The Photography of Andrea Clark: Remembering Asheville’s East End Community

The Asheville Museum of History is opening a new exhibition showcasing rare images from the late 1960s through the early 1970s of Asheville’s East End neighborhood, downtown, and other city locations, captured by renowned local photographer Andrea Clark.

Opening to the public on Saturday, September 21, 2024, “The Photography of Andrea Clark: Remembering Asheville’s East End Community” will feature 35 framed photographic prints from Clark’s extensive photo series of areas of the city that were later rapidly transformed by the city of Asheville’s urban renewal program and redevelopment. Clark’s photos are a vital record of the landscape, people, and buildings that once made up the now lost African American community of the East End.

Andrea Clark was born and reared in Massachusetts, but descended from a long line of African American families from Asheville. She is the granddaughter of notable Asheville master brick mason James Vester Miller, who built many prominent public buildings around the turn of the century, including structures shown in some of Clark’s photographs.

After studying photography in the 1960s, Andrea moved to Asheville to live with her father and to document her family’s community in what was still the Jim Crow segregated South. What resulted was a striking black and white photographic archive of mid-20th century Asheville and its Black community, most of whom were later displaced due to urban renewal.

Accompanying the framed photographic prints, which are either on loan from the Pack Memorial Public Library or specially printed for the exhibit, will be essays on the history behind these stunning images and how urban renewal impacted Asheville’s downtown communities. A section of the exhibition will also highlight the work and buildings of Clark’s grandfather James Vester Miller. The exhibition will occur in two parts, with a new rotation of photographs from the series planned for display in February 2025.

In celebration of this exhibition, the museum is hosting a special Preview Party on Friday, September 20, 2024 at 6 p.m., which will include music by DJ Raf and cuisine by Chef Hector Diaz. This is a ticketed event in the spirit of a gala, but with an affordable ticket price of $50 for museum members and $60 for non-members. Tickets are available for purchase at www.ashevillehistory.org.

The preview party directly supports the Community Day public opening on Saturday, September 21, 2024, which is a free event open to the public. Community Day will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will include live music, scholarly lectures on Asheville’s urban renewal history, activities for kids including photography and drumming workshops, and an East End community panel discussion with Clark and former residents of the neighborhood. This event is supported by a grant from ArtsAVL. Sponsorship opportunities for Community Day are available. A full schedule of Community Day events will be listed on the museum’s website, www.ashevillehistory.org.

About the Asheville Museum of History

In addition to special thematic exhibitions, the museum houses a permanent exhibit representing the history of the 23 counties that comprise the Western North Carolina region. The museum also hosts regular educational programming and events.

The Asheville Museum of History is located in the historic Smith-McDowell House on the campus of A-B Tech, at 283 Victoria Road in Asheville. The museum’s regular hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. During normal hours of operation, admission is a suggested donation of $10 for adults and $6 for military, college students, and youth ages 7-17. Children under 6 are admitted free.

For details on the Andrea Clark exhibition, visit www.ashevillehistory.org/andrea-clark, or email Polly Rolman-Smith at [email protected]