Melissa Kucin admits she was in denial after Hurricane Helene. She wanted to believe her paintings at Trackside Studios were hung high enough to escape the muddy floodwater. But when she finally visited the River Arts District, reality hit.
“I … peered into the dark gallery that smelt of mildew. The art was laid out in a lifeless lump on the floor,” she remembers. “I found myself looking for my art like a parent looks for a lost child.”
Kucin was able to salvage a single impressionistic-style landscape titled “Time Immemorial.” Her other pieces were damaged beyond repair.
“I felt relieved that it survived,” she says. “I also felt like crying for the paintings lost.”
Still, those represented by Trackside Studios consider themselves lucky. Lynn Stanley, co-founder of the venue, says Aura Arts Building owner Sam Hellman acted quickly, assessing the damage as soon as the floodwater receded.
“He continues to work every day on cleaning and restoring the building alongside the volunteer team of artists who were able to get out and down to the studios,” she says. “In waterproof boots and masks, they have swept mud, cleaned floors and walls, and were even able to save some works from Trackside’s ground floor and move them upstairs.”
Kucin’s “Time Immemorial” is one such piece. But she has also found a way to print “The Colors of Love,” a painting she lost during the hurricane, onto a dress.
“I will wear this dress, and it will be a symbol that art is fluid and it can take many forms and directions,” says Kucin, who is already planning her next body of work.
“I am an artist,” she says. “I will create as long as I can breathe. No matter what.”
Trackside Studios, 375 Depot St. in Asheville’s River Arts District, tracksidestudios375.com.