2019 Residents
“The Horned Dorset Colony gave me a perfect place to live, relax, and work in beautiful surroundings. The countryside is breathtaking and the food was incredible. I cannot recommend Horned Dorst highly enough. Kingsley and Roberta are so warm and supportive, and I couldn’t have felt more comfortable and welcome.”
Emily Oliveira, visual artist, mixed media
“One of the most extraordinary aspects of this residency is the importance given to creating and nurturing an environment of refined taste, comfort and culture.”
Howard Fishman, writer, composer, performer
“Living at Creekside was so peaceful that my works, thoughts and spirit experienced an unexpected boost.”
Oriol Mora, painter
“You made me feel welcome right from the start. The person to person attention and the food are highlights of HDC. I have never had this much time to myself.”
Michelle Pauls, writer
“Thank you so much. Please tell chef Aaron that I was so happy every day because of the food. I made a document of the work I donated. It’s one of the paintings I wanted to own myself.”
Soojin Kim, visual artist
“I took long walks in the morning and saw beautiful sunrises and rabbits, deer, birds, coyotes. Kingsley, Roberta and Harold were always attentive to the needs of the artists and are super hosts. The food is wonderful, very healthy and well balanced. At the end of the residency, I had a chance to share my art and experiences with a local audience in a well-organized open studio event.”
Pesya Altman, visual artist
“Your whole family has such great soul. It was worth coming just to meet you.”
Merridawn Druckler, writer
“Horned Dorset Colony was one of the most glorious experiences I could imagine, and a game changer for my art practice.”
Matilda Bathurst, writer
2018 Residents
“The serenity of Leonardsville helped me to focus on my main objectives. Among the most stimulating aspects of my residency was the interaction with fellow residents.”
Michael Brodeur, visual artist
“My time was rejuvenating and inspiring.”
Megan Galbraith, writer
“HDC was very important to me. I hope to return.”
Rui Coias, writer
“I enjoyed every minute of my time, with the company of artists in different disciplines, spectacular nature, affectionate people, and tasty food.”
Azita Moradkhani, visual artist
“…nourishing in so many ways.”
Lisa Iglesias, visual artist
“Wonderful. Productive. My first residency, and I would like to come back again.”
Ethan Cypress, composer
“The food was so good that my fellow residents and I believed we were part of some kind of social experiment or perhaps being prepared as offerings to a Celtic god. I walked to the cascade, talked to the farmers and picked apples from the nearby orchard. The days passed by while I read at the library, enchanted by the antique books, truly reliquaries of images and ideas. During dinner I talked to my fellow artists about politics, art, and their paintings. We promised to keep in touch. Yes, I was part of a social experiment in human bonding.”
Jhon Sanchez, writer
2017 Residents
“The warmth and sincere desire to nurture our productivity was always present.”
Susan Lisbin, visual artist
“My time here helped me grow and explore a new body of work in a direction I would not have achieved otherwise.”
Hannah Richards, visual artist
“HDC is a paradigm of what a residency should be: intimate and yet still connected to the community, where we always felt valued and supported as individuals and artists.”
Janet Thielke, writer
“What you have here is space. There’s the physical space of the gorgeous landscapes; there’s the tasteful space of the rooms in every house and room. It gives us resident artists the space to be, to do what rests in our hearts waiting to emerge.”
Suzanne Benton, writer
“I want to come back again as soon as possible.”
Wendy Harris, visual artist
“I believe that art is not an isolated medium, but rather a networking of our lives, people we spend time with and the creative thinking that comes from that…my work is fueled more by collaborative work than before. My work leads me, I follow and am often surprised at the direction.”
Sally Strom, visual artist
2016 Residents
“I experienced the perfect balance for myself of peace, inspiration and care, and as a result produced more and better poems than I could have imagined.”
Barbara Regenspan, writer
“I greatly enjoyed the combination of natural beauty, conversation with artists and staff, and unstructured time to work.”
Amy Babinec, visual artist
“Many wonderful things about HDC: the landscape; the wildlife, especially birds; HDC’s openness, generosity and willingness to make things better for us; fabulously professional and warm restaurant staff.”
Andrea Cukier, visual artist
“(You) made us feel like stars. Artists often feel undervalued. (You) alleviated any working-class artist woes.”
Stephen Woods, visual artist
“HDC was my first experience in the US, and the welcome was so generous that I felt at home from the first moment. Inspiration comes from all directions and you can focus on your work without distraction.”
Marc Vilanova, musical composer and performer
“My time at HDC exceeded all of my expectations. Not only did I manage to accomplish a great deal of writing and reading, I was part of a small community of other artists who were incredibly talented and inspiring. The surroundings are stunning. If walking through apple orchards and enjoying clear starry nights won’t kickstart your creativity, nothing will. The meals were exceptional. (We) felt absolutely spoiled by the farm-to-table offerings each day. Simply put, if you’re an artist seeking a space to create, apply.”
Tanya Ponton, writer
2015 Residents
“I definitely don’t think I’ll eat as well anywhere else! . . . the landscape here – and ample space to work – have proved the perfect formula for producing a body of work that I could not have created elsewhere.”
