CREATE IN TRANQUILITY
Soaring Gardens Artists Retreat in Laceyville, PA, offers visual artists, writers, and composers, and instrumentalists a quiet country setting for residencies to focus on their creative endeavors. Spaces are available from mid-May to mid-September. Soaring Gardens has no fees, makes no demands, and there are no intrusions from the administration—only the studios, gardens, deer, other creatures, and time.
The residency is located in a farmhouse with an adjacent studio building and in a small nearby church. At any time, there are only a few artists in residence—usually three or four residents at the farmhouse and two at the church. Since residents share the living spaces, we encourage artists to apply as a group (a combination of artistic disciplines is fine), although applications from individuals are also welcome.
Residents are encouraged to have a car to get to Soaring Gardens and to use while they are in residence. However, transportation will be provided to and from nearby cities for arrival and departure at Soaring Gardens, and to help run some errands during their stay as needed. There is no public transportation close by. With the exception of a weekly communal dinner, artists are expected to shop, cook, and clean up after themselves; a gardener maintains the grounds. As the purpose of the residency is to provide time for undisturbed work, no children, pets, or overnight visitors are permitted.
Help us to support the art and artists of the
Soaring Gardens Artists Retreat
FARMHOUSE AND STUDIOS
On the twenty-three-acre property is a spacious farmhouse and studio building. The farmhouse has a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, dining area, and two living rooms on the main floor and three bedrooms, a study, and a bathroom upstairs. In the basement, there is a laundry room with a washer and dryer. Thirty feet from the house is a separate studio building with two 750-square-foot studios on separate levels. Depending on the nature of the residents’ work, the farmhouse can accommodate three or four artists. (If residents are willing to share the studio spaces, it can house as many as five.)
The farmhouse was built in 1850 by Frank Gay, who made his fortune in the California gold rush. The farmhouse and studio are surrounded by extensive flower gardens, which inspired Ora Lerman to name her property “Soaring Gardens.” The central focus of the garden is a “grand allée,” modeled after Monet’s garden in Giverny, where, supported by a grant from Reader’s Digest, Lerman was a resident in 1989. Nearby is a decorative pond. From the house and studios, you can see the northern end of the Appalachian Mountains, which are a one hour drive away.
CHURCH / STUDIO
A ten-minute drive from the farmhouse is the church, which dates from 1910, and has been remodeled into comfortable living and working spaces for one or two residents. Downstairs are the kitchen, bathroom, one bedroom with twin beds, and living room. The upstairs, which has a seperate entrance, is divided into two spaces, both with high ceilings: the outer studio is 14 x 28 feet. The inner studio is 14 x 26 feet, and has a sleeping loft at one end with a queen-sized bed. The Residency Manager lives downstairs. The artists share the bathroom and kitchen with the Residency Manager. The studios can be used as either working or living spaces, whichever suits the residents. The church works best for one artist, or two if they are comfortable sharing the sleeping loft.
The church sits on a tiny plot of land surrounded by working farms, including one that raises goats. Some forty years ago it was converted into its current layout by the painters Cornelis Ruhtenberg and Jules Kirschenbaum, who gifted it to the Ora Lerman Charitable Trust in the fall of 2000.
FORMER RESIDENTS
SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE
“I can’t think of how I would improve the experience, it was pretty much the most idyllic set up for an artist and particularly a landscape inspired painter, like myself. Quite honestly,
I can’t imagine how it could be any better.”
