Today's guest, artist Tom Swanston, is regarded as Serenbe's first artist-in-residence, though he was he was a Serenbe resident before there was an official program. In fact, Tom was an integral figure in creating AIR Serenbe, which is the artist residency division of the Serenbe Institute.
In this episode, Tom regales us with stories about finding his own farm south of Atlanta, what it was like to find his calling in the arts, and how Serenbe has inspired him to be the artist he is today.
Today's guest, artist Tom Swanston, is regarded as Serenbe's first artist-in-residence, though he was he was a Serenbe resident before there was an official program. In fact, Tom was an integral figure in creating AIR Serenbe, which is the artist residency division of the Serenbe Institute.
In this episode, Tom regales us with stories about finding his own farm south of Atlanta, what it was like to find his calling in the arts, and how Serenbe has inspired him to be the artist he is today.
Monica Olsen (1s):
Hey guys, it's Monica here. I wanted to tell you about a new podcast that I've started with my very good friend, Jennifer Walsh called Biophilic Solutions. Our last season of Serenbe Stories, Building a Biophilic Movement, was so popular that we decided to dedicate an entire podcast to it. Every other week Jennifer and I will sit down with leaders in the growing field of biophilia. We'll talk about local and global solutions to help nurture the living, social, and economic systems that we all need to sustain future generations. More often than not nature has the answers. You can find Biophilic Solutions on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and follow us today so you don't miss an episode.
Monica Olsen (41s):
All right, now let's get back to Serenbe Stories. Serenbe is a place where people live, work, learn, and play in celebration of life's beauty. And we're here to share the stories that connect residents and guests to each other and to nature. This is Serenbe Stories. Today's guest is artist Tom Swanston. Tom is regarded as Serenbe's first artist in residence,
Monica Olsen (1m 28s):
Though he was a resident before there was even an official artists program. In fact, Tom was an integral figure in creating AIR Serenbe, which is the artist residency division of our Serenbe Institute. In today's episode, Tom shares his story about finding his own farm just south of Atlanta, what it was like to find his calling in the arts, and how Serenbe inspired him to be the artist he is today. You can find his work across the Southeast in many collections, including a stunning installation in the round at the Dewberry hotel in Charleston.
Monica Olsen (1m 57s):
But first Serenbe Stories is brought to you by The Inn at Serenbe. The Inn is nestled in the rolling countryside of bucolic Serenbe where guests can walk on the 15 miles of trails through preserved forest land, the wildflower meadow, and the animal village.
Monica Olsen (2m 10s):
You can relax by the pool, hot tub, or in rocking chairs on the wraparound porch, play on the croquet lawn, swings, and in-ground trampolines. Connect with nature and each other all while staying in luxurious rooms on The Inn grounds or within the community of Serenbe. Book your stay today at serenbeinn.com.
Monica Olsen (2m 26s):
All right, well, I want to welcome everybody back to Serenbe Stories. Thank you all for listening. And of course, Steve Nygren is back with us.
Steve Nygren (2m 34s):
Hello, Monica.
Monica Olsen (2m 35s):
And we have Tom Swanston, who is an artist who is also here.
Tom Swanston (2m 38s):
Hi Monica.
Monica Olsen (2m 39s):
Hi Tom how are you?
Tom Swanston (2m 40s):
Good I'm doing well.
Monica Olsen (2m 41s):
Tom Swanston has been an artist for a number of years, studied in New York, it looked like London for a little bit, you were at Parsons, somehow made your way down to Atlanta- we're going to find out about that today- and has been in the community for really since the beginning and really integral to of the arts that are here, but most especially the artist in residence program. Tom and his wife, Gail have also just opened a studio space in Chattahoochee Hills, just up the road from Serenbe. So I want to hear all about these things today. So welcome to both of you.
Steve Nygren (3m 14s):
Thank you, Monica, looking forward to reminiscing.
Monica Olsen (3m 16s):
One of the things that we ask people is how did you first find out about Serenbe or maybe a better question since I think you've known Steve before Serenbe is how did you first meet Steve?
Tom Swanston (3m 28s):
How did I first meet Steve? I think that actually I didn't meet Steve. I think my wife, Gail and Marie were in a women's group together, a powerful women's group. And so I think it was Marie and Gail and that led to Steve and me meeting at some point, actually probably more a family. It was probably more a family thing. Cause we were just down the street and I think Steve and Marie were in town and coming out to the farm. And so I think somehow we met during that process.
