STORIES FROM LEAF GLOBAL ARTS

Celebrating 30 years of extraordinary stories & connections across the world.

Mission

LEAF Global Arts is on a mission CONNECTING CULTURES and CREATING COMMUNITY
through world music, arts education, preservation and experiences.
The closest distance between two people is a story, a song, or a dance.

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Musician Leeda Lyric Jones, who is LEAF's SparktheArtsNC Artist in Residence for March 2024.

#SPARKTHEARTSNC ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: LEEDA LYRIC JONES

Join us on Friday, March 15, for a performance by Leeda Lyric Jones, LEAF’s Spark ...
Children in purple shirts at LEAF Summer Camp.

Registration for LEAF Summer Camps

Looking for the best summer camps in Asheville and WNC? LEAF Schools & Streets invites ...
Young musicians and dancers performing with Dance of Hope from Uganda

LEAF Global Arts Retreat Artists Announced for May

LEAF Global Arts announces the artists for LEAF Global Arts Retreat, held May 9-12 at ...
Black Opry

LEAF Global Arts 2024 Theme Announced

This year, we celebrate the extraordinary global citizens who not only create art but also champion causes that resonate with the heartbeat of humanity.

#SparktheArtsNC Artist Spotlight: Ryan ‘RnB’ Barber

Ryan “RnB” Barber is LEAF’s Spark the Arts artist in residence for February 2024. He ...
Photo of Mike Martinez singing.

#SparktheArtsNC Artist Spotlight: Mike Martinez

Mike Martinez lives in Asheville, N.C., and is known around the country as a songwriter, vocalist, rapper, activist, frontman, and member of the bands Beekeepers ...

 

AN URGENT LETTER FROM THE LEAF BOARD:

For nearly 30 years, LEAF Global Arts has connected people through the power of art, music, and culture. Every shared moment has been made possible because of you – our community.

The LEAF Festival is critical to funding LEAF’s larger work: providing global cultural arts programming for thousands of local youth and preserving cultures and traditions around the world.

This year, we are facing a financial crossroads: between the loss of last fall’s Festival, losing a majority of our arts education funding in 2025, and not fully recovering from COVID, the future is bleak. The upcoming LEAF Festival could be our last if we don’t come together to sustain the heart of LEAF’s mission – but we have seen what this community can do when united for a cause greater than itself.

To open the Festival experience to as many people as possible, and to rally the full spirit of LEAF, we are offering a limited number of LEAF LOVE Tickets at a significant discount.

These special tickets, offered at 30% off (our highest discount, even more so than our Early Bird pricing) are our way of ensuring everyone has a place in this story. Full-priced tickets also remain available for those with the means to give a little more to help support LEAF’s vital work.

Your presence, your voice, and your support matter more than ever right now. Join us in making this LEAF Festival one that the world will never forget and ensuring the music continues for generations to come. 

Mayani is a Maasai boy from longido Arusha. He went to boarding school at 6 years old and lost his Maasai language and tradition. Since joining the LEAF program, he has learned to sing Maasai songs, practiced the ‘jump’ tradition and wear Maasai shukas (traditional clothing). Mayani is extremely happy and is currently teaching other youth the culture.