Public Message to donors, members, families, and friends:
Dear Leaf Community,
For more than three decades, LEAF has helped Western North Carolina understand the arts not as an accessory to community life, but as an essential part of it. Through cultural exchange, arts education, music, international partnerships, youth programming and extraordinary shared experiences, LEAF has introduced generations of people to new cultures, new ideas and one another.
We are excited to share the next chapter of that work. LEAF Global Arts will transition from operating as an independent nonprofit to becoming part of Camp Grier.
As the landscape for nonprofit arts organizations continues to change, we have spent considerable time thinking about what structure gives LEAF’s mission and programs the strongest possible future. For LEAF and Camp Grier, the answer is to move forward together.
Since 1952, Camp Grier has created opportunities for young people and families to connect, grow and thrive. Over the past decade, its work has expanded to include education, workforce development, outdoor recreation, community development, public school partnerships, live events and cultural experiences.
LEAF brings its own history and expertise to that growing family: decades of relationships with artists and culture keepers, arts education, international programming, event production and a deep belief in the power of cultural exchange.
Together, we see an opportunity to preserve what has made LEAF special while creating new possibilities for arts and cultural programming across Western North Carolina and beyond.
LEAF Schools & Streets, LEAF International and arts-focused summer camp programming will continue, and key members of the LEAF team have joined Camp Grier to help ensure continuity in that work.
We are also deeply grateful for the continued support of the community partners who have helped sustain LEAF’s work and believe in what comes next. That includes longtime partners such as Integrative Family Medicine and Fred Anderson Subaru, as well as a new partnership with Lake Eden Reunion. Together, these relationships help create new ways to celebrate culture, music and community while carrying forward the spirit of connection that has always been central to LEAF.
We know this transition will naturally bring questions, and we look forward to sharing more in the coming days and weeks as plans continue to take shape.
This is not the end of LEAF’s work. It is the beginning of a new chapter, one that gives us the opportunity to focus on what has always been at the heart of LEAF: arts education, cultural exchange and creating experiences that connect people across communities and cultures.
We are grateful to everyone who has been part of LEAF’s story, and we are excited about what we can build together.
With gratitude,
Mike Hale
board@theLeaf.org
President, Leaf Global Arts Board of Directors
Residencies For Schools & Communities
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Residencies For Schools & Communities *
From drumming and dance to guitar and singing, our weekly classes turn ordinary evenings into cultural experiences. No experience? No worries - each class is designed to welcome beginners and lifelong learners alike.
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Summer Camp 2026
June 15 - August 14Starting at $300/weekScholarships Available!
Get involved
Leaf's Volunteer program brings our events to life through 600+ volunteers a year. At large-scale events, Leaf’s Work Exchange program (WeX) participants fill the roles that make Leaf Festivals possible before, during, and after each event. Beyond festivals, program support volunteers keep Leaf’s Downtown AVL location at 19 Eagle St. thriving every day.
Leaf Interns play an important role in supporting core staff and advancing our mission. Working alongside team members across a variety of departments, interns gain hands-on experience while contributing to programs, events, marketing, education, operations, and other initiatives that strengthen our year-round impact.
Leaf membership places you inside a global community rooted in cultural curiosity, education, and preservation. Your membership directly fuels programs that create real impact: supporting cultural traditions across 10 countries, bringing arts education into local classrooms, and aiding musicians and visual artists recovering from the Helene floods. It's meaningful support, sustained year-round by people who believe in the arts.
Leaf partners and sponsors play a vital role in bringing Leaf's programs and experiences to life. By contributing financial support, in-kind resources, or collaborative expertise, partners help make arts and cultural programming more accessible while connecting with engaged audiences and demonstrating their commitment to a thriving, creative community.
Since 2018, Leaf and Buncombe County Schools (BCS) have been a Kennedy Center Partners in Education team as only the third organization ever selected from North Carolina. Together, we place more than 30 year-round Resident Teaching Artists in BCS classrooms, delivering theatre, music, art, and dance from around the world. Twice each year, international visiting artists enrich these residencies through immersive cultural experiences that broaden students' perspectives and deepen their understanding of global traditions.
Leaf International partners with established local organizations in the communities where we work — acting as catalyst and ally, not author. We believe people already possess the fullest expression of themselves; our role is to create the conditions for them to realize it. It's authentic collaboration, rooted in community.
International Outreach
At LEAF International, culture is a living torch passed hand to hand across generations. Across 10 countries in Africa, the Americas, and the Caribbean, LEAF partners with local Culture Keepers to teach traditional arts to youth in their own groups.
Programs are owned and led by the people they serve — preserving what makes each place unique while empowering youth as global citizens. From the Intore drum of Rwanda to the Guna Yala flute of Panama, from the steel pan of Bequia to the marimba of El Tejar. More than 630 youth learn traditional arts each week.
OUR MISSION
30 Years of Magic: How One Woman's Travels Through Africa & India Built a Global Arts Empire
