December 19, 2024 • 23 mins
Creativity Unleashed: How Asheville's Artists Are Rebuilding After the Storm
Hurricane Helene couldn't extinguish the creative fire of Asheville's artists. On The Mosaic Life, we talk with ceramic artist Kelsey Schissel about her journey, the impact of the storm, and the inspiring ways artists support each other.
Discover the "Come Hell or High Water" studio tour, an innovative initiative to help artists recover and thrive. We'll explore the power of community, resilience, and the unwavering spirit of creativity.
This episode will leave you feeling inspired and empowered. Tune in and discover how you can be a part of the rebuilding process.
Support Asheville's artists! We're so close to our goal!
Visit https://gofund.me/fa90e8aa to donate to Plays in the Mud Pottery to help support local artists.
A Mosaic is a bunch of pieces, put together, to make up the whole in a beautiful way. Here at Mosaic Business Consulting we discuss the various pieces of a business throughout the course of its life, and throughout all industries, and how these pieces, when put together, can help develop a better, more efficient, and effective running of YOUR business.
Find our more or register for a course today: Mosaic Business Consulting
Be sure to visit BizRadio.US to discover hundreds more engaging conversations, local events and more.
Website: https://www.mosaicbusinessconsulting.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Good morning.
I'm your host, lauraBoggenknecht, owner of Mosaic
Business Consulting, and you'relistening to the Mosaic Life.
A mosaic is a bunch of piecesthat, when put together, make up
the whole in a really beautifulway, and this show plans to
discuss the various pieces of abusiness throughout different
industries and how these pieces,when put together, can help
develop a better, more efficientand effective running of your
(00:23):
business.
So to reach me, contactbizradious.
Today my guest is KelseySchissel, and I am just thrilled
to have her on the show.
She's a ceramic artist based inAsheville, north Carolina, and
the founder of Plays and MudPottery, a studio and gallery on
Haywood road.
With almost two decades ofexperience working with clay,
(00:47):
kelsey creates both functionaland sculptural ceramic pieces,
which I'm kind of curious about.
Functional and sculpturalthat's kind of interesting, but
it is so great to have you onthe show, kelsey.
Thank you so much for showingup and thank you for your
willingness to be a guest on theshow.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Oh, thank you so much , Laura.
It's a pleasure to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Yeah, and so I am kind of wondering what got you
into ceramics to begin with,because people can go into all
sorts of art formats and mediumsand you choose ceramics and you
choose working with clay, andso curious what prompted that.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
So I have a really great origin story.
My story begins when I was justa young, tiny little person.
My father, lyle Wheeler, is amaster woodworker and blacksmith
, and so I grew up usinghandmade objects in everyday
lives and having a deepappreciation for them.
And when I was young thirdgrade-ish, so eight, nine
somewhere in there my fathertook me to a show outside of
(01:55):
Boone, north Carolina, and Glennand Lula Bullock were there
demonstrating pottery.
Lula was outside on the kickwheel and I peppered her all day
long with questions, and at acertain point she asked me if I
wanted to sit up on the potter'swheel and touch the clay.
So I said of course, and I satup there.
(02:17):
She kicked the potter's wheelbecause my little legs were not
long enough to go down all theway, and I can remember it.
I remember reaching my hand outand touching the clay as it's
moving on the potter's wheel,and it was just like my soul
became electrified and I knewthat that's what I wanted to do
with the rest of my life.
So I have dedicated I'vededicated my life to being a
(02:41):
ceramic artist and it's beenvery fulfilling.
And that's how I've dedicatedmy life to being a ceramic
artist and it's been veryfulfilling and that's how I've
ended up here in.
I graduated in 2003 with a BFAin ceramics from UNC Asheville.
I set up my pottery studio inthe River Arts District.
I survived the first flood ofthe River Arts District because
(03:04):
I was on the second floor of theCandle Factory where the
Village Potters is now.
So I was up on the second floorso I didn't have the heartbreak
then.
And then I bought a house andmoved my studio to the backyard.
We built a studio in thebackyard there In 2009, I
(03:25):
founded Blaze and Mud Potteryand in 2012, I was accepted into
the Southern Highlands CraftGuild as a member there and I
have opened my gallery in 2021.
I opened the gallery on HaywoodRoad in West Asheville.
So that kind of brings us up tothe present time.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Yeah, and so you chose ceramics because it just
fits you, but there are a lot ofdifferent approaches to
ceramics.
What is it that you do withceramics?
