Rebuild Asheville's Art Hub: Support Colby Caldwell

Western North Carolina has proved to be one of the great success stories in the arts of 21st-century America. The studios and exhibition spaces of Asheville’s River Arts District anchored a cultural resurgence that brought exciting new ideas, model businesses, and fresh expressions of the Appalachian spirit to the whole of the region—to new developments in Marshall, Brevard, Black Mountain, and beyond. That was before the unimaginable devastation wrought by a hurricane in September of this year.

Since returning to his roots in Asheville in 2013 after establishing an outstanding record as an artist and educator in Washington, DC, and Maryland, Colby Caldwell has contributed powerfully and consistently to the Western North Carolina renaissance. He’s initiated conversations and put in sweat equity. Recognizing a need for a space where artists of diverse communities could cross boundaries and share energy, he opened his own studio space to found the arts hub of REVOLVE at RAMP Studios in the River Arts District, hosting exhibitions and events in all media that provided new opportunities for underserved and disenfranchised artists. During the worst of the pandemic, REVOLVE took its operations online to keep the conversations going and creativity bubbling as physical spaces were shuttered.

Now, after a hiatus of a couple of years, Colby has returned to his position as (unpaid) Director of Programming at REVOLVE—which leaves him with the primary responsibility for getting the space up and running again after the floods, and initiating ways to bring the arts community together once again, as power, connectivity, and basic resources like water return. But he needs help, and lots of it.

If you’ve ever worked with Colby, you know his active but modest spirit of volunteerism; if you’re in the Asheville region, you’re probably aware of the work he’s done to clean up RAMP and to help get healthy meals contributed by Citizen Vinyl to rescuers and others in the aftermath of the flood. If you know his career as an artist, you know that he’s consistently evolved, exploring new intersections of contemporary technology and the eternal passages of Nature. Now you can help with a financial contribution, of any amount, that will fund:

--repair and refurbishment of studio and storage space at RAMP

--new public programs and exhibitions at REVOLVE, crucial for area artists as we approach the traditional season of their highest volume of sales with few spaces open for business

--provision of the workspaces in Colby’s studio and home in recovery of the losses occasioned by the floods

Colby has influenced many lives for the better, so this appeal is going out to an extensive list. The smallest contributions can add up, so please don’t hesitate to contribute what you can comfortably afford. Contributions of $250 or more will be gratefully acknowledged with a 16” x 20” print from the Garlands series that Colby was working on before the hurricane hit—images made in regional forests and in his own backyard in Asheville in the summer of 2024 with a flatbed scanner in lieu of a conventional digital cameras.

Colby Caldwell’s art is represented by HEMPHILL and Tracey Morgan Gallery. This fundraising effort has been launched by Colby's longtime friend and collaborator Bernard Welt, Professor Emeritus at the Corcoran College of the Arts and Design at The George Washington University and a frequent supporter of the Western North Carolina arts community.

There is great need in all areas laid waste by flooding. You may already have committed yourself to help by other means. (You can help by contributing to the Manna Foodbank and Beloved Asheville.) Rest assured that we will send grateful acknowledgment for any donation, and otherwise take no notes ;-). Contributions may be made anonymously. GoFundMe takes 3% of contributions to underwrite their efforts.