"Lose yourself to find yourself at The Hambidge Center"
The Hambidge Center in Rabun Gap, Georgia. (Photo by Isadora Pennington)
May 1, 2024
Lose yourself to find yourself at The Hambidge Center
By Isadora Pennington
This story is from Sketchbook by Rough Draft, a weekly Arts newsletter.
The hot sun beat down on my arm through the open window of my Subaru. Wind whipped my hair across my forehead and around my neck like a wild improvisational dancer. With music barely audible over the rush of my car’s tires on the pavement, I had plenty of time to think and reflect on my journey. I was on my way to The Hambidge Center.
As I neared my destination, the weather outside cooled and the roads became increasingly hilly. I had been forewarned that I’d lose reception as I neared the Center so I relied on my GPS to keep me on the right path. At the entrance, I turned down a gravel road and crossed over a babbling stream via a modest stone bridge.
Ahead of me stood a series of very old-looking cabins, with a large iridescent pyramid-shaped piece of art positioned in the middle of the large grassy field. Dust from my tires kicked up around my car to announce my presence. I found a spot to park and peeled myself out of my seat, taking a deep breath of the cool, clear air on the property. I had made it at last.
The Hambidge Center is a 600-acre property in Rabun Gap, Georgia. It’s a historic site, and is one of the first artist communities in the United States dating back to 1934. The Center was created by Mary Hambidge, a visionary fiber artist who was ahead of her time in many ways.
A portrait of Mary Hambidge on the wall at The Hambidge Center. (Photo by Isadora Pennington)
Looking Back
Born Mary Crovatt in 1885, she grew up in Brunswick, Georgia. As a young woman, Mary pursued acting and modeling for artists in New York City. She got acclaim for her professional whistling skills which were a hit in vaudeville acts, especially when she performed alongside her trained pet mockingbird, Jimmy.
When Mary met Jay Hambidge, a famed artist and writer, the two hit it off immediately. Jay was a professional artist who had gained notoriety for his thoughts on “dynamic symmetry,” a concept that unites proportion across art, architecture, plants, and the human body. Tiffany and Co. actually created a series of jewelry on this design theory, and Chrysler factored in his theories on dynamic symmetry for some of their classic automobiles.
Though at the time of their first meeting Jay was married with children, the love that grew between Jay and Mary was undeniable. Following the separation from his first wife, Mary and Jay began traveling together near and far to research art and design. A serendipitous trip to Greece introduced Mary to the fundamentals of weaving, sparking a deep interest in the craft that would become central to her life’s purpose. When Jay returned to America, Mary stayed behind to learn as much as she could about weaving.
After she returned to the states, and following the sudden passing of Jay in 1924, Mary became the beneficiary and executor of his estate. Ten years later she established Hambidge Center as a retreat and a sustainable farm. She began employing local artisans to create weavings that utilized wool shorn from her sheep. These exceptional weavings would go on to be featured in some of the highest regarded museums including the Smithsonian and MOMA. Eventually she began inviting artists to stay on the sprawling property, and following her death in 1973 the Center became a formal residency program.
Present Day
Meandering dirt paths and gravel roads winding through the woods connect the working grist mill, a weave shed turned gallery, a modern pottery studio, kiln, sauna house, spring house, nine artist studios, and the newest addition: The Antinori Village. There is no cell reception on the property except when you’re in your cabins or shared spaces, a fact that only enhances your feeling of disconnection and of distance from the real world. Somehow, that isolation also helps you to reconnect with yourself.
Structures, workshops, works in progress, and historic relics at The Hambidge Center. (Phots by Isadora Pennington)
That’s a common experience for those who are accepted into the residency program at Hambidge. You go there, you get lost, you find yourself, and you make something beautiful surrounded by the serene natural beauty of the woods.
The Hambidge folks generously invited me to stay in one of their newest structures, a cool modern take on a cabin in the woods. The exterior of the cabins are charred black in the Shou Sui Ban traditional Japanese wood preservation methods a stark contrast to the wildness around them. With huge windows that look out into the forest, the simplicity and solitude of my lodging helped me to stay centered in my purpose. Unlike most who visit Hambidge, I was not there to create a masterpiece. I was there to learn, to take it all in, and to get out of my own head for a bit.
