Happening Now

The City of Asheville hosted a final tile making event at Odyssey Clayworks in the River Arts District on Saturday, June 7, 2025.  Finished tiles will adorn a new public art installment – a playable harp – on the Reed Creek Greenway near the intersection with Ocala Street. Originally planned to be installed at the Broadway Public Safety Station at 316 Broadway Street, the artwork will now be located next to the greenway for better accessibility and to alleviate conflicts with utilities.

Next Milestone: Installment of public artwork in fall of 2025 - stay tuned for more information
 

Background

In 2023 the City opened the LEED certified Broadway Public Safety Station just north of downtown. In addition to serving as a fully functioning fire station and police office space, the station is also built to accommodate the coordination of emergency response operations and served as the City’s Emergency Operations Center during response to Hurricane Helene. As part of Asheville's Percent for Public Art Policy, one percent of funds for the new station went towards the creation of a new piece of public art.

After putting out a call for artists, the City of Asheville has commissioned artists Nick Geurts and Alex Irvine to design the new piece of public art. Given the option between a playable harp or a sculptural swing, the community provided feedback to determine that the piece would be a playable harp. 

Multiple tile making events were held in 2023, and those tiles will also be incorporated into the public art piece. Each event was a huge success and a lot of fun!  Asheville turned out to craft clay tiles  that will be installed on the sculpture.  Thank you to everyone who made it out and contributed their time and inspiration to the project.  And thank you to Odyssey Clayworks.

Photos from previous tile making events

Tile Making Event Gallery