Mississippi artist loses art in RV fire en route to arts festival
By Todd Magel
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DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI) — A Mississippi artist is hoping to return to the Des Moines Arts Festival next year after a fire that destroyed her RV and art trailer while she was on her way to this year’s event.
H.C. Porter was on her way to Des Moines on Wednesday when her RV and trailer caught fire on the highway, about 10 miles outside Vicksburg, Mississippi.
“About 10 miles in, I started smelling smoke. And I thought, is it something burning outside?” Porter said. “And then billowing smoke started surrounding me in the cab of the RV.”
The fire, caused by an overheated portable generator, consumed her RV and trailer, along with her personal belongings and all the art she intended to sell at the festival.
“It happens in slow motion that, you know, once you get to that point, it’s just a big fireball,” Porter said.
Porter specializes in paper art, which begins as a photograph that she paints to create a mixed-media final product. More than a dozen pieces were lost to water and smoke damage.
“Water damage, smoke damage. And you can’t mix paper, which is what my work is on, with water,” she said.
The loss is not only of her art but also the opportunity to participate in the Des Moines Arts Festival, an event she has attended for decades.
“I’m extremely saddened that I won’t be in Des Moines. I would be setting up today, just like all of my fellow colleagues,” Porter said.
Colleen Murphy from the Des Moines Arts Festival expressed sympathy for Porter.
“Obviously, very heartbroken to see that for anybody, to see all of their hard work and their time spent and all their wares, destroyed in fire,” Murphy said.
Porter says her losses are insured, and she was not injured in the incident.
“It just reiterates what’s important. And, you know, even though you’re standing there watching everything burn down, that it’s going to be OK,” Porter said.
Porter plans to work on new art in her Mississippi gallery and hopes to be back in Des Moines next year.
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