The Plas Newydd Farm Arts Initiative
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.
Your gift today will help the PN Farm Arts Initiative grow into our third year. Funds will support our sustainability, help provide artist-in-residence opportunities, and allow us to continue to offer financial assistance through the Spirit Lake Scholarship fund, founded in 2023 in memory of Saran Morgan Hutchins (1939-2023), an early PN Farm Arts artist.
Saran spent part of her childhood at Plas Newydd Farm, and her creative spirit has informed much of what we do here. If you would like your donation to be earmarked for the Spirit Lake Scholarship Fund, please make a note when you make your donation.
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 for the Morgan family, 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