Steve Nygren (3m 59s):
You had your, you had had those afternoon gallery openings and come to the farm and came out and in those early days, yeah.
Monica Olsen (4m 9s):
So you guys met down here in Chattahoochee Hills or what?
Steve Nygren (4m 13s):
No.
Tom Swanston (4m 14s):
No, so it was Steve was in town and we were just north of here and, and Steve and Marie would come down with the kids, and just from the very outset were incredibly generous with their circle of friends. They would bring friends down to our studios when we would have farm sales and things like that. So it was really, really just an amazing time for us to be at the farm and for Steve and Marie to come down and
Steve Nygren (4m 40s):
And so that first farm. How did you find that in south Fulton county and what, what year it was that?
Tom Swanston (4m 45s):
We found that farm in a strange way, Fisher Phillips, the law firm. So Bob Fisher was the son of, I can't remember his name, but so he was working for my dad at the time. He was my dad's lawyer. So, Ike Fisher that's what, so Ike Fisher was the founding member of Fisher Phillips and they all, maybe 10 lawyers had bought that property in 1952, 650 acres of literally 15 miles north of here. And it was, it was their country place. They would come out from Buckhead and spend summers there.
Tom Swanston (5m 29s):
So when we moved down from New York, we looked everywhere. We looked, we looked at all the typical places. And then my dad said, you know, we might have a place for you. Would you like to go down and look? And we literally, Ike and another couple of members, we all got in the car and drove down to this farm. And we were thinking from new England, we were thinking white saltbox with shutters and two stories. And we drove up to literally a trailer. It was pretty, it was pretty hard.
Tom Swanston (6m 8s):
I think we were greeted by about four or five rottweilers and a motorcycle gang. They had been living on the property, dealing drugs for quite a while. And they were, they were more than happy to the of the owners were more than happy to get rid of them and say, Hey, by the way, I, oh my God, the first time we drove up, these dogs literally ran out to the car and surrounded the car. And Ike said, "I own this MF property" and opened the door and stepped out and started walking like oh my god.
Monica Olsen (6m 40s):
That's fantastic.
Tom Swanston (6m 41s):
It was crazy. So that's, and you know, it was so funny is that they, they let us live there for a quarter of a century. It was, it was really wonderful. I don't know if you ever met them, but we had some tenant farmers. They lived on the property from, from day one. His name was Boll Weevil. Cause he was born in the last Boll Weevil infestation. His mother gave him that name. She raised in, in a room, not too bigger than this, she raised 11 children.
Steve Nygren (7m 13s):
So we're in a room that's about 10 by 12.
Tom Swanston (7m 15s):
Yes. Yeah. I was, when I first, when we first moved there, they would get ready for the winter by taking newspaper and wheat pasting it to the inside of the house.
Tom Swanston (7m 29s):
You could, in some places put your finger through the wall. It was, they one day said, do you like turtle soup and hung up a turtle about 13 inches or 14 inches around. I said, well, I've never tasted it. And they took it out at 22 and shot it in the head and said, we'll have turtle soup in about an hour.
Monica Olsen (7m 47s):
Wow. What an experience.
Steve Nygren (7m 50s):
Here right on the edge, literally, part of Metro Atlanta is still the rural south.
Tom Swanston (7m 55s):
17 miles.
Steve Nygren (7m 56s):
That's right.
Tom Swanston (7m 57s):
Literally to the crow flies, not too far from,
Steve Nygren (7m 59s):
And this was what year that you moved there?
Tom Swanston (8m 1s):
1980.
Steve Nygren (8m 2s):
Yes. And you were there for twenty-five years.
Tom Swanston (8m 4s):
Yeah, we were there for 25 years.
Steve Nygren (8m 5s):
And you converted a barn.
Tom Swanston (8m 7s):
We did convert, actually Gail, Gail one day, one day when I was traveling was so hungry to work she said, Tom, I know you're away, but we've got a little bit on the credit card. And there's a guy that builds chicken coops down the road. I'm a build a studio. And I said, well, go to it. Probably 15 years later, she had a, a patron over at Emory and she said, you know, I'd love to build you a studio. And she literally hired one of the world-class architect from California who built a huge studio for Gail, state-of-the-art air and just, it was beautiful. And I took over the chicken coop.
