Asheville Art Museum

Very good museum with collections of Appalachia arts. Interesting roaring exhibits as well. Friendly and helpful staff. Worthwhile visit in Asheville.

Asheville is world renowned for it’s art, artists, and artistic sensibilities. We naturally therefore visited the Asheville Art Museum with high hopes. Located in the heart of downtown in a beautifully designed building, which is itself a work of art, parking is as expected for the downtown Asheville, or any other moderately sized cities’ downtown area. It’s not difficult but it’s not easy by any stretch. Thankfully downtown Asheville is very walkable and there are several parking options within half a mile of the museum. The museum staff and docents are friendly and subdued. $20 per adult did not initially seem a steep price for admission, but we were admittedly underwhelmed by the scope and collection of art on display at the museum. Galleries totaling probably less than 5,000 square feet spread across three stories highlight Asheville and Western North Carolina artists primarily, with a varied collection of art mediums and eras. There are lovely oil on canvas, native sculptures of first nations tribes in the area, and an interesting exhibit on Asheville architecture on display during our visit (October 2025), but still the museum felt lacking. We expected significantly more in terms of the collection size and scope, and it appeared that while the building was large on the outside, the majority of the interior was utilized for offices, classrooms, and non-public areas

I inadvertently went on a community day, free admission, but it's usually $20 for non-locals. They also had some workshops related to the exhibits so I would suggest checking their event calendar if you're interested. Staff were welcoming and helpful. I enjoyed the Flora Symbolica exhibit and the Native American art exhibit. It would've been great if the Native American exhibit were larger but I found the pieces interesting. There is a selection of pottery though it's not large.

Came here on a Sunday. No crowding! It was $20 for non locals. The museum had some pretty cool collections. I especially liked the exhibit around florals. The view at the rooftop is also very stunning! While I did enjoy my time, I think $20 is steep for only 2/4 floors of art.

My three young kiddos and I enjoyed our visit, especially the Impressionism exhibit and the children’s play area. The cafe was also yummy and reasonably priced for a casual lunch. The price is a little steep for admission considering you have to pay an additional $7 for the Impressionism exhibit.

Even in a time where it’s important to support local artists and art institutions, I have to say this is a skip. 20$ a person for the amount and quality of the exhibitions felt a bit like a robbery. Though we appreciate the work artists and curators put into their work, as a tourist coming into Asheville I would not pay that sort of money again to see what I saw. Also, we had two separate employees say not to miss the rooftop sculptures but you definitely can. There’s 4 sculptures out there, all of the sort I’ve seen on an eccentric hoarders front lawn, but the view up there is nice.

My husband and I held our wedding welcome party on the roof of the Asheville Art Museum at the start of September. We love the museum and make a point to visit each time we're in Asheville! It's small and quick, but the art is lovely, and we especially love to see the rotating exhibit on the first floor. To us, it was a no-brainer to have our guests pay it a visit as well. The events team at the museum is AMAZING! They answered every question and every email quickly and calmly, and Neil was SO helpful on the day of the party! It was wonderful to know we (and our parents, who were organizing the whole thing) were in such good hands! My husband and I can't wait for our next visit!

The Asheville Art Museum is a wonderful place to explore a wide range of art. The exhibits are thoughtfully curated, showcasing both local and national artists. The building itself is modern and inviting, with plenty of space to enjoy the artwork. The museum also offers beautiful views of the surrounding area, making it a must-visit for art lovers in Asheville.

Hands down one of my favorite museums ever. Very peacefully. Pro tip! Head to the top, grab a drink, sit outside and soak up some sun.

A small but fun little museum. It's with the $20 price of admission, especially if looking for an indoor option. The staff were very friendly and helpful. The art featured is primarily from the past century and from the US. I learned of some new artists since they don't have much from typical big names; Warhol was about the only major artist I saw.

I've been to the Asheville Art Museum several times since my last review and needed to update it. Let's just say the museum has grown on me. I'm not sure if the museum changed or if I changed but I am a fan of the museum. I'm even considering a membership as that was recommended on my last visit. I've been quite impressed with the special exhibits and prefer those to the ongoing exhibits. But I still enjoy some of the regular pieces. Sherrill Roland's Sugar, Water, Lemon Squeeze was a deep exhibit and had me trying to comprehend the questions. It really makes you think about what is innocence. I was uncomfortable at various points of the exhibit but that was the point of the art to get me thinking about the controversial topics. If you are in Downtown Asheville, check out the museum. Some of the work may speak to you more than other pieces and some might challenge your views.

