Hickory native Lee Harper to Serve as Blowing Rock Artist-in-Residence

BLOWING ROCK, NC -- Hickory, NC native and longtime Blowing Rock summer resident, Lee Harper, will return as Artist-in-Residence at Edgewood Cottage Aug. 19-25, 2024. Harper will be at the cottage each day of her residency from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. to discuss and sell her work. She will also paint new works while onsite (www.leeharperfineart.com). An opening reception will be held at the cottage on Aug. 22 from 5-7 p.m.

This will be Harper’s ninth year as Artist-in-Residence at the cottage, located on Main Street in Blowing Rock. She will share the space with fellow artist and friend, Brad Gates, a Blowing Rock resident and award-winning pointillism artist known for his paintings and ink drawings (www.bradgatesfineart.com). The Edgewood Cottage Artist-in-Residence program is sponsored by the Blowing Rock Historical Society (www.artistsatedgewood.org/edgewood-cottage).

“I am honored and gratified to once again be invited by the Blowing Rock Historical Society to share my art with Blowing Rock residents and visitors,” said Harper. “For the past eight years, this residency has been a highlight of my summer. It’s also a family affair, since my husband, Wayne Vason, helps me transport and display the art, and our son, Fin Vason, provides the live music for our opening reception. I continue to be so thankful for the ongoing inspiration and support this community provides to me. I’m looking forward to greeting old friends and meeting new ones during my art show.”

Built in 1890, Edgewood Cottage was the first home of American artist Elliott Daingerfield. The structure was restored by the Blowing Rock Historical Society and is now used for special events and the popular Artists-in-Residence program. Lee Harper’s exhibit is open to the public, but she requests RSVPs for the Aug. 22 reception at lee.vason@gmail.com.

About Lee Harper

Hickory, NC native Lee Harper, founding director of Atlanta’s Lee Harper & Dancers, is one of the Southeast’s most influential and inspirational arts leaders. She attended the Juilliard School of Music and graduated from the North Carolina School of the Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in dance. She performed professionally with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, the Pearl Lang Dance Theater, the All Nations Dance Company and the Atlanta Contemporary Dance Company. For over four decades, Miss Harper has taught thousands of children, choreographed productions for some of the region’s premier arts organizations, directed her talented group of professional dancers and dazzled audiences with her one-woman shows. In addition to her remarkable dance career, Lee Harper is also a fine arts painter, presenting art shows and serving as artist-in-residence at art centers in Blowing Rock, Atlanta and Madison, Ga. In acknowledgement of her tremendous body of work and influence, Miss Harper received the Georgia Governor’s Award for the Arts and Humanities in 2016. In December 2000, the Harper family donated their historic family home, Harper House, to the Historical Association of Catawaba County in Hickory, NC. She is married to attorney Wayne Vason, and they have two grown children, Katie and Fin. www.leeharperfineart.com