Located in the mountains of North Carolina, Black Mountain College
was founded in 1933 by John Andrew Rice, Theodore Dreier, and other former faculty members from Rollins College. Their mission was to provide a liberal arts education that developed the student as a whole. Students and faculty lived and worked together on campus. Grades were abolished, and the arts were central to education. The college rented space for their first campus at Blue Ridge Assembly. In 1941, the college moved to the Lake Eden property they had purchased across the valley, allowing the school to grow. Many refugee artists found a home there, which provided an open and safe environment to create. Among the famous faculty and students of the college were Robert Rauschenberg, John Cage, Merce Cunningham, and Buckminster Fuller. Funding for the college was always scarce, and in debt, the college was finally forced to close its doors in 1957. Black Mountain College operated for only 24 years but left a lasting impact on the arts and education on an international scale.

Author: Anne Chesky Smith, Heather South
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing (SC)
Published: 10/20/2014
Series: Images of America (Arcadia Publishing)
Pages: 128
Weight: 0.7lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.40w x 0.40d
ISBN: 9781467122351

About the Author
Smith, Anne Chesky: - Anne Chesky Smith is the director of the Swannanoa Valley Museum in Black Mountain. Heather South is the archivist at the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources (NCDCR) Western Regional Archives in Asheville. The authors have selected images from the extensive NCDCR Black Mountain College archival collections to illustrate the history of this unique learning community.