Azule - A Place for the Arts & Community - Hot Springs, NC

Azule - A Place for the Arts & Community - Hot Springs, NC Indoor Outdoor Community and Art Making Space for Retreats, Learning Exchange, and Art Making BEGINNING

David and Camille Shafer moved to Hot Springs, N.C.

in 1972. Camille was an artist from France, and Dave a photographer from the midlands of the US. They connected with their neighbors immediately in the community of Bluff, in Madison County and made local friends such as Doctor Kimberley, from whom they had bought the property and Harold Finley who now serves on the Azule Board of Directors. Camille and Dave’s house became a center of activities a

nd their community grew. They organized art and music events, such as quilt shows and regular jam sessions as well as photographic projects such as "Portraits of America", a photographic portrayal of members of the community, which, incidentally, was taken up again by Azule in 2006. THE STRUCTURE

At the same time, Camille was busy planning and creating the amazing architecture you can see now. Dave and Camille’s house is unique. Through Camille Shafer’s sole design and organization, what began as the tiny Kimberly's cabin, has been sculpted into a work of art. The construction itself has always been offered to local carpenters. Camille was very clear about that: all of her creative activities must originate locally. THE VISION

The roots of the new community were, in fact, the local artists, artisans, farmers, carpenters, who helped withthe construction of the house. As a group, they wanted to open a locus for the arts in Bluff ... Some left, some stayed, some came back ... But after twenty five years or so, they got together and organized for a non- profit C3 Corporation. AZULE was born the day Camille Shafer offered her place as the locus

Happy Birthday, Camille! Join us this evening at 6 o’clock for a potluck dinner celebrating this incredible woman.
07/18/2026

Happy Birthday, Camille! Join us this evening at 6 o’clock for a potluck dinner celebrating this incredible woman.

Nearly 84 years of Camille Shafer. We think that deserves a celebration!She calls herself a radical French hillbilly. Sh...
07/07/2026

Nearly 84 years of Camille Shafer. We think that deserves a celebration!

She calls herself a radical French hillbilly. She built this place from a dream, shaped it with her vision, and spent decades inspiring artists through her words, her way of seeing, and the world she created here in the mountains. 650+ artists have come through, and every one of them left a little different.

Come be with us. Saturday, July 18th at 6pm at Azule. Potluck style, so bring something good to share. 💙


07/06/2026

Abby Wolfzorn grew up in Turkey and now lives in Jackson, Tennessee. A self-described art school dropout and full-time barista, they make work from dots, thousands of them, placed one at a time, building into large-scale paintings that hold color, memory, and feeling all at once.

At Azule, Abby leaned into the quiet. They arrived with canvases already in progress, including a striking red quilt and a bullet-riddled piece from a past performance. Old work and new work sat together in the studio, each dot part of a longer conversation with everything that came before it.

Abby's process is slow and deliberate by nature, and Azule gave them room to follow it wherever it led. The land, the pace of the days, and the people here all found their way into the work. What came out was personal, patient, and fully theirs.

Azule accepts applications on a rolling basis. If you're ready for time and space to create, there's room for you here. Watch Abby's full interview and learn more about our Appalachian residencies on our website at azule.org.

06/29/2026



What advice would you give to an artist entering a residency for the first time?

We asked Adam Kirsch, a musician from Grand Marais, Minnesota. He came to Azule with a schedule of what he wanted to make, and left thinking differently about plans.

"You need a looseness to it. You have to go with what you're feeling, where the residency and the environment is sending you creatively, and not hyperfocus on some intention you had coming in."

His advice for anyone arriving at their first residency: be more reactionary than accomplished. Step out of the bounds of what you came to make. Do the thing that doesn't feel like it's on the path you expected, react to it, accept it, and find a new version of your practice by traveling that path.

"There are no wrong notes."

That's a lot of what this place is for. No deadlines, no obligations, room to follow the work wherever it goes.

