I am a part of the South River Arts community that was recently hit by the devastating fire that obliterated half of our warehouse space and severely damaged the rest of the studios and businesses that we all ran out of our space.

I have been so lucky to be a part of this community of artists since 2019 when I first moved into my studio and the workspace that over the years has come to define me as an artist and what I'm able to give back to the world. What I have learned from my neighbors and what we have been able to create together has been a special and eye-opening experience, and it gave us all hope for a brighter future in a world that tends to hit hard.

My partner and I had years of artwork stored in our loft for upcoming art shows as well as our travel gear, camera equipment, lighting, audio equipment, art supplies, and more that I can't even wrap my head around just yet. The fire destroyed half the building and the rest was left in piles of smoke and water-logged memories. The work and the momentum that has been building in the 6 years since I joined this space has come to an abrupt halt and the coming weeks are uncertain as to what's going to happen.

the funds we are asking for are due to insurance not covering anything at all that was damaged, hence leaving us to figure out how to replace almost tens years of investing into this business of activating spaces and events around the country over all these years. I have years of hard drives that have been damaged, all the camera equipment that had been sitting in the office and works of art from people in my life and my own prints and sculpture work that are beyond repair. It has been truly bleak and every bit of help has been so appreciated.

I have found purpose in my life creating art for others to enjoy and being a part of projects from film union 479 building sets for movies to public art installations all over the city to installing garden trellises and railings for my local neighborhood. I am a metal worker, photographer, scenic artist, handyman, helping hand, and above all just a neighbor that wants to be there for people in any way I know how. I am not sure what to do at the moment and I am trying to find a way to look back up right now. Our neighbors are hurting and we grieve alongside them not for the material objects we lost, but the community that has grown and flourished over the years which we called home.