Support Keira after Hurricane Helene's Devastation

Hello!

If you don't already know me, my name is Keira Peterson. I live in Asheville, NC, which was recently devastated by catastrophic flooding from Hurricane Helene.

I am an artist, owner of Keira Marie Designs, and was the Operations Manager and a Beginner Wheel Throwing instructor for The Village Potters Clay Center (TVPCC). Unfortunately, all three of my jobs resided in Riverview Station in the River Arts District, where the floodwaters rose a historic 24.5 feet, completely submerging the entire first floor of the building where TVPCC was located, and also flooded over 3 ft into the second floor where my personal studio for Keira Marie Designs was located. The floodwaters took several days to recede, revealing complete devastation to the area. Entire buildings were swept away, leaving only bare concrete slabs where thriving businesses used to be. Access roads were deteriorated, and many had to be rebuilt before artists could try to access the buildings to cautiously salvage what they could from the piles of debris, toxic mud, and mold.

Due to the floods, I have lost my Operations Manager and teaching jobs at The Village Potters Clay Center. We are hopeful that we will find a new location to relocate and start anew, at which point my jobs will be restored, but we are unsure how long the process of finding a location and rebuilding will take.

I had two throwing wheels in my personal studio space on the second floor, and both were submerged by the floodwater and heavily coated in the toxic mud. I had to abandon almost all my supplies that were on my lower shelves and had no safe way to remove my metal shelf units. I lost all of my wood tools, wood throwing bats that fit on my wheels, several hundred pounds of clay including expensive porcelain, my torch, finished inventory and works in progress, several buckets of glaze... countless equipment and materials that I have meticulously acquired for over a decade. I am so grateful to have secured a small studio space to start making new pottery to sell for some income. However, as the majority of my prior sales have been in-person, and since tourism has come to a complete halt in Asheville I will need to overcome new challenges to shift to selling online (time to build an audience & reach buyers, materials for weighing and packing shipments, time requirements for posting and managing online inventory, etc).

It is never easy to ask for help, especially when dealing with emotions from a traumatic event, but your monetary assistance will allow me to rebuild my studio, get back to doing what I love by making and selling pottery, and help support me and my family through this hardship for paying bills and rent until I am able to return to my primary income jobs.

Thank you so so much for reading and considering a donation. Whether you can or cannot donate monetarily, it would mean the absolute world to me if you could share this GoFundMe link to your communities on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, churches, coworkers, art communities, etc.

Thank you so much, and please send Asheville & the surrounding communities your thoughts, prayers, and good energy!