Pair great food, art, and entertainment with supporting local charities
As the leaves paint the landscape in brilliant colors and cool temperatures bring relief from the summer heat, a wealth of events and things to do welcomes fall and winter across The Asheville, Mountain, and Lake regions at The Cliffs. In addition to fostering good times, many area organizations—such as restaurants, botanical gardens, and art centers—set a goal of giving back to their communities. To pair with our issue’s theme of giving, we’ve curated a selection of places and events you can enjoy, knowing that you’re making your community a better place while you’re at it.
THE ASHEVILLE REGION
Winter Lights at North Carolina Arboretum
The North Carolina Arboretum is currently closed until further notice due to recent weather events. To find ways to help reopen the Arboretum, please visit: https://www.ncarboretum.org/impact/
The North Carolina Arboretum’s programs are supported by its largest fundraiser of the year, Winter Lights, which invites visitors to stroll through the Arboretum at night when it sparkles with over a million colored lights. You can’t help but ooh and aah over the 50-foot-tall lighted tree; the Quilt Garden, where lights mimic quilt patterns that are best viewed from the observation point above; and the row of illuminated Magical Maples. The kids will delight in Woodland Cove, which comes alive with animatronic forest creatures who tell stories and sing carols. Bring the family (but not the family pup) to spend an evening on the grounds and experience the joy of the holiday season with this spectacular open-air show of lights from November 15 through December 31, 2024.
100 Frederick Law Olmsted Way, Asheville, NC | 828.665.2492 | ncarboretum.org
Dandelion Restaurant
When you eat at Dandelion in Hendersonville, NC, you will get a delicious meal and support a great cause. The restaurant, which is open for lunch only, acts as the cornerstone of Safelight’s job-training program. Dandelion offers internships to survivors of violence, abuse, and exploitation as part of Safelight’s continuum of services. These services also address needs such as affordable housing, accessible health care, and steady employment—and are all offered free of charge. Through the restaurant’s internship program, participants learn financial budgeting, personal responsibility, and teamwork. Whether you stop in for a Tuna Melt or a Chicken Caprese Panini, know that you are helping to change people’s lives for the better.
127 5th Avenue West, Hendersonville, NC | 828.595.9365 | safelightfamily.org/dandelion.htm
Open Hearts Art Center
Can the arts serve as a communication tool for adults with varied abilities? The folks at the Open Hearts Art Center think so. They established this nonprofit studio and gallery in 2005 to help adults reach their full potential through opportunities in the visual and performing arts. Professional artists and experienced caregivers guide participants to draw inspiration from their personal stories as they create art in the center’s fully equipped studios. You can visit the gallery weekdays from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. or by appointment to see and purchase works or attend public exhibits held at various venues around Asheville, NC. Check the website for the center’s schedule of events, which include seasonal pop-up markets, exhibits, and talent shows.
217 Coxe Avenue, Asheville, NC | 828.505.8428 | openheartsartcenter.org
THE LAKE REGION
South Carolina Botanical Garden
The South Carolina Botanical Garden is currently open, but efforts to clear trail paths and walkways of tree debris are still underway. If you’d like to support the South Carolina Botanical Garden’s clean-up efforts, please visit: https://www.clemson.edu/scbg/support/index.html
Designated as the state’s official botanical garden in 1992, the South Carolina Botanital Gardens began as a camellia preserve planted in 1958 on a small plot of land adjacent to John C. Calhoun’s Fort Hill estate. Today the garden has blossomed into more than 200 acres of cultivated landscapes and natural woodlands, open free of charge 365 days a year. Dedicated to providing the public with an example of healthy landscapes that showcase diversity and highlight plants native to the Southeast, the Botanical Garden provides a tranquil place to stroll, look, and learn any time of year. They also offer classes, interpretive exhibits, and special events, as well as educational outreach that fosters understanding of our local ecosystem.