Steve Nygren (8m 46s):
And what's happened to that property today?
Tom Swanston (8m 49s):
You know, it's now, what is it, it's now 300, 400 homes starter homes that start probably at 175. You know, at one point, and I saw you at one of those south Fulton meetings, Steve, where we had gone from a couple hundred home starts in south Fulton to over 50,000 home starts in one year. And I remember saying, Steve, what are we going to do? And, and you looked at me and said above 92, it's it's lost. There's nothing we can do.
Steve Nygren (9m 25s):
So for those who, to help you with the geography here, Tom's talking about an area that's about 14, 15 miles north of us, actually closer to Atlanta than we are here at the Chattahoochee hill country and Serenbe. And this is a period of time in the eighties that everything south was, was pretty rural still and from Tom's stories you can understand. And over, less than a decade, it converted to traditional tracks of division homes. And, and, and this is, this is why we knew we had to put a stake in the ground because that was going to continue just moving south.
Tom Swanston (10m 9s):
Yeah, I, you know, one of the most exciting things for me at the time was because most of our neighbors were two to 300 acre farmers. They were raising cattle or hogs and corn and sorghum, maybe a cash crop, watermelons or something. When you started that Chattahoochee Hills, doing those, I dunno, holding those charrettes, I guess, for, for people in the area, and those farmers were showing up to not only people in suits, but those farmers, because they, they kind of saw what was happening and what they wanted to keep and what they needed to keep to kind of enjoy their lifestyle. That was really exciting because to your point, it was kind of when you could buy an acre for $2,500 and some of the people were developers are starting to focus on the south side then some of the home pressure was coming.
Tom Swanston (11m 3s):
You could just kind of see what was going to happen. And you just looked around the corner and saw 50,000 home starts wasn't that far away,
Steve Nygren (11m 10s):
And that's what happened. You can look at maps now of what happened there in a period from 2000 to 2007, almost every square mile was entitled.
Tom (11m 19s):
Right. Yeah. Yeah.
Monica Olsen (11m 22s):
That's incredible. And so after your 25 years there, did you move up to Atlanta or did you, was that about when Serenbe was coming online?
Tom Swanston (11m 33s):
We kind of knew in about 2000, 2002, 2003, that we were going to have to make a choice. The land prices were rising. We could see what was happening with the home starts. And we actually, Gail and I sat down and started looking around. We'd kept an apartment in New York for a long time. We thought about moving back to New York. We started that process of where are we going to next? And one of those places that we really were drawn to was New Mexico. And so we were out in, I think it was 2003, 2003, 2004, somewhere in there, we're out in Albuquerque, a little place in Placitas. And Steve had talked to us a little bit about what we were doing.
Tom Swanston (12m 13s):
And of course, as I mentioned, we'd been to some of those charrettes. And literally we got a letter from Steve. We were out in New Mexico and he said, you know, we are moving forward with this. And we'd like you to come take a look at what we're doing. And as much as New Mexico held our attention, our family's here. We had built an infrastructure of friends and that meant a lot to us. And so when Steve reached out and said, Hey, come take a look at what we're going do, Gail and I came back and literally started the process of figuring out how we were going to participate in whatever Steve was, Steve and Marie were putting together.
Monica Olsen (12m 51s):
And I know that you guys opened a gallery. So you, you had one of the first live work units in the Selborne neighborhood, yes?
Tom Swanston (12m 58s):
We did we had one of the first live works. I remember driving through actually, I don't remember, you know, people will say, well, I was the first of this and that. I know that when Steve, one of the things that Steve I'd heard Steve say on the podcast say was we had these meetings, we just invited some friends down and we sold out these lots, you know, pretty quickly. I remember going to that, that letter was an invitation to come take a look at, you know, what we were doing. And I remember sitting down with my folks and saying, these people are serious. We need to put 10 grand down. We need those two lots right, you know, we need to figure that out. And so I, I don't, I don't know that we knew we were going to have a gallery, but I know that we knew we were going to have a workspace and we were going to have a home.
