ASHEVILLE, NC — Hurricane Helene hit Asheville, North Carolina especially hard.
Flooding devastated much of the city’s river arts district.
But art studios and shops are slowly coming back to life.
Asheville wants to spread the message to visitors loud and clear - come back to visit us.
Along the Swannanoa River, much of the debris that was present in November has been cleared away.
Artist Cassie Butcher told Channel 2′s Bryan Mims it feels so good to have her hands touch clay again.
For months she had no studio to practice her ceramic art.
The French Broad River swept inside the studio where she worked for 16 years.
Her studio might not reopen.
“The owners are not sure what the next steps are,” she said.
So she moved into a nearby studio on Depot Street.
It flooded too, but managed to reopen in December.
“I mean, it’s art therapy. So I was missing it a lot,” she said.
Most art studios and galleries in the warehouses by the French Broad River remain lifeless.
Some artists might never return.
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But in the upper arts district, which sits on higher ground, a sense of normal is settling in.
The Balm hair salon on Depot Street just celebrated its grand reopening this month.
“For our salon, we had water up to the mirrors and all the product was all over the place,” stylist Rachel Malencen said.
She said she was moved to tears when it reopened nearly six months later.
“It was surreal. It’s like this is our home and we’re back here. So grateful for everybody,” she said.
But, she says, the river arts district lost a little of its soul in the storm.
She hopes it can recapture the feeling.
“It’s never gonna be the same, you know. But we can rebuild and we can come together as a community and try,” she said.
For Butcher, there is cause for celebration.
“So it’s really nice to be able to have that studio situation again where people can come 9in and see my work and I can talk to them about it,” she said.
In Biltmore Village, most of the businesses remain closed.
But some shops and restaurants could reopen within the next month.
The Grand Bohemian Hotel, a landmark in the area, plans to open in early May.
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