How is your product differingfrom others?
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Okay.
So my product is uniquely isunique in the fact that it I
only use two colors.
I use a blue and a green on theoutside.
I use a light blue on theinside and it is absolutely
distinct.
So if you are in Maine orCalifornia and you see my
pottery out once, you see itthere.
(04:25):
If you've seen me and you'veseen my pottery once, you can
easily recognize it again.
It's distinct because of thecolors and also the patterns
that I place on the surface ofthe pieces.
I use small handmade stampsthat I make a design and I apply
one small stamp at a time onthe surface of the piece, apply
one small stamp at a time on thesurface of the piece.
So these designs are unique tome.
(04:47):
There's no other potter that'sgoing to have them because they
come out of my own imagination.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Oh cool, that is really neat, wow, well, so
excuse me, I will cut that out.
I'm curious when you're dealingwith the, you talk about the
flood, you know, and the firstone you survived.
That was quite a while ago, butthen recently, Asheville has
experienced real big trauma, ifyou will, with Hurricane Helene.
What has been your experiencewith that and where are you at
(05:33):
in reference to the hurricane?
Speaker 2 (05:34):
and such Well.
I have been fortunate.
My studio is in West Nashvilleand it is on Haywood Road and we
are on a hill.
We are significantly higherthan the River Arts District and
Biltmore Village, and so myexperience with Hurricane Helene
(05:56):
has been almost as an outsiderstill living through it, but as
an outside artist viewing what'shappened.
I rode down to the River ArtsDistrict on Saturday, the 27th.
My husband and I are avidcyclists and so, rather than
taking a car out and around, werode our bikes and we rode down
(06:17):
to the River Arts District onthe Haywood Street Bridge, going
across from West Asheville, andand it was heartbreaking, it
was absolutely heartbreaking.
I know the people that I couldsee the Village Potters and I
could see Curb Studios and Icould see the top of Second Gear
and I could see how theyweren't gonna, that everything
(06:42):
was gone and like the buildingswere there but the windows were
gone, the rain was, or the waterwas so intense that was just
moving through the buildings andmoving things moving, just
destroying people's studios.
And On the ride back, afterviewing that devastation, I
(07:05):
realized that the way I cancontribute is to open my studio
to potters that have losteverything.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Yeah, what does that mean?
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Open your studio up.
So I have a full studio, I havetwo large kilns, I have five
pottery wheels, I have a slabroller and an extruder and I
have space.
And so when I talk aboutopening it up, I'm going to
change and rearrange my studio,I'm going to put some things in
(07:37):
storage and I'm going to open itup so that potters that have
lost their entire studio cancome in and work and not have
any upfront cost of having tocreate another space for
themselves.
It is not a permanent solution,but it is a temporary solution
to get them back up and able toproduce pottery immediately
(08:00):
without having the upfront costsof anything.
So any potter that comes intomy studio will not have to pay
anything.
There'll be no monetary barrierfor them to come in and work.
I started a GoFundMe campaign tohelp pay for all of the clay
(08:20):
and glazes and tools that theywill need, and so my GoFundMe
campaign is Relief for AshevillePotters, a Hub of Recovery, and
I've raised over Can you saythat again Relief, yep, relief
for Asheville Potters, a Hub forRecovery, and it is on GoFundMe
(08:43):
and it is on GoFundMe and thatmoney that.
So I budgeted out.
So I budgeted it out so thatthere's $12,000 that I'm asking
for.
I've raised just about $7,000so far in just over a week.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Wow, I know that's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
It is.
I've been blown away bypeople's generosity and their
support for this so wonderful.
Every, every artist that comesin here will have enough money
to buy them 500 pounds of clay,at least three glazes that they
need to have in order to createtheir work, and then all of
their tools.
So we'll be able to replace allof the tools that they lost and
(09:26):
get them just up and runningimmediately.
So once we get thingsrearranged next week, people can
just come in and start working.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Do you need volunteers to help you move
stuff?
Will that be advantageous?
Speaker 2 (09:43):
That's not going to be advantageous, because what's
going to need to happen is Ihave someone who's going to be
able to put some stuff instorage, and I've already got a
volunteer to move the piecesthat need to go into storage.
But we have to work together asa group and plan out how things
are going to move and flow inthe studio.
(10:04):
It's going to be a majorupheaval of the space that's
here and a major rearrangement,and that's something that we're
personally going to have to workout amongst ourselves and sit
down and think about wherethings are going to move to and
what it's going to look like.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
And how have you been able to get the word out to the
artists themselves, to thepotters, to see if they want to
partake?
