A Tribute: Nils Luderowski

1942-2022

A designer and architect, Nils "pioneered the New Adirondack Style of architecture, a blend of Shingle, Craftsman, Prairie, and regional expressions, while maintaining an eye for modern living requirements and technology. His structures are thoughtfully designed to fit their surroundings, as if a part of the natural landscapes themselves, without losing the rich texture, color, and form that make his designs distinctive.”  (www.luderowskiarchitect.com)

Craigardan began working with Nils in 2019 to design a new campus for the organization. It was an opportunity to think about how architecture can actively serve to connect artists with the environment around them, with their own work more deeply,   and with each other and the community at large. Nils hiked the rough site with us multiple times — exploring views, discussing light and space, and gaining an understanding of place.

Nils quickly became an integral part of the new Craigardan. Since our earliest meetings he not only thought carefully about the buildings as our architect. As a designer and artist he helped to shape and guide the vision that is to become our new home: the arts center, gallery, community space, kiln pavilion, studios, housing, farm, and trails. He always brought wisdom, perspective, humor, and color to our notions of what Craigardan could and should be.

Nils has left his mark on the Adirondack vernacular, and he has left his mark on the present and future Craigardan. We are honored to be building a campus of his design, in his memory.

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Obituary: https://mbclarkfuneralhome.com/tribute/details/882/Nils-Luderowski/obituary.html#tribute-start

Craigardan Features Essex County-Based Artists: Open Call for Submissions to the Gardan Journal

ELIZABETHTOWN, NY | July 22, 2022: Craigardan is a nonprofit arts organization and educational working farm that leverages collective creativity for social good. We bring people together for place-based and interdisciplinary learning, providing creative residencies, courses, and events that span diverse artistic and knowledge disciplines in order to foster curiosity, inquiry, and collaboration. 

Craigardan supports ceramic, literary, visual, and performance artists, as well as farmers, chefs, activists, scholars, and researchers from the Adirondack region and around the world. We cultivate a dynamic that amplifies each individual’s work and activates collective creativity within the community. We believe that fostering the interaction between artists and the local public is as important as providing sheltered time to artists to further their creative practices.

It is in this spirit that Craigardan launched The Gardan journal in 2020. In response to the isolation brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, the journal was originally designed as a vehicle to allow for continued creative conversations across disciplines. Since then, we have published 5 issues, available to view digitally at Craigardan.org/gardan. With thanks to the support of the Essex Arts Council, we received funding for an issue focused exclusively on Essex County-based artists, due out in early December. 

We are a region rich in all forms of artistic expression and innovation. If you are a visual artist, craftsperson, thinker, activist, farmer, environmentalist, or chef living and working in Essex County, we strongly encourage your submission to the journal. 

We invite contributions in the form of words (poetry, essays, articles, etc.), images, video, field notes, or sound; and article topics of particular interest include but are not limited to: social justice, adirondack history and environmental stewardship, rural economies, and art and culture. Deadline for submissions is September 15, 2022. All published artists receive a free copy of the Journal plus print and digital recognition.  Complete guidelines for content submission can be accessed online at www.craigardan.org/gardan.

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We're Hiring!

Craigardan is pleased to announce two new position openings as we build our beautiful new campus and reopen programs on our 320 acre site in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains.

Applications are rolling until the positions are filled. We are looking for dynamic individuals to join our team and grow with us.

Please download position descriptions and share widely:

Farmer Position

Program Coordinator Position

A Year of Design

"Instead of sustainability, we should think in terms of perpetuity: a mode of life that is intrinsically self-sustaining.
This is what it means to Think Forever.
Designing for perpetuity requires us to reexamine the deep, underlying structures that support us."  
-Bruce Mau

Craigardan inhabits a space of process. We design for movement and change. We aim to discover what emerges from the intersections of art and agriculture, science and craft, food and literature. We are responsive as much as generative. We Think Forever.

2020 surfaced a collective turbulence. It brought incalculable loss and rightful unrest alongside strength, learning and fellowship—with flashpoint following flashpoint. At Craigardan, this was also a year of deep thinking, an introspective pause incongruously and inexorably tied to perpetual activity as we reexamined those deep underlying structures that support us. What does it mean to foster creativity during transition? How do we build community in a period of isolation? What is the value of the arts in a time of crisis? What is the role of food and agriculture toward the creation of an equitable society? How do we best help individuals by serving our mission to encourage the human imagination to interpret the world with philosophical, ecological and artistic perspective?

