Time for an art field trip!
Sunday, October 24, 2021 @ 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Join us for a site visit to the Asolare Fine Arts Foundation and the magical home of iconic North Carolina artist Jim Moon (1928–2019), whose work is currently on view in SECCA's Community Gallery. No RSVP is required.
The open house will be structured as a drop-in exploration of Asolare's indoor and outdoor spaces. Visitors will be able to see the grounds, the custom-built Italian villa-style home, more than 50 of Jim's paintings, and Jim's studio, including some incomplete works the artist was working on at the time of his passing.
Visitors are respectfully asked to wear masks at all times when indoors. No food or beverage will be provided, so visitors are encouraged to bring their own bottled water if desired.
Address: 687 Callahan-Hill Rd. Lexington NC 27295
DIRECTIONS:
(From NORTH)
From WINSTON-SALEM (about 40 minutes)
take HWY 150 south or HWY 52 south,
then HWY 64 west (toward Mocksville).
Turn LEFT onto KOONTZ ROAD just before the Tarheel Q Restaurant
(if you cross the Yadkin River you gone too far).
Go 2 miles until you come to a stop sign.
Turn RIGHT onto GILES ROAD, go 1/2 mile.
Turn RIGHT on CALLAHAN-HILL ROAD, go 1/2 mile.
Turn LEFT at our mail box 687.
OR
Take I-40 west toward Mocksville
Take exit #180 onto 801 south
Go 10.7 miles
Turn LEFT onto US-64
Go 3.7 miles
Just after crossing the Yadkin River bridge and passing the
Tarheel Q Restaurant,
Turn RIGHT onto KOONTZ ROAD
Go 2 miles until you come to a stop sign.
Turn RIGHT onto GILES ROAD, go 1/2 mile.
Turn RIGHT on CALLAHAN-HILL ROAD, go 1/2 mile.
Turn LEFT at our mail box 687.
(From EAST)
From GREENSBORO (about 60 minutes)
Take I-85 south toward Charlotte,
Take Exit #96 onto US-64 toward Asheboro/Lexington
Turn RIGHT onto US-64 W.
Go 12 miles following signs for Mocksville.
Turn LEFT onto KOONTZ ROAD just before the Tarheel Q Restaurant
(if you cross Yadkin River bridge you've gone too far)
Go 2 miles until you come to a stop sign.
Turn RIGHT onto GILES ROAD, go 1/2 mile.
Turn RIGHT on CALLAHAN-HILL ROAD, go 1/2 mile.
Turn LEFT at our mail box 687.
(From SOUTH)
From CHARLOTTE (about an hour and 15 minutes)
Take I-85 north past Salisbury.
After you cross the Yadkin River, immediately take EXIT #84
and turn left onto NC-150.
Continue about 10 minutes to Tyro.
Turn LEFT onto GILES ROAD after the stop light.
Go 2 miles.
Turn RIGHT onto CALLAHAN-HILL ROAD.
Go half a mile and turn LEFT at our mail box 687.
(From WEST)
From ASHEVILLE (about two and a half hours)
Take I-40 E
Take Exit #168 and turn RIGHT onto US-64
Follow US-64 around Mocksville and after 14 miles you will cross
the Yadkin River Bridge.
Turn RIGHT onto KOONTZ ROAD just after the Tarheel Q Restaurant
Go 2 miles until you come to a stop sign.
Turn RIGHT onto GILES ROAD, go 1/2 mile.
Turn RIGHT on CALLAHAN-HILL ROAD, go 1/2 mile.
Turn LEFT at our mail box 687.
ABOUT JIM MOON
James Monroe Moon, Jr, was born in Graham, North Carolina in 1928, and passed away at the age of 90 in 2019. He studied art at Cooper Union in NYC and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before being drafted. He went to Europe with the U.S. Army in 1951 and he continued his studies at the Accademia Pietro Vanucci in Perugia Italy. He owned a house in Asolo (in Palladian country) from 1961 until 1976. Moon met Peggy Guggenheim in 1952 and was always welcome in her Palazzo Venier dei Leoni in Venice. He continued his art education at Virginia Commonwealth University, and Mexico City College.
He taught art at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, Hofstra University, North Carolina School of the Arts (now UNCSA), Salem College, and Northwood Institute. He was instrumental in founding the North Carolina Dance Theater, the Alamance County Arts Council, and Salem College's Art Summer School Program in Asolo, Italy. His paintings are in many public and private collections worldwide, including the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University and the North Carolina Museum of Art.
Jim Moon was an inspiration, mentor, and friend to scores of art students and professional artists. In 1995 he founded the Asolare Fine Arts Foundation as a not-for-profit arts organization to serve other artists, providing exhibitions worldwide and artist residencies at his wooded country home in Lexington.
The paintings in this exhibition are on loan from John Chapman, Jim's longtime life partner. They are all untitled, as the artist never provided titles or artist statements. Instead he preferred to let the viewer create their own meanings and interpretation.
"Where Myth Stirs" comes from An Essay By Norman E. Pendergraft Director, North Carolina Central University Art Museum written for the 1992 retrospective exhibition of Jim Moon's paintings at NCCU.