Joanna Hoge, visual artist
“I don’t know how to express how wonderful this experience was for me!…it was a beautiful setting, with amazing food and wonderful staff! It is an ideal place for artists to collaborate and focus on their work. It was an overall fabulous experience!”
Sima Schloss, visual artist
“ . . . an experience unlike any other residency and one that I will cherish and champion for the rest of my career.”
Matthew Kennedy, composer
“. . . an amazing opportunity. The peacefulness of the scenery provided a solitude an artist needs to create.”
Angela Mircsov, visual artist
“…very personalized. The small town (Leonardsville) made it very easy to focus on work and the simple beauty surrounding us.”
Sierra Barela, visual artist
“I want to thank you all, profoundly, for treating me so well for the month.”
Michael Lehman, painter
2014 Residents
“My experience at the HDC was a combined pleasure of privately working in my studio and meeting with my fellow residents for excellent food and drink in the evenings. It was a productive time, full of inspiration.”
Diane Ayott, painter
” This is my first visit to an artists’ colony, so I confess I was caught off guard by the wonder-fulness of it all: the quiet, the solitude, the long hours in which nothing was expected of me except to write. Bliss.”
Jennifer Brice, writer
“It has been such a pleasure to be a resident at the HDC. Roberta, Kingsley, the restaurant crew and the other residents have been amazing to be around and so supportive. One of my favorite spots is the waterfall behind Creekside Studio which has been meditative, stimulating and rejuvenating. Another favorite thing is HDC’s close friendship with Golden Artist Colors: you can easily drive (there) and take a tour as well as attend the Open Studios (at their residency program).”
Lauren Coulson, painter
” The Horned Dorset Colony raises the bar for artist’s residences! The environment at HDC allowed me to compose at full throttle and introduced me, through collaboration with painters, to the new world of videography. Many nights involved presentations of our work and revelations into our creative processes, which is often too intimate to disclose, but because the environment was so creative, this was easy. The amazing food and accommodation fostered friendships that I shall forever cherish. I am in debt to HDC for introducing me to new ideas, artistic processes and collaboration.”
Nirmali Fenn, composer
“My HDC residency was the perfect combination of self reflection and the coming together of creative minds. It made me feel like I was at my second home.”
Katherine Irwin, painter
“I am amazed at the level of interest we shared in each other’s work, and the collaborations that grew out of that. We chose to convene every evening after the generous dinner HDC provided, and we engaged in our “show and tell” presentations, through which we shared our work, sources of inspiration, and creative ideas. I am impressed at the level of connection between our ways of thinking, despite the range of our creative disciplines. This helped the development of my work and provided new inspirations for concepts to be developed.”
Myke Karlowski, painter
” When I imagine the ideal writing space, I will now think of the HDC Utopia Library – even the name is fodder for inspiration. The stacks are arranged not necessarily to encourage finding so much as wandering, stumbling on the unexpected. If I didn’t do enough browsing during my month here, it was because I was writing, and, strangely enough, a lot of the work I generated also centered on eating and food.”
Pedro Ponce, writer
“We came as strangers and left as a tribe. Although our age difference spanned 30 years, we all came together for one purpose: to deepen our art. Aaron’s meals stimulated creative “round table art discussions”. This experience led to our “show and tell” for an hour or two after dinner. Art was being created 24/7 for the month of August. I stayed up all night and Nirmali woke up when I went to bed. Kathy and Myke worked throughout the day. Phoebe and I did a few collaborations. I am revitalized and have a number of pieces in the works to continue on. HDC will live on in all of us. Time has meaning. Sound has color. Food is bonding.”
Sally Strom, painter, installation and video artist
” HDC is eager to please and serious in its’ intent, but you can’t make art twenty-four hours per day. Get out and see some of the incredible landscape. Walk, jog, hike or bike. Take one of the bicycles along River Road until you see the “Bake Sale” sign on the right. This is an Amish property, with fabulous home-baked goods!”
Lyzette Wanzer, writer
2013 Residents
“Felt like family. Food was incredible. The natural environment here is beautiful and will be greatly appreciated by those not familiar with Central NY State.”
Gary DeMichele, composer
“As I drove away from the Horned Dorset Artists Colony I listened to Bob Dylan sing, ‘Knock, Knock, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door’. I had to smile because that is just what my artist’s residency felt like.”
Lisa Fliegel, visual artist
“Fields, waterfalls, fauna and colony buildings were as nourishing as the meals provided.”
Alex LaCruz, photographer
“The Horned Dorset Colony experience is a multifaceted, gastronomical, self-confronting, back to nature journey that has left me scarred, in a good, bragging, storytelling way, similar to skateboard kids comparing their asphalt and steel rail kisses.”
Michael Lopez Trenche, visual artist
2012 Residents
“HDC provides a deep and profound caring for the arts and the artists.”
Joellyn Duesberry, visual artist
“I felt so comfortable. It was a very new and different experience for me and you made it quite enjoyable and productive.”
Lynette Stephenson, visual artist