— Jessica Dalrymple, 2017
Jessica Dalrymple
2022
Kim Altomare
Royee Atadgy
Gila Berryman
Adam Brent
D.T. Burns
Brandy N. Carie
Julie Catton
Anne Chen
Moxin (Sunny) Chen
Jeanne Ciravolo
Maggie-Kate Coleman
Emma Cranston
Sami Cronk
Yvette Cummings Arendt
Nicole Czapinski
Gabrielle D’Angelo
Tina DeVaron
Lisa DeSpain
Julia Forrest
Juliet Gelfman-Randazzo
Layon Gray
Madison Hansen
Ella Jacobson
Brienna Kane
Andrea Keefe
Sonali Kohli
Erin Law
Kate Mulley
Ellie Murphy
Mihee Nahm
Nigel Nation
Lauren Peters
Kathleen Eastwood Riaño
Christian Rieben
Anne Marie Rooney
Julia Rooney
Sarah Schaff
Christian Schlegel
Max Spitzer
Caleb Swann
Noelle Velez
Shannon Vesely
Laura Walker
Elizabeth Weissberg
Bobbie Wilkins
Lauren Whearty
Elizabeth Wood
“Overwhelmingly positive. Studio was a dream, housing was cozy and inspiring, and I absolutely loved being in a space made by a female painter. Going through Ora’s books and papers about past exhibits in NYC was amazing! Such a unique experience to have access to her life.”
— Lauren Peters, 2022
Studio – photo: Erin Law
2021
David Aipperspach
Stewart Allen
Becky Bailey
Steve Bellin-Oka
Tom Birkner
Ron Bramhall
Erin Dorney
Kate Doyle
Christin Farina
Leslie Fenton
Ethan Fisher
Alec Galambos
Thomas Gibbons
Howard Gladstone
Jen Harris
Kong Ho
Will Hutnick
Mercedes Jelinek
Cindy Juyoung Ok
Sara Lautman
Mara Lefebvre
Kathy Levine
Reed McLean
Linda Lee Nicholas
Sean Nishi
Kristina Paabus
Sarah Pater
Rachel Peters
Micah Ruelle
Linda Schmidt
Kira Smith
Janet Soderberg
Anastasiya Tarasenko
J. C. Todd
Kristen Tomecek
Emily Weitzman
“First Impressions”
R.C. Bramhall, poet
Soaring Gardens 8/27/2021
Outside
stone and tree
feel first impressions
knowing true intentions
emanations
love or fear
from the heart
(start)
barefoot
but back inside
each room beckons
a seduction
to be chosen
as the spot –
Relax…you will remain
always remembered
watchful walls whisper
absorbing memory
of your time
while the floors
speak their secret language
in wooden wailings
of rhyme –
2020
David Aipperspach
Christin Farina
Ryan Frank
Lora Gettelfinger
Cherie Lee
Sarah Pater
Jessica Pavone
Camila Santos
Kiera Stuart
“I can’t wait to get in to the studio here at home and begin a new body of work based on all of the observational paintings I made over the past few weeks.”
– David Aipperspach, 2020
David Aipperspach at work behind the house and his painting.
2019
Stewart Allen
Joe Aguilar
Danielle Arriano
Kate Bae
Jesse Chun
Matthew Colaizzo
Maddison Colvin
Samantha Connor
Dariana Dervis
Mark Fabiano
Julia Forrest
Sarah Fuhrman
Laura Gettelfinger
Howard Gladstone
Meg Kaizu
Sam Lacombe
Kirstin Lamb
Heidi Lau
Sto Len
Marlys Mandaville
Alison Mandaville
Suzette Martin
Terry McKelvey
Seth Oelbaum
Andrei Petrov
Everest Pipkin
Madeline Rupard
Peter Schroth
Erin Stellmon
Kiera Stewart
Eric Strauss
Oaklee Thiele
Josette Urso
Jon Woolley
Wynn Yarrow
Crys Yin
Alexander Zsigmond
“The most unexpected boon was the resplendent amount of wild edible plants- as a hobbyist forager, I was so delighted with the abundance of late summer, and every meal my week there was based on or augmented by something from the forest or fields- blackberries, raspberries, sumac, nettle, asiatic dayflower, yarrow, mint- the list goes on.” – Everest Pitkin
Suzette Marie Martin is laughing with joy after having made 17 large works on paper, 17 small studies, 2 canvases and 3 large scale drawings in four fast and happy weeks.
