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The Bascom is working towards creating a more integrated and user-friendly experience for our visitors. Please read the following information to familiarize yourself with the process.
How does it work?
Whenever you register for a class or workshop online, you'll be prompted to create a user account during the registration process. The information you provide there can then be used to log in here.
- Register for a Workshop
- Create your username and password during the registration process
- Check your email (Don't see it in your inbox? Check your junk/spam folder and mark it as not junk/spam)
- Click on the activation link in the email and... Voila! You're good to go!
The Bascom's Education Department is committed to providing life-enriching experiences through comprehensive arts education for children and adults. We offer a variety of educational programs which include workshops, ongoing classes, Art by Appointment, Open Studio Packages, field trips, demonstrations, community classes, and clubs - designed to meet the needs of artists of all skill levels.
Registration
To register for any of our classes or workshops, simply click the REGISTER button for that class or workshop.
Prefer to register over the phone? Call 828.526.4949.
Refund Policy (Please Read!)
50% of your tuition payment is a non-refundable deposit. In the event that a student requests cancellation prior to 45 days of class/workshop commencement, he/she will be offered a course transfer or refund of 50% of the tuition payment. If a student cancels within 45 days prior to the first day of class, no refund will be made. The Bascom reserves the right to cancel any program that does not meet minimum enrollment, and full refunds will be issued.
The Bascom's Education Department is committed to providing life-enriching experiences through comprehensive arts education for children and adults. Our lectures and seminars are designed to provide informative and educational opportunities for artists of all skill levels in a variety of mediums.
Registration
To register for any of our classes or workshops, simply click the REGISTER button for that class or workshop.
Prefer to resister over the phone? Call 828.526.4949.
REFUND POLICY (Please Read)
50% of your tuition payment is a non-refundable deposit. In the event that a student requests cancellation prior to 45 days of class/workshop commencement, he/she will be offered a course transfer or refund of 50% of the tuition payment. If a student cancels within 45 days prior to the first day of class, no refund will be made. The Bascom reserves the right to cancel any program that does not meet minimum enrollment, and full refunds will be issued.
One of the great benefits to becoming a member of The Bascom is having the opportunity to participate with like-minded individuals in one of the clubs or artist groups that convene on our campus.
Head Games: Building Bold Sculpted Heads
This workshop explores the creation of expressive, slightly larger-than-life ceramic heads that prioritize gesture, exaggeration, and surface over literal realism. Participants will work solid and with armatures while developing an understanding of structure, proportion, and intentional distortion. The course begins with a low-fire soda kiln experience, allowing participants to explore atmospheric surface effects that will inform their sculptural work. Designed for artists ready to push beyond safe forms, this workshop emphasizes focused making, problem-solving, and guided experimentation.
We are no longer accepting registration for this event
Learn to Turn I: An Intro to Woodturning with John Tagliarini
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Students will make beautiful and useful turnings using the three basic cuts of woodturning with gouges. We will begin in “spindle orientation” by turning a mallet, a tool handle, a goblet, and a twig pot. Then we hope to make at least two bowls, one with a round top and one with a natural edge. We will practice safe technique at the lathe as we also learn to sharpen the gouges using various jigs and tables. |
Sorry, the event is now full and we could not accept more registration
What Makes a Blue Ribbon Bloom? A Dahlia Judging Talk with Dahlia Festival Directors
As part of the 16th Annual Dazzling Dahlia Festival, the Bascom is pleased to host an educational talk and workshop led by Dahlia Festival Directors Peggy Boruchow Arnette, Libby Eustis, and Kim Daugherty on The Bascom's Terrace. Tailored for both novice and experienced growers, this engaging session explores the full arc of the exhibition dahlia—from the final weeks in the garden to the show table in the upcoming Single Bloom Competition.
Participants are encouraged to bring two or three dahlias from their own gardens for hands-on guidance in selection, evaluation, and staging.
Paint and Sip: Late Summer Mountain Scene
Bring your friends along to this paint-along experience with Caryn Raming where you will paint a late summer mountain scene step-by-step!
Wine, supplies, and good times included.
Encaustics with Sue Fazio
View the Supply List HERE
Encaustics will fire up your creative soul! Just imagine being able to play with melting colors—- layer after layer until you finally recognize your masterpiece! This workshop is designed to help you loosen up and take chances… every day you will finish at least 3 paintings.. imagine that!?!? Some of you have taken all 12 years of this workshop and I welcome you back with a happy heart! New artists— be not afraid— this medium will allow you to create freely!
Floral Application
In this class you will learn to craft a variety of flowers with clay to adorn hand built and thrown vases. Each participant will be given one thrown vase to decorate and make one hand-built vase to decorate. Class meets September 1 and glazing will take place on September 9th. No experience necessary.
Saturday Sojourn with Paint - Big Bloom Energy
Celebrate Dahlias with a playful, beginner-friendly painting workshop inspired by the color and energy of dahlias. Using abstraction and expressive mark-making, participants will create a vibrant floral-inspired painting—no experience required. A fun, creative way to engage with the festival and explore painting in a relaxed, supportive setting.
This class is for anyone passionate about Dahlias and wants to capture this passion in a painting!
All materials are provided. You will go home with a painting!
Arranging with Showpiece Flowers: Locally Grown Mountain Dahlias with Christy Curcuru
Learn how to use locally farmed flowers and foraged greens to create a large, lush dahlia-focused arrangement in a ceramic footed compote.
Artist and floral stylist, Christy Curcuru, will demonstrate how to arrange a large centerpiece while talking you through her design philosophy (structural principles, color theory, texture, shape and scale). Each attendee will receive hands-on guidance throughout the entire process, ending with help photographing finished work to cherish forever. If time allows, Christy will demonstrate how to work with other vessels you might have at home. Please bring a vessel you have questions about! All other supplies included.
Fall Exhibition Reception
The Fall Reception celebrates three new exhibitions on view across The Bascom's galleries and opens the weekend of the 16th Annual Dazzling Dahlia Festival. Guests move through the galleries to honor community artists whose work speaks to the influence of women in the arts, encounter Jo Sandman's experimental practice through The Bascom's partnership with the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center, and meet the featured ceramic artists of The Bascom Clay Symposium. The evening also offers a first look at the weekend ahead, with a preview of the festival's floral-themed programs and a recognition of Michelle Radford as winner of the 2026 Dahlia Poster Contest.
Petals and Perspectives
On view September 10 through 12, Petals and Perspectives is a floral design showcase throughout the festival weekend. Participating floral designers create arrangements in direct response to works of art on view in The Bascom's galleries, so a viewer moves between the work of art and its floral answer.
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Visit: 323 Franklin Road
Highlands, NC 28741 (Map It)
Call: 828-526-4949 (Main)
828-787-2892 (Ceramics Studio)
This project was supported by the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Learn more at NCArts.org
Funded in part by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. Learn more at SouthArts.org.
Funding is due in part to a Tourism Grant with Visit Highlands, NC. Learn more HighlandsChamber.org