A lovely collection and manageable in a couple hours, this is a fun way to spend some time exploring the art scene in this decidedly art-obsessed town. We had the chance to see the photorealism exhibit recently and it was striking! Highly recommend. The Romare Bearden collection is worth seeing too. There is a nice rooftop cafe with some pretty views of the city and the Blue Ridge Mountains. Children also will enjoy the kids create space on 2nd floor to make their own art, romp on the Gymboree style corner play area, and check out the kaleidoscope. *ProTip: there is a smart guide to the museum available on their website so bring your own headphones to enjoy learning more about the collection via your phone.

A little limited for the space, but nice! Skip the sculpture garden on the fourth floor. The shop is a fun extra. Good way to spend a rainy afternoon.

We were happy in a rainy day to duck inside and enjoy the Asheville Art Museum galleries. Since we visited during Covid, I should note that visitor counts were limited and masks required. The lobby staff were friendly and informative, giving us the lay of the land. We started at the 4th floor café with beautiful rooftop views of downtown, then made our way down the stairs visiting each floor. I enjoyed the stories that accompanied each piece of art, whether it was what inspired this piece in the artist, or the background of the type of medium used, I appreciated each piece more because I had this context. The museum staff has lovingly curated this collection and it showed in the details of our visit. I was disappointed that the traveling American Impressionism collection was an additional price on top of admission. At almost $40 extra for the four of us, we passed although we would have liked to have experienced it while we were there. Given that other interactive areas of the museum were closed for covid precautions it made our visit a short one. That said, I know how hard it's been for arts communities to thrive this past year so I respect the limitation. Don't miss the theater and film art that is around the corner on the (I believe) second floor. It wasn't at first obvious to me that I could go in that room, but it is very much open to the public. All in all, the art museum was a fun way to experience Asheville and a great time during a weathery day, and I'm glad we went.

I had high hopes for the Asheville Art Museum. It's a beautiful structure and it's in a prime location on Pack Square at the heart of the city. Asheville itself is an arty and creative city, so there should be lots of great art here. And there is a lot of art here. Some of it local, some of it just American. Pretty portraits, well done still life and some contemporary pieces that I don't quite understand. It is a great collection though I'm not sure that $16 is worth it. I was in and out in less than an hour. Some thought provoking pieces and some perfectly executed pieces. I enjoyed my time. [Review 12697 overall, 9 of 2020.]

Great local Museum with special exhibitions and events for members on a regular basis. Very glad Asheville has a great venue for artists and art lovers.

The Asheville Art Museum reopened in November 2019 after a more than two-year expansion and renovation. The changes are so great that this is essentially a new museum. And a spectacular one it is. The Asheville Art Museum now encompasses 54,000 square feet on four levels, with 70% more space for exhibitions than before. The all new glass-walled West Wing and entrance works quite well with part of the original 1926 Italian Renaissance facade of the North Wing, which was the old Pack Library, and the renovation and new construction on the East Wing includes two large new exhibition halls. The fourth floor has a rooftop café, Perspectives, with views of Downtown. The architects, Ennead, based in New York but with work all over the world, and the locally based building general contractor, Beverly-Hanks, did a wonderful job in bringing together the old and new. Most of the interior, however, with its high ceilings and excellent lighting, strikes you as being entirely new. The floors are polished concrete, light ash and terrazzo. The exhibit halls and storage areas are great spaces for displaying and storing the museum's collections, which number nearly 10,000 items, including many blueprints and hundreds of pieces related to Black Mountain College, and now the museum is large enough to put on many traveling exhibitions. The opening exhibitions, including Appalachia Now!, Many Become One and Intersections in American Art, are all fascinating. The "new" Asheville Art Museum is a tremendous asset to the city and a must-see for any visitor to the area. It's also of course a great resource for those of us who live here. P.S. I was disappointed in one thing: The museum gift shop sells ceramic mugs made in China, although Asheville is known nationally as a crafts center. Surely the Asheville Art Museum can find local sources of clay work to sell in the gift shop!

Not a huge museum, but an impressive one for a city of this size. Very well-maintained, with an impressive new wing. Its permanent collection has a good emphasis on local and regional artists and western North Carolina's impressive glass scene. Good exhibition on art in the atomic age. Nice cafe, as well, with rooftop access. Good gift shop, too, with interesting local and regional books and artworks. The admission charge, however, was a bit excessive at $15 per person.

