Hurricane Helene devastated communities across Western North Carolina in September 2024. The storm dealt a unique blow to creative communities of the area, as many studios in the River Arts District of Asheville and the nearby town of Marshall were completely destroyed. While the news cycle has moved on, the process of recovering and rebuilding will continue for years. 

The purpose of this anthology is to highlight the work of artists impacted by Helene, to raise both awareness about the continued impact of the storm and funds to rebuild the artistic infrastructure of Asheville and Marshall. We are looking for work by local artists of WNC and their personal stories related to the disaster. 

We hope by uplifting these stories we can give artists a space to process their experiences, keep people thinking of and donating to WNC as the immediacy of the disaster fades, and help the creative community rebuild. 

100% of proceeds from this anthology will be split in half to go directly to the following funds:

River Arts District Relief Fund

Marshall Relief Fund

Submissions may include: comics, illustrations, prose writing, poetry, photography, and hybrid forms. 

“DON'T LOOK NOW BRINGS TOGETHER NEW AND EXPERIMENTAL WORK FROM MEMBERS OF THE SEQUENTIAL ARTISTS WORKSHOP'S ONLINE COMMUNITY. INSIDE YOU'LL FIND STORIES OF A GAMESHOW GONE WRONG ALONGSIDE REIMAGINED CLASSICAL POETRY AND SONGS. TURN THE PAGE TO TREATIES ON SELF HELP CULTURE AND PERSONAL STORIES OF PARENTHOOD, AND MORE.”

Sooner or later something comes along that fractures our timeline. Upends our sense of simplicity, cohesion, or maybe our whole sense of self. That's when we start grasping for story. This Graphic Memoir Anthology brings together the work of 17 unique storytellers currently developing ambitious personal stories in comics form with The Sequential Artists Workshop.

PRE-ORDER! On What Matters represents some of the ambitious works developed during the online Year-Long Comics Certificate Program at the Sequential Artists Workshop (SAW) from Sept 2020 to May 2021. From responses to course exercises to deliberations on life and death and haircuts in isolation, it brings together the far reaching work of 26 different artists from around the United States and beyond.

What’s been going on at SAW lately? Check out what we’ve all been up to the last few weeks with the SAW gang, SAW courses, and the Mighty Network groups!