History. Resilience. Community.

Wedge Foundation sits in one of the most storied corners of Asheville’s River Arts District. The building traces its roots to the Hans Rees & Sons tannery complex, established along the French Broad River in the late 1800s. At its height, the operation became the largest leather tannery in the country, part of the industrial backbone that once defined this stretch of Asheville.

More than a century later, those old industrial buildings found a new life. Artists, makers, independent businesses, restaurants and breweries transformed the former tannery grounds into what became known as The Foundation. Wedge opened its Foundy Street brewery and taproom here in 2017, becoming part of a neighborhood built around the same ideas that have always shaped Wedge: Beer, Art & Community.

On September 27, 2024, Hurricane Helene changed the River Arts District overnight. Historic flooding devastated the Foundy Street area, severely damaging Wedge Foundation and forcing the brewery and taproom to close. The destruction was immense, but the decision to return was never simply about rebuilding a bar or brewery—it was about remaining part of a community that was rebuilding alongside us.

Nearly a year of cleanup, recovery and reconstruction followed. When Wedge Foundation reopened, it did so a little differently: a smaller, reimagined space within the same historic walls, carrying forward the character of what came before while beginning a new chapter.

From tannery, to arts district, to brewery, to rebuild—Wedge Foundation has always been a place that gets made, remade and made its own.