After the Storm

As an artist who does outdoor shows throughout the year, you learn to expect the unexpected when it comes to the weather. I have a really great Trimline tent that is very durable and heavy duty. I also add additional weights to my tent, just for extra safety that it will not move in the case of high winds or other inclement weather. Certainly I'm not the only artist who routinely carries rain boots, towels, rugs (in case of a muddy floor within the tent), ponchos and other stuff for the random monsoon you might get hit with.

That being said, the storm that hit the Schlafly art show in the early morning hours of Sunday was not your normal storm. Lo Dugan, the coordinator or the Schlafly Art Outside event was calling all the artists personally to let them know of the damage and to come as soon as they could. I got my call at 5:30am, and immediately got dressed and headed over. 

To be honest, I thought it was probably a few of the EZ-up tents that might have gotten some damage and was relatively unworried about my own super sturdy tent, but as they say pride goes before the fall. When I arrived I was absolutely stunned to see how much devastation had occurred. I don't think a single artist was untouched by this storm.

I would like to say how great Schlafly handled the situation. Also, there was such a spirit of friendship and a willingness to help each other out from all of the artists that really made me proud to be one of their community.

There was also a Go Fund Me campaign created to benefit the artists who lost so much.

I personally had many friends reach out to me after hearing about the storm and ask if they could do anything. Thank you all so much for your kind words and thoughts. It would have taken me ten times longer to sort through everything if it hadn't been for my sweet Dad, skipping yoga class to rush over from across the river to help me out. Despite all the hardship of this storm, I drove away feeling very loved.