Erica Schaffel’s painting would be impossible without water. Now it’s to blame for her work being destroyed.
As Hurricane Helene rolled through Asheville, the French Broad River rushed through the River Arts District — taking thousands of works of art with it. The River Arts District was home to more than 300 artists. Many lost equipment, artwork collections or entire studios.
Schaffel watched from a nearby bridge the night after the storm as the very landscapes she used as inspiration for her paintings turned into a violent rapid.
“I kept seeing artwork float by. Just seeing a little piece of somebody’s soul floating down the river really touched me in a very specific way,” she told BPR.
She has gone back to check a few times but has yet to find any of her work, which was housed in the Marquee art gallery.
“The gallery was destroyed. We went down a couple times to look and see. I haven’t found any of my work yet, but it’s watercolor, so I’m not super hopeful,“ she said.
Schaffel turned to online fundraising days after the storm to fund a project, highlighting some of the work that was lost.
The Asheville Artists Flood Collection includes a playing card deck and coffee table book with 54 different original artworks that were lost in the flood.
“The goal is to honor and memorialize these works of art, but also, all proceeds go directly to the artists,” Schaffel said. “It’ll provide an ongoing income stream for these artists who just lost their jobs.
Days after the fundraiser launched, Schaffel had surpassed her goal of $15,000 to cover costs of production. Now, any additional money will go directly to the artists affected, she said.
“Asheville is the whole reason I’m even an artist,” Schaffel told BPR.
Schaffel is co-piloting the project with Spencer Beals, another Asheville-based artist.
“The community is still here. It’s in these cards, and in this coffee table book. This is a way to showcase our work together and to celebrate the community here, because, as you flip through this, you’re going to see what we have here and there’s an amazing amount of talent,” he said.
Beals tried to protect his work from flooding by placing it near the rafters in Foundation studios in the River Arts District. He narrowly escaped rising flood waters and returned hours later in a kayak to try and retrieve some of his works.
He was unsuccessful on that trip, but days later, he dug through overturned furniture and inches of mud to pull out a few of his hyper-detailed watercolor paintings. He has spent the last few days pressure washing and scraping them off.
“The water color didn’t pull out with the pressure washing in a way that I found surprising,” he told BPR. “And we’ve been picking apart, using a knife to cut off thin layers of mud coating pieces.”
