Creative Residency Announcement
I’m super excited to share some big news with you all: I will be spending an extended period of time in West Virginia this winter as New River Gorge Creative in Residence, to create a body of work from this special location. The residency is offered by Amy McGlaughlin and Shawn Means, owners of the boutique vacation rental property Lafayette Flats in Fayetteville, WV which is the gateway town to our country’s newest National Park.
Amy & Shawn are just amazing patrons of the arts, and have used their historic property to display a large collection of West Virginia art. They set aside funds each year to purchase even more art, and they developed a creative residency program to offer their property to artists in the winter so that they can have time to dedicate to their creative pursuits and connect with the town residents and the greater area.
I was one of three creatives to be selected for the winter residency this year, and I feel very excited at the prospect of spending an entire month in New River Gorge National Park. My intent is to visit the park daily to develop a robust body of work not unlike the one I created from my time in Acadia National Park recently, showcasing this incredible location and the beauty to be found there in the winter. Imagine a color palette comprised of blues and taupes, faded plants, crystalline landscapes, and minimalist takes on this ecosystem. I will also be experimenting with a new way of presenting the work, and am hopeful that more will come of the project down the line.
I’ve already begun my research into both the well-known and more obscure places to be found within the Gorge, and I’m absolutely geeking out on natural resource inventories, maps, and the like. I’ll be building a file of information over the next couple of months, and come mid-January, I’ll be moving to Fayetteville to get to know this place a lot better. This place is known for its FOG and so I am beyond excited about it all! I know I have followers familiar with this area, so if you have information that could help me and you’re willing to share, please reach out to me.
I do have an image from this park included in my new poster series Appalachian Dreams - click the image on the right to support me by purchasing one of these posters!
Below is a selection of work I’ve done in the park so far, most of it around Sandstone Falls. I hope to build a much more robust and complete body of work during the course of this residency! If you’d like more information on Lafayette Flats, click the button below.