Tom Swanston (13m 41s):
And I know that we would figure that out. And part of the process of figuring that out was sitting down with Steve and going, what, what can we do to make this possible? And what what's, what's going to happen? I think Rusty at the time was working here and Main Street was the finance group. And then Steve and Rusty went with me when we figured out, well, one of them is going to be a commercial space, went to, you know, sit down with these guys and say, well, what can we do? How's that, how can we make get this financed? So early on it, it developed, I think Steve had some ideas about what it should look like. Gail had some ideas about what it should look like.
Tom Swanston (14m 22s):
She's from Providence so she was thinking Greek kind of a, you know, maybe a brick building factory style building that fit into what Steve was looking for in terms of vernacular architecture. So we drove around to, you know, looked at that, took some photographs, sent them over. Kind of developed along those lines, pretty organic.
Monica Olsen (14m 41s):
Well, and I know that sometimes we'll refer to you as our very first artist in residence in sort of a half tongue in cheek, because, you know, we have a residency program, but you really were, you and Gail, if you will, as true residents here. And I think that that's such a cool, you know, sort of thought, and you were very integral in, on, I think on the board of the Institute in the beginning, and then really founded the residency of the actual artist residency program that we have here.
Tom Swanston (15m 10s):
Yeah. It grew out of the, what's called the Serenbe visual arts committee, which was kind of the umbrella anything arts.
Monica Olsen (15m 15s):
Anything you want us to do,
Tom Swanston (15m 16s):
If it was arts they would kind of point at Tom and go he can take it.
Monica Olsen (15m 21s):
Still sounds familiar.
Tom Swanston (15m 22s):
So yeah, that was, it grew out of that. Honestly, I cherry picked that it grew so big. Some of it was the camp and Steve's daughter took that over where we had movies and somebody took that over and AIR was really or, the artists in residence program was really something that I was interested in. So that was really kind of cherry picked out.
Monica Olsen (15m 44s):
So I want to step back and find out how did you become an artist? And like, what was your background? I mean, I know you went to some wonderful schools. Is it something that you knew that you wanted to do maybe in New York originally?
Tom Swanston (15m 55s):
I knew early on that I wanted to, but, and I had always done drawings in the margins and drew covers for yearbooks and did all that kind of stuff. But my folks weren't particularly interested in funding that, so when it came time to go to school and kind of refine that process, they were like I said, I want to go, Philadelphia college of art. And they said, no, that's not going to happen. How about we go to a liberal arts school with a strong arts background and you could decide from there. And so I did that and you know, I never really decided to become an artist, a visual artist. I've had people in my life who've kind of funneled me along.
Tom Swanston (16m 40s):
And one of those people, like many, was a teacher who said, you have some talent, let's pursue this. And so that's really how I kind of made it through undergraduate school.
Steve Nygren (16m 55s):
One time I know you had various styles in the days I knew you and now the cranes have really defined you.
Tom Swanston (16m 59s):
They have.
Steve Nygren (17m 2s)
How'd that happen? Tell us.
Tom Swanston (17m 3s):
You know, so starting at the farm, those cranes for some reason started coming over our house. So even though I was pursuing a more kind of abstract art process, they came over the house and that kind of rhythm infected me in some way strange. We were off the river. So there was a natural grade up to our home. And so they, these cranes kettle over our home, they stop for a moment and they rise on a thermal to get ready to go off into the distance. And so coming out of Florida, going up to Wisconsin, this is the Eastern flyway. They still come, they come directly over us, came over the farm.
Tom Swanston (17m 44s):
They came over here. I was just down the street, maybe two weeks ago and they're coming right over Serenbe. So as, when I moved to Serenbe, it was really a shedding of kind of skin. For me. I knew that I wanted to do something different. We were in a new place and I wanted to pursue both technically and kind of conceptually something new. So about a year after moving to Serenbe, kind of embraced not only new materials, but a new subject matter. And that was a part of it. I had made my way through graduate school with a little Jewish guy named Herbert Bennett as a frame shop Gilder. And he'd shown me that process.
