š GIFT GUIDE š Made by WNC Artists
Support Western North Carolina Artists affected by Hurricane Helene
Last year, it was fun putting together a little artist-centered gift guide for the holidays. This year, I thought Iād focus more on artists affected by Hurricane Helene, especially from my own home state of North Carolina.
Asheville, Boone, and other areas of Western North Carolina were hit hard. Itās estimated that 80% of the buildings in Ashevilleās River Arts District were affected or completely destroyed. North Carolina has a long history of craft and creativity, and I hope all of these artists are back on their feet soon.
šØ(Note: Iāve tried to pick artists whose shops are back up and running, but itās best to double check and order early so they have time to fulfill orders)šØ
River Arts District
The River Arts District website is a great place to start. Some places have been knocked totally out of commission for this season, but luckily, there are a lot of other galleries, craft collectives, and artists who are selling work online.
The RAD website lead me to The High Fiber, which has really cute hand printed art and tea towels.
Another RAD artist is Reiko Miyagi, whose work I posted above. It looks like sheās currently all sold out, but will be listing new work again in early December. Her Instagram seems like a good place for announcements.
Southern Highland Craft Guild
The Southern Highland Craft Guild is another great association with a ton of art to choose from. I liked these linocut prints from Lauren Faulkenberry, but there are so many artists to choose from.
Penland School of Craft
Penland School of Craft is a famous center for art and craft education in between Asheville and Boone. Their online gallery carries many artists in the area.
A Few More WNC Artists
Apart from the craft guilds and artist associations, here are a few other artists from the area whose work caught my eye.
The artists at Molten Made Gallery were among those who got hit really, really hard. Their Instagram says that theyāre currently functioning as an online business now.
Lost Mountain Prints (also on insta) has a range of fun work, I really like this Neon Snake silkscreen print.
Sarah Hearts has such cool work, and I love that she makes labels for you to add to your own handmade treasures! I especially liked these award ribbons:
Other Recovery Funds
If you want to go right to the source, here a few resources I grabbed from Penlandās site:
Craft Emergency Relief Fund Grants
https://cerfplus.org/grants/emergency-relief/
Center for Craft Futures
https://www.centerforcraft.org/craftfuturesfund
I hope this guide gets you started on your holiday art buying! This newsletter is free, so feel free to share with anyone else who likes buying beautiful things made by real humans.
Thanks, and take care.
-Erin