Turning The Page
on Helene
This community-based therapeutic art project taps into the transformative power of altered books to tell our stories of Hurricane Helene through the visual arts. Together, we can shape the narrative of our community’s collective experience of the storm and recovery.
The stories we tell ourselves and each other are powerful. Stories have the power to create meaning, build connection, and provide perspective.
Turning the Page on Helene is the story of the impact of Hurricane Helene on our local communities in Western North Carolina. This story is told by the community, for the community to help us process our experiences, reflect on what we’re learning during the ongoing recovery, and express our hopes for the future. Each blank page has been transformed by your collages, drawings, paintings, and poems at free community events in Asheville, Marshall, Swannanoa, Leicester, Black Mountain, Spruce Pine, and Boone.
Each page in every single book was made by an individual community member telling their own personal experience of the storm. We have 15 volumes of community books so far, and there are more to come! You’ve made over 400 pages, and we feel honored to weave these stories together every time we assemble a new altered book. Check out the gallery, follow us on Instagram, or come to a Turning the Page on Helene Together art show to see your artwork compiled into our community’s story .
How to Share YOUR Story
Join Us at a free workshop or community art show
When you attend an in-person event, we provide LOTS of art supplies, blank pages to use as your canvas, and plenty of inspiration. We always have adaptive scissors, pencil grips, large print directions, and other accommodations available for anyone who wants them. After you make your page, you get to decide if you want to keep it or donate it to a community book that tells our collective story of Hurricane Helene and the recovery.
For hybrid or virtual workshops, we’ll mail you blank pages, directions, some collage materials to get you started, and an envelope so that you can mail your work back to us to include in one of the community books.
More ways to be part of the story:
Mail In a Page
Create a 5” x 7” one-sided piece of art exploring your experience of the storm or recovery. We’ll add it to one of the community books.
Mail it to
Attn: Turning the Page on Helene
Wild Arts Creative Counseling
PO Box 27
7249 Highway 11
Sunset, SC, 29685-9998
Host a Page-Making Party
Invite your friends or neighbors over, create your own pages, send them to us, and we’ll add them to a community altered book.
Take photos of your party and tag us on Instagram @turningthepageonhelene, and we’ll share ‘em.
Contact us to request materials. Blank pages, some collage materials, and instructions will be provided.
Schedule a Workshop
Schedule a 2-3 hour workshop for 4-10 people to work on the actual altered books. Contact us for scheduling.
A facilitator will teach the group how to make altered books and provide supplies for adding pages to the collective Turning the Page on Helene books.
You can also email us to suggest a venue in Buncombe County, Henderson County, Madison County, or Haywood County!
Follow us on Instagram
"I enjoyed spending those several hours with you, talking a little and working quietly. It was just what I needed. I think your project is fantastic."
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"This is the first time my daughter has spoken about that day. Thank you so much for what you are doing."
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"Thank you so much for providing such a thoughtful space for folks to share and transform their experiences."
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"What a powerfully cathartic and healing project."
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"We have come so far and have so far to go. Good thing we have each other and this incredible community. "
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"Every healing journey is unique and each piece is a reflection of its maker."
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"I enjoyed spending those several hours with you, talking a little and working quietly. It was just what I needed. I think your project is fantastic." 〰️ "This is the first time my daughter has spoken about that day. Thank you so much for what you are doing." 〰️ "Thank you so much for providing such a thoughtful space for folks to share and transform their experiences." 〰️ "What a powerfully cathartic and healing project." 〰️ "We have come so far and have so far to go. Good thing we have each other and this incredible community. " 〰️ "Every healing journey is unique and each piece is a reflection of its maker." 〰️
Community Feedback:
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