Hi all, I am Jessica Blissett, founder and owner of Ignite Jewelry Studios which was located in Asheville's River Arts District. I started Ignite just over 5 years ago, while simultaneously starting a family (now ages 3 and 4) and navigating COVID. It grew into a thriving business with a strong community of jewelers. I had resident jewelers who used the space as their own to fabricate for their businesses. I had 12+ gallery artists whose jewelry Ignite sold, offering a low commission space for many artists to sell from. I taught classes and workshops to many thousands of people and introduced them to the world of metalsmithing.

It is no longer there after the floods came through WNC and destroyed much of Asheville's River Arts District. Many, many people have suffered during this disaster. I was fortunate to be able to salvage much of my stuff. About 2 feet of water came into my second story studio, but mostly I took everything out and stored it in my flooded basement.

Things were already rusting when I removed them from the studio. There's some mold and toxic mud and dust. BUT I am hopeful much of it can be saved! I need to get everything removed from my basement so it does not become further damaged or unusable. These funds will help with that.

It is a substantial loss in so many ways both monetary, as this was my primary source of income, but also emotionally. So much of my heart went into this business and it was so much more than just a jewelry studio. Myself and the residents and gallery artists were a family and we are all suffering without it.

I would like to find a storage unit and move everything there, and be able to pay my long time employee to help with the cleanup process. It will be long and dirty, but I know much the equipment can be saved.

I am still awaiting whether or not my studio space will be habitable at some point... if so, it will be far into the future. I am considering another space, quite likely my basement if it can be cleaned out and made suitable for a temporary studio. I can then at least set up a few benches with tools so some of my residents can begin to use the basic equipment again. And a temporary space with functional equipment will also allow me to focus on my other personal jewelry business, Bluebird Designs, in order to manage and make a small income during the unforeseeable future.

You can support me here through this GoFund Me or also support me by placing an order on www.bluebirddesigns.com, but please be open to possibly waiting a bit to receive it and maybe even a secondary color choice.