Local Artist Awarded 1st Place
Asheville potter, Keith D. Blum placed 1st in the Western NC Veterans Administration Creative Arts Festival, and is now being considered for the national prize.
Blum is a U.S. Navy veteran, originally from Omaha, Nebraska. He now lives in Asheville. His work can be seen at the Odyssey Co-Op Gallery in the River Arts District.
Blum serves on the board of directors of All Together Art, a local non-profit which, in partnership with Odyssey ClayWorks, provides free pottery classes to veterans and their families. The program enters its 10th year with an eight-week class beginning October 15th. The class is filled at 20 participants, with 15 people on a waiting list. Blum says, “We are obviously filling a need but, there are more veterans than we can currently serve. All Together Art is pursuing more funding to expand the clay program, and add classes for veterans in painting and other art mediums.”
Recently, All Together Art and Odyssey ClayWorks partnered with the VA Hospital on a beautiful display case in the atrium at the VA where pottery from the Veterans Clay Project is featured.
Left to right: Rosie Coates (Veterans Clay Project participant) Gabriel Kline (Director, Odyssey ClayWorks) and Rebekah Wiggins (VA Art Therapist)
Board Chair, Brandon Daughtry Slocum says, “The Veterans Clay Project is our flagship program and its full funding is our priority. Odyssey ClayWorks created the program and did it on their own for years. The funding dried up during the pandemic and we were committed to its preservation and growth from our first day.” All Together Art also funds a class for LGBTQIA+ teens, and provided 20 scholarships to summer clay camps for children in foster care and children of immigrant families in a new Multi-lingual camp in 2023.
Blum’s winning piece will be on display at a party celebrating All Together Art’s first anniversary, on October 14th from 4:00 – 6:00pm, at New Belgium Brewing; where the organization will announce the first annual Citizen Artist Award.