Speaker 2 (10:32):
So a lot of it's just word of mouth, because there's
not a lot of internet right now.
And so I've done.
I contacted the village potter,sarah Rowland-Wells, with the
Village Potters and I let herknow what I wanted to do and she
put me in contact with theVillage Potters manager and Kira
(10:54):
.
And then Kira has put me incontact with other artists that
need space.
I contacted and I know a lot ofpotters contacted and I know a
lot of potters, so I've justbeen calling them and saying,
hey, look, I have this space,that this is something that
you're interested in, let's meet, let's let you see it and see
what what's going to work foryou.
(11:15):
And so it's basically just beenword of mouth.
I posted it on Facebook and acouple of different areas pardon
me, pages on Facebook, butmainly it's been word of mouth.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
That's fantastic.
I just can't you know.
It goes to this whole scenariowith Hurricane Helene that it
takes a village, in a sense, tobuild community and I can't get
over how effective the communityhas been and how everybody
seems to have come together andto really support one another.
(11:52):
And this is just such awonderful gift you're offering
these folks to help supporttheir businesses, but to rebuild
.
And I think you and I'vechatted about it before.
But when you're creatingsomething, versus when you've
maybe bought a product andyou're reselling it or something
like that, it's coming from theperson, it's coming from their
(12:14):
heart, from their mind, fromtheir creativity and imagination
and from their soul, you know.
So to me it feels a little bitdifferent and they want it.
As if that was wiped away andnow they have to rebuild.
How do you rebuild you?
Speaker 2 (12:30):
one pot at a time, it sounds like it is one pot at a
time, but it's also letting go.
There's a morning period andit's a heartbreak because we
have put our heart and soul intoa lot of these pieces and then
now they're gone.
And it's Not for me personally,but I can speak to having to
(12:53):
let that go and the heartbreakthat it feels of the actual
mourning and release and thegrief that's associated with all
those pieces being destroyedall at one time.
And so once we've moved pastthat, we can then start the
(13:14):
making process again, and oncewe've grieved those pieces, we
can move on.
I wanted to touch back to whatyou were saying about community
and coming together, because Ispoke to Kristen Benyo Also,
kristen Schoonover is how I mether, but Kristen Benyo of Benyo
(13:34):
Pottery and I said, kristen,this is what I'm doing.
I want to open up my studio,but not only do I want to open
it up, I want to create a hubfor that recovery.
So if what I want to do is, Iwanted to make a website that
would, if you have and if youneed, so, if you are an artist
that has space, then we need topair you with an artist that
(13:57):
needs space or needs kilnfirings, because there's
different types of firings so wedon't all do the same.
We might all work with dirtreal fancy dirt and real fancy
mud but it doesn't always.
We don't always fire it thesame.
What we do to it is different,and so what might work in my
(14:19):
firings is not going to work forsome of the other artists that
are coming in here.
So I fire in an oxygen richenvironment, which is an
electric kiln and an oxidationkiln.
But some potters fire to ahigher temperature in a
reduction firing, so theyactually reduce and they take
out the oxygen as opposed toputting in the oxygen.
(14:42):
So the glazes go through adifferent chemical change and so
we need to pair the artistswith the firing and create that.
So Kristen said I have this, Ihave this plan, we can do this,
and so on benyopotterycom youcan go to a tab that says artist
helping artists.
(15:02):
So again, that'sbenyopotterycom and it's artist
helping artists, and on thatpage there's a Google doc,
there's a tab that you fill out.
So if you have space, if youhave kilns, if you have wheels
that you want to lend or can dofirings for, then potters can
(15:24):
fill that part out and if youneed, then you can also fill out
the form for what you need, andthen we can pair people
together.
There's also Jenna JennaGillinger.
Her website ishandmadeforhealthcom, and what
that is doing is that is,pairing potters that need with
(15:51):
potters that are helping.
So if you're donating 10% ofall of your sales for the month
of November to a specific potter, or if you are a potter that
needs, then you can go on thereand fill out the form and be
paired with another potter tohelp raise money for what you
need.
And then the other thing thatI'm working on, that is a.
(16:14):
It's going to be a bigundertaking.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
You're in the wheels turning on this one.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
Yeah, this is a big undertaking, but I think I've
got enough people involved in itthat I can say look, I have
this idea, we need to make ithappen and I think we can
probably do it.
