Hurricane Helene Art Disaster Relief:
Dear Friends,
Tens of thousands of families have been impacted by the recent hurricane. Homes and businesses have been destroyed.
Furthermore, we will soon learn about our fellow artists who have lost their studios, lost their life’s work, lost their homes.
And we will learn about galleries that cannot survive due to the impact on business in their area.
We need to help them.
We are donating a percentage of all of our sales for the next month to hurricane relief. Please consider making a donation, perhaps some percentage of your art sales, to one of the organizations listed below.
We need to know who in our art world needs help. Please let us know your stories, your needs, or the needs of our brothers and sisters in art, artists, galleries, and suppliers.
We at Streamline will evaluate individual needs and do whatever we can. Our editors will try to highlight these stories in our newsletters and magazines.
We don’t yet know exactly how we can best help the people and businesses affected. It may be raising money, it may be offering free advertising, or it may be some other solution.
But what is most important is to be there to support our arts family. We should offer our homes as a place of refuge to stay or recover. Provide extra art supplies to those in need to replace what they have lost. We need to find ways to help the affected artists to sell artwork, and we need to provide emotional support.
If we find that helping sell art is the best approach, we will create a fundraiser art auction and expose it to hundreds of thousands of people. We may offer special advertising to those who demonstrate a need.
It’s too soon to know exactly what we need to do, but there are thousands of displaced people who don’t have access to their homes and have lost everything, who may not even have Internet or cell coverage. As we learn more about their specific needs, let’s all find ways to help.
Please keep us informed of those you learn about who are in need. We’ve had hundreds of artists attend our Plein Air Convention from Asheville and the Carolinas and from Florida. There is no doubt in my mind that many are severely impacted.
Let’s pull together and help our fellow artists, galleries, and suppliers for Hurricane Helene Art Disaster Relief.
Editor’s Note: We’re learning of more places that are accepting donations and support, and we’ll continue to add them here as well as in the comments section below:
- The River Arts District Foundation is taking donations to support those artists who have been impacted by the flooding in Asheville, NC. People can join at sponsor levels, or choose the “help artists within our community” link.
- “Samaritan’s Purse is boots on the ground in bigger way in North Carolina. That is their base. Keeping artists in prayer. NC is my home away from home. And my family is there helping now. God will show himself big. Please keep us informed on how we can help our art community.” ~Gretchen C.
- “These people are air dropping supplies: Operation AirDrop” ~ Jeana G.
- “Another way… To donate to the North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund, visit nc.gov/donate.” ~CJ Hudgins
- “Hannah Cole is in Asheville and lost everything in her studio, she’s a working artist as well as teaching finance to artists…” ~ Dana Batho
- “‘Carolina Mountain Vacation Homes’ – this is my son. He’s a contractor and firefighter who cares deeply for his hometown, Maggie Valley. He is headed our way with much needed supplies. If you feel led, please donate. Every little bit helps.” ~ Shelda M.
- NC Arts Disaster Relief Fund (shared by The ArtWorks-Wilmington, and many others)
- “I work in the building on the bottom left of the picture from Appalachian State University. So many people here have been devastated by this event. Please donate to Samaritan’s Purse, Wine to Water, the Red Cross or any other local charity. So many people are helping but it’s going to take months not weeks. This place we call home is forever changed; it’s truly heartbreaking. My son also works and lives near Asheville. We are blessed to only have minor damage and all our family members and friends are alive. Anything you can do to help from the outside is appreciated and much needed. God bless you all for your concern and your help!” ~ @grahamkq2017
- Buddy and Kathie Odom are coordinating donations to directly help those they personally know who are in need from Hurricane Helene and the resulting floods.
- Cathy Nichols Art has a studio in the River Arts District: “My dear friends. Yes, I am in Asheville, where Hurricane Helene has hit us HARD. My River Arts District art studio is under water. But I consider myself lucky as so many have lost their homes, businesses, and loved ones. We have no water, fuel, power or internet (10/3/24). I am writing from pop-up wifi at library lawn. Just want you to know I am alive. Despite losses of my artwork and to my business, I am still painting during daylight! As long as we can create and be kind to each other, we will persevere.”
- “I was a local artist just currently in SC. I recommend you search in google for the website of a local artist or gallery you want to support in Asheville so they can receive 100% of the donation.” ~ Annie M.
We also just found out that the Craft Emergency Relief Fund is accepting donations specifically for artists affected by the hurricane and floods:
https://cerfplus.org/grants/emergency-relief/
And, Darnell Farms, which welcomed hundreds of us for PACE in May ’24, has a GoFundMe set up. Find the official link through their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/darnellfarmsnc
I have artist friends who live north of Asheville their home was spared but I got message from them today that they are trying to think of ways to help their art community. If I get more info I will let you know.
These have also been brought to our attention:
– Chef José Andrés’ nonprofit global food relief organization World Central Kitchen began serving meals less than 12 hours after Helene made landfall in Steinhatchee, Florida, a town hit hard by Helene. They have teams in four states serving meals and assessing food needs for local communities. You can donate here.
– Save the Children is working with local organizations in Florida to help support children and families hit hard by the hurricane. The organization is working to provide hygiene kits, diapers and baby wipes—along with classroom cleaning kits to schools and child care centers. Save the Children is also working with partners in the communities to help restore child care and early learning centers and provide mental health support for children and caregivers.
– The Salvation Army’s rapid response team began mobilizing on Friday morning to provide meals in Florida. The organization plans to continue its response efforts beyond initial relief—aiming to provide emotional and spiritual support for survivors and first responders as they recover.
– All Hands and Hearts, an organization formed in response to the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, aims to address the immediate and long-term needs of areas struck by natural disasters.
And from Mary Erickson:
After talking to you, I realized that I could do something with my collector base to help the victims of Hurricane Helene. I am working on putting these 32 paintings on my website, and I will be sending out a Mailchimp email as soon as the website is ready. My husband, Jacques, posted it on facebook, and already five of the paintings have sold. One was to an employee of Palm Avenue Fine Art in Sarasota. I called her, and after speaking to me, she set up a fundraiser in the gallery for the food pantry in Sarasota. Generosity is contagious! I’m sure this is happening all over.
https://www.facebook.com/jacques.drouin/posts/pfbid03zD1GMxVApHA24xCU9wMrX2xovqeEBUF7wshCjizN8KmAeUfgGYmmd2D8VG118i6l
Consider donating to Texas Baptist Men at http://www.TexansOnMission.org/Helene to donate. I know them and have gone out with them after a Louisiana hurricane. Many are from my church. They are Christ centered, dedicated volunteers and they already have chainsaw teams out in NC and have started sending feeding teams to Johnson City, TN to provide thousands of meals per day to those in need. They, so far, have deployments to Oct 30 and will have more as needed.
Consider donating to Texas Baptist Men. They currently have a chainsaw team in NC and feeding team in Johnson City, TN serving several thousand meals daily to those in need. Unfortunately the feeding teams cannot get into the most severely stricken areas. They have large semi tractor trailers with all the necessary equipment to serve others. They’re essentially self contained and also have mobile showers & laundry trailers for the volunteers who sometimes remain on site for weeks at a time. Members of my church (First Baptist Church of Athens Texas are part of this organization. Thank you for any donations.