Help Rebuild SoundSpace@Rabbit's for Asheville Post-Helene

SoundSpace@Rabbit’s is a music rehearsal and studio room facility inside of a 1947 Black-owned tourist court and soul food cafe’ known as Rabbit’s Motel, in the historically Black district of Southside, Asheville NC. We are soon to include a new soul food cafe, mixed-media artist studios, and mural commissions to depict the rich history of Black Asheville.

Our mission is to serve as an important creative community and industry resource to directly support musicians and artists for our local community and for those touring through. Our purpose is to extend Black equity, legacy, and create a community hub and local landmark to reconnect us to history, and to connect us through the arts and food.

Hurricane Helene brought catastrophic loss and suffering, its impact still being discovered and further understood. It was deeply devastating to the arts and music community, just recovering from the pandemic. 80% of Asheville's River Arts District was destroyed - over 250 artist studios - with multiple music venues and performance spaces lost.

Asheville’s communities have been pushing towards recovery with passion and the spirt of support, driven by a restless creative spirit.

The storm brought our business property damage in the form of landslides, leaving an long escarpment and drop off up to within a foot of the corner of our building, dangerously threatening structural damage to the building foundation.

The building survived and we are running rehearsals on a light schedule , but we are in an immediately dangerous position, under the threat of a far worse situation from further soil erosion and possibly severe structural damage.

We are raising funds to pay for the building of a needed retaining wall, soil replacement and regrading, and geotechnical engineer plans. We need to shore up the building's footprint.

It took many months to pull plans to get us in a position to raise and repair, and now we’re ready, and humbly reaching out for your support.

Funds raised will pay for the costs of the retaining wall and reconstruction of our property, but also directly impact the recovery and healing of Asheville by supporting its arts and music community and its resources, going further on to support Black-owned small businesses, ownership and opportunity, and the reconnections to the important history of Black Asheville. Your support will help to rewrite the narrative of Asheville into a story that is layered and inclusive, all the while lending support to what is the spirit and soul of Asheville - our music and arts.

Thank you!!!