150 Discovery Lane, Clemson, SC | 864.656.3405 | clemson.edu/scbg
Blue Ridge Arts Center
Blue Ridge Arts Center is operated by the volunteer-run, nonprofit Blue Ridge Arts Council, embracing its mission of “bringing art to the people and people to the arts.” The center sponsors art shows, classes, artist demonstrations, and lectures for its diverse membership base, in addition to promoting its members’ work. Bringing art to the community includes projects such as creating welcome murals in Ram Cat Alley and placing brightly painted metal cats around downtown Seneca for folks to find via the Alley Cat “sCATenger Hunt.” Throughout the year, juried art exhibitions, themed shows, and educational opportunities invite public participation. You’ll find the gallery in Seneca’s oldest church building, built in 1882, which also houses the Center’s permanent art collection.
111 E. South Second Street, Seneca, SC | 508.963.4959 | blueridgeartscenter.com
Walhalla Performing Arts Center
If you’ve enjoyed a performance at Walhalla Performing Arts Center, you can thank a group of concerned local residents who formed a committee, obtained a 501(3)c nonprofit designation, and signed on to save this 1903 grade school building from demolition in 1993. The renovation took 10 years, and the Performing Art Center’s auditorium-which was added to the structure in 1913-hosted its first show in August 2003 when American pianist Emile Pandolfi played to a packed house. Today the building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, stages a regular schedule of performances, from talented local rockers like The Black Jacket Symphony to nationally acclaimed entertainers such as Travis Tritt, Wynonna Judd, and the Marshall Tucker Band.
101 E. North Broad Street, Walhalla, SC | 864.638.5277 | walhallapac.com
THE MOUNTAIN REGION
Greenville Center for Creative Arts
The area’s only nonprofit community art center, Greenville Center for Creative Arts (GCCA), was founded in 2015 to provide hands-on art education and community engagement. Located in the former Brandon Textile Mill in the Village of West Greenville, the center serves as a hub for visual-arts education by offering art classes for all ages and skill levels in a variety of mediums. Come take a workshop, browse changing exhibitions, and visit working artists in their studios on the First Friday of every month. During the year, GCCA partners with two Greenville, SC, community centers to offer free after-school art-engagement programs for area youth. They also sponsor the Brandon Fellowship, a 12-month professional development program awarded each year to three young emerging artists.
101 Abney Street, Greenville, SC | 864.735.3948 | artcentergreenville.org
Jasmine Kitchen
Opened in 2020, this lunch café in Greenville, SC, nourishes the body as well as the soul as a social enterprise arm of the nonprofit Jasmine Road. The two-year residential program for adult women survivors of human trafficking, prostitution, and addiction offers its participants employment in the café, where they receive job training and career-building opportunities. At lunchtime, the cheery interior and outdoor deck fill with diners savoring a rotating selection of fresh seasonal soups, salads, and sandwiches. Lunching here means you get a lovely meal, and women in the program get a chance to turn their lives around. While you’re there, consider purchasing candles and jewelry handcrafted by the women of Jasmine Road.
503 Augusta Street, Greenville, SC | 864.263.3374 | jasminekitchen.org
Kringle Holiday Village
Can’t get to the North Pole this year? Try the next best thing: Kringle Holiday Village. Relocating in December to the Greenville Convention Center, this annual Rotary Club of Greenville event will be held in tandem with the venerable Holiday Fair from Dec. 5 through 7. Expect the same European village experience, complete with live music and mugs of glühwein for parents to sip, while the kids amuse themselves with activities including face painting, balloon art, inflatables, and visits with Santa. Get a jump on holiday shopping with unique finds by the fair’s 400 artisans, and keep an eye out for roving characters, so you can snap a photo with the Ice Princess, Elf, and Snowman. Proceeds benefit Rotary Charities.
1 Exposition Drive, Greenville, SC | 864.233.2562 | kringleholidayvillage.com
This story was featured in Cliffs Living magazine. To see more stories like this one and learn more about The Cliffs, subscribe here.
