaged in a fire and was brought back to life as a movie theater until closing in 2007. Whether seeing a comedian, musician or a holiday cinema classic, the Appalachian Theatre has plenty to offer. To learn more about the App Theatre performance schedule, visit www.apptheatre.org.

Harvest House

The Harvest House is a church during times of worship, but also acts as a live performance venue. In the past, Harvest House has hosted acts like Joe Shannon’s Mountain Home Music, IBMA winner Cane Mill Road, The Jeff Little Trio and Don Flemons. For more information on the Harvest House, visit hhcboone.org.

ART GALLERIES

If you happen to visit Boone during the first Friday of the month, you’ll have the unique chance to visit every art gallery on the list. First Friday Art Crawls are held the first Friday of every month February through December.

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PHOTO BY PIPER SAUNDERS Community members learn from the Faux Paws in a workshop. They all played a song together to conclude a Jones House event.

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The Turchin Center for the Visual Arts on King Street is owned by Appalachian State University and offers two wings with six different galleries displaying contemporary art by national and international artists as well as the works of local and regional artists. To learn more, visit tcva.org.

The Watauga County Art Council’s Blue Ridge ArtSpace is a space for all ages that hosts four gallery exhibitions, which rotate on a monthly basis. The Main Gallery and Open Door Gallery display local work, while the Serendipity Gallery showcases pieces developed in senior centers and the Young Artist Gallery highlights artists 18 years of age or younger. To find out more about the Blue Ridge ArtSpace, visit www. blueridgeheritage.com/destinations/blue-ridge-artspace.

Owned and operated by local potter Bob Meier, Doe Ridge Pottery features high quality home décor as well as beautiful functional ware. To see works and learn more, visit www.doeridgepottery. homestead.com.

To see a palate of local artists, head over to the Hands Gallery, a cooperative of local artists exploring business opportunities and donating time and ideas to the gallery. Visit www. handsgallery.com find out more about current exhibitions.

To visit an independent gallery, Nth Degree Gallery features monthly exhibitions of local and regional contemporary and emerging artists. Artists of all ages and walks of life have had their art shown at the Nth Degree Gallery and mediums range just as much, including ink, printmaking, photography, paintings, ceramics, fiber arts and more. To learn more, visit www. facebook.com/nthgallery.

Whether visiting a gallery for an immersive visual experience or hearing tunes from the heart of Appalachia, there’s no shortage of artistic experiences to broaden your horizons while in Boone.