After settling down in my cabin, I struck out for an adventure. Following a map I had downloaded onto my phone, I found myself at one point on a long, winding country road. Beyond an opening in a wooden fence was a mowed path that led me through the brush and brought me to the edge of a peaceful stream. I was left to my thoughts alone, not even my music could play on my phone to distract me from the serenity of my surroundings.
I sat on the rocky shore of that stream for a long time. At first, all I saw was the stream itself, burbling and gurgling past me around the bend and out of sight. But after a while I started to notice more. The rocks underneath me were worn soft by tumbling through water for who knows how many years. A millipede marched across a branch of a nearby bush, paying me no mind. At my feet, a life and death battle between an injured moth and a swarm of ants reminded me that in the wild there is life – and death – all around me.
This helped to take me out of the day-to-day grind and remember that the world, and life itself, are so much bigger than what’s in our heads.
Scenes from the trails around The Hambidge Center. (Photos by Isadora Pennington)
As I wandered down the overgrown path I picked up a stick to swat away any spiderwebs that might cross my path. Inevitably, I became distracted by the delicate unfurling of a leaf, a cool bit of moss on a log, or the way the sunlight filtered through a lonesome flower’s independent blooming in the bushes. I saw deer and bobcat prints in the mud and became obsessed with trying to get a good photo of them. I allowed myself to stop and investigate everything that interested me.
I was alone, exploring with no expectations. No one needed anything from me, no one could reach me, and how I spent my time was truly up to me and me alone. It was refreshing.
With all of these thoughts flowing through my mind, and set to the symphony of sounds echoing through the forest as the day descended into dusk, I made my way slowly back to the property.
Once back at Hambidge, I became obsessed again with a small structure near the entrance: a spring house. Inside, the tranquil bubbling of a natural stream nearly took my breath away. In one corner, lush plants flourished around a dripping stream of water. In another, I watched water bubbling up through the silt and sand under some of the clearest water I’ve ever seen in the wild.
The spring house. (Photos by Isadora Pennington)
This natural spring felt special, magical, and a little spooky. I sat for a long while observing tiny crawfish and salamanders flitting about in the crystal clear water before eventually heading back to my cabin for dinner and rest.
The next morning, following a rainstorm that gently rapped on the roof of my cabin at dawn, I met with Jamie Badoud, Executive Director of Hambidge. We sat together in the gallery at an old wooden table surrounded by shelves stacked with vintage books. Badoud shared his story, his passion for Hambidge, and his excitement for the future.
Before taking the position at Hambidge, Badoud was the Executive Director of Art Papers Magazine. For more than seven years he led the organization out of crisis and ushered in a new era of success for the publication. “It was a dream job, but I burnt myself out,” said Badoud. “I was a young leader in the arts, fighting for all we could be.”
Executive Director Jamie Badoud. (Photo by Isadora Pennington)
During his tenure at Art Papers, he was successful in reviving the publication through hiring of new editors and expanding the magazine. It was meaningful work, but draining. Badoud was feeling increasingly burnt out when his wife’s job offered her a year-long fellowship in Freetown, Sierra Leone. He tagged along, and the experience was an incredibly moving one for Badoud, and inspired him to take the first step onto another path.
“What was surreal at first became so real to me,” said Badoud. Where he was staying, there was no electricity, corruption was rampant, and education was out of reach for many.
“It was during my time in Sierra Leone that I came to this understanding of how important it is to remove yourself from all of the noise and distractions. When you’re successful, it starts piling on and you start losing hold of what’s important.”
On his return to the states and eager for a new start, he learned about Hambidge Center. He recognized there was potential for him to embrace what he had learned from the isolation he felt in Africa. By losing yourself in nature, and disconnecting from the modern world, you can find yourself again and rediscover your creative voice.
“My job is not to screw up this place,” said Badoud. “It’s perfect the way it is. It has an amazing history, it’s an amazing property, with amazing buildings. I just want to focus on how to make this sustainable.”