Turbulence has propelled us forward into new ways of thinking deliberately; into actively designing a better world from the inside out. 2020 has been an enterprising year. As we drafted our new campus, we continually assessed our equity practices and programmatic opportunities. As we planned our new farm, we began the process for decolonizing this land we steward. As we opened our new farm store, we partnered with local leaders to continue to build and strengthen the regional food system. As we developed our new 5-year strategic plan, we sponsored trainings with the Racial Equity Institute. And to underscore the vital role of arts and culture during times of crisis, we launched a new publication to serve as a community connector and mode of support.

As 2020 comes to a close, we acknowledge that our work is only beginning. This was a year of design and initiation. This was a year of forming and strengthening creative partnerships and investing in the future of Craigardan's new campus and growing community. We answered the questions of 2020 by embracing the challenges, responding with creativity, and building for a better future.

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2020 SNAPSHOT

Making the Impossible Possible

For a place-based residency program that supports interdisciplinary creativity, isolation and social distancing is a challenge.

The Gardan journal was launched in June as an offering to our community in response to the coronavirus pandemic, with the intention to carry us forward and onward long after.

By continuing to build and lean on creative community even during times of isolation and social strain, together we will become stronger and more imaginative than ever before.

The Gardan is intended to foster conversations about creativity and its processes among and across all disciplines. We seek contributions from artists and thinkers, activists and farmers, environmentalists and chefs, and any persons at any and all stages of creative development.

Each issue draws its structure from the weekly happenings of a residency session at Craigardan, delivering a small piece of our program — along with inspiration and ongoing support — to encourage you to self residency wherever you are.

Available in digital and print formats, The Gardan is an arts incubator and community developer delivered through the mail; it collaboratively manifests a place to gather when we are unable to physically come together. Most importantly, The Gardan helps artists generate exposure at a time of widespread struggle and acts as a vital, enduring beacon for our region’s creative economy and the energy of artistic and social practice worldwide.

We’re Open

Our new farm store is open! Thanks to generous donations from the Cloudsplitter Foundation, JM McDonald Foundation, and the Stewart’s/Dake Family, we are able to launch new initiatives that will:

• return 100% of the proceeds of local food sales back to the farmers themselves

• allow you to trade compost for organic eggs

• create a fully accessible space that remains a convenient and reliable site to source fresh, healthy food year-round

• support individuals experiencing food insecurity

• provide our community friends and neighbors with the tools and confidence to grow their own food

Farming teaches us that nature moves forward. This year on the farm was no different. Our spring Tunis lambs arrived healthy and the herd is growing; we welcomed Jean-Michel, the rooster, to our flock of laying hens; our bee colonies foraged and pollinated; and Aesop, the kitten, is on active mouse patrol.

We continue to build, fix, fence, and design for perpetuity. And now, we can finally welcome you through our doors and into our work-in-progress. Come find us Monday through Saturday, 9am - 6pm. You'll also find fresh, local food, pantry staples, books and supplies, pottery, handmade items and artwork. This space is open for you, so let us know what you want in your new store!

We Pause

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

We pause to listen. To learn. To honor. To reset, and recommit.

We pause to ensure that we:

• Strengthen the social justice work that we do through our programs and our founding commitment to serve and support the exploration of creativity in all forms.

• Support the voices and the work of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, Disabled, LGBTQIA+, and Women artists and thinkers so that they are seen, read, and heard.

• Reflect on and challenge the assumptions and material realities that shape our mission.

• Create networks of collaboration and creativity based on respect, equity, and safety.

Craigardan remains committed to fostering a sense of place and welcome, beginning with the pages of our new interdisciplinary arts publication, The Gardan. As we continue to reflect and learn as individuals and as an organization, we hope the journal will become a creative space made of your work, your voices, your stories.

We are excited to share with you Issue 02 of The Gardan. And we are excited to reopen lines of communication after a deliberate two-month pause to conduct an internal antiracism audit and to identify the areas where we can do better.

Issue 02 is a CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS, and dedicated only to that purpose.  Please consider this a template, an invitation, to converse and collaborate in The Gardan.

Craigardan To Welcome New Staff

Janelle A. Schwartz joins Craigardan as Director of Innovation, Programs and Development

Craigardan, a non-profit arts residency and community education center in the Adirondacks, is pleased to announce the appointment of Janelle A. Schwartz, PhD, to its leadership team starting July 1, 2020.

