Spring 2023 Artist in Residence at Catoctin Mountain Park

 Mr. Jeffrey Lockwood, a writer and PhD in entomology from Laramie, Wyoming, was the Catoctin Forest Alliance Artist in Residence at Catoctin Mountain Park May 9-23, 2023.

During his stay in Catoctin Mountain Park, he wrote every day, hiked, and researched.  He interacted with visitors to the park and did two public presentations at the Thurmont Library.

Cinquain WorkshopDuring the Children’s Writing Workshop, he guided the children to write 5-line poems called cinquains that require counting syllables. The first line has 2 syllables, the second line 4, third line 6, fourth line 8 and line 5 has 2 syllables.  The following is from Mr. Lockwood’s writing. One girl found a rock, named it Boris and wrote: “Boris / you are so old / you sound like a cello / and you taste like fresh, muddy dirt. / Content.”  A tranquil stone? Indeed.

During the Adult Writing Workshop, Mr. Lockwood guided the participants to write minute memoirs.  Each memoir was to have 6-10 words.  He quoted a 6-word story by Ernest Hemingway as an example—"For sale, baby shoes, never used”.  Each participant was given a topic and 5 minutes to create a memoir.  It was a challenging and very enjoyable activity.  As each person read their memoir to the group, it was pleasant to see how each was creative and unique.

Each Artist in Residence donates something they created while in residence.  Mr. Lockwood donated a written work entitled The Giving Place, about the Catoctin Mountain Forest and the Catoctin Furnace.  It is a daily reflection of his experience in the park.  Each day’s work is limited to 271 words to honor and remember the 271 Black men and women whose blood, sweat, and tears—along with the forest—fueled the furnaces (Mr. Lockwood’s words). In addition, each piece was catalyzed by a word having the prefix "re-" as Mr. Lockwood perceived the Catoctin Mountain Park to be interwoven with concepts such as repurpose, recover, reincarnate, restore and regret.  You can read The Giving Place by clicking HERE.

 

It was always easy to spot Jeffrey in and around the park with his robin’s egg blue rental car.Jeffreys rental

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Capture Art in a National Park

Art has been part of the history of national parks since the 1860’s when Hudson River School painters captured the majestic Western landscapes that became our first iconic national parks.  Their awe-inspiring works spurred Americans to preserve those lands for future generations.  Artist George Catlin, during an 1832 trip to the Dakotas, was perhaps the first to suggest the idea of a national park.  Catlin traveled extensively and noted that Indian civilization, wildlife and the wilderness were in danger unless they could be preserved "by some great protecting policy of government...in a magnificent park....a Nation’s Park, containing man and beast, in all the wild[ness] and freshness of their nature’s beauty!"

Today, there are Artist in Residence (AIR) programs in more than 50 National Park Service units which preserve the connection between arts and the parks.   Catoctin Forest Alliance (CFA) manages the local Artist in Residence program jointly with Catoctin Mountain Park and Cunningham Falls State Park.  Selections for the program are made by a panel that includes art experts from local colleges.  In addition to accepting a variety of visual media, the program in 2013 began accepting written media as well.                                                                                               

  

 CFA was established in 2009 as a partner organization to Catoctin Mountain Park NPS and Cunningham Falls State Park MPS.  One of the CFA founders was artist Elizabeth Prongas, who began the local AIR program here in 2010 to bring a new and diverse voice and constituency to the parks.   Since the inception of the AIR program CFA has welcomed 31 artists to the Catoctin Mountains.  They have come from California, Washington, DC, Kentucky, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Virginia.   The artists include painters, photographers, poets, a writer, a videographer, cast metal artist, a wool felter, a journaling artist and this year, a fabric artist/quilter.  The artists stay in an historic cabin in Catoctin Mountain Park for one to three weeks and produce art influenced by the mountain setting.  After the residency, each artist donates one piece of the art they created during their stay to the CFA AIR collection.

          

The AIR art collection has been on exhibit at the Delaplaine Arts Center in Frederick, the Thurmont Library, the Emmitsburg Library and the Visitor Center in the Manor Area of Cunningham Falls State Park.  The collection permanently housed in Catoctin Mountain Park.

This year’s Artist in Residence is Susan Lenz, a fabric artist/quilter, will be in residence during September.  She will be presenting free workshops at the following times and locations:Susan Lenz

  • September 9th 1130am at the Catoctin Mountain Park Visitor Center 14707 Park Central Rd. Thurmont, MD 21788
  • September 17th and 18th from 2-4pm at the Thurmont Regional Library, 76 E. Moser Rd, Thurmont, MD 21788

Adults and children are welcomed to hear her presentation and have the opportunity for hands on participation.

The Artist in Residence program not only strengthens the bond between nature, art and the outdoors but the sale of the art produces funds to bring children to the parks for outdoor learning experiences.

To learn more about the artist, visit her website at www.susanlenz.com.

