MAP Fine Art

We weren’t allowed in that house but I would sneak in and up the cherry wood stairs to hide in the map room. Tiny little double closet kinda space filled from floor to ceiling with maps. My art has always been about me trying to figure out why my Dad choose “stuff” over his kids. Boxes and boxes of things we weren’t allowed to touch or peek in. Every single map I put down is a little girls attempt to connect to her Dad. That fucking shipwreck town and that god damn Dusty Dowry...my heART. I also do pet portraits like every single other artist in Asheville. 🤣

Impact from Helene: The heartbreak for all the people in WNC and surrounding areas is crippling in itself. My home studio flooded but I did not lose artworks like so many other creatives did in the River Arts District. I lost mostly supplies and furniture. The unexpected thing that I’ve been dealing with is my dog falling ill a few days after the hurricane hit. She needed a surgery that was rushed but I noticed she was also acting weird. Circling, hiding, restless, panting all night, every night. I took her to 6 vets which was not easy to do in a town that was shut down. She needed a MRI before surgery which was more expensive than the surgery and having no work coming in as a commission based full time artist I had to make some hard choices bc financially I couldn’t swing it and asking for help during a time when so many others needed so much felt gross to me. A friend did make a gfm for me but it’s a lot of money and it didn’t earn enough to cover the cost and o was tapped out after trying to figure out what was going on.

I do have 4 map artworks that I created the week before the hurricane that were intended to help me afford her tplo surgery (dog ACL). As a map artist I quickly realized that the geography and topography of these mountains, roads, rivers, bi-ways, highways were completely changed. It gets me choked up every time I talk about it. They are the last 4 paintings I will ever make that are notably days before the storm. The intention in each now is totally changed bc of Helene. These 4 paintings are available and with be split 50/50 between my dogs needs and either the buyers charity of choice or the buyer allowing me to put it back into the artist community thru The Asheville Artist Fund or if someone has direct needs. I’m super worried about creatives affording rent and we need them to stay. We need them to feel safe. We need them to be a part of the heART of the rebuild. I will continue to donate 50% of all sales for as long as I can and if artwork starts selling again. I have not made one sale this month. I understand how it feels to fear not affording to live in a place that you love and normally might thrive in.

The ask: I’d love to get these four paintings in front of folks who love WNC and see the importance of the story that these maps now tell. I really need to help my dog and I also really need to help my community and this is what I currently have that can do that. I’m not a person who cares where they hang, just that they help the folks who have them heal and hopefully smile. I have thought that it would be nice if they sold together (they are 30 x 30 wood panels- ready to hang) and $2000 each. That would earn me $4000, and then $4000 back into the community. The real reality for many of us is that we need money. Now. We need rent/mortgages paid. We need our cabinets and fridges stocked. We need to be able to feel safe enough to stay here and make art that piece by piece gets it all realigned. I believe in the creatives here and without them Asheville wouldn’t be Asheville.

I’m totally fine if they sell seperaty as well. I’m just wanting to get things rolling and my social media reach is limited to a lot of folks in Asheville that lost everything or are too traumatized or putting their money into other causes which I completely agree with.

Direct donations: https://venmo.com/u/Maryanne-Pappano