Here are some excerpts from a whirlwind weekend we spent with our gracious & generous host, composer Andrew Rudin at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire. The MacDowell Colony is a 400 acre selected artist's retreat, founded in 1907 by Edward & Marian MacDowell. Once a year,on this particular weekend in August, the Colony opens its doors to visitors to participate in the annual Medal Day festivities. The Edward MacDowell Medal is presented to an artist of enduring vision and creativity. Nobel & Pulitzer prize winning novelist Toni Morrison was the recipient of the 2016 Medal. She is hailed as " the greatest living American novelist" by Michael Chabon, board chair of the Colony.
Composer and our dear friend Andrew Rudin has had the privilege of being a fellow here for a number of years and treated Charlie & I to a series of wonderful tours around the site as well as a beautiful dinner and delicious lunch.It was a whirlwind weekend filled with beauty, creativity, food for thought, 4 hour long thunderstorms, magnificent fresh air, nature, and dispensed wisdom. A day later, I was still processing all I had seen and heard and was quite grateful for the experience. Thank you, Andrew!
The Entrance
Inside the entrance
The Library
One of the cottages where the "fellows' create their works of art, be it literary, music, or visual.
Toni Morrison gives a compelling speech to a crowd of 2400 adoring fans after receiving the medal.