Adam works between primitive American folk and noisy, synth-based ambient, pulling data from his recordings into animation and video. Two worlds, brought together. Watch his full interview on our blog: https://azule.org/adam-kirsch/

04/20/2026



Meet Aparna Sud, a Boston-based abstract painter whose creative life moves fluidly between painting, dance, and poetry. During her residency at Azule, she completed a seven-piece series exploring the intersections of time, space, and humanity, each canvas anchored to a single concept like permeability, resurgence, and elastic time.

Her work begins from the inside out, and Azule gave her the stillness to go there. "You need that rest and digest period for creative cycles to work." She also found something harder to name at Azule, a sense that the place itself holds the creative energy of everyone who has passed through it. "You can kind of feel the energy of the artists that have been here. It's very inspiring."

Aparna will be back at Azule for our April 26th potluck, and it's a rare chance to sit down, share a meal, and hear about the work straight from the source. Good food, good company, and good conversation — we hope to see you there. Folks will begin gathering for the potluck around 4:00pm this Sunday.

Spring is doing what spring does best out here. The rhododendrons are blooming, the hillside is green and getting greene...
04/17/2026

Spring is doing what spring does best out here. The rhododendrons are blooming, the hillside is green and getting greener, and there's something in the air that feels like possibility.

We're hosting a community potluck at Azule on Sunday, April 26th, starting at 4pm, and everyone is welcome. Bring a dish to share, bring someone you've been meaning to spend time with, and come as you are.

We're especially excited to welcome back Aparna Sud, who traveled to Azule from Boston to create here recently. She'll be sharing a series of paintings she developed during her residency — a chance to see what this place inspired in her hands.

The flowers are out. Come see them with us.

Four walls are optional at Azule.Thirty-five acres of creek beds, ridgelines, and old-growth forest. The land is quiet h...
04/09/2026

Four walls are optional at Azule.

Thirty-five acres of creek beds, ridgelines, and old-growth forest. The land is quiet here in a way that gets into your art whether you plan for it or not.

04/06/2026



Meet Taylor McMahan, a portrait-driven painter whose residency at Azule marks a powerful return to her own art after a decade away. During that time, Taylor built a career in the entertainment industry creating wigs and crafting identities for others — now, she's turned the lens inward.

Since becoming a mother three years ago, her work has grown into an exploration of the universal experiences many women share: the scars and joys of motherhood, the weight of family history, and the quiet isolation of life's biggest transitions. She finds her material in what she calls the "gum of life" — sunlight through a window, a jar of acorns collected by her daughter, the story told by a person's dirty hands.

At Azule, the stillness of the mountains gave her exactly what she needed. "You can't know how overburdened you are mentally until you do get away and it's just quiet suddenly." The full interview is available on our blog at https://azule.org/blog.

Something shifts here in April. Mist off the Spring Creek, rhododendrons opening, wildflowers pushing through before the...
04/02/2026

Something shifts here in April. Mist off the Spring Creek, rhododendrons opening, wildflowers pushing through before the season even officially arrives.

If your work is ready for that same kind of shift, spring residency slots are open.

Apply at azule.org.

03/30/2026



Meet Dr. Jeremy Smith, a composer from the Shoals, Alabama, whose residency at Azule gave him the quiet space to bring a full orchestral work to life. His piece, Creek Don't Rise, draws from American folk songs like "Shenandoah" and "Shall We Gather at the River" — and carries a deeper dedication to those affected by Hurricane Helene.

Commissioned by a Washington, DC-based ensemble, the work grew from a few sketched minutes to nearly eight during his time in the Appalachian setting. For Jeremy, Azule offered exactly what the music needed: room to slow down, reflect, and compose with purpose.

The full interview and demonstration of the musical piece is available on our blog at https://azule.org/blog.

Address

190 Rabbit Den Road
Hot Springs, NC
28743

Telephone

+18286223533

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