It's an ok museum, it's not too expansive, but they have some good artwork and sculptures. Staff was nice and it's not too expensive.

Asheville Art Museum finally opened after a bazillion-dollar renovation. It's super nice. Now, I don't pretend to know what I'm looking at in a place like this, but I had some pro-help along and most of the exhibits had descriptive placards to help the less sophisticated visitors like Yours Truly. Then, I proudly and forgetfully wore this sticker/museum pass to dinner and grocery shopping. It was like taking an adorable dog with us, locals and tourists asked us about the museum and experience. I played along but laughed inwardly, knowing it was something like asking me about the new equipment in Chinese guided missile systems or the nuances of conjugating Samarian past tense verbs. Older reviews talked about it being small with few exhibits, I have to think that was addressed in the remodel because this place is spacious with three large floors of multi-room exhibits. The upshot is that I looked forward to this trip for many months and had really high hopes that were blown away by the beauty and experience inside. Can't wait to go back!

Nice spot to spend some time appreciating art of all eras and kinds. They have several floors and knowledgeable staff. Military get in free which was a huge plus for me.

This is what we visited for- "on second Thursdays, local musicians enliven our spaces with music to complement your visit. As you stroll the galleries, a variety of tunes adds new dimensions to your viewing experience." This was supposed to be from 6-8pm. We arrived at 6:20, had a reservation and checked in. I asked the hostess at the desk where the music was being played since we didn't hear anything. She said there was a pianist right around the corner. We walked around and he was sitting at the piano talking with a couple of people. He tapped the keys but wasn't playing any music, just messing around and obviously more interested in socializing. We walked around the first floor, waiting and looking at the same art pieces we've seen before and wondering when we were going to hear him play. By the time we got to the second floor he was playing and we really enjoyed the acoustics throughout the building. Beautiful! Unfortunately it literally only lasted a few minutes. By the time we got to the third floor it was so quiet a door slammed down below and I literally jumped! We started talking about Dawn of the Dead and how creepy the place felt. We headed back downstairs and saw the pianist was gone, the piano shut down. It was 7:30. Let me be clear we were there for the musical experience as promised. This was an effort to give Asheville Art Museum another try. With the exception of a few pieces (modern art with a few swirls) the art is still the same from their opening and honestly there's just not enough there to keep us interested and worth the price. As stated in the first review we are members. If I had to pay $30 for the two of us to experience that ridiculous musical 'viewing experience' I would be demanding my money back. As it is, we will be letting our membership run it's course and will not be renewing.

Lovely museum, with lots of older pieces (30s-60s) and/or from local artists. A good mix between paintings, mixed medium arts, ceremics, and photographs.

We attended today and the staff guy at ticket counter was rude and seemed like he hated his job. Later, we headed to the cafe on the fourth floor and the women at the counter was also beyond rude. Please get another job if you have zero social skills and do not like interacting at the most basic level with paying patrons.

The three stars is for the front desk staff. The art is 5 stars. The location and building also 5 stars. I guess I could average it but I'm adopting the attitude of the ticket taker. I've been a Cummer Museum Member for a long time with reciprocal museum privileges and have never had a problem gaining admittance for a "guest of" --as stated on my card. Never, until that day. However, the rest of the museum is lovely. Bright, airy, modern, with views of the city from large floor to ceiling windows. The gentleman watching over Andy Warhol's Silver Clouds exhibit was amazing. A very nice art interlude from a day of bar hopping in Asheville. Since the art changes regularly there's always a good reason to pop in.

Man-made: Contemporary Male Quilters, Quilts by Ben Venom, Joe Cunningham, Luke Haynes, Jimmy McBride, Dan Olfe, Joel Ottersom, Shawn Quinlan, Aaron McIntosh (This exhibit totally amazing. Incredible quilts which at times made the eyes and brain go on overload. There is a looping video of each of the artists. This exhibit was worth the parking issues and the rain) Interactive exhibit by Sharon Louden - pictures allowed and welcomed to be posted to social media. (Picture the Green Giant has left over tinsel for his mammoth Christmas tree and it's all over the floor....this is what you will see. Pictures, pictures, pictures, no touching!) Heritage and Home - North Wing - Hickory nut gap farm photographic exhibition - Ken Abbott (If you like pictures of farms, pastures and places you just know have no wifi or even cable, this exhibit you will love. These home farms are becoming few and far between. It's pretty beautiful) You won't spend a lot of time at this museum because of the small size, but the exhibits are very nice.

