It was precisely 10 years ago when Julie Ann Bell, Michael Allen Campbell, and Lynn Stanley decided to expand their large art studio in Asheville’s River Arts District into something even more elaborate and intricate.
“It’s just the artists’ commitment to one another,” Bell said. “The sense of place where they can be creative and they can explore — it’s really a welcoming place.”
Located at 375 Depot Street and open seven days a week, Trackside Studios opened its doors in 2015. Since its inception, the property has become a beehive of creativity, ultimately containing numerous artisan workspaces, galleries, and other rooms for a wide array of classes.
“It’s not like a club with a bunch of rules. We’re just open,” Bell chuckles. “[For example], when an artist leaves and someone new comes in, people are very inviting of them into Trackside.”
So Many Options
Trackside holds over 60 artists — from acrylic to fiber, sculpture to mixed, watercolor to weaving, and beyond. And with a motto of “take classes, be inspired,” the ethos of Trackside is one of creative freedom in the name of individuality and passion, where workshops range from wood burning to wabi-sabi gelli print classes.
“From the minute we formed [Trackside], it was so that we could work together, create together, laugh and talk together, support one another,” Bell said. “And so, from the beginning, we’ve had a blend of emerging artists to professional artists who have been at it for years.”
For Bell, Trackside is the culmination of a lifelong love of (and curiosity for) art. A registered nurse for the last 45 years, she’s been slowly sliding into retirement, with more of her time being dedicated towards operating the studio. Nowadays, Bell specializes in wire sculpture, with the road to that medium one of trial and error in other artist mediums.
“I used to crochet, but I would have never called myself an artist,” Bell modestly stated. “I tried painting. I tried watercolor. I tried drawing. I tried everything. And I wasn’t pleased.”
Determined to find a creative path that best suited her, Bell wandered into mixed media. Eventually, on a road trip, she came across a wire sculpture and something clicked deep within her.
“And I’ve been making things from wire since 2012,” Bell said. “[With wire sculpture], I can have an idea in my head of what I want something to look like or be, but the wire has its own personality and its own ‘what it will or won’t do.’”
Rebuilding Together
Beyond the camaraderie of the artists at Trackside and the greater RAD, the most difficult situation the district and its inhabitants faced was the aftermath of Hurricane in the fall of 2024. Historic floodwaters bulldozed through the RAD, buffering the French Broad River. Countless studios were damaged or affected, including Trackside.
“Of course, it was devastating,” Bell said in a somber voice. “But, everyone — our artists, our building owner, the contractors — just kept putting one foot in front of the other and just doing what needed to be done.”
Initially, the rebuilding process felt monumental, if not downright impossible. Layers of thick, slippery mud covered seemingly everything in the RAD. Broken windows and broken dreams. But each day was a new opportunity to clean up and start over again. By December 2024, just two months after the flood, Trackside reopened and was one of the first to do so in the beloved RAD.
“We’re continuing to support our artists by being open and selling art,” Bell noted. “Well, I guess it is resilience. You get up and you go because you’re creators, and that’s what you do.”
With the RAD and the rest of Western North Carolina returning to some semblance of normalcy since Helene, there’s still a lot of work that remains. But, for Trackside and hundreds of other artisan studios around the region, the spirit to create and the iron-clad resolve to protect and nurture the arts in these mountains is as steadfast as ever.
“The collective voice of artists is to able to say, ‘art matters,’” Bell said. “And to say that, for society, art and craft matters.”
Learn more about Trackside Studios.
This article was first published in the 2025 issue of Blue Ridge Craft Trails Magazine. Discover more stories here!