So it's going to be.
It's called come hell or highwater, a studio tour supporting
the artists of western northcarolina, so all the artists
(16:44):
that have studios that wouldotherwise be doing shows,
because this is our busiest.
our busiest time is right nowyeah and this is where we make
all the money and we save allthe money to go through december
or january, february, march andthen into april.
Yeah, and without these shows,without the income, it's going
(17:09):
to be incredibly hard to getthrough January, february and
March of this coming year of2025.
And so, come hell or high waterstudio tour supporting the
artists of Western NorthCarolina.
It's going to be a self-guidedstudio tour running from the 1st
(17:29):
of December to the 8th ofDecember, for an entire week and
artists that participate.
It's going to be self-guided.
So what that means is there'sgoing to be a website with a PDF
that you can print out for yourarea.
So if you live in Maggie Valleyand you want to support the
artists in Maggie Valley orHighlands or Waynesville or Mars
(17:51):
Hill or anywhere that hasthat's been affected, yeah, then
you can go to this, go to thiswebsite or tab, whatever it's
going to be.
Right now, there's a page on mywebsite, playsinmudcom, and it
will link you with a pdf or amap of all the artists in your
(18:12):
area nice.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
So who's making the pdf?
Speaker 2 (18:18):
well, I'm gonna get.
So.
There's gonna be a form thatpeople fill out on my website.
They're gonna give me their thename of their studio and if
they don't have a studio andthey need to collaborate with
another artist, then there mightbe one artist that has five or
six different artists in theirspace for that week selling
their work, and it'll be so.
(18:41):
The artists are going to give methe information and then I'm
just going to plug and play onthe page and we're going to do
it.
There is going to be a fee.
It's going to be $25 per personand that's just going to go
toward marketing that entirebudget.
We might get 30 or 40 peoplethat participate and each person
pays $25.
That gives us a great marketingbudget.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Yeah, sure does.
That's wonderful.
That's fantastic.
I just love the forethought youhave, because I think that's
the other part that peoplearen't understanding.
They're thinking that peopleare going to get back on their
feet because, well, the storm isover, Things are being cleaned
up, they're getting their powerback, they're going to get their
water back and things are goingto be and it's.
(19:23):
It's like how long does it taketo make one piece of pottery?
It might take how long.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Weeks.
It takes weeks.
It might take a month to makeone piece of pottery Exactly.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
And so thinking about , yeah, you're coming up onto
your busy season of holidayseason, of sales going through
the roof during that time frame,right, and here you are with no
inventory, and so these peopleare going to need support
through the rest of October,november, december, january,
(19:58):
february, march.
I mean that's six months ofdesperately needing help just to
survive and build thatinventory back.
And so I really love whatyou're offering as far as all
(20:19):
the different avenues thatpeople can pair up and people
can donate and support thecreative element that is so
beautiful and so strong in ourcommunity and really helps
define Asheville in so many ways.
Right, all of Western NorthCarolina, really, yeah, and well
, I just I love what you'reoffering there.
But I am kind of wondering, youknow, if to remind people if
(20:43):
they want to give to yourGoFundMe page it is relief,
something.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
It is relief for Asheville Potters, a hub for
recovery.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
Great, okay, and then if they want to get in touch
with you for your what do youcall it for your website and how
can you contact me?
Speaker 2 (21:07):
My website.
So there's a link to theGoFundMe from my website.
There's a link to everythingthat we've just talked about on
my website, and my website isplaysinmudcom.
Okay, it's all one word.
It's P-L-A-Y-S-I-N-M-U-Dcom,and on the front page there on
(21:32):
the first tab next to home soit's the second from the left
tab there's a drop down the menu.
It says I think it's helpingwestern north carolina artists
and it has a link to all thethings.
So there's kristin beniobeniocom.
Her website is.
There's a link there.
So if you have an artist thatneeds and an artist that wants
(21:53):
to help, handmade for help isalso there, and then come.
Pillar high water water studiotour is also there.
And then there's a link fortool donations.
If you want to donate tools,you can send it here or drop it
off, and then there's a yeah, Ithink that covers everything
that's on the website.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
That is fantastic.
Well, I just can't thank youenough for taking time out of
your obviously very busyschedule.
I love everything you're tryingto do here for the community.
It warms my heart.
Thank you so much.
Oh, thank you, and I know thatpeople are going to really want
to give and support this effort.
It's just fantastic.
