Hurricane Sandy Aftermath: It’s a Marathon, Not a Sprint

Last week I went to New York City to visit some of the Sandy-affected craft artists that CERF+ (Craft Emergency Relief Fund + Artists’ Emergency Resources) is assisting. I spent December 3-4 in parts of the city I had only seen on maps, Red Hook, Greenpoint, and Staten Island pouring over piles of saltwater-rusted tools, waterlogged furnaces, drying machines, and tables covered with glass, wood, and metal artworks hoping to be salvaged. It had been nearly five weeks since homes, studios, and galleries were submerged in a toxic soup of saltwater and sewage, plus industrial waste from some of the most polluted waterways in America, such as the Gowanus Canal.

For most of the artists, it had felt more like six weeks, the first of which was spent sandbagging and moving what they could to safety. Power had been restored to many of the studios just a day or two before I arrived, but Pier Glass in Red Hook, on the western shore of Brooklyn, was still waiting for transformers to be located to restore their building’s industrial electrical service. They had limited power from a neighbor’s generator, enough for a few lights and to power the blower in their furnace with a low flame to try to dry out the soaked refractory lining. It will be several weeks before they know whether it will survive and be fit for blowing glass.

All of the artists I visited had made incredible progress in the cleanup. With the help of volunteers who flooded in after the storm, the worst things had been torn out and piled outside for removal. Tons of moldy sheet rock, ruined artworks, and debris had already been hauled off and another round of triage was in progress – deciding what is worth salvaging, and setting priorities. Kevin Kutch, who owns Pier Glass with his wife Mary Ellen Buxton-Kutch, said priorities shifted daily as they discovered new problems, like conduits being full of water. As we talked, Alison Ruzsa, who creates her layered paperweights at Pier Glass, reached under a gunked-up sandblast cabinet to retrieve an amorphous blob of something, washed under it by the flood water.

Eric Novak, whose small studio is near the Gowanus Canal, designs and makes puppets for films, theatre, and museums. He had managed to clear enough debris to spend the last two weeks completing some work on generator power to meet a deadline. When I arrived, a crate was being picked up, and he was back at work reclaiming his studio.

Getting back to work was the first priority for all of the artists I visited. While wood sculptor Rachel Beach and I talked about which machines were worth saving, she fretted about how she was going to produce a body of work for an upcoming show. Some of the veneered and painted angular forms she had in progress might be saved, but it was not clear if the time would be better spent remaking them.

Evenings and mornings are spent filling out forms: forms for FEMA, forms for SBA, forms for grants, forms for loans, and for those few who had it, forms for insurance. (Most commercial and residential insurance policies do not cover floods. That must be purchased separately). The forms are a break from the physical labor of recovery, but add to the mental and emotional strain. Glass artist Kevin Scanlan finds release by playing his saxophone, for others it is time with friends and family. Some time away from the disaster life is critical. As Pier Glass artist Mary Ellen Buxton-Kutch told me, “this is a marathon, not a sprint.”

It is still early in the recovery, and many artists are still dealing with life issues. So far, CERF+ has heard from about 85 artists who were affected by Sandy. CERF+ gives assistance to all artists who contact us, whether or not they qualify for our direct assistance. Performing artists and other non-craft artists are referred to other sources of assistance and to recovery information like CERF+’s emergency recovery and preparedness website, Studio Protector: The Artist’s Guide to Emergencies. To date, CERF+ provided grants to 16 craft artists and have another dozen in progress, but if our experience with Katrina is an indication, this is only the beginning. We will be working with artists for the long haul, assisting with loans and soliciting donations from manufacturers, suppliers, and show promoters. CERF+ recently made its last Katrina recovery loan – it is a marathon.

How you can help:

• Please consider a contribution to CERF+.
• Visit the new CERF+ Artists’ Relief Exchange. There artists are posting items they need for recovery, and you can also post offers of tools, supplies, studio space, or services you wish to donate to emergency-affected artists.
• Take one step to make your studio better prepared for emergencies by visiting Studio Protector for preparedness information and tips.

Craig Nutt is Director of Programs for CERF+. He is also a practicing furniture maker and sculptor in Kingston Springs, Tennessee.