Three galleries host permanent and temporary exhibitions featuring works by local artists - including potter Ben Owens III, painter Julyan Davis, and woodturners Ed, Phillip, and Matt Moulthrop - that sit next to art from masters such as Francisco Goya and Edgar Degas. Today, visitors to The Bascom pass through a covered bridge onto the sprawling six-acre campus to take art classes, wander the sculpture trail, or watch pottery demonstrations at the Dave Drake Studio Barn. By the mid-2000s, the community saw the need for a more robust visual arts center, a place worthy of the art one might see in New York, Chicago, or even Paris. Over time, the gallery amassed a permanent collection of fine art ranging from photographs and abstract paintings to contemporary baskets and early Southern furniture, most of it donated by collectors. Watson Barratt, who lived in New York but vacationed in this North Carolina mountain town, established the gallery in his will, in memory of his wife, Louise, to showcase regional artists.

The Bascom began in 1983 as the Bascom-Louise Gallery, a single room in Highlands’ Hudson Library. At the Dave Drake Studio Barn, visitors can watch potters like Jodie Zahner at work.

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