Arts Initiative

Where are we?

Plas Newydd Farm is located just north of Ridgefield Washington, at the confluence of the Lewis and Columbia Rivers, land of the Chinook and Cowlitz people. The farm sits at the intersection of agriculture, development, and conservation, and is one of the largest intact pieces of working agricultural land in Clark County. The city of Ridgefield has been listed as one of the fastest growing cities in Washington State for several years running, and the pressure on farm families to sell their land to make room for houses, businesses and industry is intense. The Morgan family is committed to keeping this land in use as an agricultural space, as well as a site for significant habitat and wetland restoration. We are excited to find ways to share this unique place with our neighbors and the creative community.

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Why the arts?

This project exists to explore how the arts can add to the conversation around wild spaces and working spaces, and how they interact and coexist in the face of rapid development and human growth in the county. It also exists simply to share the joy, beauty and power of the arts, and of the land.

Who are we?

The Initiator:

Abby Braithwaite grew up in communities where creativity was a part of the fabric of daily life. Beginning with her earliest childhood experiences in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom—a deep-rooted community rich with farmers and artists—Abby has been immersed in cultures where each individual’s power to create is a given, whether the creation was a healthy herd of cows, an oil painting, or a procession of giant puppets marching across a hayfield with the the Bread and Puppet Theater. Since moving to Plas Newydd Farm with her husband David Morgan and their family in 2007, the writer side of Abby has explored the stories of the farm, but no one person can capture all there is to tell. She is looking forward to building a community of creatives to help her share this place her family is lucky enough to call home. Abby is a volunteer workshop facilitator for Write Around Portland, and the author of two self-published chapbooks of prose and poetry, and you can read her occasional words over on compost-ink.com.

The Morgan Family:

Plas Newydd Farm has been in the Morgan family since the 1940’s, and since the beginning they have been committed to the stewardship of this place. Since the family purchased the land it has been a dairy farm, a beef farm, and a timber farm, and David and his team continue to manage cattle and timber operations, while also working to restore about half the acreage of the property to wetlands, salmon habitat, and Oregon White Oak savannah. David and Abby’s two children are among the fourth generation to grow up with their feet on this soil.