Marquee — Attraction in Asheville

I stumbled upon The Marquee with an out-of-town visitor last weekend. When we walked in the door, we looked at each other and I said "We have arrived at holy la-la land". We both went week in the knees and walked around in awe.

It felt like the we had walked into another city. It reminded me of the Visionary Arts Museum in Baltimore, Museum of Modern Art, and local art studios all in one. A sprawling space with tall ceilings, roomy aisles, and plenty of room to walk around comfortably. It’s bright and clean and fresh.

It’s an eclectic and beautifully curated mix of antiques, folk art, modern art, upcycled clothing (one dress made with slide negatives and parts of vintage hair rollers) miniature delights, such as air plants in vintage peg dispensers, local ceramics, high-end vintage and modern furniture, sculptures, and handmade jewelry and estate pieces, displayed interestingly and with care in a center island surrounded by cases.

The art itself, the display, the open spaces, the curating overall and in each booth, the combination of antiques and modern - all just amazing and delightful. And then to find the bar at the end! Bravo. We sat down with our sparkling mocktails and talked about what we had to have.

The other little but important (to me) things - the staff is warm and welcoming. The 2 all-gender bathrooms are clean and pretty and well-stocked.

I brought an amazing local artist friend back yesterday and she had the same feeling. I'm bringing another friend by today (I love to watch the reactions on each face). Today I think that I might treat myself to a tiny mixed-media reliquary shadow box filled with medical curiosities.

It may seem from my ravings that I’m affiliated with the space. I’m not. I just appreciate anything done so...

Marquee is part of the River Art District and the most impressive of what we were able to see so far. That's why Marquee deserves its own review.

Marquee is like a big warehouse full of arts. When you first walk in, you'd see a robot guard and on the ceiling, there are decorated umbrellas hanging up side down. I like that the ceiling is tall and each kiosks have decent space so it made me feel comfortable and relaxed walking around. There are not a lot of artists in Marquee like other locations because this is more of a showroom than a place for the artists to work at.

They're selling beverages and snacks if you want a small bite. The interesting part is they have a full bar with great decorations, designs and seatings. If you want to take your drinks to wander around and look at art at the same time, you can! Marquee owns the bar so you can walk everywhere inside marque with a drink on your hand. I'd definitely get a drink at the bar if I had more time.

Strongly recommend visiting and...

I visited the Marquee in Asheville in March of this year, primarily due to its inclusion of the V-Spot, as I am vegan and prefer to support vegan businesses. I purchased several prints and original pieces of art, along with some beautifully embroidered napkins (from the V-Spot). It has come to my attention that the V-Spot is being evicted due to not being “inclusive.” I find that incredibly odd, considering the number of artworks I wanted to buy, but passed up because they used animal products in the finished work (beeswax in particular for the piece I’m recalling). So how is the Marquee being “inclusive” by selling products I cannot buy?? Vegan products are probably the MOST inclusive type of products there are, so that sounds like a completely ignorant reason for eviction of V-Spot. When I visit Asheville again later this year, the Marquee will NOT be getting...