So, thank you, thank you, and Ihope we can have another
interview that talks more aboutyour business journey in the
(22:42):
future, but I think this was somuch more important right now.
So thank you very, very much.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Thank you so much for having me, Laura.
It's been a pleasure speakingwith you.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Yeah, same here, well , and I want to thank you the
audience, for listening me.
Laura, it's been a pleasurespeaking with you.
Yeah, same here, well, and Iwant to thank you the audience,
for listening to the Mosaic Life.
You can listen to this episodeagain and get this great content
, or listen to other great hostsand their shows by going to
bizradious and click on shows.
Thanks so much for listeningand have a great rest of your
day.
Don't forget to donate toGoFundMe.
Good morning.
I'm your host, lauraBoggenknecht, owner of Mosaic
Business Consulting, and you'relistening to the Mosaic Life.
A mosaic is a bunch of piecesthat, when put together, make up
the whole in a really beautifulway, and this show plans to
discuss the various pieces of abusiness throughout different
industries and how these pieces,when put together, can help
develop a better, more efficientand effective running of your
(00:23):
business.
So to reach me, contactbizradious.
Today my guest is KelseySchissel, and I am just thrilled
to have her on the show.
She's a ceramic artist based inAsheville, north Carolina, and
the founder of Plays and MudPottery, a studio and gallery on
Haywood road.
With almost two decades ofexperience working with clay,
(00:47):
kelsey creates both functionaland sculptural ceramic pieces,
which I'm kind of curious about.
Functional and sculpturalthat's kind of interesting, but
it is so great to have you onthe show, kelsey.
Thank you so much for showingup and thank you for your
willingness to be a guest on theshow.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Oh, thank you so much , Laura.
It's a pleasure to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Yeah, and so I am kind of wondering what got you
into ceramics to begin with,because people can go into all
sorts of art formats and mediumsand you choose ceramics and you
choose working with clay, andso curious what prompted that.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
So I have a really great origin story.
My story begins when I was justa young, tiny little person.
My father, lyle Wheeler, is amaster woodworker and blacksmith
, and so I grew up usinghandmade objects in everyday
lives and having a deepappreciation for them.
And when I was young thirdgrade-ish, so eight, nine
somewhere in there my fathertook me to a show outside of
(01:55):
Boone, north Carolina, and Glennand Lula Bullock were there
demonstrating pottery.
Lula was outside on the kickwheel and I peppered her all day
long with questions, and at acertain point she asked me if I
wanted to sit up on the potter'swheel and touch the clay.
So I said of course, and I satup there.
(02:17):
She kicked the potter's wheelbecause my little legs were not
long enough to go down all theway, and I can remember it.
I remember reaching my hand outand touching the clay as it's
moving on the potter's wheel,and it was just like my soul
became electrified and I knewthat that's what I wanted to do
with the rest of my life.
So I have dedicated I'vededicated my life to being a
(02:41):
ceramic artist and it's beenvery fulfilling.
And that's how I've dedicatedmy life to being a ceramic
artist and it's been veryfulfilling and that's how I've
ended up here in.
I graduated in 2003 with a BFAin ceramics from UNC Asheville.
I set up my pottery studio inthe River Arts District.
I survived the first flood ofthe River Arts District because
(03:04):
I was on the second floor of theCandle Factory where the
Village Potters is now.
So I was up on the second floorso I didn't have the heartbreak
then.
And then I bought a house andmoved my studio to the backyard.
We built a studio in thebackyard there In 2009, I
(03:25):
founded Blaze and Mud Potteryand in 2012, I was accepted into
the Southern Highlands CraftGuild as a member there and I
have opened my gallery in 2021.
I opened the gallery on HaywoodRoad in West Asheville.
So that kind of brings us up tothe present time.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Yeah, and so you chose ceramics because it just
fits you, but there are a lot ofdifferent approaches to
ceramics.
What is it that you do withceramics?
How is your product differingfrom others?
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Okay.
So my product is uniquely isunique in the fact that it I
only use two colors.
I use a blue and a green on theoutside.
I use a light blue on theinside and it is absolutely
distinct.
So if you are in Maine orCalifornia and you see my
pottery out once, you see itthere.
(04:25):
If you've seen me and you'veseen my pottery once, you can
easily recognize it again.
It's distinct because of thecolors and also the patterns
that I place on the surface ofthe pieces.
I use small handmade stampsthat I make a design and I apply
one small stamp at a time onthe surface of the piece, apply
one small stamp at a time on thesurface of the piece.
