6 months after Hurricane Helene, Asheville gallery owners help artists recover

ASHEVILLE, NC — It has been six months since Hurricane Helene hit parts of North Carolina.

A group of artists that had not only their artwork destroyed by the storm but also their supplies and gallery space, now have a new start.

Painting is Alison Press’ passion, as well as her second career.

She quit her corporate I.T. job after the pandemic to pursue art full-time.

“It was just a leap of faith. And I saw, ‘I’ve got it, I’ve got it in me to be able to create,’” she told WSOC-TV’s Erika Jackson.

Press was working out of the Asheville Print Studio until Helene flooded the building near the Swannanoa River.

“I don’t think any of us expected it to be the kind of storm that it was,” Press said. “Everybody was just in a bit of survival mode.”

The roof at Asheville Print Studio caved in, destroying the art and supplies within.

Press and other artists turned that devastation into drive.

They’re now working out of Resurrection Studios Collective in downtown Asheville.

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“We do glass, we’ve got ceramics, we’ve got woodworkers and fine art painting,” Resurrection Studios Collective owner Heidi Adams said. “We’ve got a leather maker.”

Adams turned her family’s former music studio into an artist workspace and gallery.

“I know the artists were really excited, and it felt really magical to bring the community back together,” Adams said.

Coming in here is very inspiring. I have a beautiful view of downtown. I have a great new artist community that I’m working with,” Press said.

Press said she earned a grant to pay for the next year of her rent.

She said she’s grateful for the second chance at her second career.

“We’re looking forward. You know, every single one of us. Yes, we realize and we feel for our brethren that haven’t even found a space yet. Encouraging people to keep going,” she said.