CREATIVE CAMPUS

• CREATIVE CAMPUS

• CREATIVE CAMPUS • CREATIVE CAMPUS •

THE RAD CREATIVE CAMPUS

A permanent home for art, resilience, and community. The River Arts District Creative Campus is a once-in-a-generation investment in Asheville’s cultural future.

This Creative Campus will secure a permanent, flood-safe home for artists in the River Arts District while expanding access to education, shared resources, and public programming for the entire community.

This project was born from decades of artist-led placemaking and shaped by the collective community recovery efforts following Hurricane Helene. It is not simply about rebuilding what was lost. It is about building a stronger, more resilient future for the arts in Asheville and Western North Carolina.

* Some images are AI rendered.

A COMMUNITY-GUIDED VISION

The Creative Campus is the result of extensive community engagement.

Through the Unified RAD Visioning Charrette, more than 1,200 stakeholders including artists, residents, businesses, and partners identified the Creative Campus as a top priority for the district’s future. This project reflects those shared values: equity, access, permanence, and resilience.

As planning continues, community input remains central to shaping studio design, programming, and shared resources.

WHY

For nearly 40 years, artists transformed the River Arts District from abandoned industrial buildings into one of the most vibrant creative districts in the country. That success, however, has come with growing vulnerability.

Hurricane Helene destroyed approximately 80 percent of artist studio space in the RAD, displacing more than 500 artists and disrupting a major driver of Asheville’s economy. The storm revealed long-standing challenges related to flooding, rising rents, and the lack of permanent, affordable space for working artists.

The RAD Creative Campus is a direct response. Located on high ground and designed with resilience at its core, the campus will protect the creative community from future risk while ensuring artists remain rooted in the district they built.

PARTNER WITH US →

WHAT

The Creative Campus will serve as a permanent cultural anchor for the River Arts District and the region. It will include:

Affordable, mission-aligned studios for working artists
Shared maker spaces with capital-intensive equipment
Teaching classrooms and workforce development facilities
A flex space for gallery exhibitions, performance space, and public gathering areas
A welcome center connecting visitors to the RAD’s creative ecosystem
Resilient infrastructure designed for long-term sustainability

By supporting traditional and emerging disciplines alike, the campus will preserve Western North Carolina’s craft legacy while fostering innovation, education, and economic opportunity.

DOWNLOAD THE RAD CREATIVE CAMPUS PLAN →

IMPACT BEYOND THE ARTS

The Creative Campus is not only an arts project: it is economic and civic infrastructure.
By stabilizing the creative workforce, the campus will:

Support small businesses across hospitality, retail, and tourism
Create pathways for workforce development and apprenticeships
Expand access to arts education for youth and adults
Strengthen Asheville’s identity as a cultural destination
Ensure that the economic benefits of the arts remain local

Investing in artists is an investment in Asheville’s long-term vitality.

SUPPORT THE RAD CREATIVE CAMPUS

Join the Capital Campaign

The RADA Foundation is launching a capital campaign to bring the Creative Campus to life. Philanthropic support, public investment, and community participation are all essential to realizing this vision.

Your support helps: