WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — In Winston-Salem, the art community came together on Saturday to support artists in western North Carolina affected by Hurricane Helene.
At the Red Dog Gallery, there was a special gallery crawl and an art auction fundraiser. Around a dozen artists affected by the storm showed off their work.
It was all put together by The Breath & the Clay, a creative arts organization. We talked to the organization’s founder, who touched on the importance of art, especially when disaster strikes.
"When you go through a crisis like a hurricane or a social upheaval or whatever it may be, when you go through a difficult time, you really don't think about arts. But really, beauty, art, and creativity... We need those things,” Stephen Roach, the founder of The Breath & the Clay, said.
"I think just putting this art on the wall despite all the difficulty people have gone through in western North Carolina, it just speaks to the resiliency of the human spirit,” Roach said.
Because of Helene, some artists lost their pieces, their studios, or just about everything. One artist said the support is mending a gap in the arts.
"People have come out to help their neighbors. Artists helping artists, neighbors helping neighbors, whoever. It kinda broke down a bunch of divides. It wasn't like 'Oh I'm gonna be with this group, you're gonna be with this group', it was just like 'You need something, we got it, you got it',” Chrys Corn Goodman, an artist from Asheville, said.
All proceeds from the event went directly to artists affected.
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