So these designs are unique tome.
(04:47):
There's no other potter that'sgoing to have them because they
come out of my own imagination.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Oh cool, that is really neat, wow, well, so
excuse me, I will cut that out.
I'm curious when you're dealingwith the, you talk about the
flood, you know, and the firstone you survived.
That was quite a while ago, butthen recently, Asheville has
experienced real big trauma, ifyou will, with Hurricane Helene.
What has been your experiencewith that and where are you at
(05:33):
in reference to the hurricane?
Speaker 2 (05:34):
and such Well.
I have been fortunate.
My studio is in West Nashvilleand it is on Haywood Road and we
are on a hill.
We are significantly higherthan the River Arts District and
Biltmore Village, and so myexperience with Hurricane Helene
(05:56):
has been almost as an outsiderstill living through it, but as
an outside artist viewing what'shappened.
I rode down to the River ArtsDistrict on Saturday, the 27th.
My husband and I are avidcyclists and so, rather than
taking a car out and around, werode our bikes and we rode down
(06:17):
to the River Arts District onthe Haywood Street Bridge, going
across from West Asheville, andand it was heartbreaking, it
was absolutely heartbreaking.
I know the people that I couldsee the Village Potters and I
could see Curb Studios and Icould see the top of Second Gear
and I could see how theyweren't gonna, that everything
(06:42):
was gone and like the buildingswere there but the windows were
gone, the rain was, or the waterwas so intense that was just
moving through the buildings andmoving things moving, just
destroying people's studios.
And On the ride back, afterviewing that devastation, I
(07:05):
realized that the way I cancontribute is to open my studio
to potters that have losteverything.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Yeah, what does that mean?
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Open your studio up.
So I have a full studio, I havetwo large kilns, I have five
pottery wheels, I have a slabroller and an extruder and I
have space.
And so when I talk aboutopening it up, I'm going to
change and rearrange my studio,I'm going to put some things in
(07:37):
storage and I'm going to open itup so that potters that have
lost their entire studio cancome in and work and not have
any upfront cost of having tocreate another space for
themselves.
It is not a permanent solution,but it is a temporary solution
to get them back up and able toproduce pottery immediately
(08:00):
without having the upfront costsof anything.
So any potter that comes intomy studio will not have to pay
anything.
There'll be no monetary barrierfor them to come in and work.
I started a GoFundMe campaign tohelp pay for all of the clay
(08:20):
and glazes and tools that theywill need, and so my GoFundMe
campaign is Relief for AshevillePotters, a Hub of Recovery, and
I've raised over Can you saythat again Relief, yep, relief
for Asheville Potters, a Hub forRecovery, and it is on GoFundMe
(08:43):
and it is on GoFundMe and thatmoney that.
So I budgeted out.
So I budgeted it out so thatthere's $12,000 that I'm asking
for.
I've raised just about $7,000so far in just over a week.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Wow, I know that's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
It is.
I've been blown away bypeople's generosity and their
support for this so wonderful.
Every, every artist that comesin here will have enough money
to buy them 500 pounds of clay,at least three glazes that they
need to have in order to createtheir work, and then all of
their tools.
So we'll be able to replace allof the tools that they lost and
(09:26):
get them just up and runningimmediately.
So once we get thingsrearranged next week, people can
just come in and start working.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Do you need volunteers to help you move
stuff?
Will that be advantageous?
Speaker 2 (09:43):
That's not going to be advantageous, because what's
going to need to happen is Ihave someone who's going to be
able to put some stuff instorage, and I've already got a
volunteer to move the piecesthat need to go into storage.
But we have to work together asa group and plan out how things
are going to move and flow inthe studio.
(10:04):
It's going to be a majorupheaval of the space that's
here and a major rearrangement,and that's something that we're
personally going to have to workout amongst ourselves and sit
down and think about wherethings are going to move to and
what it's going to look like.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
And how have you been able to get the word out to the
artists themselves, to thepotters, to see if they want to
partake?
Speaker 2 (10:32):
So a lot of it's just word of mouth, because there's
not a lot of internet right now.
And so I've done.
I contacted the village potter,sarah Rowland-Wells, with the
Village Potters and I let herknow what I wanted to do and she
put me in contact with theVillage Potters manager and Kira
(10:54):
.
And then Kira has put me incontact with other artists that
need space.
I contacted and I know a lot ofpotters contacted and I know a
lot of potters, so I've justbeen calling them and saying,
hey, look, I have this space,that this is something that
you're interested in, let's meet, let's let you see it and see
what what's going to work foryou.
