We are seeking work by artists from Western North Carolina impacted by Hurricane Helene!

**Anthology concept**

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.
*(Art by Forest Gamble, Asheville resident and SAW alum.)*

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.

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

We welcome work about WNC, Helene, disaster, rebuilding, community, home, place, the environment, and other topics related to the storm and its aftermath. Your work, however, does not have to fit within these topics or be newly created for the anthology; please feel free to submit work you've already made. We envision the anthology as both a memorial of Helene's impact on WNC and a celebration of the artistic vibrancy of the region.

100% of proceeds from this anthology will be split evenly between the River Arts District Relief Fund and the Marshall Relief Fund.

Submission Guidelines

General guidelines:

This anthology is specifically requesting work from artists who call Western North Carolina home and were impacted by Hurricane Helene, including current and former residents and people displaced by the storm. We will consider work by artists from outside of WNC who would like to contribute, but locals will get priority.
Submissions to both this form and the Dropbox are required.
We do not accept AI-generated or AI-assisted Artwork of any kind.

File requirements:

The anthology will be published at 5.5 inches x 8.5 inches with a 0.125 inch bleed. Please submit work that fits these dimensions.
We recommend a .5 inch margin all around so that your artwork (especially text) is in a safe area when it comes time to print. This is especially important so that part of your work doesn't end up in the gutter of the anthology, which may be fine-bound. .6 inch on the inside margin is an extra safe measure.
Please submit individual image files of your comics pages, illustrations, photographs, and other visual art forms: PNG, JPEG, JPG, or TIFF! We highly recommend you submit your work as a folder with your Name and Artwork Title on it with the image files inside it. Please title your image files accordingly with their respective page numbers. An example is "Charlie Brown_Football Blues_1"
Image files must be AT LEAST 300 DPI for print (unless the image is vectored, then ignore). The anthology will be printed with CMYK color.
Please submit text-based pieces as a word document so we can format them appropriately. If the visual design of your text is integral to your piece, please submit as an image that fits the specs listed above.
Do not submit any work in the form of PDF.
We recommend including a title on the first page of your Artwork, which includes the title of the story + your name. This could be a title panel, a title page, a heading, or a caption. This is a recommendation, so it is not required.