|
|
The Hopscotch House Program furthers KFW’s mission by providing retreats and summer residencies for feminist social change artists, activists and allies to explore new ideas and artistic expressions, deepen understanding of feminism and advance creative change.
Current Opportunities
The Hopscotch House Retreat Program
What to Expect during Retreats at Hopscotch House
Facilities and Amenities
Brief History of Hopscotch House and Its Surroundings
Voluntary Donations
Articles about Hopscotch House
Current Opportunities
Individual and Group Retreats for Artists, Activists and Allies
Many weekdays and some weekends between April 13 and August 26 still available!
For information about how to request an individual retreat, please see: Individual Retreat Information for Artists, Activists and Allies
For information about how to request for a group retreat, please see Group Retreat Information for Artists, Activists and Allies
Summer Residency Program dates set for June 18-July 1, 2012. For more information, please seeSummer Residency Program.
back to top
The Hopscotch House Retreat Program
The Retreat Program offers stays of between one to ten days in length, creating possibilities for both day retreats and extended overnight stays for individuals and groups. Hopscotch House can comfortably accommodate day-use groups of up to 15 participants and offers five bedrooms for overnight stays. There is a library, well-stocked with resources relating to feminist art, and a kitchen which can be used for food preparation. Retreat participants can also explore the beautiful and historically significant surrounding land. Retreats are scheduled free of charge to individuals and groups who support the foundation’s mission and meet the Hopscotch House criteria. However, donations supporting the costs of operating the house are suggested when financially feasible for participants.
back to top
What to Expect During Retreats at Hopscotch House
During retreats at Hopscotch House, participants can determine the pace of their activities and find a flow that best suits them as individuals or groups. Participants scheduled for retreats when individuals or members of groups are also using the house can expect to meet feminists from a wide range of backgrounds and locations across the state. At Hopscotch House, the diverse experiences of all participants are honored and respected. Participation in a Hopscotch House retreat means that visiting artists, activists and allies become part of KFW's women-led arts-based movement to advance creativity, feminism, and positive social change throughout Kentucky.
back to top
Summer Residency Program
Applications for the 2012 Summer Residency Program at Hopscotch House are now closed. Information about next year’s program will be posted in 2013.
back to top
Creativity
demands that women be allowed to retreat, at times, from their
world and their obligations. Hopscotch House provides the setting
for such retreats.--Sallie Bingham’s vision statement,
May 1998.
 |
“The Whole House”
photo by Amanda Rae Jones
|
Facilities and Amenities
Hopscotch House is a renovated farmhouse with five bedrooms and six bathrooms. Each bedroom contains one bed and a desk and has its own dedicated bathroom. Four of the five bedrooms are up a flight of stairs. The only bedroom located on the ground floor also has an attached sun porch. There are six steps at the carport entrance and one small step at the front entrance of the house.
There are two additional self-contained studios adjacent to the house. Each has windows, a table, open wall space, places to sit, heat and air-conditioning. The studios are open for all types of creative use but artists carry in their own supplies.
There are three designated common spaces within the house: the eat-in kitchen, the combined living/dining area, and the library. The large kitchen is fully furnished and well equipped. Participants bring their own food and prepare their own meals. Mealtime can be a point of connection for participants and groups who choose to eat together. In the spring and summer the outdoor porch, attached to the side of the house provides opportunities for dining outside. The sun-porch on the ground floor is a fourth common area when the attached room is not occupied.
The library contains over 1500 titles, including a stellar collection of works by Kentucky authors, providing additional opportunities to research and browse a wide range of feminist thought. The house contains more than a twenty-five year legacy of feminist expression in its collection of artwork and the pictures and stories of previous women’s stays on the property.
Retreat participants also have complete access to the ten acres immediately surrounding the house, which belong to the Kentucky Foundation for Women. Please check in with staff if you would like to use the land for creative purposes or will be conducting workshops or musical activities that may affect other’s others’ quiet space. A labyrinth for walking meditation is also located in close proximity to the house.
back to top
|
|
“Cutting Images” Summer Resident Beth Nolte working in the Crow’s Nest Studio
Photo by Amanda Rae Jones |
|
| |
 |
Work in an artist’s room at Hopscotch House
Photo by Dotti Russell |
|
|
Brief History of Hopscotch House and Its Surroundings
The oldest parts of the renovated farmhouse that serve as the main living quarters for retreat participants at Hopscotch House date to 1848. Converted outbuildings serve as studios. The Kentucky Foundation for Women purchased Hopscotch House in 1987. It was first used to host groups of women writers known as the Wolf Pen Writer’s Colony. In the early 1990’s, Hopscotch House became available year-round to women artists and groups with a special focus on women’s connection to the earth. The Summer Residency Program was launched in 2006.
Hopscotch House continues to evolve to best serve its constituents and KFW’s mission to support feminist art that advances positive social change in Kentucky. Over the years, the house has served thousands of women including artists, activists, feminists, eco-feminists, art critique groups, drumming circles, quilting groups, social justice groups, girls’ empowerment groups, arts organizations, and social service organizations. The Hopscotch House Program, like KFW as a whole, is founded on the belief that when women and girls advance so does Kentucky.
