Ashford Area Arts Council

Helping artists recover after Hurricane Helene

Michael Hughey is a WNC native, creative artisan, calligrapher, illustrator, instructor, & author, living in Tolland, CT since June 2020. We reached out to him to help us with ways to give back to artists struggling to recover from Hurricane Helene.
“Thank you for asking and for thinking of the craftsmen, artists, and flood-ravaged folks of western NC (WNC)! These folks are pulling together and helping their neighbors, but the task is to recover from the largest destruction ever seen in WNC, surpassing even the catastrophic floods of 1916!
It may help New Englanders to understand the scope of destruction by comparing WNC to New England: the area of WNC is roughly equivalent to VT, NH, MA, CT, & RI combined.”

Here are a few organizations helping that Michael recommends:
Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF+)
Support Hope Mill Inc Hurricane Relief

Helicopter Supply Drops in WNC; based in Charlotte with operations out of Hickory Regional Airport: airdrops to areas otherwise unreachable in remote WNC mountains, cut off by flooded rivers, washed out roads, or landslides.
Donations, equipment, or questions: email: helenedonations@buncombecounty.org Asheville is the county seat of Buncombe County where some of the worst flooding and wind destruction has occurred. It is 50 miles from N to S and 22 miles from Wto E, 660 sq. miles.
Manna Food Bank : Perhaps the best & largest food bank in the area with many partners throughout WNC. Their main operation on the Swannanoa River was flooded out, but they are back up and operating – all their people survived! Really good people doing very good work!!
• Other agencies can be found on the Blue Ridge Public Radio’s website

Our next meeting is October 9th, 7pm at the Ashford Senior Center

Upcoming Workshops
Call to new membership and participation
View our Calendar of Events
AAAC artists at the Ashford Farmer’s Market
A Summer’s Palette, June 29th at Westford Hill Distillers
Vanilla Bean Art Show, month of September
Holiday Artist Market 11/16 & 11/17 & Search for Event Coordinator

Purchase from Local Artists

View our gallery of artists: click on an artist to view their work, see their contact info and how to purchase directly.

How about volunteering? We’re looking for people to help out during our events, you don’t need to be an artist: we’re looking for people to help on event days to park cars, man our info booth and more! Just a few hours of help is wonderful!

Are you an AAAC Member who would like to present workshop?
Contact Stacey Palmer today, send an email with a subject line of “AAAC Workshop”.

Click Here for Printable Presenter Form
Click Here for Printable Presenter Requirements



Bringing the Arts, Artists, and Community Together