02/17/2025
“Asheville Strong” is now open at the through May 5. You’ll catch Save Me a Secret in person when you visit! It’s the last piece I completed before the storm; the last of a chapter that’s gone.
It’s worth spending some time in the space, with over a hundred works by various artists in and around Asheville. We persist, in all our different ways.
For me, I’m learning that “recovery and rebuild” is not linear. What is built after destruction will inevitably look different than what was before. It must - we are irreparably changed, and things will never ever be the same. This is beautiful, and you’re probably nodding along as you read this, but our culture has no helpful grid for this, and surely there are countless other artists and business owners who still feel as lonely and unmoored as I do.
Donors want a simply packaged narrative and tourists want an ETA. ETA for what though? For when things go back to “normal?” All that is here is what is here; it will continue to move and breathe and change, regardless of your best branding and marketing strategies. Frankly, the real healing and regrowth happens in secret, within our selves and immediate relationships and community - not publicly for the world to see - and it has no predetermined timeline or fairytale ending.
I’m oversharing on the Metaverse ✌🏻 but my previous white knuckling to define what is to be an artist vs. entrepreneur has been exploded since Helene. We live in a world where so few can making a real financial living with their art, yet product roadmaps, investor pitches, and 30-60-90s simply don’t survive the floodwaters. The art does.