Working alongside Executive Director Michele Drozd, Janelle will dedicate her time and expertise to the strategic innovations and practical plans that are building Craigardan for local, national, and international audiences. She will develop and direct Adirondack-focused educational programs for all ages, lead grant-writing and other fundraising efforts, and promote Craigardan’s variety of community initiatives.

Janelle received her PhD in literature and the history of science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and taught environmental studies and literatures at Loyola University New Orleans and Hamilton College. Janelle brings two decades of professional experience in higher education to Craigardan, with an emphasis on curriculum design and program development, program management, and partner engagement. She has published and presented widely on literature and ecology, social justice, the Adirondacks, pedagogy, natural philosophy, and more. As the Founder of the Adirondack Program for Hamilton College, she created a place-based semester that was anchored in the local food systems of Essex and Franklin Counties, structured as an experiential living-learning community, and focused on the economic, social, political, ecological, and cultural interplays that inform our region. Janelle is no stranger to our Adirondack friends and neighbors, having created an extensive and inspiring network of local partners across all sectors in the Park. She feels very fortunate for the opportunity to bring her community collaborations to Craigardan, and expand them in new and exciting ways.

Since founding Craigardan in 2016, Michele has worked with Janelle on a variety of collaborative projects. She is thrilled to welcome Janelle to the staff, especially during this difficult time. “This is a reason to celebrate. By sharing her vision and passion for community enrichment in her new role at Craigardan, and as our region evolves with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, Janelle will help develop and strengthen our ability to provide place-based, multidisciplinary opportunities in the North Country and beyond.”  

Craigardan has quickly become known internationally for its community-focused residencies that welcome  artists and scholars of all disciplines to further their work in the heart of the Adirondacks. The local public participates in classes, lectures, and events led by visiting artists, writers, chefs, potters, agriculturalists, performing artists, musicians, and scholars. In addition to its innovative residency program, Craigardan leverages creative collaboration for social change — most notably through its leadership role in the region’s Food Justice Working Group.

We're Home

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, July 22, 2019

Craigardan Is Home

Craigardan, a 3-year-old educational nonprofit organization with a focus on the studio, agricultural, culinary, and intellectual arts, has landed! This summer the organization purchased a 315-acre property four miles west of the town of Elizabethtown near Hurricane Mountain.  As stewards of this beautiful parcel, Craigardan plans to build an intentionally designed, conservation minded, and accessible campus. It will pay tribute to the history of the site’s early homestead while also responding to, improving, and protecting the potentially wild nature of the recently-logged property. Craigardan left its original Hurricane Road location after negotiations with the property’s owner, one of the co-founders, fell through.

Founded in December 2016 and opened in June of 2017, Craigardan has already supported the work of over 70 artists, chefs, farmers and scholars through its residencies, internships and fellowships.  Our multi- and inter-disciplinary programs, which include community classes, workshops, and events, have served over 500 local, national and international participants.  And, as a founding partner of the regional Food Justice Working Group, Craigardan has worked to convene hundreds of community members for annual summits and regional food systems work.  This year, 2019, Craigardan will launch its first international partner program at the historic site of Gangivecchio in Sicily, Italy.  

“What Craigardan has been able to achieve in its first three years is inspiring and energizing,” notes Craigardan’s executive director and co-founder Michele Drozd. She attributes this success to “the many artists and scholars who found inspiration in the innovative model that stresses inter-disciplinary collaboration, and showcased the local community that supported and participated in this work.” 

While quietly raising the funds needed to purchase our new property, Craigardan conducted a six-month, region-wide search that led us to the land in Elizabethtown. “The community welcomed us, and the property - with its remote sensibility yet significant accessibility - is a perfect fit for our program,” says Drozd.  The momentum in Elizabethtown is strong.  Aaron Woolf, co-owner of the historic Elizabethtown tavern Deer’s Head Inn is a strong supporter of the move: “We’re really excited that Craigardan is coming to Elizabethtown. It feels like a moment in which there is a notable convergence of forward energy here.” With new projects like the Elizabethtown Bike Ranch complementing Otis Mountain and building on the town’s recreational past, Craigardan joins the Adirondack History Museum in revitalizing the town’s rich cultural history. “Elizabethtown has always hosted painters, actors, playwrights, and musicians across the globe – it’s quite an honor that Craigardan with its artistic vibrancy and national reputation has made such a substantial social and economic commitment to our community.”  

