PORTLAND, Oregon — A Southeast Portland artist recovering from a brain bleed is now out tens of thousands of dollars after someone broke into her jewelry studio last month.
The burglary happened on the corner of Southeast Stark and 28th Avenue at Stark Street Studios., a place that many local independent artists in Portland call their sanctuary. But that all changed last month when someone broke into Carol Greiwe’s studio, a place she has called home for the last 25 years, and stole about $100,000 worth of merchandise.
“This is such a violation," said Greiwe. "This is my personal space. This is an extension of who I am and what I do."
This break-in came unexpectedly a week after Greiwe was released from the hospital when she suffered a brain bleed on August 17.
“I truly think I was targeted,” she said. “Thank god they didn’t trash my studio — I’m thankful for that.”
Greiwe said she was hysterical when she connected the dots that and realized that her place had been cleaned out.
“I came to unlock my door and the door actually fell on me after I unlocked it. I came to realize that the pins were slipped and the door was put back in place so it wasn’t obvious that someone had been here," said Greiwe. "I turned on the lights and saw that my safe was gone.”
The safe was bolted into the ground of her studio and contained about $25,000 worth of loose gold, silver, pearls and hand-crafted gemstones inside.
“It’s not just an attack on my friend — small businesses all over town are suffering,” said Amy Fields, Carol’s best friend and studio mate. “This used to be the safest place that I could think of to live and it’s not anymore.”
Fields also had merchandise stolen and is frustrated with the ongoing hit to small businesses in Portland.
“We work really hard and a lot of our work kind of runs the city,” said Fields. "I just find it really frustrating that people will just take from us when we are just trying to work hard and make our city the beautiful place that it is."
Fields has also worked out of the studio for decades and never thought her business was in jeopardy.
"Maybe I was naïve,” said Greiwe. “I mean I had my form of insurance, which was a safe that was bolted to the ground, and bolting my window with cross beams."
While recovering from these two major hits won't be easy, Carol said she's focused on her future and the people who are there by her side.
"I will build again. I will survive, 100%. And there has been a tremendous amount of support in regards to what happened," she said. "I am super grateful."
Carol is looking into buying a security camera and installing a metal fence on her door. Because of her brain bleed, Carol doesn't know when she'll go back to work. Her friends have created a GoFundMe page that you can find here.