Support the Rebirth of River Arts District

HELP REBUILD THE RIVER ARTS DISTRICT

Helene has been called “Asheville’s Katrina.” One of the lessons we have learned from Katrina is what happened to the 9th Ward. The 9th Ward was the section of the city where the musicians and artists that helped define the culture of New Orleans could afford to live. Much of it has never been rebuilt, resulting in many musicians and artists leaving New Orleans permanently. The part that has been rebuilt has done so because of the efforts of musicians and nonprofits supporting the work.

This GoFundMe is not for any individual gallery, studio or business in the River Arts District. There are many of those to which you can and should donate. This is the larger project focusing upon rebuilding the buildings and infrastructure that housed all of the galleries, studios and small businesses in the District. More importantly, rebuilding in a way that keeps them affordable for the artistic community.

The studios and galleries cannot get back on their feet until they have actual buildings to move back into.

Rebuilding will require millions of dollars. This can only happen if public/private/nonprofit partnerships are committed to rebuilding in a way that the artists and gallery owners who work there can still afford it. The fear is that developers will move in and either rebuild spaces that are too expensive or put up other types of buildings altogether.

We need to have substantial nonprofit funding to be able work with the city and state and to leverage other funding to support and subsidize building back in a way that allows the artistic community to thrive.

The money from this Rebuild the River Arts District GoFundMe will:

• Work with and through the River Arts District Artists organization to help rebuild the District so that the maximum amount donated goes directly to rebuilding the River Arts District.

• Work with the city and state governments, corporate and other private donors, and nonprofits to help assure that RAD is built back in a way that is affordable.

• Support concerts and other events to raise money to help rebuild the RAD.

• Provide grants and support to the businesses, galleries and artists as they try to reestablish themselves

For all of those who live in Asheville and the many thousands who visit every year, the River Arts District (RAD) is, in many ways, the heart and soul of Asheville. Located along the French Broad River the area was originally populated by stockyards, tanneries, cotton mills, meat processing plants and furniture factories. Over the years most of these buildings were abandoned. By 1985 artists began moving into the abandoned buildings and in 2005 the mile-long section along the French Broad river was officially named the River Arts District.

The River Arts District:

• Consisted of 23 historic buildings

• Over 300 artists worked in RAD

• RAD housed hundreds of working studios and galleries

• RAD supported thousands of regional and national artists

Much of this is now gone or severely damaged due to the devastating flood caused by Hurricane Helene.

It is not just that the buildings are damaged or totally gone, but all of the galleries and all of the art that was in those buildings is also gone. In addition, RAD is critical to the livelihood of the thousands of artists who work in those studios or who display and sell their art in the galleries. These are small business and artists who are not likely to have flood insurance or the resources to rebuild without help.

The funds will be managed and distributed by a small nonprofit, A Blessing to One Another, Inc. The work of that nonprofit has been to foster collaboration to build better communities. The work has focused on interfaith work but the actual work has been on the environment, refugees, racism, subsistence farmers in the developing world, and homelessness. A Blessing to One Another has been effective at leveraging its own seed money to fund larger projects by working collaboratively toward common goals shared by business, government, nonprofits, and faith communities. One goal will be to engage the faith communities in helping rebuild the District. It will work with local organizations such as the River Arts District Artists, Inc. to help create a coalition of voices that advocate for rebuilding in a way that is still affordable by the artistic community of Asheville. 100% of the money collected will be distributed. There will be no overhead costs.

Rebuilding the District will only happen if people from Asheville, around the country and around the world work together to support this effort.

Donations of any size will help. Also, please share this with your networks through whatever social media you use.

James Buchanan and Kyung Noh. My wife and have recently bought a house in South Asheville. One of the reasons we have chosen Asheville to live is the vibrant arts community. In my career I have helped found more than 10 successful nonprofits and have helped raise funding to support them. We will work with and through members of the artistic community such as the River Arts District Artists, Inc. in Asheville to make sure all the money donated will to support rebuilding the River Arts District.