With around 150 to 175 artists who come through the residency program every year, there is an incredible amount of work completed at Hambidge week after week. Many of the artists who are accepted into this very competitive art residency program report that in this setting they are able to complete six months worth of work in only two weeks. And that, Badoud says, is exactly the point.
Due to the terrain, the natural beauty of the property, and even the lack of cell reception aside from when you’re in the cabins, artists who come to Hambidge are able to truly focus and “go deep” into their practice.
“What’s important to note is that eight artists are here at a time,” Badoud explained. And that number is special, because it’s the number of people who can sit around a dinner table. “We could have 80 artists in residence at a time, but that really changes the experience of the artist. We want every artist to feel connected to the community that’s here.”
Artists have their own cabins, connected by paths, trails, and roads, but not in sight of one another. There are no expectations for residents to achieve specific goals during their time at Hambidge. They can work on whatever interests them, and they spend most of their time alone, working on projects or exploring the wilderness. Every night the artists gather together for a group dinner. This helps to build a sense of community and sparks inspiration which broadens the experience for residents.
“It’s very simple; there are no expectations,” said Badoud. “It’s really about how deep you go in your own practice, and when you leave Hambidge you’re walking a little lighter and working in your process a little deeper. That’s what’s important to us; not what you complete while you’re here.”
Deputy Director Ife Williams. (Photo by Isadora Pennington)
Ife Williams, Deputy Director of The Hambidge Center since 2021, took me on a guided tour of the property. With so much to see and explore, she showed me many of the facilities, explained the history of the structures, and brought me to hidden gems including a piano in the woods that is slowly being reclaimed by nature.
Williams lives in a cabin on the property at Hambidge, and she shared the joys that come from sharing this space with so many talented artists. Though as a child she lived in a more rural and isolated setting, as an adult she has built a career in museums and art institutes in major cities including Detroit, Miami, Seattle, and Atlanta. Now she calls the quiet mountain town of Rabun Gap home, and she cares for the Center and its guests while also working on her functional and sculptural clay works.
Looking Ahead
Community Workshops are the newest addition to the programming at Hambidge. These classes range from three to twelve days in length, and cover a wide variety of disciplines including arts, crafts, writing, music, movement, and culinary arts.
In these workshops, small groups of eight to ten attendees learn from accomplished artists and instructors who offer in-depth education and insights into their practices. Attendees stay in the new Antinori Village during their workshops and gather together for instruction and meals at the Bunnen Commons during the day.
Antinori Village, Hambidge’s newest addition, offers cabins and a communal kitchen and gathering spaces. (Photos by Isadora Pennington)
Some of Hambidge’s upcoming workshops include “Layers of Meaning: Exploring Analog Collage” (May 12-17) led by Marryam Moma. Using collages of found objects, natural materials, fabric, and printed papers, she will lead attendees through the use of collage to express personal narratives.
The next workshop led by Jason Hines from the Center for Puppetry Arts, is a Marionette Making workshop (May 26-31). Beginning with basic wooden forms, attendees will learn how to carve faces, hands, and feet to express character in their marionette creations. They will also learn how to manipulate the forms with ball and string exercises.
In early June, a Seoul Food workshop led by Chef LaMara Davidson (June 2-7) will lead attendees through a culinary exploration of Asian and Southern foods. Covering the basics of marinades, sauces, and how to elevate your tablescapes, this workshop will walk the everyday foodie through the processes to become a talented home chef in their own right.
The workshop concept is a unique way to add a sustainable source of income for the Hambidge Center, while providing opportunities for interested guests to experience the beauty of the property and the magic of experiences with artists there. More workshops will be announced in coming days and weeks, so those interested in getting involved can keep track and register on the Hambidge’s workshop listings page.
Want to learn more? Don’t miss the 2024 Open House on Saturday, May 11 from 12-5 p.m. This once-a-year opportunity will allow guests to enjoy soundscapes, visit current working artists, provide art-making opportunities, and a Ceramics Invitational Sale.
Isadora Pennington is a freelance writer and photographer based in Atlanta. She is the editor of Sketchbook by Rough Draft, a weekly Arts newsletter.