KPAI 103.1 FM

Karaoke cohort, Nov.-Dec. 2012. Left to right: Residents Shawn Demarest, Sherri Davenport, Melissa Hacker, Ellen Waterston, Heather Heppner, Susan Glassow, Lisa Pounders, John-Erik Jordan. Barbara Hunter, staff. Behind, Bill Roach & Julie Bryant.

Thanks to the unabashed creativity and leadership of Heather Lea Heppner, resident Nov. 19 – Dec. 14, Playa broadcast the first of what may become a regular addition to the local shortwave radio station, located in the Paisley School.

Heather hosted a wide-ranging hour of interviews, readings, and music.  Heather is accompanied by the insights of Sherri Davenport & Melissa Hacker, readings and music from John-Eric Jordan, and poetry from Lisa Pounders.

To listen to the broadcast, click below.

Special thanks to Doug Young and Bruce Arrington, KPAI 103.1 FM, for facilitating the broadcast, and to John-Eric Jordon for putting the program in a cloud!

It’s been an incredible three years!

We’ve hosted 90 residents, attracted local and distant visitors to the monthly

Painting and installation by Playa resident Rob Licht. Photo by Naomi Lore

Playa|Presents, and aired the first Playa Radio Hour on the local station, KPAI 103.1 FM. Most importantly, we’ve had the pleasure to witness and support remarkable creativity here in Summer Lake.

What’s happening now?   Beginning January 1, 2013, Playa is entering a re-evaluation period to assess strategies for a more sustainable future.  The board is engaged in a two-fold evaluation: 1) how to continue its individual residency program in a manner that is sustainable for the long term, and 2) whether and how to share Playa’s facilities and stunning location with other users.

No Fellowship Residencies are planned for this spring. We are accepting applications for Contributing Residencies for stays from February through summer, and possibly into the fall.  (Please see the Contributing Residency tab above for more information.)  We will post updates regarding fall Fellowship Residencies later this spring.  Note that the turnaround time from application to fall  Fellowship Residency may be short!

I heard the property is for sale?  Playa leases the site in Summer Lake. The owners have listed the property for sale as we explore what Playa’s future looks like. Properties like this don’t sell quickly, especially in remote areas, and we don’t expect anything to happen for a while. It’s possible the property would be taken back off the market if Playa identifies a sustainable path for the future.  Parties interested in exploring the possibility of purchase can contact Winter Rim LLC at wr.dsgn@gmail.com.

 Can other groups use the site?  Yes.  The owners are very interested in finding a positive use for the site. This includes uses under the Playa umbrella (either individual or group) or other productive uses. Proposals for shared use, commercial/institutional lease, or purchase should be directed to Winter Rim LLC at wr.dsgn@gmail.com.  We welcome creative thinking and early stage ideas.

Are the residencies still happening?  We’ve suspended the 2013 winter-spring Fellowship Residencies and aren’t accepting applications for Fellowship residencies at this time. As noted above, we are accepting applications for Contributing Residencies from February through summer, and possibly into the fall.  We’ll be posting updates on our website when there’s more to say.  You can contact Playa at playa@playasummerlake.org if you have specific questions.

You are invited!  Featuring the open studios and displays of Fellowship Residents, the event will conclude with readings in the Commons, with refreshments served.

During the Fall 2012 session, which began September 24, Playa welcomed 22 writers, artists, and scientists from the U.S. for one-month fellowship residency stays. The third four-week session will conclude December 14.

Residents at Playa through December 14:
Shawn Demarest, Portland, painting;
Sheri Davenport, Oakland CA, screenwriting;
Heather Heppner, Concord CA, fiction;
Melissa Hacker, New York NY,  film;
John-Erik Jordan, Glendale CA, fiction;
Susan Glassow, Blue River OR, non-fiction;
Ellen Waterston, Bend OR, non-fiction;
Lisa Pounders, Bend OR, painting.

(Summer Lake Dike by Shawn Demarest)

Playa|Presents, Wednesday, October 17, 5:00-6:30 p.m. 

Featuring the open studios and displays of Fellowship Residents, the event will conclude with readings in the Playa Commons, with refreshments served.

During the Fall session, which began September 24, Playa welcomes 22 writers, artists, and scientists from the U.S. for one-month fellowship residency stays The three 4-week sessions will conclude December 14.

Residents at Playa through October 19 who may participate in Playa|Presents include:
- Katie Chase, fiction, Portland
- Andrew Duclos, painting, Myrtle Creek OR
- José McCarthy, non-fiction, Eugene
- Sarah Rabkin, non-fiction with drawing, Soquel CA
- Thomas Bosket, painting, drawing, Long Eddy NY
- Naomi Lore, poetry, non-fiction, Brooklyn NY
- Elliot Treichel, non-fiction, fiction, Eugene

To view, click: Profiles

Playa has awarded one-month stays to 21 Fellowship Residents. The Fall session, which begins September 24 and concludes December 14, is Playa’s fourth session of residencies. A Playa|Presents open-studio tour, with readings and displays of art, is scheduled during each cohort.

