In the aftermath, Kristen, a member of French Broad EMC, checked on community members and helped to gather essential supplies for other towns. As a mom to two teenagers, she worried most about how the teens were processing the experience.

Practice of forgiveness

On Oct. 16, 2024, just two weeks after the storm, Kristen invited several teens to her studio to participate in a forgiveness ceremony. After smashing glass pieces, the 13 students worked with molds to make hearts. At a time when the teens felt helpless, this empowered them to feel part of something, Kristen says.

Raven Anderson, Kristen’s 18-year-old daughter, recruited other teens to attend and assist with the molds and glass blowing. “The art was therapeutic, allowing people to express their emotions,” she says.

Kristen incorporated the glass making process with the Hawaiian tradition of Ho’oponopono. The four steps — smashing the glass, cleaning the glass, setting the mold and putting the creation into the kiln — were paired with these four phrases: I’m sorry, please forgive me, thank you and I love you.

“I told the teens they could use the process of breaking the already broken glass and cleaning it as a spiritual practice of forgiveness,” Kristen explains in a Facebook post. “Any past mistakes that have caused pain could be alchemized and transmuted through the act of forgiveness.”

Etched in glass

At the same time, Madison Early College High School in Marshall had been closed due to the storm, complicating teachers Erin Long and Julie Young’s plans for their project-based learning program. Each year for the past 10 years, students in the American Literature classes selected a community project to plan and execute. Although the class knew they wanted to support the arts community, with so many barriers in place after the storm, they were having trouble launching an idea.

News about Kristen’s glass project reached the teachers, and they met at the studio to discuss the possibility of the students partnering with Moon Girl Glass.

“[Kristen] talked to us about her vision of trying to help our community heal and teach the kids how to do art with glass,” says Julie, also a member of French Broad EMC.

The opportunity ignited the students: They interviewed Kristen for a podcast. They designed a website, From the Fragments: Stories in Glass and some connected their personal narratives they wrote for class to the art they created at Kristen’s studio in March.

“When my class went to Kristen Muñoz’s studio, I was immediately drawn to the bumblebee mold,” wrote Evyn Kinney, a student involved with the From the Fragments project, in her personal narrative. “Green is my favorite color, so I filled the body with green glass, with hints of blue. I filled the wings with multicolored glass, so it was a rainbow. I figured this was fitting as rainbows represent new beginnings, and Hurricane Helene definitely provided that for our community.”

Julie envisions the next group of students continuing From the Fragments this academic year with Kristen. Younger students have already expressed interest after seeing the art hanging in the classroom windows and hearing about the field trip to the glass studio. A group of new students can market the glass, sell it and use the proceeds to fund projects focused on rebuilding the community.

“Even with all the destruction that came with the disaster, there was still beauty and strength,” Evyn says. “I am proud of all that my community has accomplished over the past several months and hope that we can get back to being the strong resilient people that we once were.”