It’s been an eventful Summer, and there is so much to write about that I tend to hesitate and not start. I really want to comment on our visit to the MacDowell Colony two weeks ago and the many moving experiences Denise and I had in our short visit there. This entry is cross-posted (in a slightly altered form) from my LiveJournal blog. I hope to post more explanatory material about the more obscure images in the video later.
Marion MacDowell
The MacDowell Colony was started by the Marion MacDowell, the wife of the composer Edward MacDowell in the first decade of the twentieth century on a large piece of rural land on in Peterborough, New Hampshire. An endowment was established to provide creative retreats for artists and writers working in all media and genres. Once accepted as a MacDowell Fellow, during their stay at the Colony, their living lodging and food, along with basic supplies are provided, and they have the option to spend as much or as little time as they choose working on their projects in solitude. Each day a breakfast, lunch and dinner is delivered to their studio, unless they have left word that they would prefer to dine in the main building and be social. The studios are unique little cabins located on trails and dirt roads among the woodlands and meadows of the Colony. Outside visitors to the Colony are discouraged, so as not to distract the artists, but on one day each yer since 1960, the August Medal Day has been an exception. Everybody is invited to have a picnic on the lawn, listen to the presentation ceremony of the Medal, hear some music, and wander around the grounds meeting the artists.
The MacDowell Colony Main Building
Picnic on the MacDowell Grounds, Jazz Trio Playing in the Tent