2018
Stewart Allen
Betsy Andrews
Sayuri Ayers
Ange Baker
Vanessa Blakeslee
Brian D. Cohen
Adam DeAscentis
Anna Fine Foer
Jonathan Graybill
Fred Gutzeit
John Hubbell
Charles Johnson
Nadav Kurtz
Wendy Kveck
Wayne Marcelli
Abby Minor
Jennifer Moore
Erin Murray
Sara Priebe
Elizabeth Riley
Lavinia Roberts
Joan Roberts Garcia
Daniel Samaniego
Devin Sherman
Sara Sill
Donald Stahl
Erin Stellmon
Daniel White
“The grounds and the landscape are gorgeous and inspired an important new direction in my work. Most of all, I valued the time and space to make my work and share in an extended dialogue with fellow artists.”
– Wendy Kveck
Studio – photo: @pRODUCT614
2017
Tessa Click
Ben Cowan
Jessica Dalrymple
Adam DeAscentis
Mikael Flores-Amper
Sarah Fuhrman
Rowan Fulton
Leah Guadagnoli
Stephan Haluska
Melissa Huang
John Hubbell
Charles Johnson
Megumi Kaizu
Leah Claire Kaminski
Ji Yung Kim
Justin Kim
Martha Knox
Calvin Linderman
Lizzy Martinez
Seth Oelbaum
Andrei Petrov
Debbie Quick
Justine Stephens
Nathan Tersteeg
Drew Tetz
Miggy Torres
J Talia Weisz
Daniel White
“I had an incredible time at Soaring Gardens!!! It really was magical to spend so much undistracted time working and exploring a beautiful landscape. I was able to make over 30 paintings including this one.” – Ben Cowan
Ben Cowan, Soaring Gardens Church, 2017, acrylic on canvas, 16″ x 20″
2016
Danielle Ariano
Siobhan Arnold
Elise Church
Jaynie Crimmins
Jacqueline Doyle
Sarah Fuhrman
Howard Gladstone
Phoebe Grip
Riley Hooper
Katie Hovencamp
Yuliya Lanina
Peter Makala
Karen Marston
Christina Massey
Megan Mosholder
Gail Marlene Schwartz
Meagan Shein
Katrina Lillian Sorentino
Jeanette Spicer
Verena Stefan
Eric Strauss
Alia Voltz
“The time I spent at the Church near Soaring Gardens was like a gift. While I was there, I deeply connected to spaces of quiet and solitude.” – Janell O’Rourke
Church (downstairs) – photo: C. Johnson
2015
Sarah Alford
Jerry Bleem
Pankaj Challa
Celeste Chan
Kristina Marie Darling
Stephen Dydo
Howard Gladstone
Susan Haire
Janet Kusmierski
Matthew Kennedy
Jason B. Kohl
Nora Mandray
Stephanie Pierce
Debbie Quick
Joan Ryan
Eric Strauss
Suzanne Stroebe
Nathan Tersteeg
Bridget Bossart van Otterloo
Lesley Walmsey
Courtney Wren
Wynn Yarrow
“Thank you for the incredible experience we had at the residency in August. Last month was one of the most fruitful, inspiring, magical months of my life–we all made a lot of work, including several collaborations.”
