ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — The River Arts District will mark the one year anniversary of Hurricane Helene with a district-wide open studio event.

The Asheville arts sector will host RAD Resilience from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 12.

What to expect at RAD Resilience

While RAD Resilience will be held around the anniversary of Helene, Carol Spagnuola, a RAD artist and RADA connections chair, said that the event is much more focused on looking forward than back.

“What it represents is the resiliency that we have experienced in the RAD since Hurricane Helene,” Spagnuola said.
”It’s more of a celebration of where we are now versus focusing on the destruction that we suffered a year ago.”

Spagnuola is one of hundreds of other artists that will be in attendance at the event, whether inside their studios, under a booth awning or taking in the festivities themselves.

RAD Resilience will feature live music and artist talks, as well as interactive art opportunities across the district.

In addition to the studios, the restaurants of the RAD will also be open for business.

“We do have a food truck that will be at Pine Gate, but we really want to support our local businesses here,” Spagnuola said. “We don’t want to overdo the food trucks because we want to support the fact that we have The Grey Eagle tacos, we have Baby Bull here, we’ve got Wedge, we’ve got ButterPunk.”

Several eateries are directly adjacent to art studios, making stops at RAD locales like Baby Bull convenient opportunities to visit studios like Hatchery.

RAD Resilience is free and open to the public.