Sunday, September 26, 2010

OUR FIRST "ROAD SCHOLAR" ADVENTURE!

Roy and I have just returned from a week long study program at Snow Farm in Williamsburg MA!
This was our dormitory (of which there were four) that had bedrooms on both sides with an open air covered boardwalk in the middle. You have to go out into the hall to get to the shared bathrooms.This is the building that has the drawing studio.
The Road Scholar Program is the new name for what was formerly known as the Elder Hostel Program, Adventures in Lifelong Learning. The Road Scholar Program is worldwide and offers learning opportunities for people from age 50 upward. The programs are designed for those who share common interests and a love of learning new things. There were 35 participants in the programs last week. Roy was enrolled in a Kiln Glass course and I enrolled in a Figure and Portraits drawing course. The entire week was just wonderful! We met people from all over the country and Roy has three new best friends from Canada.
We met a sweet older gentleman from Brooklyn who was so impressed with the piece of artwork I had brought with me, ("Bridget".) He felt compelled to give me advice by telling me to not take ANY art courses and to not let ANYONE tell me how to do my art. He was drawn to the primitive nature of my work, found it refreshing and light and honest, etc. So, this guy who seems to know a LOT about the art world, was really good for MY ego!
Because the entire experience was so intense, and we did so many things, I will put up several posts to cover the week. This one will include photographs of Snow Farm, the landscape and the buildings where all this wonderful creating took place. In addition to our courses, there were also classes going on in Felting, Woodworking, Welding, and Glass Bead Making.
For more information on this fabulous program, you can check out their web site at http://www.roadscholar.org/. There is also a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/rsadventures.
This is the main building with a large central meeting room and a very long dining room.
Tomorrow I will share with you some interior photographs of the studios. Right now I am trying to get all the laundry done! Stay tuned!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

When does it start snowing in that area. Do they have retreats in the winter too? Dee

Anonymous said...

Hi Dee,
I don't know the answer to either of those! I ddn't look for workshops there in the winter because I didn't want us to have to deal with the driving of 500 miles each way in possible crappy conditions. You could find out about winter classes from their web page!

Anonymous said...

I did one Elderhostel trip. We went to Equador. I did not know they had change their name. There different venues at the Claremont Colleges. Glad you had a great group. I have never driven in the snow. cheers D