Hopscotch House and its ten acres of land are surrounded by the privately owned Wolf Pen Branch Mill Farm, which represents the combination of several smaller farms. The surrounding 400+ acres are considered a classic Kentucky Farmstead.. The smaller farms were purchased as the area was undergoing a wave of development, from which the property is now protected in perpetuity by a conservation easement. While the surrounding land gives it the feeling of a space apart, Hopscotch House is actually located 13 miles from downtown Louisville.
The surrounding 400 acres are privately owned but environmentally protected, where Hopscotch House participants have walking rights. Participants are welcome to explore the interconnected series of trails or to request a trail orientation from staff. There are written walking directions available upon request. Walkers should be careful to avoid the private residences, which include small parcels of land that are not part of the environmentally protected open-land.
The land features woodlands, rolling fields, and watersheds where visitors can spot deer, coyote, fox, birds, butterflies, dragon flies, and more. Guests to Hopscotch House can visit the privately owned historic mill, explore a meadow on the bank of Harrods creek, or hike towards the waterfall by passing through a family graveyard.
back to top
 |
| Labyrinth on the grounds of Hopscotch House.
Photo by Trish Lindsey Jaggers |
|
| |
 |
| Robin Hamon unveils her finished sculpture to fellow residents.
Photo by Sherry Hurley |
|
Voluntary Donations
Hopscotch House is offered free of charge to groups and individuals who have been accepted for retreats and residencies. Donations are greatly appreciated, when they are financially feasible for artists, activists and allies. These tax deductible gifts make it possible for KFW to offer a limited number of stipends to women who require financial assistance in order to use Hopscotch House. Donations also allow the Kentucky Foundation for Women to maintain the services and amenities available at Hopscotch House.
Donations are voluntary. For those making a donation, KFW staff and Board suggest $10 per day per person, or what is comfortable for each individual. Envelopes are available at Hopscotch House for gifts made upon departure. Donations can also be made by mail at any time.
back to top
|
|
Articles about Hopscotch House
"Raising Women's Voices" : Hopscotch House featured in the Alliance of Artists Communities newsletter.
"A Room of One's Own in KY" by Constance Alexander
back to top |
Contact Information
Hopscotch House
c/o Kentucky Foundation for Women
332 West Broadway, Suite 1215
Louisville, KY
(502) 562-0045
E-mail: erin@kfw.org
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
“Hopscotch House helped me dig out the artist within and plant my seeds to start growing artistically. It gave me so much faith in myself and made me realize my artistic dreams can be a reality.”
Toma Lynn Smith, Writer
“To be in such an inspiring place, connecting with other female artists, to devote my time solely to creating a piece of work examining a critical feminist issue, was a life changing experience.”
Amanda Rae Jones, Performing Artist / Playwright
“I feel that the experience at Hopscotch House was a beginning. First, it was a beginning of friendships. It was also the beginning of my owning the role of feminist social change artist.”
Beth Nolte, Visual Artist
“I have to say the people there, the inspiration of the house and land, the thought of a long line of gifted women who preceded us, and those that will follow, added to a very exceptional experience.”
Jane McCord, Writer
“One of the greatest benefits (to my stay at Hopscotch House) was meeting and connecting with new women who are on similar artistic journeys.”
Carmen Mitzi Sinnot, Performing Artist, Screenwriter
“Being in a place of such peace and beauty, having space and time to devote to experiencing and writing, being in the company of other creative women —All these things helped to open me up at a time when I have in some ways begun to feel spent and worn. My writing began to flow much more freely than it had in quite a while. My spirit felt much revived.”
Margaret Stewart, Writer
“I can honestly say that my week at Hopscotch House was one of the most life-affirming weeks of my entire life. Women so often find themselves last on their list of priorities and here the message is 'you matter, your art matters, we will support you and hold you so deeply so that your art and individuality can blossom and take root.' I felt deeply cared for. Thank you!”
Maryam E. Hand,
Poet
“I applied to Hopscotch House at a point in my life when my creativity was suffocating and had been for a while. It had been a long time since I had had the time or the chance to experiment and create what I wanted with my art.
Through the gift of time, the amazing studio space, and the inspirational scenery, Hopscotch House helped lead me to my creative self again. It was such an incredible experience. I never worked so intensely nor was so happy with what I produced. It has opened up the creative floodgates! I can Breathe Again!”
Lacy E. Hale,
Visual Artist
“When I received my residency, I felt as if I had opened a box and found a miraculous gift: time."
Linda Blackwell Billingsley, Writer
“This residency has been an incredible gift. I have never had this kind of uninterrupted time to focus on writing. It’s impossible to convey how grateful I am for the opportunity I’ve had this week.”
Nancy Gall-Clayton, KFW grantee, Playwright
“This has been the highlight of my life; a time of growth and respect for me as an artist and woman. I leave here renewed and stronger than when I arrived. ”
Cheryle Anne Walton, Visual Artist
“Hopscotch House provided me with the time and space to make art in a beautiful spot, surrounded by exhilarating energy from other artists working.”
Rebekka Seigel, Fiber Artist
“My time at Hopscotch House was absolutely invaluable. Without it, my second manuscript may never have reached completion. How comforting to find a place in which women artists can work and learn from each other.”
Abigail Gramig, Poet
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
