Artists have been cleaning flood waters from studios, wielding chainsaws, and volunteering throughout the region in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, yet making art is what they do best. Mica Gallery invited artists to respond to their experience of the storm. “Resilience”, the resulting exhibition, opens Friday, January 10, 2025, with a public reception from 5:00-7:00 pm. The show runs through February 28. Note that Mica Gallery is only open on Fridays and Saturdays, 11:00-3:00 during January, February and March. The gallery will also open through advance arrangements other days of the week by contacting Speckled Dog Pottery by phone or text at 828.434.0353.

The devastation in our area brought to the forefront observations, emotions and the sensitivity of artists through wide-ranging works of art. Kate Vogel and John Littleton are displaying several works in glass. Vogel, who managed the Bowman resource center, writes, “Running the hurricane relief center, I heard so many stories and the longing of people to return to normalcy or a time when their lives had not been torn apart.” Their sculpture, “Vessel for the Soul, Journeys Perspective,” responds to this desire as Vogel says, “We find ourselves searching for a vessel for the soul that will guide and calm the turmoil that the destruction created.”

Lori Brook Johnson is exhibiting small cut paper and mixed media drawings that use the act of cutting away paper and moving around dirt as a witness to loss and loving care. Her works reflect on our changed landscape of uprooted trees and crushed guardrails. Brook Johnson comments that “the drawings are small as a note to the time it takes to uncover small areas of big loss.” Also reacting to the number of trees lost in her neighborhood, Sondra Dorn has made a series of drawings that help her acclimate to the changes in her environment.

Ceramic artist, Cristina Cordova presents two figurative sculptures adorned with flowers that speak to life’s emergence and continuity in the face of disaster. She observes, “Coming from the Caribbean, I never expected a storm like this in the mountains of western North Carolina, far from the sea. But storms remake the world no matter where they fall…then slowly, nature begins its quiet work of reclamation. The return of birds, the tentative bloom of flowers—these small, persistent acts of life anchor us, guiding the eye and spirit toward renewal.”

Metalsmith Bryan Parnham displays several pendants made of silver, nylon, and hurricane refuse. Each work is a thank you gift for the individuals who helped him with hot showers, meals, employment and safety in the weeks after the storm. Painter Carmen Grier realized as the days post-hurricane turned to weeks and months that life altering events take time to absorb. “Still,” she writes, it’s the beauty in this world, wherever or how unlikely it exists, that drives my passion to paint.”

Visit Mica Gallery now through February 28 on Fridays and Saturdays or by appointment to see these works and dozens of others by artists in the region. Don’t miss the exhibition opening of “Resilience” on Friday January 10 from 5:00-7:00.

Mica is an artist-run gallery of fine art and contemporary craft located at 37 N. Mitchell Avenue in Bakersville, NC. The gallery is open Fridays and Saturdays from January to March from 11:00-3:00 or by appointment by calling or texting Speckled Dog Pottery at 828.434.0353. In April the gallery reopens daily with regular hours through December (closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve). Follow the gallery on its website www.micagallerync.com, on Facebook at Mica Gallery NC or on Instagram at micagallerync.