A storm brought lightning, wind, and heavy rain to Meridian's Kleiner Park on Friday night, turning the city's Fine Art Festival into a race to save artwork and forcing several artists to abandon the event.Flooding conditions ov ertook the festival grounds, leaving artists struggling to hold down tents and wading through water as the storm swept through.Sara Berquist, owner of Zyla Jewelry, witnessed the destruction firsthand."I was just stunned about just how deep the water was and how massive it covered," Berquist said.The damage extended beyond the flooding itself, with some artists losing everything they had brought to the show."There was also a lot of artists that lost everything and that couldn't do the show," Berquist said.Many artists were still too shaken to speak about the event on Monday, while others continued working to recover damaged property.The artists are not navigating the aftermath alone. Meg Glasgow, owner of Finer Frames, reached out to the art community on Facebook, offering discounts on art refurbishing and new frames."It's just heartbreaking to know that they poured their heart and soul into creating these works of art sometimes months and years in the making and then to have it all ruined," Glasgow said.Glasgow said she hopes to restore what can be saved and wants to see the affected artists bounce back."I just wanted to offer our expertise what we could do to help to save their artwork," Glasgow said.For Berquist, the night also revealed the strength of the community surrounding the festival."The resiliency to do these shows and everyone was wonderful in helping each other," Berquist said.While repairs and replacements will take time, those involved say the weekend proved that support for the arts in Meridian is as strong as ever.This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been, in part, converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. ...read more read less