Amid thousands of people in Western North Carolina who’ve lost so much, scores of artists with studios in the River Arts District, in Swannanoa, and in downtown Marshall saw their livelihoods and life’s work washed away.

I begin my coverage of Hurricane Helene's impact and aftermath with a conversation with ceramic artist, jewelry maker and my friend, Nina Kawar. For the past eight years, she has had a studio on the first floor of Marshall High Studios, on Blannahassett Island in downtown Marshall. Flood waters rose to the ceiling of Nina's studio and all the others on the first floor and left every building in downtown Marshall in ruins.

We’ll hear Nina’s story of loss but also of astounding resilience in the face of something that until Hurricane Helene she had never imagined.

You can support Nina Kawar's fundraising efforts around the work and studio she lost in the flood by visiting her GoFundMe page.

Photo credit: Lauren Rutten / Asheville Made

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