“We’re home.  Metaphorically and practically, we’re grounded,” says Kate Moses, Craigardan board member and writer.  “There’s a lot of work yet to do, but here we have the ability to grow and thrive within the amazing Adirondack Park that inspired our founding, and help strengthen the communities that make us unique.”

The new location maintains Craigardan’s original geographic connection to the towns of Keene, Keene Valley, and Elizabethtown while dramatically improving public access and the ability to support and celebrate community engagement. “Plus,” says Drozd, “our sentinel, Hurricane Mountain, is closer than ever and we have a great view of the fire tower from the old farm house.”

Elizabethtown historian, Maggie Bartley, visited Craigardan’s new home to document the site and shared information on the original settler, Manoah Miller; during the War of 1812, Miller came here from Vermont.  The settlement included an old brick kiln, a water-powered saw mill, and a forge.  It is a fitting connection to the future use of the property as an arts center which includes fine craft.

This sense of history and connectivity to place is integral to Craigardan’s program.  Participants come from all over the region and the country and, increasingly, around the world to spend time furthering their skills, their research, and their artwork in and of the Adirondacks.  Craigardan not only offers the time and space for artists to disconnect from their daily routines, but to reconnect with others creatively in a supportive, multi-faceted and richly layered environment.  Lanse Stover, Craigardan’s board president and local artist emphasizes that “The Adirondacks have a long tradition of bringing individuals together to explore and reimagine their views of the world. Our campus must facilitate dialogue between visitors and the local community, between art and environment, between the past and the present, between art, philosophy, food and agriculture. The Adirondacks are the ideal setting for Craigardan to create the space where those conversations can flourish, and then nourish the world.”  

The organization is in the early stages of design, working with various consultants and professionals as well as the APA, local organizations, and community members to create the new campus.  In the interim, Craigardan has partnered with businesses and nonprofits to continue its exciting programming in the region. 

Please consider supporting Craigardan by joining us at this year’s benefit event, Dinner in the Field, on Saturday, September 7th 2019. Visit the property, lend your voice, and support our work.

Our new address is 9216 NYS Route 9N // Elizabethtown, NY 12932

transition

We're in transition!  That means we are coming to YOU this summer.  All of this is made possible with thanks to you and our partners including John Brown Lives!, The Deers Head Inn, Keene Arts, Wild Work Farm, Birds & Muses, North Country Community College, and many, many friends and neighbors.  We'll be in Keene, Elizabethtown, Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and even Sicily!

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Gathering
JULY 11 - AUGUST 3
GALLERY OPENING CELEBRATION THURSDAY, JULY 11TH // 6 pm
Curated by Mary Barringer

Gathering is a month-long exhibit and interactive events series in celebration of Craigardan's first two years, and in support of its future.
Held in partnership with Keene Arts, the gallery will feature select works from more than twenty artists who are associated with, or influenced by their time at Craigardan.  Live music, hands-on pottery lessons, and art yard sales will take place throughout the month.  Join us each Thursday evening at 6pm for free food and pottery pairings to sample small bites of local flavors served up on functional art. Find dates, times, and more specifics online.  
Gathering will run from July 11th through August 4th at Keene Arts, 10881 Rt 73 // Keene, NY 12942. The Gallery is open Thursdays 4-8, Fridays 12-6, Saturdays and Sundays 10-5.

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Farming While Black
THURSDAY, JULY 27TH // 6 pm
BOOK TALK + FARM TO TABLE DINNER
With Leah Penniman

Join John Brown Lives! and Craigardan as we explore issues of food justice with Leah Penniman, founding co-director of Soul Fire Farm and author of Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land.

This benefit event will be held at the historic John Brown Farm in Lake Placid, NY. Guests are invited to visit the farm and concurrent Dreaming of Timbuctoo exhibition, and engage in rich conversation while enjoying a delicious seasonally inspired meal prepared with local ingredients by Craigardan’s chef, Luke Ayres.
A limited number of scholarship and farmer tickets are available.

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Saturday, September 7 // 4-9pm
DINNER IN THE FIELD

(Location to be announced!)
On Saturday, September 7th guests will gather for a two-part culinary and artistic celebration plusthe unveiling of Craigardan's new campus and future plans.

Join us for a two-hour community cocktail, followed by four courses of exceptional farm food, outstanding art and fabulous company.  Tickets can be purchased for the cocktail portion only, or for the entire event.

The evening also includes a gallery exhibition featuring artist-in-residence Hedy Yang, and a silent auction of art and fine craft.  Post-feast, guests will take home the handmade tableware made by this year's Harvest Plate artist-in-residence, Kathy Irwin.  

