The
Wormfarm Institute's visiting artist program
is designed to support emerging artists, writers,
photographers and performers by giving them
the time, space and facilities to further their
creative development. The Wormfarm also provides
artists with a venue or format for their work
and exposure to diverse creative stimuli. See
how some of our artists have benefited from
the visiting artist program.
"Wormfarm,
Donna and Jay's wonderful invention that links
artistic creation with organic agriculture,
makes for extraordinary results. These results
benefit the artists, the community and Wormfarm
itself. While there, I was working in three
diferent ways: creating my own paintings,
contributing to local cultural projects, and
helping in the garden. It was gratifying to
see how the development of each of these activities
was enriched by the influence of the other
two.
Working in the garden was essential for establishing
my vital connection with the earth and to
remove from myself the feeling of being just
a visitor. It was a key activity for joining
with the landscape I wanted to reflect in
my paintings. Ultimately it permitted me to
feel a part of what I observed and painted..."
Ramon Lopez, Barcelona Spain 2004
"I
wrote with the rhythm of the
place and the routines of the day. All told,
I managed to come out with more writing, revisions
and ideas than I could swing in several months
of non-intensive time. But the writing just
happened, between long walks and harvest mornings.
Not without rigor, not without effort, and not
without the crying of lost sheep interrupting
me, but with the slow and steady rhythms of
the place, and the good company of Donna and
Jay. It's a great experience for open minded,
hardworking artists who don't mind getting their
hands dirty."
Faith Fogel, Poet
Summer 2002
(leading a poetry workshop at the Wormfarm)
"In
the city we find ourselves drawn to green
spaces that fight their way out of the urban
landscape: the overgrown vacant lot, the abandoned
riverfront industrial site. By immersing ourselves
in the ‘real’ green of the Wormfarm,
we were be able to discover and connect with
that which draws us."
Kevin
Daniel, Brooklyn New York
"There
was so much space for my head to open into
at the Wormfarm. The daily changes of weather
and plant life cycles were shaping my reality
as I was shaping my ideas, processes and projects."
Loey
Colebeck, Mixed-Media Artist/Herbalist
Summer 2000
(quilt made during residency)
"The
rolling hills of the Wormfarm that are so
seductively inspiring, the collection of odds
and ends that are just waiting to be transformed,
the quiet, surrounding woods . . . all pieces
of the whole. Living and working on the Wormfarm
allowed me to immerse myself into an active
and engaged lifestyle that is about providing
good produce, good art, and deep, rooted,
organically rich inventiveness. It was a very
freeing experience to find a refuge from the
complexities of city living. There was time
to allow the mind to search deeply for those
hidden ideas."
Nick Wroblewski, Sculptor/Lithographer
Summer
1999
(Sculpture)
