Out of the Flood: Colton Dion’s Art Reflects Asheville’s Recovery

After working out of a cramped apartment for eleven years, stepping into his own studio space was a dream for Colton Dion. Dion is an artist who was born and raised in the Asheville area. He focuses on sculptural painting and canvas work, with an emphasis on traditional landscapes and surrealism. He’s had a love and passion for art his whole life. 

Nothing could have prepared Colton Dion for what was to come the night Hurricane Helene hit Asheville. Dion had stayed in his art studio at 109 Roberts St. on Sep. 27 with his dog Cooper. He recounts to Media Milwaukee reporters how the night went for him.

“I heard there were reports. They said the river was going to go twenty feet. We heard this about two days before the storm. People didn’t think it would be that crazy.”

Dion spent the night in his studio in case any flooding happened. And it did. “We lost power around five o’clock in the morning. We kept getting crazy alerts every five minutes. ‘Dam broken, Evacuate,’ all those things.” Dion describes hearing the wind and rain beat on the garage door, which acts as a cover for the windows.

“The dam is up on the parkway, but it thankfully didn’t break,” he continued. “I had Cooper with me, and we walked down the stairwell to check it out.” Dion frequently brings his dog into the studio with him and normally just lounges around while Dion works.

Dion is a part of the River Arts District. A community of about 700 artists. When Hurricane Helene struck on Sept. 27, about 80% of this once-thriving area was wiped away. This was the worst disaster facing western North Carolina in its history, where Asheville was once considered a weather-safe zone. In April, reporters from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee traveled to Western North Carolina to talk with local communities about their experiences.

Many artists lost their studio spaces to the flood. More than 250 artist studios, galleries, and venues were lost due to flooding from the French Broad River.

The river surged a record-breaking 24.67 feet according to the Smithsonian. The Phil Mechanic studio that Dion is staying in has four stories. “I’m on the fourth floor, but my dog and I walked down the stairwell to check it out. He was staring at the river all day.”

On the 27th, the river surged all day. He described how people were watching the river rise all day from the Riverlink bridge. “There were hundreds to thousands of people all day.” 

The morning after, the river retreated about halfway. By the end of the third day, the river levels were back to normal. Once the river fully retreated, people were able to begin the cleanup process. Now almost six months later, most of the debris has been cleaned and concrete slabs where studios once were remain.

Dion’s studio space was thankfully spared from the storm, because his studio is technically on the fourth floor, yet is street level. He hurts deeply for his community though. This was a very hard hitting event not just for him, for everyone.

After the storm, reconstruction immediately began, and most of the media came and went. “The major media sources kept saying, ‘Don’t come to Asheville,’ and I’m sitting here like ‘we’re still open, we are still here.’” 

Tourism is a major part of Asheville’s economy, and the River Arts District is no different. It was tough for all the artists out there, including Dion. “It was rough this winter. It’s the slow season normally, but this was different,” Dion continued. “We went to Atlanta in December to see some friends, and they were telling me ‘we can’t go back to Asheville,’ and I’m like, you can!”

There were many days in the winter when no one would come into the studio. “Even in January, three or four months after, there were still twenty days in that month where no one came in all day.”

Due to the slow season, and the loss of tourism from the hurricane, Dion had to start picking up jobs at night. “I didn’t want to lose the space. I was painting murals at night and doing flooring jobs.” In March he hosted an open mic night at the studio as a way to bring the community together. This was his way for everyone to share a love for different types of artwork.

One of the pieces Dion is particularly proud of is a mural he created outside of AK Tobacco on Patton Avenue. The scene depicts hundreds of bystanders watching from the Riverlink bridge. Muted colors with the bright pink of the lotus flowers stand out. Out of the mud, lotus flowers bloom. The quote “Flood every newborn scene,” by Bob Dylan, lines the top of the mural.

 “When I finished, the owner looked at me and was like, ‘You created a positive flood scene.’ I was like, yeah, I guess I did.” Dion highlights this more on his Instagram, “I worked through freezing temperatures and snow in December and January. It wasn’t for me or the money, it was for the community.”

Dion is currently back in the studio and plans to remain there for the foreseeable future. He is proud of the space he created, and the future of it.

He updates his social media often, and after reporters returned from North Carolina, he shared on his Instagram page: “Some may be tired of hearing about the hurricane, or disaster in general, but I get asked about it sometimes three times a day by people visting the gallery & the effects are clearly visible just walking outside. It will make its way into my art as shown here & there’s nothing I can do about it, I just simply let out what needs to be let out. My work usually reflects current events in my life through symbolism & other imagery.”

The River Arts district is currently reopen with many studios back operating. Efforts are focused on supporting studios and galleries to reopen and securing space for artists to work and sell their art.

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This story is part of a semester-long investigative reporting project into the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. It was created by an advanced reporting class in the Journalism, Advertising, and Media Studies program at UW-Milwaukee. Other stories from the project are available here.

This work was made possible through the support of MPC Endowment Ltd., the philanthropic affiliate of the Milwaukee Press Club.