(11:15):
And so it's basically just beenword of mouth.
I posted it on Facebook and acouple of different areas pardon
me, pages on Facebook, butmainly it's been word of mouth.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
That's fantastic.
I just can't you know.
It goes to this whole scenariowith Hurricane Helene that it
takes a village, in a sense, tobuild community and I can't get
over how effective the communityhas been and how everybody
seems to have come together andto really support one another.
(11:52):
And this is just such awonderful gift you're offering
these folks to help supporttheir businesses, but to rebuild
.
And I think you and I'vechatted about it before.
But when you're creatingsomething, versus when you've
maybe bought a product andyou're reselling it or something
like that, it's coming from theperson, it's coming from their
(12:14):
heart, from their mind, fromtheir creativity and imagination
and from their soul, you know.
So to me it feels a little bitdifferent and they want it.
As if that was wiped away andnow they have to rebuild.
How do you rebuild you?
Speaker 2 (12:30):
one pot at a time, it sounds like it is one pot at a
time, but it's also letting go.
There's a morning period andit's a heartbreak because we
have put our heart and soul intoa lot of these pieces and then
now they're gone.
And it's Not for me personally,but I can speak to having to
(12:53):
let that go and the heartbreakthat it feels of the actual
mourning and release and thegrief that's associated with all
those pieces being destroyedall at one time.
And so once we've moved pastthat, we can then start the
(13:14):
making process again, and oncewe've grieved those pieces, we
can move on.
I wanted to touch back to whatyou were saying about community
and coming together, because Ispoke to Kristen Benyo Also,
kristen Schoonover is how I mether, but Kristen Benyo of Benyo
(13:34):
Pottery and I said, kristen,this is what I'm doing.
I want to open up my studio,but not only do I want to open
it up, I want to create a hubfor that recovery.
So if what I want to do is, Iwanted to make a website that
would, if you have and if youneed, so, if you are an artist
that has space, then we need topair you with an artist that
(13:57):
needs space or needs kilnfirings, because there's
different types of firings so wedon't all do the same.
We might all work with dirtreal fancy dirt and real fancy
mud but it doesn't always.
We don't always fire it thesame.
What we do to it is different,and so what might work in my
(14:19):
firings is not going to work forsome of the other artists that
are coming in here.
So I fire in an oxygen richenvironment, which is an
electric kiln and an oxidationkiln.
But some potters fire to ahigher temperature in a
reduction firing, so theyactually reduce and they take
out the oxygen as opposed toputting in the oxygen.
(14:42):
So the glazes go through adifferent chemical change and so
we need to pair the artistswith the firing and create that.
So Kristen said I have this, Ihave this plan, we can do this,
and so on benyopotterycom youcan go to a tab that says artist
helping artists.
(15:02):
So again, that'sbenyopotterycom and it's artist
helping artists, and on thatpage there's a Google doc,
there's a tab that you fill out.
So if you have space, if youhave kilns, if you have wheels
that you want to lend or can dofirings for, then potters can
(15:24):
fill that part out and if youneed, then you can also fill out
the form for what you need, andthen we can pair people
together.
There's also Jenna JennaGillinger.
Her website ishandmadeforhealthcom, and what
that is doing is that is,pairing potters that need with
(15:51):
potters that are helping.
So if you're donating 10% ofall of your sales for the month
of November to a specific potter, or if you are a potter that
needs, then you can go on thereand fill out the form and be
paired with another potter tohelp raise money for what you
need.
And then the other thing thatI'm working on, that is a.
(16:14):
It's going to be a bigundertaking.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
You're in the wheels turning on this one.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
Yeah, this is a big undertaking, but I think I've
got enough people involved in itthat I can say look, I have
this idea, we need to make ithappen and I think we can
probably do it.
So it's going to be.
It's called come hell or highwater, a studio tour supporting
the artists of western northcarolina, so all the artists
(16:44):
that have studios that wouldotherwise be doing shows,
because this is our busiest.
our busiest time is right nowyeah and this is where we make
all the money and we save allthe money to go through december
or january, february, march andthen into april.
Yeah, and without these shows,without the income, it's going
(17:09):
to be incredibly hard to getthrough January, february and
March of this coming year of2025.
And so, come hell or high waterstudio tour supporting the
artists of Western NorthCarolina.
It's going to be a self-guidedstudio tour running from the 1st
(17:29):
of December to the 8th ofDecember, for an entire week and
artists that participate.