— Suzanne Stroebe
Studio exterior
2014
Anne Canfield
Diane Churchill
Katherine Cox
Diane Dwyer
Martha Ferguson
Michele Goodwin
Leslie Hunter
Cassandra Jennings Hall
Janet Kusmierski
Thane Lund
Alice Momm
Sean Naftel
Gloria Patton
Andrei Petrov
Nan Ring
Dorothy Robinson
Gail Shaw-Clemons
Greg Singer
Emilie Staat
Eric Strauss
Suzanne Stroebe
Erin Treacy
Caroleen Vaughan
“I am preparing (reluctantly) to leave Soaring Gardens today, and I’m sending this entirely inadequate email to express my gratitude for this beautiful gift of a residency with my collaborative fellow artists, Martha and Alice. Words cannot express how deeply touched I am by my experience here…I was also very touched by the church setting, which is bucolic and peaceful, and offered so much in terms of my own creativity – the goats, the horses, the winding gravel roads, the endless horizon. It was all magical…it was a transformative experience being here. For me especially, I found my thinking deepened and my creative process grew in leaps and bounds over the few short weeks.” — Nan Ring
2013
Lauren Boilini
Anne Canfield
Ruth Danon
Sally Dawidoff
Erin Domagal
Margot Douaihy
J. Stephen Dydo
Julia Forrest
Jonathon Frey
Robert Goodman
David Groff
Susan Haire
Bethany Johnson
Jason Karolak
Ann Kell
Serge Marchetta
Sana Musasama
Susan Oetgen
Celia Phillips
Iva Radivojevic
Masha Ryskin
Roy Steele
Thomas Vance
Michael Wille
Jowita Wyszomirska
Arjan Zazueta
“I can’t believe what a magical month it was, living and working at Soaring Gardens. Now that I am back in New York City, it seems like a beautiful dream. But I know it was real because I am home with tremendous work accomplished and a feeling of peace and renewal that is with me still.” — Susan Oetgen
Farmhouse and studio exterior – photo: D. Miller-Lanning
2012
Paul Blaney
Michelle Bliss
Kyle Brannon
Kip Deeds
Martha Ferguson
Richard Frank
Michele Goodwin
Alison Kendra Green
EJ Hercyzk
Cassandra Jennings
Taylor Johnson
Gary Leising
Lee Marchelonis
Gloria Patton
Antonia Perez
Cecilia Phillips
Gail Shaw-Clemons
Kim Tran
“We also enjoyed meeting the resident at the church, Paul, and even arranged a reading one evening. The members of my writing group have already read the longest of the three essays I wrote this June, and several seconded the comment of one: “This essay has convinced me of the power of residencies. I feel the compliment is yours.”
— Alison Kendra Green
House (entry room) – photo: D. Miller-Lanning
2011
Sandra Murchison
Heather Blain
Megan Coe
William Cordeiro
Shelby Donnelly
Alison Frost
Hadass Gerson
Andrea Landau
Barbara Mehlman
Elwyn Palmerton
Melissa Reddish
Lauren Scanlon
Lori Spencer
Elizabeth Tomasetti
Thomas Vance
Genevieve Waller
Sarah West
Michael Wille
“The residency yielded not only a new body of work, but also lent clarity to our individual practices and revealed a model for thinking, making and working in an environment of mutual respect. During that time our separate art-making methods “indeed our identities” were fused into something new that has become a meditation on the act of exchange, artistic process, and conversation.”
— Kate McGraw & Ann Tarantino
Studio (upstairs) – photo: D. Miller-Lanning
2010
Carol Barsha
Janee Baugher
Lynn Cazabon
Kip Deeds
Nicolas Dumit Estevez
Kristen Egan
Cianne Fragione
Barbara Laube
Barbara Mehlman
Sandra Murchison
Florence Neal
Janell O’Rourke
Danila Rumold
Lori Spencer
Cora Stryker
Deborah Zlotsky
“My residency at Soaring Gardens was invaluable to my creativity, my body, and my soul. The four weeks spent there were like a year’s worth of experience and growth.”
