News

Exhibit of 'Asheville’s Boomtown Architect' to open in Old Fort

By Lightning Reports, Published: June 21, 2024

A new traveling exhibit, “Douglas Ellington: Asheville’s Boomtown Architect,” opens at the Mountain Gateway Museum Saturday, June 29.

The exhibit runs through Jan. 26, 2025.

Ellington is known as the architect who changed Asheville into an Art Deco showplace during the late 1920s. In five years, from 1925 to 1930, he transformed the landscape of downtown Asheville.

Short for the French, Arts décoratifs (decorative arts), Art Deco design turned modernism into fashion. The intention, be it in individual items, mass-produced products or architecture, was to create a sleek elegance, symbolizing wealth and sophistication. Art Deco shows an admiration for modernity, and the design qualities of machine-made objects. The key characteristics of Art Deco are simplicity, planarity, symmetry and repetition of elements.

This traveling exhibit, from the Asheville Museum of History, examines both the life of Douglas Ellington, as well as his work in Asheville and elsewhere. During Asheville’s pre-Depression building boom, Ellington combined the bold colors, geometric patterns and extravagant ornamentation of Art Deco with other architectural styles to create an iconic cityscape that is unique in Western North Carolina.

These one-of-a kind buildings include the City Building, Asheville High School, First Baptist Church and S&W Cafeteria. “Douglas Ellington: Asheville’s Boomtown Architect” presents a look at his iconic Asheville creations along with other buildings Ellington completed throughout his career in other cities. Exhibit features include artwork by Ellington, architectural designs and blueprints and survey equipment.

A regional branch of the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh, the Mountain Gateway Museum & Heritage Center is the westernmost facility in the Division of State History Museums of the Department of Natural & Cultural Resources Nestled at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains along the banks of historic Mill Creek in downtown Old Fort, the museum uses artifacts, exhibitions, educational programs, living history demonstrations, and special events to teach about the rich history and cultural heritage of the state’s mountain region, from its original inhabitants through early settlement and into the 20th century.