Made on the Mountain: A North Mountain Residency retrospective

Shanghai, WV // northmountainresidency.org

North Mountain Residency, in collaboration with Shepherd University’s Phaze 2 Gallery, exhibits works created by over 25 artists who have spent time at the residency in the last four years. Located on an apple farm in Back Creek Valley, North Mountain Residency has attracted local, national, and international artists, working in various mediums including textile arts, sculpture, printmaking, book arts, photography, filmmaking, music composition, illustration, painting, and writing. Personal reflections from the artists reveal how their time in residency influenced their practice and success in their art. Installations of physical and audio-visual artifacts guide the visitor to feel what it’s like to spend time on the site.

North Mountain Residency provides a place for working and emerging artists to reflect, observe, research, experiment, and create. From its beginning in 2015, the program has hosted over 50 artists, each coming for a few days to a few weeks. Each artist is provided personal living and studio space, sharing the common space with several co-residents as a small, temporary community.

North Mountain Residency was founded by John Labovitz, who grew up in part on the farm, and inherited the property in 2014. He observed how his family cultivated a creative, inspirational space for three generations. An artist himself, John realized the remote and idyllic site lent itself to artists’ need for quiet reflection and experimentation. After being inspired by his own experiences attending several residencies, John partnered with fellow artist Susanna Battin to develop North Mountain Residency’s program.