Waynesville artist turns ballot box into art

Caryl Brt’s work “Better Luck Next Time!” is on display now as part of the Haywood Community College’s 30th Anniversary Retrospective at the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Asheville.

The work is a ballot box turned slot machine.

“Unlike most art pieces, it is meant to be played with,” Brt said. “You get to pull a handle like the slot machines from the 1930s, which spins a wheel. Once the wheel stops spinning, a message comes up in the window. You can write comments on an ‘official ballot’ and ‘vote.’”

The piece was designed to express Brt’s feelings about our democracy in peril.

“The 2000 election fiasco came and went, the Help America Vote Act was passed to correct the many irregularities,” Brt said. “After the 2004 election when nothing seemed to change, I knew I needed to counteract the pervasive feeling of powerlessness that was overtaking me.”

Brt graduated from the HCC crafts program with a focus in woodworking in 1993. Since then she has been making turnings and small home accessories like bowls, lamps, and mirrors, and now works in the HCC crafts department. She has written articles for the Japanese woodworking magazine, Encyclopedia of Wood, introducing American woodworkers, galleries and schools to the Japanese public. She also occasionally teaches workshops at art schools like Arrowmont School in Gatlinburg, Tenn.

For more information on the HCC Professional Crafts 30th Anniversary Show, call the Folk Art Center at 828.298.7928 or the HCC Professional Crafts Department at 828.565.4156.

Motorcycle history featured in new exhibits

A new exhibit, “Chopper Graveyard,” is at the Wheels Through Time Museum in Maggie Valley.

“The modern metaphor of the chopper has roots older than most of the chopper builders of today,” said Dale Walksler, founder and curator of Wheels Through Time. “Wheels Through Time is bringing back the bygone days of ‘Easy Rider’ and the outlaw image of years gone by with a symbolic exhibit of the dinosaurs in the new chopper age with this unique and exciting exhibit.”

The museum, featuring 38,000 square feet of all-American transportation heritage and history, recently opened another exhibit, “The Girls: Women In Motorcycling From 1905-1955.”

The museum is offering residents of Haywood, Jackson, Buncombe and Swain counties half price admissions through Dec. 31. A photo ID with a local address is needed to take advantage of the free day or half price admissions.

Folkmoot USA offers drumming workshops

Folkmoot USA is sponsoring three drumming workshops with Joe Amozou and Tahoungan from Togo, Africa, Nov. 9-11.

Amozou and Tahoungan, whose name means “two tall drums,” appeared in the 2005 Folkmoot USA International Folk Dance Festival in locations throughout Western North Carolina.

Some drums in the workshop will be available for students use, though participants who have them should bring their own instruments. Workshop sessions include instruction and exhibition of the drumming techniques and folk dances of Togo.

The workshops will be held at different locations.

• Nov. 9 — Workshops will begin 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. at The Grotto in the Highsmith University Center on the campus of the University of North Carolina-Asheville. This workshop is hosted by UNCA Multicultural Student programs. It’s free and open to the public.

• Nov. 10 — Workshops will be at 3 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. (the latter workshop is an up all-night program) at the University Center on the campus of Western Carolina University. Hosts are the WCU University Center and WCU Multicultural Center. The workshops are free to WCU students and faculty.

• Nov. 11— Programs are at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. at the Folkmoot Friendship Center in Waynesville. Tickets are $10 per person. All participants under 15 must be accompanied by an adult.

Call Folkmoot USA at 828.452.2997 for more information. Sponsors include Folkmoot USA, the Smoky Mountain Folk Festival, and The Smoky Mountain News.