KNLT, in collaboration with writer Erik Reece, and visual artist and writer Zoe’ Strecker, recently hosted our second artists’ retreat. We invited over 20 artists to Pine Mountain for the weekend to engage them in our Pine Mountain Wildlands Corridor project and to show them the splendor of the mountain in hopes they would be inspired by their experience. We stayed at the lovely Pine Mountain Settlement School. The retreat included talks by KNLT staff about the uniqueness of Pine Mountain and highlighted our conservation efforts over the last 20 years. We offered guided hikes to E. Lucy Braun State Park Nature Preserve and Bad Branch State Nature Preserve. The hikes provided opportunities for artists to experience unique forest types, sweeping views and the peak of fall colors. The weekend was filled with thoughtful conversations and questions. We are so grateful for the artists that came and shared their weekend with us. Art and conservation have a unique history and we are thrilled to be carrying on the tradition with these artists.
Because the two hosts were writers, we also spent some time discussing things like Copy editing, plot devices, proofreading, and self-publishing as many of the people present wanted to become authors. We practised writing, doing our best to describe the landscape around us and what goes on in it. It was a perfect way to end the retreat.
Thank you to the Snowy Owl Foundation for helping fund this retreat.
Visit our Facebook gallery for images from the weekend: Artists’ Retreat Photos
We were honored to have the following individuals participate:
Zoé Strecker, (retreat co-host) visual artist, writer and professor of art, website
Erik Reece, (retreat co-host)author and professor of writing, website
Carrie Billett, actor, artist & writer, Paper Eights
Warren Byrom, musician, website
Jeff Chapman-Crane, painter & sculptor, video on his sculpture “The Agony of Gaia”
Sharman Chapman-Crane, sculpture
John Lackey, painter, printmaker, illustrator & poet, Homegrown Press
Nana Lampton, painter, website
Daniel Martin Moore, musician & producer, website
Guy Mendes, photographer, website
Ed McClanahan, author, website
Jay Ryan, poster artist/illustrator (The Bird Machine) & musician (Dianogah)
Isabel Ryan, illustrator
Jeff Short, glass artist
Erika Strecker, sculptor, website
Diana Sudyka, illustrator, website
Chris Sullivan, musician & visual artist, website
Eric Sutherland, poet, website
Julia Taylor, attorney & Snowy Owl Foundation board member
Richard Taylor, author, poet & professor of writing, website
Lina Tharsing, painter, website
Brian Turner, printmaker, Cricket Press
Sara Turner, printmaker, Cricket Press
Jenny Zeller, visual artist & photographer, website