Ginger Huebner’s Roots and Wings school is one of Asheville’s only visual arts preschools.

by Janet Hurley . photo by Matt Rose

Ginger Huebner has always been the black sheep of her family. Not that she’s done anything bad. It’s just that she’s an artist. Worse, she spent five years getting a degree in architecture from Virginia Tech, had a good job in Seattle where she’d moved with husband and fellow architect, Scott Huebner, and then quit. To make art. Crazy. But for Huebner, now 35 and the owner of Roots and Wings School of Art, what’s crazy is that art isn’t infused more fully into everyone’s life. Through her two-year-old visual arts pre-school, the Orlando native has now made that her mission.

It’s a calling that has required many leaps—in confidence and locale. After leaving architecture, Huebner taught art in an after-school program, which she’d never done. She applied to teach art at a private school, despite having no certifications. After a year, Huebner says, her life path was clear.

After stops in Philadelphia and Seattle, the Huebners and their children, Mia and Felix, moved to Asheville in 2008. Asheville isn’t busting with jobs, so Ginger reluctantly took a position with a local architecture firm. She also shared a studio with painter Ralston Fox Smith in the River Arts District. At some point in those early months, she got frustrated about the lack of art in pre-schools and decided to start her own.

She knew just the place: those old, unused storage rooms at her church, All Souls Episcopal in Biltmore Village. They needed revamping, but she and Scott were architects, right? The Huebners provided most of the labor, and after meetings with church administrators, they renovated five rooms.

Roots and Wings School of Art opened in August 2009 and Huebner left architecture behind. The school opened with four children but quickly reached capacity. Now in its second year, the preschool has a waiting list. Along with standards like ABC’s and numbers, the children, ages 3-6, spend at least an hour every day creating art. They use real ink and paint, Huebner says, none of those fat paintbrushes or pencils. This increases the students’ fine motor skills and gives them confidence.

Huebner also has after-school programs for older children and weekend workshops for teens and adults. She still finds time for her own art, but spends most of her time at the school. “I can’t imagine not teaching,” she says. “I love being in both worlds.”

To learn more, check out www.rootsandwingsarts.com.