From Oregon:
Rich Bergeman, photography, Corvallis
Katie Chase, fiction, Portland
John Daniel, essay, fiction, non-fiction, poetry, Elmira
Shawn Demarest, painting, Portland
Andrew Duclos, painting, Myrtle Creek
Susan Glassow, non-fiction, Blue River
Melissa Madenski, essay, poetry, Portland
José McCarthy, non-fiction, Eugene
Elliot Treichel, non-fiction, fiction, Eugene
Ellen Waterston, non-fiction, fiction, poetry, Bend

From California:
Sheri Davenport, screenwriting, Oakland
Sue Hall, naturalist, artist, writer, Klamath River
Heather Heppner, fiction, Concord
John-Erik Jordan, fiction, Los Angeles
Sarah Rabkin, non-fiction with drawing, Soquel
Amanda Taylor, mixed media, beads, Idyllwild

From New York:
Thomas Bosket, painting, drawing, Long Eddy
Melissa Hacker, performing art, film, New York
Naomi Lore, poetry, non-fiction, Brooklyn

From other places:
Susie Hwang, video, sculpture, Providence, Rhode Island
Liz Roth, painting, drawing, Stillwater, Oklahoma

The Fellowship Residents submitted their online proposals for residency last April. A three-person panel of professionals reviewed the proposals and made their recommendations, which the Board of Directors approved in June. Bios of each resident is posted on the Playa website, under the Residency tab.

Photo:  Playa rainbow rock line, an evolving artifact by David Carmack Lewis

Playa has been a place of reflection and creativity for artists, scientists and the local community for the past two years. Now it is time for the Playa Board to reflect on its own work and future.

To create space for that process, Playa is not accepting new applications for 2013 residencies.

Fall 2012 residencies, paid summer residencies and other scheduled activities will continue as planned. We have a stellar group of residents joining us this fall and their profiles are posted under Residency.  We also look forward to welcoming our summer guests to Playa, including the University of Oregon’s Museum of Natural and Cultural History’s Oregon Outback Tour and the 12 participants of an Invited Residency in August with the theme “Change dynamics in the northern Great Basin”.

We will announce any updates to our plans for 2013 on our website. To receive an email when updates are posted, please subscribe to Playa News using the form on the right side of this page.

Photo:  True North (a rock line on the playa) by winter resident Rob Licht.

Playa is proud to host the University of Oregon’s Museum of Natural and Cultural History for three days in late July during its Oregon Outback Tour, 2012.The group tour, a multiday sweep through parts of central and southeast Oregon, visits geological and archaeological points of interest. These will include: the UO Archaeological Field School at Rimrock Draw Rockshelter near Burns; archaeological sites in the Summer Lake area, including Paisley Caves; Fort Rock Cave; and Newberry Crater.  Lectures at Playa will include Dennis Jenkins on Paisley Caves and ancient DNA and Tom Connolly on Fort Rock and Newberry. 

The Museum of Natural and Cultural History, Oregon’s primary repository for anthropological and paleontological collections, protects significant collections, enhances knowledge, and encourages stewardship of human and natural history through research, preservation, and education.

To celebrate its first full year of fellowship residents, Playa will host its first Open House on Saturday, May 5, 1-4 p.m. Since May 2011, Playa has welcomed 59 writers, artists, and scientists from the U.S. and Canada for residency stays of two weeks to two months.

During the Open House, visitors are invited to tour the facility’s grounds and studios and to gather at the Commons for refreshments.

At 2 p.m., archaeologist Michael Rondeau will show slides and present a guest lecture, “The Peopling of the New World,” about recent research that challenges the Clovis-first model of human habitation. Rondeau, a lithics expert from Sacramento, will be spending his April-May fellowship residency at Playa working with Dr. Dennis Jenkins to analyze lithics from Paisley Caves. He is also on the faculty of the Northern Great Basin Prehistory Project’s Archaeology Field School, summer 2012.

The event also launches Playa’s summer season and the beginning of its Contributing Residency program. In addition, April-May are prime months to view the migrating flocks of waterfowl–including plumaged ducks, geese, and swans–and the songbirds passing through the Summer Lake area.  Lodging and camping are readily available in the area.

Image: Pre-Clovis projectile point, Paisley Caves

What’s it like to spend one month at Playa? Our eight January-February fellowship residents answered a survey soon after they left, and their responses give a glimpse into the experience.

