Orchard Artworks' 10th Anniversary Event Sunday

The following is the official press release courtesy of Page Morahan:

 In the former orchard at Academy Farm in Bryn Athyn grows a young apple tree propagated from a cutting of the last-known living tree planted by John Chapman, aka Johnny Appleseed. The planting is one of many done by Orchard Artworks, an artists’ cooperative that is celebrating its 10^th year with a retrospective of fine art and contemporary crafts at the Powell House on the farm’s grounds.

“Orchard Artworks: Past, Present and Future” opens with a reception from 1-4 p.m. on Sunday, June 5, at 520 Tomlinson Road, Bryn Athyn and runs through July.

Just as that tree is preserving part of living history, so Orchard Artworks has helped preserve part of Bryn Athyn by renovating the farmstead’s 200-year-old Powell House as its gallery. It seems an unusual mission for an artists’ group, but this is an unusual group. Founded by 34 members in 2001, it brings together a wide variety of artists and craftspeople who themselves run the collective and numerous events – a fellowship of artists, for artists.

“It’s a remarkable achievement, that we’ve been able to survive and thrive as an all-volunteer organization,” said Page Morahan, an original member whose specialty is photography and handmade greeting cards. There’s no board of directors or officers, just members who do the work that needs to be done to bring art to the community through exhibitions, education, festivals and outreach.  If you had to pin her down, Morahan would say she’s the grants coordinator, but titles are incidental.

Gail Simons, the Artworks coordinating director, describes the group as affirmative, friendly and fluid, all attributes that play a part in its success. “We have respect for each other. We’re good at finding each other’s strengths and using those for the necessary tasks,” Simons said. “One member is talented at designing our postcards. Another one is good at putting up flyers. Another one is good at schedules, and another does the Web site. And the roles can change.”

Several members are successful professional artists, some are retired from other fields and have made art a second career, and others work full-time but still have a passion for creativity.

Over the years, Orchard Artworks has nurtured young artists who step back as they raise their families, and then may return to the fold later in life. Morahan said eight original members are still with the group.

This longtime sense of belonging is the theme of the exhibition, which will highlight the current work of some founders and former members, as well as present members. Pieces from 15 participants will include paintings, photographs, fiber art, jewelry, wooden bowls and spoons, pottery and blown glass, said Diane Worthington, a coordinator of the show. The artists will attend the reception and items on exhibit will be for sale.

Also available will be walking tours of the property, conducted by Vera Powell Glenn, who grew up on what is now Academy Farm, so named because it is owned by the Academy of the New Church, part of the Swedenborgian Bryn Athyn Church. Glenn is the last surviving member of the family that moved there in 1914 and ran the 68-acre farm and orchard for the school.

The barn has been the longtime home of the Bryn Athyn Thrift Shop, but the house remained empty for several years until Tracy McQueen, an Orchard Artworks founder now living in Delaware, persuaded the church to let the group restore it for use as a gallery. After much hard work, the gallery opened in 2001. The Academy Farm property also includes the former chicken house and other old outbuildings, all a project of the Alnwick Grove Historic Society, with which Orchard Artworks collaborates. (Alnwick Grove was the original name of the Bryn Athyn train station.)

Most recently, the artists’ cooperative used several grants from the Asplundh Foundation to stabilize the exterior of the farmhouse, install a handicap-accessible ramp, and build an enclosed porch to use for workshops and gallery space. It also is responsible for maintenance and landscaping, and for six years has planted apple trees at the Johnny Appleseed Festival, which is named for the legendary nurseryman, pioneer and Swedenborgian missionary.

“It’s an interesting reuse of an old building that nobody knew what to do with,” Morahan said. “We maintain the basic structure of the farmhouse for a new use. Our agreement with the church is to keep up the building. That’s one big reason we’ve been able to exist for so long.”

Among the exhibitors in “Orchard Artworks: Past, Present and Future” are: Gillian Bedford, oils; Rebekah Clark, fiber; Chaz Grubb, wood; Marianne Ham, photography; Jency Latta, decorative painting; Maggie Leiby, painting; Dan Lindrooth, wood; Judith Merrell, fiber; Page Morahan, photography; Stephen Rich Nelson, glass; Christina Orthwein, ceramics; Gail Simons, jewelry; Jonathan Simons, wood; and Caroline Stritzinger, mosaics.

Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 1-4 p.m. Sundays. For additional information on Orchard Artworks, visit www.orchardartworks.org, call 215-947-9882, or send an e-mail to OrchardArtworksGallery@gmail.com.