The Asheville artist finds a new home for his work in the Shenandoah Valley

PORT REPUBLIC, Va. (WHSV) – John Finley and his wife were devastated by Hurricane Helene and lost much of their art work.

Given the tragedy and destruction, Finley said the situation could have been worse for him. His home wasn’t as badly damaged as his art studio, but hours of work were wiped out in a day. He said he knew the storm was coming, but it still caught him by surprise in the moment.

“We have been following the news about Hurricane Helene,” Finley said. “The local weather service said it looked like it was becoming a tropical storm and heading toward Knoxville, Tennessee. We didn’t think anything of it.”

The couple has been part of a warehouse studio in Asheville, North Carolina since January 2023. Although their careers were not dedicated to art, Finley said they valued the craft and were heartbroken when 30 inches of rain washed out most of their creations. Finley said he only recovered five paintings from the remains, and restoring two of them would require a lot of work.

Finley described the visual display of the damage as frightening, with many buildings unrecognizable.

“We drove over, (and) there was an open bridge over French Broad – there was a lot of devastation down there,” Finley said. “The water was still high, many buildings were under water.”

Finley set up work at the Mill Creek General Store in Port Republic after his sister offered to have some of his work at her home. He said his sister had previously asked him if he would bring art into her shop, but he never got around to it. He said the devastation taught him a life lesson.

“The biggest thing this has done for me is that I really feel the need to give back – to do as much as I can for things other than just myself.”

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