Tom Swanston (18m 25s):
And so for me, I could bring gilding back in. I could bring some of the natural world that was abstractly interesting to me in terms of pattern and also be able to use it as a language so that I didn't have to think about it all the time. So Serenbe really was an opportunity for me to kind of step back, look and integrate a lot more of who I was, if that makes sense, personally. And I didn't know, it's funny, Steve, sometimes you have a vision and you have a feeling that people will catch on to it. I had no idea. I just kind of started working that way. And then you actually responded, you and Marie responded favorably to it. There's one out. It was fun to see out in the front lobby.
Tom Swanston (19m 8s):
I didn't realize at the time how much that kind of archetypal form resonates with people all over the world. And, and literally it's, you know, now it's everywhere from Istanbul to, you know, Hong Kong. It's just everywhere.
Steve Nygren (19m 25s):
To a complete Swanston room at the Dewberry hotel.
Tom Swanston (19m 28s):
A complete Swanston room at the Dewberry hotel.
Steve Nygren (19m 31s):
How many panels are in there? Tell us about that.
Tom Swanston (19m 33s):
I think it was about 27 panels. I had done some work for John before. And so he had, he had really embraced that as a theme. And so when he had that renovation in Charleston, we sat down with homestead I believe,
Tom Swanston (19m 50s):
Workstead? Workstead, the same folks that did the cottages here for AIR. And initially it was going to be a green room. As things change a little bit, it was going to be a green room. And we kind of, it migrated over time to be a gilded room about 27 panels, curved corners, and literally a migration that goes 360 around the room. It was a lot of fun to do. And what was really exciting about it is that when people come into the space, it's their selfie room. You know, it's where people migrate in the hotel to take a photograph, whether it's you're getting married or getting drinks or getting married or whatever happens to be.
Tom Swanston (20m 32s):
And it's really, some people who have come, I'm excited because sometimes people come to the room and then go, well, this could be at home. Why couldn't I have one of these at home? So I've done a number of private residences along the same way, which has really been just fantastic. It had, again, no idea, no idea the application would reach that far.
Monica Olsen (20m 52s):
Right?
Steve Nygren (20m 54s):
Well you've executed the images just beautifully. It really brings them to life, but in an emotional way, that resonates.
Tom Swanston (21m 1s):
Yeah. It's, what's really fun about that room too, is that it's a room that you literally walk through. And so as you walk through, they migrate with you because of the light change. So there are very few opportunities for that to really happen for people to be immersed in it.
Monica Olsen (21m 18s):
Right. And your wife, Gail, is an incredible artist in her own right.
Tom Swanston (21m 22s):
Yeah she is.
Monica Olsen (21m 23s):
Had, did you guys meet in New York?
Tom Swanston (21m 25s):
We met at Parsons, yeah. She'd come up from the Maryland Institute College of Art. And she was again one of the first year, so this is the first year for the MFA program. We're early adopters, and obviously being here at Serenbe kind of tracks along that lane. So we were early adopters. She also had a mentor in school, Raul Middleman, and he had close ties to the Paul Roscoe, who was the director of the program at the time. And so she got in and tough program. 25 people got in, I think, 12, maybe 11 matriculated.
Monica Olsen (21m 59s):
Oh wow. And so then you guys came down here.
Tom Swanston (22m 1s):
We did come down here. And we came down here because I had been doing a little art consulting and we knew that Atlanta was a much better city. We could see ourselves expanding at the time we were in Baltimore, Washington. And we just didn't see that happening. So Gail was teaching at MICA, she got a teaching job and we said, you know, we think we could probably do a lot better if we moved down south. So we moved down and we started a company. We actually moved into downtown Atlanta. If you were to go to ours, where we, we thought we were going to change downtown Atlanta, I don't know why we thought that, but we thought.
Monica Olsen (22m 43s):
I like it. Like it's ambitious. I like it.
Tom Swanston (22m 45s):
Well, there was club Rio with Michael Krohngold was right downtown. And we were around the corner and Wayne Kline was Rolling Stone Press, and he was right around the master tamarind printer. And so we were right downtown, of course they were also seven plasma and blood banks right around the corner as well.
Tom Swanston (23m 4s):
So if you were to go to the epicenter of Centennial park, that's where our gallery would be now.
Monica Olsen (23m 8s):
Wow. Okay. And so now it's Centennial park,
Monica Olsen (23m 12s):
But you guys had a place. It, I want to say at Krog Street for awhile, not Krog Street, at King Plow.
