Haywood Street Fresco in Asheville Receives National Recognition

(ASHEVILLE, NC, May 29, 2025) The Haywood Street Fresco is among the winners of the 2024 Faith & Form Awards for Religious Architecture and Art. The awards program was founded in 1978 with the goal of honoring the best in architecture, liturgical design, and art for religious spaces. The 2024 awards recognized excellence in the creation, re-use, and restoration of religious spaces, the design of religious landscapes, and the making of religious art. A total of 79 entries were received from 5 countries, and the winners represent a variety of traditions: Christian, Jewish, Quaker and multifaith. Winners were selected by a panel of jurors: Block, AIA, LEED AP (jury chair); Rosa Lowinger, F-AIC, FAPT, FAAR ’09; David Riccio, PA AIC, RP APT; The Rev. Robert R. Webb, III; and Joshua Zinder, AIA, LEED AP, NCARB. We also want to thank Michael J. Crosbie, FAIA, who has organized and overseen the awards program for many years.

The Haywood Street Fresco, measuring 9.5’ x 27’, adorns the sanctuary wall of Haywood Street Congregation. The artwork, based on Jesus’ most enduring sermon, the Beatitudes, offers a timeless witness to the gospel where the last are finally made first. It is public art that challenges viewers to see neighbors living in poverty with fresh eyes. Haywood St. is a United Methodist congregation whose highest calling is to relationship.

“The national Faith and Form Awards have been selected for many years, and today are overseen by Partners for Sacred Places in Philadelphia. Partners is the only non-profit working across the nation on training, resources, and advocacy for historic houses of worship of any tradition,” said Thomas Frank, former Board chair for Partners for Sacred Places and friend of Haywood St. He went on to say, “Haywood Street Congregation is a poster child for what Partners is trying to do. Adapting a historic church building into a multi-purpose facility for our community, particularly people without housing, the Congregation now embraces a unique fresco of national significance. When we gather before the fresco, we see ourselves. We see our full humanity. We see our failings and our salvation. We see a community of faith. The Award confirms what we already know — that Haywood Street recognizes the beauty in all of us. And we are thankful.”

Principal artist Christopher Holt and Haywood St.’s founding pastor, Rev. Brian Combs, will be attending the Interfaith Design reception during the 2025 American Institute of Architects Convention in Boston, MA where the award will be recognized on June 6, 2025.

Fresco Artist Christopher Holt receives TAPAS Award

Congratulations! 

Your TAPAS grant proposal for The Haywood Street Fresco and Christopher Holt with Asheville High Students has been awarded! Thank you so much for applying for an artist residency in an effort to provide your students with a meaningful learning opportunity. You are amazing! We are excited to see your students’ creativity and engagement through this TAPAS project. Attached to this email is a TAPAS grant recipient badge that you can add to your email signature. 

By accepting this grant award and implementing this TAPAS project, you are agreeing to:

  • Attend a virtual planning meeting with TAPAS Coordinator & artist or field trip location.
  • Inform TAPAS Coordinator of all performances and events.
  • Share pictures and stories about my residency on social media, tagging ACSF (Facebook @ACSFound and Instagram @ACSF828) or with TAPAS Coordinator directly.
  • Complete TAPAS post residency survey (which will require collecting two student quotations about their experience).

TAPAS: Teaching Artists Presenting in Asheville Schools

TAPAS is an arts-integration program that implements high quality artist residencies to create craft and performance experiences across all curriculum. TAPAS (Teaching Artists Presenting in Asheville Schools) was founded in 2010 through a collaborative partnership between ACSF, LEAF in Schools and Streets, and UNC Asheville. Between 2010-2025, TAPAS has impacted more than 13,000 ACS students, trained over 60 artists in pedagogical practices, and provided more than 1,100 days of artists in residence.

Teachers overwhelmingly report that classroom artist residencies successfully promote student enthusiasm and participation; student understanding of curriculum is deeper when taught as a creative project. Now in its 16th year, TAPAS has maintained the ability to be a cost-effective, far-reaching program with a profound impact on both individual artists and students in our community.