Introducing the Plas Newydd Farm Arts Spirit Lake Scholarship Fund
In Memory of
Saran Morgan Hutchins (1939-2023)
Working alongside Plas Newydd Farm, the PN Farm Arts Initiative is a place-based, collaborative endeavor based in Ridgefield, Washington. The initiative creates a space where the local arts community and the general public can come together for creation, conversation and exploration. Through a combination of workshops, short-term artists' residencies and exhibitions, we delve into the stories of this place together.
Thanks to your donation, we can continue to ensure access to all of our offerings. We are committed to keeping our programs affordable and sustainable as we move forward, and we couldn't do it without you!
Saran Morgan Hutchins spent part of her childhood at Plas Newydd Farm, and her creative spirit has informed much of what we do here. When her family offered to seed a scholarship fund for the Arts Initiative in her memory, we worked together to find a name that was a fitting tribute, and decided to make this fund the focus of this season's fundraising efforts.
Why Spirit Lake? Plas Newydd Farm sits on the banks of the Lewis River in Ridgefield, Washington, a river whose tributaries flow from the flanks of Mount St. Helens. On a clear day, you can still see the rounded cone of the mountain from the front fields on the farm, but before the 1980 eruption, the mountain loomed even larger and held importance for the Morgan clan.
Spirit Lake in particular was a treasured place, and one Saran’s daughters remember her speaking about with a deep reverence. The Plas Newydd Farm Arts Initiative is among other things a study of change, and while the Spirit Lake Saran knew growing up in the 1950’s was far different from the place it is today, it holds up in the collective memory as place of deep and serene beauty, and it stands alongside the rest of the Mount St. Helens ecosystem as a symbol of the resilience of the natural world. It’s hard to picture a more fitting emblem for our fledgling scholarship program on this ancient landscape.
Thank you for your support!
Susan Wood, Oil