Last August, Max Trumpower was excited to move to the Asheville area. One month before Hurricane Helene, the ceramic artist settled into an apartment overlooking what was then the gently flowing Swannanoa River east of Asheville. In late September, that all changed.

On the evening of September 26, with the water steadily rising, Max decided to leave their apartment for a friend’s house in a safer location. Two days later, Max’s entire apartment building, including all their belongings, was gone, swept away by the swollen Swannanoa. The same storm took the lives of two others in a neighboring building who did not leave their home soon enough. With little keeping Max in Asheville, they left the state with more room in their suitcase than when they arrived.

Ten months after Helene, with the help of volunteers from City Year, Truist and N.C. Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Reid Wilson, MountainTrue recovered several personal items along the banks of the Swannanoa River. Among them, a small handmade ceramic cup was found completely intact. It featured a cityscape design with intricate details, and an artist’s signature — Autumn McCay, a Cincinatti, Ohio-based ceramic artist. We reached out to Autumn and found that she created the small “sipper” cup for one friend in particular — Max. The cityscapes featured on Autumn’s ceramic pieces were reflections of the Louisville, Kentucky skyline where they both once lived. The cup detailed some of their favorite Louisville hangouts — an incredibly personal expression of their friendship.

Now returned to Max, this special sipper cup represents one of only two items from their Asheville home. The other, a control panel from their personal kiln, was found lodged under a boulder in the riverbed nearby. Among Max’s extensive losses are irreplaceable large figurative ceramic sculptures that they created. We were thrilled to be able to return this special sipper cup to Max, one small step on the road to recovery! Good luck to Max! We can’t wait to see what you make next! 

— Mandy Wallace, MountainTrue Artifact Recovery Technician