Asheville, N.C.'s arts scene has powered its economy. Rebuilding will be hard.
“My entire portfolio is in the river somewhere,” one artist said after floodwaters from Hurricane Helene destroyed over a dozen local studios in the city's River Arts District.
A line painted on the side of a building in Asheville, North Carolina’s River Arts District marks how far waters rose in 1916, when massive floods ravaged what was then the city’s bustling warehouse hub. As Hurricane Helene inundated the western part of the state last week, floodwaters met that line and kept rising.
Today, the district is home to a thriving arts and cultural scene that has been a major tourist draw and economic driver for Asheville for decades. As local artists, museums and gallery owners survey the damage, many worry about how long it will take to rebuild and even whether some displaced creatives will come back.
“My entire portfolio is in the river somewhere,” said Max Trumpower, a visual artist whose East Asheville apartment building collapsed and floated away on Friday.
Floodwaters from Hurricane Helene rose higher than they did when a devastating flood swept through Asheville in 1916.Courtesy Nadine CharlsenRenewed interest in Appalachian art, music and culture has been drawing tourists to western North Carolina in recent years. Visitors to Asheville’s Buncombe County spent nearly $3 billion last year, accounting for 20% of the county’s annual economy.
“Arts and culture is certainly a big part of that,” said Vic Isley, the president and CEO of Explore Asheville, the Buncombe tourism board.
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