Episode 63 — Cathryn Davis aka “Cathryn The Grateful” : Fully Awake & the Legacy of Black Mountain College

Mountain Magnolia Show — Episode 63 with Cathryn The Grateful

 

Today’s episode is one of my favorites — and a milestone — the first time I’ve ever recorded the Mountain Magnolia Show from home. It felt sacred to welcome my friend Cathryn Davis aka Cathryn The Grateful into that space.

 

Cathryn is not only a filmmaker, activist, minister, and creative visionary — she is one of the people who has done the deepest work to preserve and uplift the story of Black Mountain College, one of the most influential places in our region’s history.

  Why Black Mountain College Matters to WNC

From 1933–1957, Black Mountain College operated just a few miles from town — a radical experiment in community-centered, collaborative education. It welcomed European refugees fleeing fascism, artists escaping convention, and thinkers hungry for possibility.

 

This tiny school in the mountains shaped the world:

 

• Buckminster Fuller built his first geodesic dome here

• John Cage staged the first multimedia “Happening”

• Merce Cunningham revolutionized modern dance

• Josef & Anni Albers shaped modern art & design

• The Black Mountain Review launched the Beat poets

• Its work program inspired Warren Wilson’s model

• Its community ethos helped shape WNC’s creative identity

 

The ripple effect of Black Mountain College still lives in:

 our arts community,  our schools,  our festivals , our creativity, and  our mountain spirit

 

And in many ways, the community-centered, collaborative heart of WNC today can be traced back to BMC’s presence here.

  Fully Awake — the Documentary

Cathryn co-created Fully Awake with fellow Asheville native Neeley House — a documentary that gathers student interviews, faculty stories, archival photographs, and rare footage to illuminate BMC’s legacy.

It has screened at MoMA, film festivals worldwide, and most beautifully — here at home at LEAF, in the very space students once walked.

  Cathryn’s Journey

 

Her story is as rich as her work:

Born on sacred mounds in Macon… raised in Asheville… clown training, theater, debate… a life-changing season in London… Cultural Studies at UNC… and a chance question in a NYC green room that led to 25 years of devotion to Black Mountain College.

 

Her life continues in service through:

• Civic activism & justice work

• Sacred ecology & seed sovereignty

• Enough Pie (Charleston) — combating gentrification with creativity

• Housing advocacy

• Spiritual leadership

• Movement healing & dance medicine

 

She opened our episode with a quote she lives by:

 

“The place God calls you is where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” — Frederick Buechner

 

Our conversation is filled with heart, wisdom, history, creativity, and the magic of our mountains.

 

 Listen to Episode 63 — “Cathryn the Grateful: Fully Awake at Black Mountain College.”

 

 Learn more: fullyawake.org