“When the Mountains Wept: Processing Hurricane Helene through Art” is having an art call on Sept. 28-29 at Nth Degree Gallery from 7-9 p.m. The submission request is in preparation for the gallery’s show on Oct. 3. Any medium of art, including music, is welcome.
The art show is hosted by the Appalachian Reclamation Alliance, a community-built and community-based organization founded by Caleb Hignite and Ashlynd Scavotto, which seeks to preserve Appalachian culture and foster community in the High Country. The art show is meant to serve as an expression of grief for those impacted by the hurricane, whichever way it may present itself.
“We’re wanting to fill up the walls as much as possible and bring as many musicians to play music,” Hignite said. “We’re trying to make it so that, from the moment you walk in, you can feel the gravity of everything, and also so you can understand that there’s a huge range of emotions that come from this.”
The show aims to help members of the community process the year following Hurricane Helene. Nontraditional art pieces, including journal entries, poems and sentimental objects, will also be included in the show. Objects from destroyed homes and other artifacts recovered after the hurricane by Scavotto and Hignite will be presented as well.
“I wanted it to be a place that’s approachable for people who wouldn’t necessarily call themselves artists but have made something that is art from the processing of Helene,” Scavotto said.
For musical and performance acts, a mic and amp will be provided. Anyone wishing to perform is invited to Nth Degree Gallery on Sept. 28 or 29 to provide information on their piece.
Hignite, who is an ethnomusicologist specializing in Appalachian folk music, curated a playlist of songs that will play when live music is not being performed.
The show will also act as a fundraiser for the Appalachian Reclamation Alliance and local nonprofits to put money back into the community.
“It always has been and will always just be Appalachians working together for each other and helping to bring this region back to its feet,” Hignite said.
The decision to host the event at Nth Degree stems from the Gallery’s long-standing place in the community as it enters its 28th year in Boone. Scavotto, a visual artist, also has a studio at Nth Degree.
“Nth is community. Once I left App, and even before I left App, that was where I was able to find other creatives,” Scavotto said. “After the hurricane, the first place I went when I got out of my apartment was straight to Nth.”
The idea for the event first came weeks after Hurricane Helene, when Scavotto and Hignite went to take photos of the devastation caused by the hurricane.
“Directly after, I put a canvas on my wall, and I was like, ‘I need to paint. I need to get this out somehow. I don’t know how I’m feeling, and I don’t know how to talk about it, so I’m just gonna put marks on a canvas and paint,’”Scavotto said. “I never finished that piece, and I probably never will finish it.”
The idea was pushed back until the first anniversary of the hurricane, allowing people to process the event and create art on their own time.
“When I brought up the idea at the studio, I had someone be like, ‘That’s a really big thing. That might be bigger than us.’ And I was like, ‘Well, it’s always going to be bigger than us,’” Scavotto said. “There’s not going to be one place that can hold all these stories. But it’s a start of at least a place that’s pretty approachable where people can start to share their stories.”