Tom Swanston (23m 24s):
Yeah, King Plow. We had been at King Plow for quite a while. Actually in 2005, when we were building here at Serenbe, we had to go someplace. So some friends of ours gave us a place to live in Virginia Highlands. And so we had reached out to King who had known for a while and said, you know, what do you got? So they gave us a space there and we've been there really off and on pretty much on since 2005. My studio's there now, as you said, we're moving down the street, which is we're really super excited about. So yeah.
Monica Olsen (23m 55s):
So tell us a little bit more about the residency program, because it was the, I think the first Institute actual program, or I guess they call them divisions now maybe. And so how did it start out and who was the first artist?
Tom Swanston (24m 14s):
Who was the first artist? I don't remember. I think, you know, for the most part we were starting, we picked, we started with people we knew. Right? I think Serenbe has always been about friends, you know, friendship. And who do you know? And who would you like to see more of? And, and I think Steve and Marie have, almost from the day one have been strategic about inviting specific kinds of people into the neighborhood. Like we would like to see a fireman, we'd like to see an artist, we'd like to see a lawyer. Right? So I think that's what we did with AIR. I think we had the gallery space and we started inviting people to come. I first, I can't remember. It's been a long time.
Steve Nygren (24m 55s):
I remember our first sculpture installation.
Tom Swanston (24m 59s):
I do, with a, Levy. Yeah, that was, so that was under the visual artists committee so that we just did about everything with that. That was a wonderful installation. I'm not sure it ever really functioned properly. I remember Kathy came out and was going to review it and it didn't quite work. I don't know what it was beautiful though. I mean,
Monica Olsen (25m 18s):
Well, tell me, tell me what it looked like. Is it, it's not still here is it?
Tom Swanston (25m 22s):
No. It would be, at the time it was at the crossroads. It was in that big field that was there and it was a huge 20 foot polished silver dish, if you can imagine. With seating and what else was in it? I, it reflected your sound.
Tom Swanston (25m 45s):
I think there was a big tower part of it. We were supposed to receive signals from
Monica Olsen (25m 52s):
From beyond?
Steve Nygren (25m 54s):
It was signals and reacted to the sun and the atmosphere. And it was, it, it was an art installation, but it was really tied in to a lot of other elements.
Tom Swanston (26m 5s):
It was, it was tied into the natural world in a way that you could go sit and spend an hour and think only 10 minutes had gone by. It was really a beautiful, physically it was beautiful. And it had that crazy tower now that you mention, I forgot all about that.
Monica Olsen (26m 21s):
I'll have to find out if we have pictures of that anywhere.
Tom Swanston (26m 23s):
And then we also had. Yeah, I think, I think there has to be, cause we sent the card out, and I think we sent the card out. We also, I think I've heard people talk about the painting.
Steve Nygren (26m 34s):
That's right. Swan.
Tom Swanston (26m 36s):
What is it? The, the flower and the, you know, it's
Monica Olsen (26m 41s):
Oh the mural that's on the at the wine shop.
Tom Swanston (26m 42s):
Yes, yes, exactly. So that's just, there was a lot. So that's the funny thing about it. It was so like
Tom Swanston (26m 50s):
Organic and the ideas were, well, what can we do now? It was not particularly structured.
Steve Nygren (26m 59s):
That was a Sean Lake.
Tom Swanston (27m 1s):
That's exactly right. Yeah. That's exactly right.
Steve Nygren (27m 3s):
It was the painter here and, and Tom says, we've got our artist in residence wants a building to paint on, wants a whole building to paint on. And so we decided, well, here's a building with a facade.
Monica Olsen (27m 16s):
Okay.
Tom Swanston (27m 17s):
And I remember that at the time we would say, oh, this was going to cost $15,000. Oh, this's gonna cost $7,000. This is going to cost whatever they're like, okay, well you made, okay, can we get it here? We don't do that.
Monica Olsen (27m 31s):
Can we pay $200 for the paint and call it a day?
Tom Swanston (27m 34s):
There were some good budgets there. I think Sean was like 15, 20 grand or something like that. It was not
Monica Olsen (27m 40s):
That's serious.
