For the month of November, the Delaware Highlands Conservancy will host writer and photographer Sandy Long as the artist-in-residence at the protected Lemons Brook Farm property in Bethel, NY.
The Lemons Brook Farm Artist Residency, a collaborative project between the Delaware Highlands Conservancy and Beautiful Traditions (a community arts integration company) is an artist residency that integrates land, civil engagement and art. Unlike most artist residencies, which focus on the completion of a purposed project within an allowed time, the two to four-week residency shares the resident’s time between personal practice and community work. Lemons Brook offers this opportunity for one local artist or writer to focus on how place inspires process.
Sandy Long is a writer and photographer who focuses lens and pen on environmental, cultural and community issues. Following a career in higher education administration, Sandy has freelanced for publications of the Upper Delaware River region, served as a staff photojournalist and columnist for The River Reporter and published several collections of poetry.
Her early experiences with the natural world have inspired her efforts as an advocate for the preservation and protection of wild lands and vital habitats. She continues to share her knowledge and passion through community involvement and by focusing on the natural world in her artistic work.
In 2014, Sandy served as the first Artist in Residence at Shenandoah National Park, engaging in a daily photographic interface to capture the spirit of the iconic park, from its grand landscapes and dreamy vistas, to its diverse wildlife, to its most delicate and sometimes unobserved notitia—those essential details at the heart of our place-based relationships.
As a photographer of place devoted to the Upper Delaware River region, Sandy will bring her artistic focus to the Lemons Brook Farm property held by the Delaware Highlands Conservancy and will present her work to the public following the residency.
“The value of the arts in our lives cannot be underestimated,” says Sandy. “The arts give us a vehicle with which to explore the brief span of our lives, and to express something about that experience. Sometimes that expression can help to protect or preserve what we love.
“My own experiences of the restorative power of the natural world have galvanized my support for protecting special places and making them available to the human, plant and animal life that will follow mine. In addition to enhancing our own well-being, protected land serves the well-being of all life forms that depend upon intact habitats and clean water for their survival.”
Along with Krista Gromalski, Sandy is co-founder of the marketing and public relations firm, Heron’s Eye Communications, and a lifelong Pennsylvania resident.
To learn more about the Delaware Highlands Conservancy and the Lemons Brook Farm Artist Residency, visit www.DelawareHighlands.org or call 570-226-3164.
