Taleamor Park, in the middle of farm country outside La Porte, IN, draws people from around the country and across the globe by fulfilling a fantasy shared by many: a peaceful retreat from the distractions of daily life, surrounded by nature and creative individuals.
Hosts Clifford and Lisa Peterson offer “self-directed residencies and retreats for artists, writers, scientists, and humanists.” Each guest has a private bedroom with a writing desk and reading chair in the 1854 Italianate brick farmhouse, which also houses a library and paper studio. Adjacent barns add two multi-use studios.
“Taleamor” is a poetic invention, encompassing the nuances of “tale,” “amor” and “talea,” a cutting for the propagation of a plant. The house is in the midst of a 375-acre working farm with three ponds, over two miles of walking trails, and woodlands and hillsides sheltering wildlife and birds.
The residency season runs May through October, during which owners the Petersons host four guests at a time, generally for two weeks but sometimes longer. The resident groups are surprisingly cosmopolitan, coming from places as far-flung as South Korea, Ukraine, Australia, China and the United Kingdom. From November through April, the Petersons host individual and group retreats.
Clifford has lived on the farmstead since 1950, when his family bought it and started working its land. He left for a time to satisfy a wide-ranging curiosity, accruing degrees in visual studies, environic design and cultural anthropology, before returning to continue improvements on the farm.
He and Lisa, formerly an art professor and director of the visual arts MFA program at Purdue University, converted the top level of one barn into the loft space they call home. With soaring ceilings, exposed beams, comfortable reading chairs, artwork and a view of the countryside everywhere you look, it is a hard place to leave. Which may explain why, upon retirement, they decided to welcome the world to their Arcadian corner of it.
The Petersons see themselves as audience rather than instructors. “We are here to learn from them as much as anything,” says Lisa of the residents.
The residents determine their own projects, schedules and meals, but share ideas and discuss their work at regular potluck dinners. “The way our community comes together is over meals,” Lisa says. “The dinners create community and conviviality.”
Residents who help with weeding and watering may gather produce from the organic garden, about a third of an acre of herbs, tomatoes, squash, kale, and other vegetables and edible flowers. In addition, an assistant position allows one guest to trade work on the grounds and buildings for residency fees.
Each month during the residency season, the local community is invited to an open house. Writers read from their work in the library, and visual artists show and discuss their work. The receptions give the artists incentive to get work done and not linger too long among the prairie flowers. Those who attend can ask questions and give feedback.
The Petersons’ projects for next year include work on the small barn to create a studio/exhibition space so they can bring more people together for presentations. They are also looking for a farmer to convert 6 acres of fallow field to organic farming or gardening.
For more information about the residency program at Taleamor Park or to be added to the mailing list for receptions, contact: info@taleamorpark.org.
Taleamor Park
2215 E 350 N
La Porte, IN 46350
taleamorpark.org
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