Franconia Blog

From the Intern Artists: First Impressions

Posted on 14 April 2012

  Name: Joshua Bennett Hometown: Richmond, Virginia 

“My drive through the day, into the night, and then into the morning probably had some effect on my initial impression of this place. Perhaps it was my fatigue, but actually arriving at the park came as a shock. After miles of farmland, suddenly I was driving past sculpture, not empty fields. I didn’t come here with any expectations. I read the warning in the artist’s handbook to bring tools, and so I did, that’s as far as my expectations went. My plans are still changing, but so far I’ve built a shack and collected some metal. I’m still not used to working outdoors but I’m learning.”

   Name: Sophie Fishel Hometown: London, England

“As I’d never been to America before I was both pretty excited and aprehensive. I expected everything to be massive; the vehicles, the sculpture park, the people. This is all mainly true, except for the people actually at the park. The sculpture at the park is all insanely huge to me, being using to slightly pretentious, gallery orientated sculpture. I already love it here because it seems like the real thing.”

  Name: Alex Russo Hometown: Bethlehem, Pa via Middlebury, VT 

“This white farmhouse reminds me of the Weybridge House – a rickety old building in Middlebury, Vermont where I lived for a year and a few months crammed under a weathered roof with seventeen other students. We lived off of communal meals fueled by 100% local foods. The kitchen was always bustling with activity, nonstop cooking and not quite enough cleaning – eventually the buckets of compost would overflow and pandemonium ensued. The well-worn floors are cleaner here at Franconia and there isn’t a resident living-room-dweller hogging the couch either, but still, I know this place. When I first opened the door last night and four friendly faces with welcoming eyes met my haggard gaze, I knew this place and the people. I smiled. After weeks of stumbling around my house like a dopey dog with my tail between my legs and a blank stare upon my face, I finally felt at home. I had been questioning where I needed to be in the world and now I had found my destination – a small plot of land in Minnesota with a white farmhouse, a kooky cast of resident artists, and a field full of sculpture. Home sweet home.”

  Name: Jesse Blumenthal Hometown: Montreal, CAN via Crested Butte, CO

“All-night disco still ringing in my ears/I try to shower off the dragging feeling of the journey ahead/The scalding water only manages to get me to my car door./ It’s 4:30 AM at 10,000’/I toss my suitcase full of raddy work pants and Sunday t-shirts into the back seat/My little MIG sits shotgun/… …/Anticipation/And Nicotine/Now Im high on the nerves/I know very little of this sculpture park except the promise of opportunity, assistance, and space/A lot must be invested to gain so much/And after 20 hours of straight endlessness the road begins to roll and lakes dot the road side/Then bursts of color from nothing/Fresh Pavement/Tolerant/ Minnesota nice drivers/COLOR!/LINE!/METAL!!!/And in that moment initial nerves dispersed/I felt rewarded for my journey.”