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If you value our coverage and want to support more of it, consider supporting us as a member. Join Us Although the story of Black Mountain College (BMC) has been told more than once since its founding in 1933, the ending is always the same. In its prime, the radical, rural liberal arts college situated in the Appalachian Mountains of Western North Carolina was a testing ground for all manner of creative experiments, such as John Cage ’s first “happening” and Buckminster Fuller’s first dome.
But BMC eventually caved, literally and figuratively, with buildings falling into disrepair and people reaching their breaking points as economic hardship increased, tempers shortened, and communal enthusiasm waned. The school officially closed in 1957, after 24 years of striving for an art education centered on self-sufficiency. What is less widely known, until now, is the story of the BMC fa.