— Barbara Laube
House (living rooms) – photo: D. Miller-Lanning
2009
2008
Karina Hean
Heidi Marie van Leuven
Gail Shaw-Clemons
Heather Blain
Brendan Casey
Beth Caspar
Ane Crabtree
Diane Davis
Kristen Egan
Jesse English
Sari Fordham
Lorissa Gottschalk
Laura Iorio
Robert James
Amanda Kalinosky Post
Carolyn Martin
Seth Musindi
Margot Myers
Alison Owen
Peter Owen
Melissa S. Pasterkiewicz
Gloria Patton
Nicole Pietrantoni
Ilene Sunshine
Amanda Thatch
Holland Williams
Deanna Wood
John Adams
Hanna Clark
Natacha Diels
Emily Gherard
Andrew Greenwald
Chaewon Kim
Nicole Lenzi
Helen Limon
Jessie Marino
Barbara Mehlman
Sarah Norsworthy
Stephanie Pierce
B.Z Reilly
Julie Rivera
Ellen Schneiderman
Cora Stryker
Diane Travis
Gavin Watson
2007
Trisha Adams
Tobi Balin Grossman
Katherine Ball
Claire Brassil
Georgiana Cray Bart
Nina Davidowitz
Marcy Dermansky
Rose DiSalvo
Jurgen Furth
Christien Gholson
Anne Heisey
Michaela Kahn
Alica Laputka
Kate McGraw
Leslie Mutchler
Alec Neal
Jennifer Palmer
Holly Peterson
Remington Restivo
Ann Tarantino
Jason Urban
Thomas Vance
Michael Wille
Kelly S. Williams
2006
2005
Diane Davis
Marcy Dermansky
Wendy Deschene
Johannes Deyoung
Jurgen Furth
Laura Haarmeyer
Barbara Kapalski Nichols
Simone Kiven
Carolyn Martin
Laura McGinley
Leslie Mutchler
Avri Ohana
Gloria Patton
Dorothy M Sedock
Gail Shaw-Clemons
Shane Stratton
Julia Stratton
Jason Urban
Natalie Westbrook-Deyoung
Eva Wylie
Judith Youschock
Andrea Archer
Mary Armstrong
Lucy Blackwell
Claire Brassil
Katherine Brunza
Tova Carlin
Elizabeth Cooper
Wendy DesChene
Renee Emanuel
Jill Galarneau
Dorothy Imagire
Lauren Jenison
Simone Kiven
Sarah Lehrer-Graiwer
Carolyn Martin
Jan Mollet
Barbara Nichols
Joanna Scari
Dorothy Sedock
Gail Shaw-Clemons
Kelly S. Williams
Courtney Wrenn
Judith Youshock
2004
2003
Douglas Anderson
Arden Bendler Browning
Elizabeth Broadfoot
Katherine Brunza
Marcy Dermansky
Renee Emanuel
Jurgen Fauth
Richard Gabriele
Laura Ann Haarmeyer
Melissa Johnson
Barry Johnson
Barbara Kapalski-Nichols
Collen McCubbin Stepanic
John McKinnon
Don Muchow
Margaret Neill
Dorothy Sedock
Sarah Vollmann
Eva Wylie
Judy Youschock
Claire Brassil
Natalie Campbell
Marcy Dermansky
Jurgen Fauth
Natalie Garrett
Elizabeth Hazen
Susan M. Herrestad
Walter Hnatysh
Julian Jackson
Melissa Johnson
Rula Jones
Rene Lynch
Erin Parish
Nedda Pourang
Victoria Skinner
Maria Spector
Dina Toledano
Christine M. Walsh
Kelly S. Williams
2002
Madeleine Beckman
Claire Brassil
Natalie Campbell
Elizabeth Cooper
Walter Hnatysh
Xylor Jane
Melissa Johnson
Winnie Lee
Bridget Lewis
Emily Miller
Gina Reynoso
Victoria Skinner
Kelly S. Williams
2001
Lisa Blanchette
Kim Casey
Alice Harrison
Walter Hnatysh
Julian Jackson
Rene Lynch
Judy Lyons Schneider
Victoria Skinner
Mary Ting
Robert Zakanitch
2000
Lisa Abendroth
Angela Forster
Walter Hnatysh
Patrick Schmidt
Victoria Skinner
Michael Volker
Join the Soaring Gardens Artists Retreat Group page on Facebook.
The Soaring Gardens Artists Retreat is listed with ArtDeadline.com , NYFA.org
and is a member of the Artist Community Alliance.