 

 

Nancy Arbuthnot was our Artist in Residence (AIR) for 2020 and 2021. While in the park, she began work on a book of watercolor painting and haiku poems about Catoctin Mountain Park.  The book is now complete and is available for sale at Remember Me Singing: a Catoctin Mountain Alphabet - Kindle edition by Arbuthnot, Nancy. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

 

                                                     Catoctin Forest Alliance Virtual Artist in Residence

Nancy Arbuthnot AIR 5 2020 800x600 Nancy Arbuthnot

 

 

Nancy Arbuthnot, our Artist in Residence (AIR) for 2020 was unable to do her residency in the park due to COVID 19 and the park closure. Nancy was undaunted by the limitations of her residency and put together some virtual teaching materials to be used with school children. Because Nancy did not have the opportunity for a real AIR experience, we have invited her to come back in 2021 to complete her residency.  Consequently we will not be accepting AIR applications for 2021. We encourage prospective AIR applicants to stay turned and submit applications for 2022.

Nancy Arbuthnot is a poet, artist and teacher from Washington, DC, who enjoys creating work inspired by nature and teaching others how to convey their experiences with the natural world through art and poetry. She finds that her work as a citizen-scientist with the DC Department of the Environment is greatly enhanced by drawing and writing poems about the frogs and toads inhabiting the ponds in Rock Creek National Park, right outside her back door!

 

Nature Haiku Virtual Workshop by Nancy Arbuthnot

    Nature Haiku Guided Meditation  by Nancy Arbuthnot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sarah McCartt Jackson reduced size

 Catoctin Forest Alliance Poet in Residence

Sarah McCartt-Jackson

Sarah McCartt-Jackson was our Artist in Residence at Catoctin Mountain Park May 1-21, 2019.  Sarah is from Lexington, Kentucky where she is currently a teaching artist for the Kentucky Arts Council. She also offers community workshops for writers of all backgrounds through several organizations including Louisville Literary arts, Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning, Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest, Fall of the Ohio State Park and others.

While in residence at the park, Sarah hiked every trail in the park, chatted with many visitors and made regular trips to the Visitor Center to interact with staff and guests.  She put up a message board in the Visitor Center and asked people to write down what they liked most about the park.  With that information, Sarah wrote a collaborative poem entitled Catoctin Mountain.  To hear Sarah read the poem with video accompaniment, click HERE.

 

 

 

 

Poet in Residency
The Catoctin Forest Alliance and Catoctin Mountain Park were proud to welcome Carlos Reyes as

the Poet in Residence from September 9-22, 2018.

 

Carlos ReyesAn Irish-American poet and translator, Carlos Reyes lives in Portland, Oregon when he is not in County Clare, Ireland or traveling to the Canary Islands, Cuba, Ecuador, France, Greece, India, Panama, or Spain, giving readings of his own work and connecting with poets in other countries.

Carolyn Kizer said, “Mr. Reyes is one of our local and national treasures. His poetry is as clear and strong as his social conscience. One is always struck by his sensual and sensory qualities: the touch, taste, feel, color of things and his ability to capture a mood, a world in a handful of lines.”

Mr. Reyes has written nine books of poetry. He has been a Yaddo Fellow, a fellow twice at the Fundacion Valparaise (Mojacar, Spain) and awarded a fellowship at the Heinrich Boll Cottage (Achill Island, Ireland). He has been a Poet in Residence at Joshua Tree National Park, the Sitka Island Institute, Sitka, Alaska, Acadia National Park and Devil’s Tower National Monument. While he was in residence at Joshua Tree National Park, he wrote a poem that was later displayed in the new visitor center at the park.

While in residence at Catoctin Mountain Park, Mr. Reyes wrote 17 poems about the park and its structures. His whole two week stay was soaked with rain and his poems reflect that condition. He did a poetry reading at the park on September 20 and everyone there thoroughly enjoyed his work. He has a great talent for seeing what is around him and painting a verbal picture  Below is one of the poems that Mr. Reyes wrote during his residency.

 

PAST
—Blue Blazes Whiskey Still

Mist condenses, drips from trees
a brook trout leaps for a mosquito
from water in a branch
of Big Hunting Creek

A single drop from copper
blue shadows creep like ribbons
of fog, bootleggers slipping
through the trees

On a windless day the scent
of earth, of moonshine rises
from around battered pot stills

you think steam, you
know it’s morning mist

 

CFA Welcomes Spring Artist in Residence
Jim Schlett reduced sizeJim Schlett, a photographer from Reston, VA was in residence at Catoctin Mountain Park from May 6-19, 2018  . Jim and his wife, Gail, spent two weeks exploring the park and interacting with visitors and staff. Jim presented two nature photograpy programs, took photos of the park staff and took photos of all of our Artist in Residence artwork in addition to capturing the beauty of the park with his photos.


With Jim’s permission, the link below is included with all of the nature photos Jim took during his residency.
Catoctin Images ---slideshows
http://photomanva.zenfolio.com/p397545604/slideshow#hacf2800b (This slideshow has music.)
http://photomanva.zenfolio.com/p397545604 (Slide show without music.)

 

 

DSC 6711 Pathway low reduced size

Mountain Pathway in Catoctin Mountain Park

Photo by Jim Schlett