Scot Siegel said he was “totally blown away” when he first arrived. He was referring to Playa’s setting and facilities, but painter and sculptor Jamie Newton had to change plans for some of his outdoor pieces, for fear they would literally “end up on the other side of the lake”!

Although the weather can’t be controlled, many residents marveled at how well-organized everything else at Playa was. Solitude is a key component, but with a late-afternoon snack, a weekly community dinner, and impromptu activities such as visiting a nearby geothermal hot springs or a high school basketball game, Playa manages to “inspire community without forcing it upon the artists,” wrote filmmaker and writer David Licata.

Composer Keane Southard appreciated the chance to “explore a new environment, and meet and learn from other interesting artists.”

M.E. Hope described the interaction this way: “I read a play so the playwright could hear it, I watched a film with the filmmaker, I listened to music just composed, I heard poems as they were being born, I saw art forming right beside me. I listened to owls and stars at 3AM. I learned the many voices of the wind. I ate good food, learned about the people and the land of Summer Lake and Lake County, I was able to sleep and read and walk without thinking you have something else you need to get done.”

John Martin found that Playa provided “a time of deep introspection at the same time as being a ‘charmed’ place outside my normal life.” Being freed of commitments seemed especially sweet to writer Terry Brix, who noted, “First time ever I got up in the morning and thought about poetry and writing instead of engineering and business.“

Kumani Gantt saw inspiration all around her, writing, “The physical environment was astoundingly beautiful and was my daily muse.” And Scot Siegel, who admits he thought he might be “roughing it” at Playa, put it this way: “Each day I would go on an unplanned hike, meet new ghosts, and lose track of time. The wind, coyotes, owls, hawks, eagles, moths, and many heard but unseen creatures kept me company through the night.”

Many residents have websites and blogs that talk in more detail about their residency and show samples of their work:
- Jamie Newton shows a great selection of work and photographs from his residency on his website including the photo, above, his studio prepare for the Playa|Presents studio tour, February 8.
- David Licata’s blog explores the humor and homesickness of a residency (don’t miss his photo essay of the birdhouses of Playa).
- Scot Siegel’s blog includes this great observation about Playa: “I felt like an astronaut there, and I mean that in the best sense of the word.”)
- And in this post by composer Keane Southard, he includes a poem he was inspired to write at Playa, and a painting that Jamie Newton made in response.

Scot Siegel book cover

Playa has awarded 27 Fellowship Residents stays of one or two months. The Winter/Spring session, which begins January 16 and concludes May 4, is Playa’s third session of residencies. A Playa|Presents open studio tour with readings is planned for the last Wednesday of each cohort: Feb. 8, Mar. 7, Apr. 4, and May 2.

From Oregon:
ME Hope, poetry, Klamath Falls
John Martin, poetry, Bend
James Newton, sculpture, paint, photo, video, Hillsboro
Scot Siegel, poetry, Lake Oswego
David Lewis, painting, Portland
Dennis Jenkins, archaeology, Eugene
Donna Crispin, fibers, Eugene
Donna Henderson, poetry, Monmouth
Karen McPherson, poetry, Eugene
Nancy Pobanz, mixed media/painting, Eugene
Rakar West, painting, Eugene
Terry Brix, poetry, Blue River

From Washington:
Kumani Gantt, playwriting, Seattle
Joan Stuart Ross, painting, print, mixed-media, Seattle
Michelle Acuff, installation, Walla Walla
Ruby Murray, fiction, Cathlamet

Rob Licht, The Landing (detail, stainless steel and steel)

From New York:
David Licata, film, New York
Rob Licht, sculpture, Jacksonville
Robert Buck, painting & writing, New York

From California:
Sonja Hinrichsen, installation, San Francisco
Kelly Luce, fiction, Ben Lomond
Michael Rondeau, archaeology, Sacramento

From other regions:
Irene Zabytko, fiction, Apopka, FL
Keane Southard, music, Northborough, MA
Jayne Marek, fiction/creative nonfiction, Greenwood, IN
Jessica Roth, fiction, Prescott, AZ
Nina Elder, painting, El Prado, NM

Sonja Hinrichsen, Layered Perspectives (an installation view)

Residents for Winter/Spring 2012 submitted their online applications in August. A three-person panel of professionals reviewed the applications and made their recommendations, which the Board of Directors approved in October. Bios of each resident will be posted on the Playa website in early-January.

Painting by Jon Jay Cruson "Farmlands" from a series of views of eastern Washington and Oregon.

Playa announces its fall residency session with arrival of 17 residents beginning September 19. Playa will welcome writers, artists, and scientists from the U.S. and Canada for residency stays of one- to two-months. The fall session will conclude December 9.