Finally! We got our Art Museum back. A great City like Asheville needs a great Art Museum, and now we have one! This museum is destined to be among the list of Asheville jewels. And the star of the show is light--from the sunlight filled atrium through the well-lit galleries on each floor, to the 4th floor Cafe and sculpture Terrace. The museum is finally getting to display some of its long stored works, and now has a display of strictly Appalachian works. This is a must-see. The only complaint I have is that there is not much to see in the museum shop. I hope that this is a temporary condition as the old shop was very nice. And my favorite part of every museum is the shop!

Lovely museum with truly objectionable staff aggressively policing everyone to ensure they distract your viewing of the exhibits, including a minutes long diatribe of their masking requirements delivered in your face. There will be 3-4 of these fools looking for new work when management wakes up.

Minimum skill, minimum effort. Pretentiousness abounding. You're better off just sticking to the galleries in the area. At least they're free.

I'm all for supporting the arts & love museums, but the collection is not impressive right now. Very small/limited museum overall & just not something I'd recommend- there are better options in town. Save your $15 per person. We paid that & were done in 25 minutes.

Pricy for non-locals--I think I'd be disappointed if I had paid full-price--but Buncombe County residents can use the library's Zoom Passes to come free. Each library card holder can get a pass that admits 2 adults plus up to 4 children. The kids' play space is nice too, a good spot to recharge with reading nooks for little ones who get museum fatigue fast. The permanent collection exhibition and the inaugural temporary exhibition, Appalachia Now, feature very nice works.

Kinda price for the small amount of art they have and the be honest most of it was not even any good. Waste of time

So the Asheville art museum is still being renovated, but they have various pop-ups. There is one pop-up near Vortex Doughnuts that was amazing! The theme is centered around the Women's March on Washington and they show many different posters of inspirational messages of empowerment for women. I thought it was really moving and needed in this climate of political involvement. It was free so I don't know how anyone would rate it less than 3 stars, but definitely worth checking out! It did not take long either.

Asheville is a city full of art on the streets, so it may seem odd to visit a museum to view art. The museum itself is on the smaller side. The main building contains 3 levels with varying works. The collections are pretty small and relatively new works, post 1930s, when compared to other museum's collections. On the other side of the building contains a more new media exhibits. Currently, a great exhibit titled Man-Made: Contemporary Male Quilters, is worth paying to view. The price of admission for an adult on a regular day is $8. Depending upon how long you take to view a piece of work, you could either breeze through the exhibits or possibly spend maybe an hour. If you don't wish to spend the money to visit or you are on a budget, I would recommend going on the first Wednesday of every month, as there is free admission from 3:00-5:00 p.m.

Beautiful space with a wonderful student discount. We were greeted immediately upon arrival & given a brief rundown of the current exhibitions. We spent about an hour and a half walking the space. Highly recommend visiting, especially on a rainy day.

We visited this museum and were expecting a vibrant art scene, but it was very unimpressive. Out of the 4 floors, one is a play area for children, and another is a cafe. As for the artwork we did see, it was not cohesive or impressive.

Recently my family and I were visiting relatives in Asheville during a heat wave. Thinking we needed some indoor (air conditioned) fun, I remembered going to the art Museum at Pack Place several times years go when we lived there. It had been 13 years so not sure what to expect. We all loved this place! You reserve tickets online ahead of time, so there are no lines, no crowds, & no wait time. It's very hard to amuse a senior citizen, a teenager, and a kindergartner simultaneously, but this one fit like a glove! Many mediums and artists are showcased here. The 2nd floor is interactive-with engineering activities for all ages. The map you receive upon entrance has a guide for the youngest visitors-with prompts to engage their interest and enhance the experience. My mother, teenager, 5 year old and I spent 2 hours enjoying the photography, paintings, and creativity. I was famished and had begun using my phone to search for the nearest restaurant. So many factors to consider-proximity, cuisine, service, wait time. Before leaving the museum, we went up to the 4th floor to checkout the rooftop cafe, although I predicted that the food, space and ambiance would be subpar, as I have experienced at many museums in the past. The rooftop terrace offered unparalleled views of the mountains and Asheville itself. The cafe staff had plexiglass at the counter as a Covid safety precaution and the servers wore masks. I ordered the hummus platter, a salad, and jasmine tea while my mother got hot chocolate and a turkey sandwich to share with my daughter. We went out to snap pictures but the temperature was in the nineties and eating outside was not a good idea. The tables indoors were spaced 6 feet or more apart. It took some time to prepare the food but wow, was it great!!! I'm a picky person, especially when dining out you never really know what you will get. I as shocked t how tasty my healthy salad was-spinach with beets, avocado and barley. My equally picky family dug into the pita bread, fresh cut veggies and sandwich. Prepping for the drive home, I ordered coffee and a gourmet doughnut for the kids. Even the coffee was bold, freshly brewed and delicious! I'd recommend this place-cafe and museum to anyone visiting Asheville.

