“Asheville Black History Matters” by Jason Krekel
In fall of 2015, Asheville-based artist and musician, Jason Krekel, spent over a month carving a monolithic linoleum printing plate. The piece features portraits of some of Asheville’s historically significant Black leaders, against a background of the cityscape and surrounding mountains.
Jason’s artist statement:
“I was inspired by lectures of Dr. Darin Waters of UNCA about “collective historical memory” and as a white Ashevillian felt like it could be a learning experience that I could pass on through this work and inspire others in my community to take a look at the rich history that is in danger of becoming forgotten as our town becomes more homogenized.”
Since 2015, when Krekel printed the first round at Asheville Bookworks during one of their steamroller community print days, the image has been shown and sold in myriad venues, including Horse + Hero, a local gallery and shop which “specializes in neoappalachian art and craft that is design-minded, worldwise and rooted in the craftways of the southern Appalachian mountains.”
image by Jason Krekel in process carving and printing his massive linoleum plate.
Recently, AiR Honey Simone brought up the poster during one of our IG Live conversations while we were discussing he visibility of the historical contributions of Black Asheville:
”Last year for the holidays I received this poster as gift from my friend. She has since moved away but we often talked about our experience being of color in Asheville. I love it because it brought names up to me that I wasn’t familiar with but eager to learn more about.”
We realized during our conversation that there are so many intersecting stories we knew about these individuals, but that, as expected, they have often been left out of the dominant narratives of Asheville history.
You can read more about Jason’s process of making this print here, here, and here.
For more information about Darin Waters, PhD in this article by Ami Worthen which discusses Waters’ thoughts on history and how, “in many respects, African-Americans have never truly had the opportunity to engage forthrightly in the discourse about our collective memory.”
You can read more about Tempie Avery, one of the individuals depicted on Jason’s poster in a post on the Pack Memorial Library’s blog here.
A list of the “Who’s Who” of Black Asheville Businessmen here.
And an article Andrea Clark’s essential documentation of Asheville’s East End here. (Clark is the granddaughter of James Vester Miller, a prominent Black contractor and builder)