Exhibition Aids Ashville’s Hurricane-Stricken Arts Community
The proceeds from Love Asheville From Afarwill benefit artists impacted by Helene, which tore through the city’s River Arts District.
by Rhea Nayyar 
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“We had planned on showing them in the gallery at the arts district, but it was a kind of a perfect opportunity to bring the works down here and show them,” Aitken said. “We use a lot of salvaged materials from businesses that closed down during COVID — and now, since the hurricane, we’re trying to take the scraps of a shift in a disaster and try to make art in these new beginnings.”
Aitken reiterated that while downtown Asheville bounced back relatively quickly after the hurricane and is readily open for business and tourism, nearby mountain towns like Marshall and Swannanoa are still staggering from limited to no resources such as running water and power, slow aid and assistance, and being cut off due to washed away roads.
“People are living in tent cities now that have lost everything, like families with children living in tent cities and they don’t have running water and now it’s getting cold — but that’s not really what’s being seen,” Aitken recounted. “They’ve been forgotten about since others have stopped circulating as much footage of the loss and devastation.”
Aitken said that external events like Love Asheville From Afarhelp keep those impacted at the forefront of people’s minds in an ever-changing news cycle, garnering much needed support as things continue to move slowly in terms of recovery and recalibration.
Those outside of Atlanta looking to support Asheville’s artists during and beyond the holidays can make a donation directly through the RADA website. Burroughs mentioned that the association has raised over $500,000 to date since Helene, and has distributed its first round of emergency relief funds to over 700 artists who are members of the RAD.
As Burroughs put it succinctly: “We have to do it, or no one else will.”
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