I love the museum. I came to Asheville to enjoy my friend Lisa's performance in Secrets! A Community Theater Production. We all have secrets, that is a fact. This show should end up on Broadway. I found it enlightening and thought provoking. Great blocking, choreography and the individual acts were entertaining. Great Performance by all!

I was visiting Asheville for the day with my three kids and we had a few hours to kill before meeting a friend for lunch. I noticed an art museum on the map close to where we were going for lunch and I got excited. I love art! I love taking the kids to museums! I was SO excited! When we arrived at the museum we went to the main desk to pay admission. The woman working at the desk made a really big deal about my youngest child not touching anything. Yes, we've been to museums before. I understand she probably says this to all the little kids, but it came across as a little harsh. Come on, be happy kids want to see art! Anyway, unfriendly woman behind us we set off to the galleries (in her defense she did give us good directions to navigate through the museum). We took the elevator to the third floor and worked our way down. The first collection was saw was called Blueprints. This was a big hit with my kids. From the third floor there is a central staircase that you take down that takes you from room to room. That is a great layout for a museum. This seemed like an older building that had been converted into a museum, but I didn't see anything about the building's history. Another exhibit we all enjoyed was the paintings by Pierre Daura. Although we weren't familiar with the artist we recognized the locations of the paintings to be somewhat local and we all thought that was pretty cool. We finished the older wing of the museum quickly and then set off for the newer wing. The first section had a very impressive sculpture made of washing machines that had somehow been pressed into balls. Pretty impressive stuff. We also visited the children's interactive area in this wing. It was very small but had several things that kept my kids entertained for about 10 minutes. So, our whole visit to this museum took about 45 minutes. Including my youngest wanting to read the name of every piece of art. So we weren't exactly moving fast. This is just a small museum. They have free admission on Wednesdays. If it was free I would probably give it 4 stars but I just didn't feel like it was a good value. My friend that lives in Asheville said she had only gone to this museum once when she first moved to town. She said with all the galleries in town why pay for the museum. I wish I had had that advice a few hours earlier.

Stumbled onto this museum while wandering around Asheville last December. It turned out to be a lovely place to spend some time and get out of the cold. Since we had my nephew in tow, we made sure they had a kiddie area before going in. He had a blast making art with the rubbing plates, tinkering with the artsy puzzle things, and playing with the toys. I can't very well comment on their permanent collection since I didn't see much of it, but I did sneak down the hall from the kid's area and wandered into "In The Camps: Photographs by Erich Hartmann." Black and white photography always gets to me, and it was a chillingly beautiful exhibit. Go here now!

The museum was nice. It could use more artists...maybe some local artists show. It seemed like it could hold quite o bit more art to see in my opinion.

This museum is listed as blue star museum. Which means it's free for active duty military service men and women. Casher said; that's only applied summertime. Never heard of seasonal blue star museum. Anyway the content of museum and parking fee at downtown was not worthwhile for me.

I paid a visit to the museum on free day, and inquired if that meant visitors got to pick a "free" painting to take home. This got a laugh from the Staff , and a friendly warning, "You sure can. And the Police will be waiting outside." Super curated museum, with some big-time artists, Jasper Johns, Mary Frank, and others, Make sure you see "The Spiral Man"!

It's a small town art museum. The works they get though are really outstanding. I've always enjoyed stopping in and going to the openings

Very pleasant and varied modern art (i.e. 20th and 21st century). The staff was pleasant, but navigating the museum was sometimes confusing. Still, the collections were really impressive, comparable to a small museum in a much larger city.

Small space, nice collection. Glad we visited :)

This place is a waste of time and money. I would have been more amused if monkeys had slung paint on a canvas... a waste of space. This place needs REAL art made with TALENT.. very disappointed in my visit here.