It's going to be self-guided.
So what that means is there'sgoing to be a website with a PDF
that you can print out for yourarea.
So if you live in Maggie Valleyand you want to support the
artists in Maggie Valley orHighlands or Waynesville or Mars
(17:51):
Hill or anywhere that hasthat's been affected, yeah, then
you can go to this, go to thiswebsite or tab, whatever it's
going to be.
Right now, there's a page on mywebsite, playsinmudcom, and it
will link you with a pdf or amap of all the artists in your
(18:12):
area nice.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
So who's making the pdf?
Speaker 2 (18:18):
well, I'm gonna get.
So.
There's gonna be a form thatpeople fill out on my website.
They're gonna give me their thename of their studio and if
they don't have a studio andthey need to collaborate with
another artist, then there mightbe one artist that has five or
six different artists in theirspace for that week selling
their work, and it'll be so.
(18:41):
The artists are going to give methe information and then I'm
just going to plug and play onthe page and we're going to do
it.
There is going to be a fee.
It's going to be $25 per personand that's just going to go
toward marketing that entirebudget.
We might get 30 or 40 peoplethat participate and each person
pays $25.
That gives us a great marketingbudget.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Yeah, sure does.
That's wonderful.
That's fantastic.
I just love the forethought youhave, because I think that's
the other part that peoplearen't understanding.
They're thinking that peopleare going to get back on their
feet because, well, the storm isover, Things are being cleaned
up, they're getting their powerback, they're going to get their
water back and things are goingto be and it's.
(19:23):
It's like how long does it taketo make one piece of pottery?
It might take how long.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Weeks.
It takes weeks.
It might take a month to makeone piece of pottery Exactly.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
And so thinking about , yeah, you're coming up onto
your busy season of holidayseason, of sales going through
the roof during that time frame,right, and here you are with no
inventory, and so these peopleare going to need support
through the rest of October,november, december, january,
(19:58):
february, march.
I mean that's six months ofdesperately needing help just to
survive and build thatinventory back.
And so I really love whatyou're offering as far as all
(20:19):
the different avenues thatpeople can pair up and people
can donate and support thecreative element that is so
beautiful and so strong in ourcommunity and really helps
define Asheville in so many ways.
Right, all of Western NorthCarolina, really, yeah, and well
, I just I love what you'reoffering there.
But I am kind of wondering, youknow, if to remind people if
(20:43):
they want to give to yourGoFundMe page it is relief,
something.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
It is relief for Asheville Potters, a hub for
recovery.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
Great, okay, and then if they want to get in touch
with you for your what do youcall it for your website and how
can you contact me?
Speaker 2 (21:07):
My website.
So there's a link to theGoFundMe from my website.
There's a link to everythingthat we've just talked about on
my website, and my website isplaysinmudcom.
Okay, it's all one word.
It's P-L-A-Y-S-I-N-M-U-Dcom,and on the front page there on
(21:32):
the first tab next to home soit's the second from the left
tab there's a drop down the menu.
It says I think it's helpingwestern north carolina artists
and it has a link to all thethings.
So there's kristin beniobeniocom.
Her website is.
There's a link there.
So if you have an artist thatneeds and an artist that wants
(21:53):
to help, handmade for help isalso there, and then come.
Pillar high water water studiotour is also there.
And then there's a link fortool donations.
If you want to donate tools,you can send it here or drop it
off, and then there's a yeah, Ithink that covers everything
that's on the website.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
That is fantastic.
Well, I just can't thank youenough for taking time out of
your obviously very busyschedule.
I love everything you're tryingto do here for the community.
It warms my heart.
Thank you so much.
Oh, thank you, and I know thatpeople are going to really want
to give and support this effort.
It's just fantastic.
So, thank you, thank you, and Ihope we can have another
interview that talks more aboutyour business journey in the
(22:42):
future, but I think this was somuch more important right now.
So thank you very, very much.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Thank you so much for having me, Laura.
It's been a pleasure speakingwith you.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Yeah, same here, well , and I want to thank you the
audience, for listening me.
Laura, it's been a pleasurespeaking with you.
Yeah, same here, well, and Iwant to thank you the audience,
for listening to the Mosaic Life.
You can listen to this episodeagain and get this great content
, or listen to other great hostsand their shows by going to
bizradious and click on shows.
Thanks so much for listeningand have a great rest of your
day.
Don't forget to donate toGoFundMe.
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