Tom Swanston (27m 42s):
It was some serious money. I don't know about the Levy installation, but I think I'm pretty sure he got some that was like five grand, 7,500, something like that. It was not, so early on the artist residence program was kind of a little bit more nebulous, you know, invite some friends to come. It wasn't really until, I don't remember the exact time. I know that Shelton and Steve, you were sitting there and I think John was there and I had spoken for, with a couple of other people.
Tom Swanston (28m 20s):
Janice Barton was one of them, right. So, so Janice and there was one other person I can't remember right off the top, but we sat down and tried to figure out what a real structure to a residency program was going to be. And at the time I'd also signed up to be on the, there's a kind of an organizational body, national body for residency programs. And I had been on that board for a year or so. So I kind of had a picture of where I wanted to see it now that it could be formalized. And I come out, I remember going to Steve and to Shelton and saying, Hey, look, this is what we'd like to do. What do you guys think? They're like, sounds great. Go do it.
Monica Olsen (29m 1s):
Sounds familiar. You're in charge.
Tom Swanston (29m 2s):
Exactly. You're in charge. Get back to us.
Monica Olsen (29m 7s):
And so what happened?
Tom Swanston (29m 8s):
I think Janice and I started knocking on doors. And you were one of them,
Monica Olsen (29m 13s):
I was one of them.
Tom Swanston (29m 14s):
Which was, you know, amazing because everybody said yes. And we had a, literally a working board of probably 12 to 15 people who would, you know, tie their shoes in the morning, go out, get the work done. And we literally went from, oh gosh, a budget of about a thousand dollars to, I think last year it topped out at 275 or 300, something like that.
Monica Olsen (29m 39s):
With an executive director and everything.
Tom Swanston (29m 41s):
Oh my gosh.
Monica Olsen (29m 43s):
No longer working board.
Tom Swanston (29m 44s):
You know, they still work hard. I'm not going to say that.
Monica Olsen (29m 47s):
They still do work hard. They do a lot of good work, but it's, it, it, it, it migrated to a, more of a organizational. Which is great.
Tom Swanston (29m 53s):
Yeah. We've got Daren Wang now who is just unbelievable, Michael Bettis. And those two guys really knock it out. We've got an incredible, they just announced their 2020 focus fellowships. We've just got an incredible lineup.
Monica Olsen (30m 7s):
Do you have a couple that you remember off the top of your head or? We can, we can link to it on the website.
Tom Swanston (30m 12s):
We can link to it. I went directly to the visual artists. Where the visual artists?
Monica Olsen (30m 17s):
But a good mix.
Tom Swanston (30m 18s):
It was a good mix. You know, I'm, I'm always like, I think that was to go back to your point when we started it, it was, it was all visual artists. Cause again, it was all our friends who was like, who can we invite down? So it was all visual artists. I like that it's broadened a little bit, but I'd like to see more visual artists.
Steve Nygren (30m 38s):
And Tom's the one, because as this program started emerging we were borrowing people's guestrooms, carriage houses, and needed more. And Tom's the one who kept pushing me. We we need land.
Steve Nygren (30m 51s):
We need, we need to take this more. And, and that, you know, artists didn't want to live under a design review board and, you know, if we want a purple banana house, we should be able to put that somewhere. And I don't think those were your exact words, but that's what I heard.
Tom Swanston (31m 13s):
Purple banana house.
Monica Olsen (31m 14s):
I know I was working through that, picturing that.
Steve Nygren (31m 17s):
I think it was, you know, artists are going to maybe work outside and they're going to have these wild things. And, you know, and so that was really when we were looking at this, this land that we wanted to sort of protect because it was the view ship, but we couldn't have it all. That was the emergence of what we think of today as the art farm.
Tom Swanston (31m 34s):
That's right.
Steve Nygren (31m 35s):
And then as we started looking for cottages, Tom's the one who pursued Rural Studio. And tell us about that pursuit and, and how you brought that all about.
Tom Swanston (31m 45s):
You know, Steve, we had been looking to work with Rural Studio for a long time. I mean, I don't think anybody who grew up in the south looking at architecture, didn't think about what Sam was doing. So I thought it would be great on our old farm. Like let's work with Rural Studio on the, like, this would be beautiful. We can have them come out. And of course that was pie in the sky. But coming back to it, 10 years later, I didn't realize that they, I had read a couple of articles about the 20 K house and realized that we might be able to fit into the "other" category and that we might be able to work with Rural Studio.
