NEWS

Methow River Artists-in-Residence

October 2-4, 2020

Selected Artists: Subhaga Crystal Bacon, Sarah Horowitz, Jennifer Molesworth, Heather Murphy, Rod Weagant

On a gorgeous fall weekend in October, five artists gathered in Twisp, Washington to participate in the Icicle Fund’s Conservation, History, and Art (CHA) Artist Residency. For three days, they experienced the Methow River Watershed side-by-side with the words from poet William Stafford, who was commissioned by the Forest Service to write a series of poems about the valley in 1993. Seven of those poems now stand as plaques, spanning the river from the North Cascades that serve as its headwaters to Pateros, where it meets the Columbia. Artists used these sites as a launching point for their own work, sketching, painting, drawing, and writing about this unique watershed. They met each evening to discuss the day and share experiences, drawing information and inspiration from each other. The final day, the group shared their creations, delighted to see the work of their fellow artists and the variety of interpretations of the same areas.

Photos by Stephen Mitchell

Resources:

Map of all the Stafford Sites on the Methow River

Methow Poetry Signs: A movie featuring footage from the Stafford Sites

What the River Says: The Methow River Poem Plaques of William Stafford: Article by Subhaga Crystal Bacon

The valley around us is deep — High Country News – Know the West: A short article written a year after the Stafford Poetry project, including the text of the poems

For more information go to https://iciclefund.org/cha-cha or email us at chacha@iciclefund.org.