ASHEVILLE, N.C. — For Micah Usher, photography is more than just a passion. It’s a way to process how he envisions the world.

“You can see, like, the elements of these and how it sort of breaks, breaks down like. It's a study of what it is that draws me to the mountains,” Usher said.

The St. Louis native moved to Asheville after COVID-19 to spend more time outside documenting the Blue Ridge Mountains.

“With this one, there were wildfires that were in the area,” Usher said. “So this valley was filled with smoke, and it just made this really reductionist landscape.”

But when Helene hit Asheville’s River Arts District, he never expected Trackside Studios, the art gallery where he sells his portraits, would be flooded in the process.

“All I knew was that there was no cell phone and no internet,” Usher said.

So like any photographer, he grabbed his camera and headed down to the River Arts District, quickly snapping photos in the process.

“When I came down and I saw the flooded streets, I was standing up here and watching like this, one of the giant dumpsters, just, like, bob around,” Usher said. “Like you would see, like a fishing lure just bobbing around and floating and doing it.”

The gallery, which sits far from the river, across from the road and train tracks, didn’t make it unscathed.

Nearly 4 feet of water rushed inside, damaging most artwork on the first floor.

“There you can see the water line going across the wall there,” Usher said. “And I find that to be really striking because one of the pieces there is just, it's a study of light and shadow, and so it's really stark on that.”“There you can see the water line going across the wall there,” Usher said. “And I find that to be really striking because one of the pieces there is just, it's a study of light and shadow, and so it's really stark on that.”

Usher is one of about 60 artists housed in Trackside Studios. The studio manager, Julie Bell, credits the studio on helping smaller artists have a place to call home for their artwork 

“That's like why we exist as Trackside is to be a home for all these artists,” Bell said.

But when she saw the devastation Helene left behind for all of her artists, she was heartbroken. 

“The heart and soul you put into a piece, you can’t replace,” Bell said.

Even with all the destruction, Bell said they were determined to reopen for the artists.

“And most of these people have become friends, and we're like a family,” Bell said. “Everyone calls it 'the Tracks,' like family and that's all you want is for them to succeed.” 

It isn’t just to show off their artwork. Bell said, for many of the artists, having a place to sell their work is vital to their livelihoods.

"Ninety-eight percent of our time is managing Trackside,” Bell said. “So what we are is a small business whose sole job is to help 70 other small businesses succeed.”

And whether it’s to support photographers like Usher, who is processing the storm through his artwork, or other artists at Trackside, what they need the most is for people to come back to town to support local businesses getting back on their feet. 

“A lot of times the questions now are like, 'what's your story? You know, tell me, tell me your story so I can, you know, commiserate with you.' Because it's still ongoing. We're still processing this, but also in order to be able to make it through that, we need people to come," Bell said.

Trackside Studios is just one of many studios in the River Arts District that has reopened since the storm.

Bell said many of the studios have also been making space for other artists who may have lost their studio space during the storm in every nook and cranny of the studios available to keep supporting local artists in need.