RIVER DISTRICT ARTIST AND ART EDUCATOR FLETA MONAGHAN

The semi-annual Studio Stroll in Asheville's River Arts District occurs this weekend. During most of the year, many River District Artists have very limited hours or are available only by appointment. These are their working studios and they can’t drop their brushes to host casual visitors. But on the second weekends of June and November, every working studio in the area opens its doors. This year more than 110 fine artists and fine crafters will be expecting company at eight sites that were formerly warehouses.

Do not overlook Riverview Station, the furthest flung building. Numbering on Lyman Street is a little confusing. Riverview Station at 191 Lyman Street is around a right-angle corner and more than a half mile from the Warehouse Studios at 170 Lyman Street (which housed the first River District Artists). There are two parking areas at 191 Lyman, serving Riverview Station (North) and Riverview Station (South). About eight artists are in the South section, including painter Ginger Huebner and award-winning jeweler Una Barrett. In the North section there are three. This column will concentrate on the activities of one of these artists, Fleta Monaghan. At #310, 191 Lyman Street, Fleta Monaghan operates “310 ART Gallery” and “River’s Edge Studio.” The gallery displays her art, while the “River’s Edge Studio” in the same space houses instructional classes for adult painters.

If you visit this weekend, there will be no students’ easels crowding the space, just the art. Some craft pieces will be on display by her colleagues who share the building, some paintings by a few of her advanced students will be hanging, and the art of Fleta Monaghan will be there in abundance. 

Monaghan paints both abstracts such as Sky Vision and Earth Vision (each 20”x16” oil paint and oil pastel on canvas) but also landscapes such as French Broad in Early Autumn (16”x20” oil on canvas).
Monaghan sells her paintings from her studio, and also is represented by The ®evolving Art Gallery, the new gallery in Hendersonville that was recently opened by Julie Spalla and David Lookingbill, who are “alumni” of the River Arts District.

Monaghan has a passion for teaching adults. She received a BFA (magna cum laude) from UNC Asheville and a Masters’ degree in Art Education (straight A) from Western Carolina University. She offers elementary courses on oil paints, acrylics, color selection, color theory, landscape painting and abstract painting. River’s Edge Studio also hosts other instructors who teach drawing, pen and ink, watercolor, encaustic, pastel and Sumi-e (Asian ink and wash painting). The theme is university-level education for the adult learner.

Intermediate and advanced students attend studio and critique sessions, small classes that paint for four hours and then offer mutual constructive criticism. I sat in on the first hour of one of the studio sessions. I was impressed by the serious approach to art taken by her students. Each of them displayed his or her unique approach. One favored abstracts. Another was painting in a surreal style. Yet others were painting florals, large animals, imaginative realism, and traditional realism. There were many calls on their teacher to discuss details of technique or color choice. The affection they held for her was obvious.

To learn more about 310 ART and the classes offered at River’s Edge Studio, consult Monaghan’s website: 
http://www.fletamonaghan.com. For maps and directions to the River Arts District and this weekend’s Studio Stroll, consult: http://www.riverdistrictartists.com.

© 2009 Edward C. McIrvine

Illustrations © Fleta Monaghan

Arts Spectrum column #437 

June 12, 2009