The Wortham Center is delighted to feature River Arts District Asheville artists in the facility’s lobby through the end of the 2024/2025 season.
This pop-up gallery is part of the Wortham’s ARTS RISING! initiative, created to uplift, support and bring the Asheville community together as our region recovers from Hurricane Helene.
Over the next several months, these RAD artists will be spotlighted in the lobby with varying works on rotation.
Current Featured RAD Asheville Artists
Barbara Francois
Dr. Barbara Francois
Barbara Francois, an Ohio native, has woven a tapestry of experiences from her time in the United States and the Caribbean. Barbara has reinvented herself many times, embracing new passions and pursuits along the way. Her journey has included roles as a, yoga instructor, massage therapist, college professor, and other endeavors that have nurtured her creative spirit.
As an artist, Barbara’s process is deeply intuitive, characterized by the use of wooden dowels of varying sizes to create intricate dot paintings. With a portfolio that includes solo exhibitions in Ohio and North Carolina, Barbara’s work has also been showcased in local and regional galleries, including Marquee, Trackside Gallery, Art Play Studio, Swannanoa Valley Art League, and Tryon Fine Arts Center. Currently residing in Black Mountain, Barbara finds inspiration in the balance of her studio work, yoga practice, walking, and hiking. Barbara Francois’ website
Spencer Scanlon
Secret Portals
Secret Portals are the visual manifestations of the surrealist Asheville artist, Spencer Keasey Scanlon (b. 1983). A lifelong seeker, Scanlon grew up in the rolling hills of Western Pennsylvania, before decamping to Brooklyn, NY in 2006 to pursue a career in the music industry. Getting his start at Frank Zappa’s record label Rykodisc, Scanlon worked his way up through the ranks – ultimately becoming a Publicity Manager for Republic Records (Universal Music Group), before leaving the label to form his own inclusive boutique music publicity/consulting firm Transmission Publicity in 2017, shortly before relocating to Asheville, NC.
He named the series Secret Portals, ultimately coining the moniker that would wind up sticking – every piece of art that he has created since is a secret portal of sorts. After taking a job as one of the original staffers at Marquee, Scanlon immersed himself in the local art community, and found the medium he’d long been seeking to give Secret Portals an added element: resin. Secret Portals are surrealist mixed-media glimpses into otherworldly realms, cast in perpetuity in high-grade artist resin. Fusing natural, artificial and metaphysical elements and found objects from the ancient past, present and beyond, Secret Portals’ aim is to conjure and capture cryptic, thought-provoking vignettes from the recesses of the mind.
A finicky (and expensive!) medium, he began experimenting in his studio, finding that the translucent nature of resin was exactly what his output was missing. Immediately enamored, he began churning out new Secret Portals, now proudly on display here – these pieces are meant to hang in windows or be backlit, to reveal the dimension and layers within. Spencer Scanlon’s Instagram
Past Featured RAD Asheville Artists
Anna Bryant
Anna Bryant is an Asheville, NC-based artist focusing primarily on relief printmaking. Her artistic journey is deeply rooted in the exploration of human connection. Drawing inspiration from the profound joy and fulfillment found in spiritual and physical synergy with others, Anna seeks to capture the essence of acceptance and inclusion through her work.
Printmaking is deeply meaningful to Anna for its lasting quality that transcends the fast-paced nature of the digital age where information is constant and fleeting. In this world of increasing digitalization, she has the urge to be more and more analogue.
Anna strives to inspire the same ties to our human collective in her audience as she experiences in the process of creation. Each piece is a testament to the beauty and complexity of relationships, inspiring change by inviting viewers to reflect on their own experiences.
Anna is currently in the process of rebuilding after losing her studio to Hurricane Helene. She cannot wait to reopen her doors, get back to doing what she loves most and sharing it with her community. Anna Bryant’s website
Sarah Faulkner
Sarah Faulkner was raised on a farm in Virginia. It was during this time she lived with ultimate freedom, simplicity and imagination. These qualities are reflected in each of her creative endeavors. After a number of years on the farm, Sarah moved to Massachusetts, where she began to develop her talent as an artist. At this time, she began her studies in art history, architecture and visual arts. After school, she moved to San Francisco, where the west breathed life into her creative process. Abrupt landscapes, wide expanses and rich culture cast its spell. Sarah worked with several theater companies as principal set designer. These productions gave Sarah the opportunity to utilize her skills in sculpture, woodworking and painting.
In 2006, she and her husband moved to the Asheville area. It was at this time, she continued her artistic journey creating mixed media paintings. Her medium included acrylic, oil pastel and beeswax.
With this collection, Sarah worked as an illustrator, for Hallmark Greeting Cards, for over a decade. She was nominated for two prestigious Louie Awards, in connection, with the Greeting Card Association. Her original paintings are widely collected, by many, including former Governor of North Carolina, Bev Perdue. Recently, Sarah was asked to create a collection to honor the US visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama XIV, to Emory University in Atlanta. The collection was inspired by the teachings of Cognitively-Based Compassion Meditation Training. Sarah’s original work is represented by a number of galleries in and around Asheville, NC. Sarah Faulkner’s website