Artists and writers participating as fall residents at Playa, listed below, have brief bios posted on the Residents 2011 page (Residency tab).

From Oregon: Lisa Pounders, painter, Bend; James Williams, videographer, Summer Lake; Terri Warpinski, photographer, Eugene; Berkley Carnine, writer, Eugene; Laura Winter, poet, Portland; Diane Sandall, relief printmaker and  ceramicist, Eugene; Sara Rabinowitz, fiber artist, Eugene; Ingrid Lustig, painter, Bend; Jon Jay Cruson, painter, Eugene; Sarah Grew, painter, Eugene.

From California: Carol Salvin, artist, Oakland; Bob Mize, natural scientist and photographer, Gasquet; Michele Smith, painter, Napa; Jim Orjala, photographer and painter, Berkeley.

From Pennsylvania: Edward (Ted) Carey, sculptor, Wynnewood; Colleen Rudolf, painter, photographer and sculptor, Philadelphia.

From British Columbia, Canada: Paul Delany, scholar and writer, Vancouver

As one of its purposes, Playa offers public programs, education, and local use of the facility for the Summer Lake and Paisley communities and the people of Lake County. Some Playa residents participate in community programs through workshops, teaching, and public presentations.

Reflections post Spring Residencies

Playa offered me an unparalleled opportunity to create in an atmosphere of solitude and beauty but not isolation. Sam Western

The essence of Playa is the opportunity to listen and to hear the wind, birds, and that authentic part of one’s self that routine often silences. Kathleen Caprario

What a gift to feel safe and far away. Betsy Wolfston

Playa memories: napping on the deck, the cherry tree blossoms, solitude without loneliness, Paisley Caves, the birds, the lake, the mud on my feet, the moon, the bobcat and owl. Laura Pritchett

Spring at Playa. Twelve artists, writers, and scientists accepted invitations to be spring 2011 residents at Playa in May and June. These inaugural residencies, with stays ranging from two to six weeks, worked well as a trial run for Playa’s long-term commitment to residencies at its facility in southeastern Oregon.

Playa has now tested and refined its residency program. From conversations with 17 individuals, and from entry and exit surveys, we learned that Playa’s facility, site, studios, and location are first-rate, that Playa offers ample and diverse provisions, and that the staff-prepared snacks and meals were well-appreciated.

Playa Program Manager Elizabeth Quinn noted, “Each group had its own ‘personality,’ and Playa’s staff is nimble enough to deal with a variety of group dynamics, along with individual needs. Groups seemed to be defined by arrival date, although there was some crossover of residents into the different groups.”

During the spring residencies, our Playa|Presents series was launched in the form of studio tours, a presentation, and a workshop. Twenty people attended the first open studio tour on June 8. Sal Strom, Nancy Pobanz, and Dianne Wyatt opened their studios with displays and interactive projects. A video-work-in-progress by Sal Strom and a reading by Laura Pritchett from her book Hell’s Bottom, Colorado, followed in the Commons. On June 12, Laura Pritchett led a free afternoon workshop with 25 people.

Twenty-five Lake County residents attended the open studio tour on June 22 with Kathleen Caprario, Sal Strom,and Dianne Wyatt. Sam Western read from his novel-in-progress and Sal Strom presented further video of her work with WW II veterans.

During her second week at Playa, Colorado writer Laura Pritchett delivered “A Love Letter of Sorts” to the Board and staff. With her permission, we present this excerpt:

Day 7. Monday. One week. I go stomping out in the mud while I think through my main character’s psychological situation. Since I get covered in dirt and bugs, I decide to go out in the boat — it won’t matter if I fall in. The boat is lovely and gives me a little arm workout. I came with my novel 1/3 done, now I can see the end in sight. Which is not to say it’s anywhere close, but I have worked through the plot, always the hardest thing for me. I have put my character in plenty of trouble and have been watching her claw her way out. This is what we writers do to people.

And so. The birds have made their peace with me. I have come to expect a lake to be there in the morning, with sunrise, and at night, whenl’heure bleu descends. As in, the place has worked its way into my bones, my now-softened bones. One week. I’m grateful.

…………………………………………………

During the Spring residencies, two Playa|Presents were offered:

Wednesday, June 8, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.  Open studio tour and demonstrations by Spring Residents
o  Artist Nancy Pobanz will present a pigment-making demonstration and host an open studio for her mixed media projects.
o  Artist Sal Strom will present video work on WWII veteran documentary, demonstrate video-making and field questions.

Wednesday, June 22, 6:30-8:00 p.m. Open studio tour and demonstrations by Spring Residents.
o  Artist Sal Strom will present video work on WWII veteran documentary, demonstrate video-making and field questions.
o  Artist Betsy Wolfston offers demonstration and presentation of her 3-dimensional sculptures.