About Us

An integral part of Appalachian State University, the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts employs vibrant programming combined with a casual and approachable attitude to engage students and visitors through its role as a key cultural, educational, economic and service resource. The center is the largest facility of its kind in western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, and southwestern Virginia, and is named for university benefactors Robert and Lillian Turchin. Featuring two wings of exhibition and support space, and the Arnold P. Rosen Family Education Wing, the center is located on King Street in the heart of downtown Boone, North Carolina.

Since opening in 2003, the center has built upon Appalachian's longstanding belief that access and interaction with great arts programming is an important part of a great university education. This is supported by the belief that sharing these opportunities with residents and visitors is important service to the cultural life of our community and region. Now more than ever, the challenges of the future will require great minds; and that means thinking creatively as well as critically. The Turchin Center is a dynamic, living, breathing presence in the Appalachian community, creating opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds to experience the power and excitement of the visual arts. The center has been nationally recognized by organizations such as The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts that supported the center through exhibition grants and through a gift of artworks by Warhol. Building upon its early successes, the center is poised to move forward in making a difference within the campus and community through the visual arts.

The center presents a challenging and exciting roster of exhibitions providing a diverse look at the visual arts and inviting visitors to expand their perspectives through creative and critical thinking. Exhibitions offer the opportunity to explore the work of international, national, regional, and local artists and investigate a range of themes and approaches to art making. Lectures and tours join with workshop and outreach programs to help make connections between the college classroom and the visual arts, and provide programs for the underserved, those with special needs, and local public school students. The center maintains a small collection to support the exhibition and education programs, and to offer a campus loan program. Important works from the collection travel to galleries and museums and are a component of the center's regional outreach.

The Turchin Center is a department of Appalachian State University and is housed in division of University Advancement. The university has a long history of recognizing the importance of and supporting the arts, but we also depend on community support—through participation, memberships, and donations. To provide increased accessibility for the Appalachian community, the center is free and open to the public.

Mission Statement

The Turchin Center for the Visual Arts presents exhibition, education, and collection programs that support Appalachian State University's role as a key regional educational, cultural, economic and service resource.

Core Beliefs

• The arts play vital roles in the development of creative and critical potential, and in experiencing, interpreting, understanding, recording and shaping culture.
• The arts have an important positive impact on our local and regional economy.
• Interaction with the arts enriches the lives of the participants through experiences that are both educational and therapeutic, and builds an audience that recognizes the cultural and personal importance of the arts.
• The center should be an accessible place to investigate art's roles by implementing programs that engender and strengthen the Appalachian community's participation in and ownership of the arts, and an emphasis is placed on partnerships with the university's academic areas and with key local education, social service, and economic agencies.
• The center should be a key regional educational and cultural resource that offers a dynamic space and programs where participants experience and incorporate the power and excitement of the visual arts into their lives.
• Programs of the center should reflect the diversity of the world around us through the presentation of regional, national and international artists of significance.

Connecting Campus and Community

The Turchin Center's ideal location on King Street—in the heart of downtown Boone, yet within the physical boundaries of the Appalachian State campus—places it at the crossroads between campus and community. The building was designed to visually and physically make the arts more accessible to the Appalachian community, and to serve as a gateway to the greater campus beyond the center. The pedestrian gateway features several areas for public sculpture, including the Kay Borkowski Sculpture Garden. Visitors are able to walk through the gardens and access nearby Valborg Theatre, the Belk Library and Information Commons, and the University Bookstore.

Staff

• Hank T. Foreman, Associate Vice Chancellor for University Communications and Cultural Affairs, Director and Chief Curator, foremanht@appstate.edu
• Brook Bower, Assistant Curator, greeneab@appstate.edu
• Sandra Black, Director of Administration, blacksv@appstate.edu
• Megan Stage, Marketing and Public Relations Manager, stageme@appstate.edu
• Cassie McDowell, Visitor & Member Services Director, mcdowellcl@appstate.edu
• Neil Coleman, Exhibition Coordinator (beginning September 13, 2010)

Fees

There is no admission fee. Donations are gratefully accepted, however. For activities such as workshops and classes, fees may apply. Friends of the Turchin Center are eligible for special discounts.

Directions

Follow Highway 321/421 to Boone's downtown business district. The center is located on King Street, between Appalachian and College Streets.

Parking

The building entrance is located in downtown Boone (map), in the center's University Gateway Plaza, 423 West King Street. Parking on King Street and in downtown Boone public spaces is permitted within the posted limits. Additional paid parking for longer visits is available one block west of the center at 567 West King Street. Appalachian State University offers paid visitor parking in the Rivers Street Parking Deck (map) located at 461 Rivers Street, or visitor parking passes may be purchased for other locations from the Parking and Traffic Office located in Suite A of the Rivers Street Parking Deck. Validation for one hour parking in Downtown Boone provided.

Accessibility

The building is accessible to all visitors. An elevator provides access to each floor in the building. For any other concerns please contact the front desk.