Roots of Resilience: How Art Helped Swannanoa Heal After Helene
One year ago, Hurricane Helene devastated Swannanoa. Residents first focused on survival — food, water, and restoring power — before turning toward long-term recovery. For many, art became a path forward: a way to heal, express, and reconnect.
In those early months, a group of local artists formed the Swannanoa Artists’ Collective to support both the community and its creatives, ensuring that Swannanoa — often overshadowed by nearby towns — remained visible as a vibrant arts hub. The group grew steadily, creating spaces for artists to display work, partnering with local businesses, and securing grants for community art projects.
For artist Carolina Corona, that mission became deeply personal. Partnering with Bounty & Soul, she launched an art project centered on the Latinx community, one of the groups hardest hit by Helene. Many families lost homes, belongings, and even loved ones. Carolina’s project offered children, parents, and neighbors a way to process loss and celebrate resilience through art.
Visit Corona Fine Art to support Carolina’s work.
She began by hosting “art days” for youth and families, guided by reflective questions about community and connection. One family led to another, and soon a network of participants formed. By May 2025, her community art event at the Bounty & Soul Center drew more than twice the expected turnout.
Children, parents, and grandparents collaborated on “El Árbol de la Comunidad (Community Connections)”, a mural symbolizing how all members of a community are linked like branches of a tree. Over the following months, Carolina continued working with families to develop imagery, run an art contest, and provide donated “art boxes” for those without materials.
Photography rights attributed to Carolina Corona Fine Arts.
After adding the final touches in her home studio, Carolina prepared the mural for display. It is currently featured in a Swannanoa community center before traveling across Western North Carolina — sharing the story of Swannanoa’s strength and unity.
Reflecting on her experience, Carolina shared:
“This project was an amazing testament to our community’s resilience and strength. The community welcomed me so warmly and embraced my project as their own.”
Through initiatives like Carolina’s and the work of the Swannanoa Artists’ Collective, art becomes more than a form of expression — it is a vehicle for mental and emotional health support, community connection, and collective resilience. By sharing these stories of collaboration and creativity, Bounty & Soul celebrates the strength of our community and the power of art to heal, connect, and inspire — showing how, even after loss, we can come together and grow stronger.