This year's event will honor Janelle Schwartz, a Craigardan board member, active community member and the founder of Hamilton College’s Adirondack Program. Janelle serves as the program's director, teaching and working to build a vibrant and cooperative living-learning community between students and faculty, the High Peaks region and the Adirondacks at large. 

We hope you'll join us!  All proceeds from the annual benefit event support artist residencies and educational programming.  Craigardan is a community-supported nonprofit organization.

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Writers Workshops with Craigardan + Birds and Muses

BOOKGARDAN: GROW YOUR BOOK
October 21-28, plus a year's sustenance for writers
WRITING THE SENSES
November 1-8

Both week-long workshops will take place at a luxury estate in Elizabethtown.  Staffed, supported and catered by Craigardan and facilitated by Kate Moses, these refined, expert retreats will reinvigorate your writing process and cater to your creative needs. 
Bookgardan. Grow your book project to its fullest flowering in Bookgardan's year-long program of intense one-on-one literary mentorship and online group workshops, bracketed by two fall workshops with an intimate community of fellow writers at Craigardan. 
Writing the Senses. Vivid sensory details are the universal currency of all forms of creative writing, and yet we can be surprisingly unaware of the impact of our senses in our daily experience, let alone in our creative lives. This week-long workshop’s goal is to reignite our sensory awareness through an in-depth, hands-on exploration of each of the five senses. 

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Coming soon...

CRAIGARDAN IN SICILY?
YES! October 7-21

Save the date!  We are partnering with James Beard Award winner Giovanna Tornabene of Gangivecchio and TaraMarie Perri of the Perri Institute to bring you a gastronomic and artistic retreat that explores agricultural, cultural, and spiritual connections at a 14th century monastery nestled in the mountains of Sicily.  Please email info@craigardan.org to express immediate interest and keep an eye out for future announcements.

change = growth

A letter from the director…

As we look forward to another year of growth and impact, I am writing to update you on a major change for Craigardan.  

Lanse Stover and I founded the organization with Barbara Tam in 2016 as a new, forward-thinking program that redefines the traditional arts residency and community educational center.  We embraced the process of building a place-based organization around existing land and infrastructure that was passed-down to us from the original property owner, the ceramic artist Paul Nowicki.  Paul’s dream was for his property to be shared with the community.  Barbara was eager to fulfill her late husband’s wishes while allowing something new to grow.  And we grew!  In our first two years we supported over 70 residencies and hundreds of local and visiting students and program participants.

This past fall the organization decided to enter into negotiations with Barbara for a long-term lease/purchase agreement for the property.  Dissatisfied with the negotiation process, Barbara recently decided to terminate the organization’s lease. This notice required us to end all programming within 30 days, cancel current residencies, and move entirely off of the property before the end of May.  The board worked diligently to find a solution, and even offered to immediately purchase the entire property.  Barbara turned us down and we are forced to leave the site.   

The good news is that the board of directors is determined and enthusiastic, the organization is strong, and we are searching for a new, permanent home where Craigardan can grow and thrive and continue to do good work in this community.

There are wonderful options available in the area and we are quickly moving forward with new plans. In the meantime we intend to keep much of our programming vibrant through partnerships.  Megan, our farm manager, will raise animals on a nearby property and grow vegetables in partnership with Wild Work Farm.  Luke, our culinary manager, will teach classes at the Deers Head Inn and hold collaborative events throughout the area.  Workshops and residencies will take place in pop-up locations region- and world-wide.  Our friends at local businesses and non-profits have stepped up and offered to help, and you can learn more about what’s in store here. 

Although a move like this is a tremendous challenge, the board and staff look forward to the opportunities that this change will bring, including increased capacity for programmatic expansion, creativity and growth.

Although our location will change, Craigardan - the name, mission, vision, and purpose - will remain the same.  As we embrace the positive opportunities that come from change, we hope you will too. If you have any questions or concerns, or want to know what you can do to help, please do not hesitate to contact us. 

Please also consider making a gift.  Your donation will help to ensure a successful, quick transition which will allow Craigardan to continue to grow and thrive.  

Thank you for being a crucial, founding part of this organization.  With your support we accomplished amazing things in the first two years and I am excited to work with you as we craft the next iteration.  Your continued energy sustains and encourages us to move forward with enthusiasm during this time of transition. 

Here’s to the new Craigardan.

Michele Drozd

Executive Director / Co-Founder