Hank Foreman
(828) 262-7525
foremanht@appstate.edu
http://www.tcva.org

Since opening in 2003, the Turchin Center has built upon Appalachian's longstanding belief that access and interaction with great arts programming is an important part of a great university education. This is supported by the belief that sharing these opportunities with High Country residents and visitors is an important service to the cultural life of our community and region. Now more than ever, the challenges of the future will require great minds; and that means thinking creatively as well as critically. The Turchin Center is a dynamic, living, breathing presence in the Appalachian community, creating opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds to experience the power and excitement of the visual arts. The center has been nationally recognized by organizations such as The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts that supported the center through exhibition grants and through a gift of artworks by Warhol. Building upon its early successes, the center is poised to move forward in making a difference within the campus and community through the visual arts.

The center presents a challenging and exciting roster of exhibitions providing a diverse look at the visual arts and inviting visitors to expand their perspectives through creative and critical thinking. Exhibitions offer the opportunity to explore the work of international, national, regional, and local artists and investigate a range of themes and approaches to art making. Working hand-in-hand with the exhibitions are the center's Community Art School education programs that help the visual arts come alive. Lectures and tours join with workshop and outreach programs to help make connections between the college classroom and the visual arts, and provide programs for the underserved, those with special needs, and local public school students. The center maintains a small collection to support the exhibition and education programs, and to offer a campus loan program. Important works from the collection travel to galleries and museums and are a component of the center's regional outreach.

Please visit the Turchin Center website for information about classes, lessons, and summer activities for children.