Tom Swanston (32m 29s):
And so I reached out to the, the person who was in charge of the 20k house and said, let's talk. And they had, you know, luck is so much of happens, you know. They had been looking for an organization to partner with, and Rusty had been down to Serenbe a number of times before and really liked what was going on. So when the 20 K house person, who is no longer there, but when she got together with Rusty and said, you know, I've, I've been talking to Serenbe artists residence program. And I think we have a place there. I think Rusty reached back out to Steve and said, let's get a member, memorandum.
Tom Swanston (33m 9s):
Let's get on the board here for at least a house two, maybe three. And quite honestly, when we complete a project, it goes to a client and we never know like what happens to it. And this would be the perfect opportunity to be a fly on the wall and kind of track what difference does it make if it's a 12 foot overhang or a three foot overhang or no overhang in terms of energy consumption? Let's kind of get in on this and figure out how does this really affect, how did the student's decisions really affect what's going on? And so I think it was probably about a year. It took about a year to figure that all that, all that out now, we've got two beautiful little studios and,
Steve Nygren (33m 57s):
And it was the first and ponder, possibly the only partnership outside the university system that they've ever done. And I think I remember Rusty saying that they actually have to, had to get an agreement from the Alabama legislature because it was over state lines. So there was state money that went to that. So it was amazing that we pulled that together at that time.
Tom Swanston (34m 18s):
Yeah. Yeah. It was. And I think it was honestly amazing that we actually, well, again, I'm stepping back, I just made the introduction, right? I kind of pursued it and pursued it, pursued it, and like said this, you got to keep thinking about us, we're right there. But once it kind of moved away from me, I have absolutely no idea how it got funded. I've got absolutely no idea how it got built.
Monica Olsen (34m 41s):
Steve and I can tell you.
Tom Swanston (34m 42s):
I know that Steve said well maybe this is a good idea let's see how we could make this happen. But beyond that, you know, the story is someone else's. I have no idea.
Steve Nygren (34m 52s):
Well it's a great story. And I'm glad you brought it up because it is where the arts funding the arts. And we've had one major film filmed here with the movie industry. And that was Insurgent.
Monica Olsen (35m 4s):
Divergent right?
Steve Nygren (35m 5s):
Divergent.
Monica Olsen (35m 6s):
Wait. Insurgent.
Steve Nygren (35m 9s):
Which was it?
Monica Olsen (35m 10s):
You're correct. You were correct.
Steve Nygren (35m 12s):
Insurgent.
Monica Olsen (35m 12s):
You're right.
Steve Nygren (35m 14s):
Do I need to say that again, or you got it?
Monica Olsen (35m 16s):
We got it.
Steve Nygren (35m 18s):
And so we had a location fee and we took that location fee and that's how we built out the art farm.
Monica Olsen (35m 26s):
Well, and we also took the first two years of the Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles show house. The funds from that. That's like another 30 or $35,000. And then I think the Institute also came in with the third.
Steve Nygren (35m 38s):
That's right Monica. So it was all those various entities that helped
Monica Olsen (35m 41s):
So it was really exciting.
Tom Swanston (35m 43s):
Now that you just mentioned it, that does click in the back of my mind.
Monica Olsen (35m 46s):
Yeah, it was a really exciting way to have done it. It was, it was just all of the arts funding the arts. It's incredible.
Steve Nygren (35m 52s):
Which is great story in itself.
Tom Swanston (35m 54s):
And, you know, it's interesting too, because I think what we talk about now with Rural Studio is that 20 K house is more of a brand per se. So I know that it started out with five homes. What can we build? These women have X number of dollars for the most social security. This is what their mortgage would pay for, support. And that was a $20,000 home. I'm pretty sure that our homes didn't cost 20 K.
Steve Nygren (36m 22s):
Well, that was part of the big test. And I believe that each team at the university, they funded them $20,000. But of course, for the students to stand up a house there was free labor. There was a lot of donated things. And so one of the goals is they want to understand what it would really cost in a free market to, to do that. And, and it was a quite a program, as you'd mentioned, Tom, they, they thought they were going to be a fly on the wall and sort of watch this process. And the first meeting where we were trying to get the houses permitted, they sat down at the table and rolled up their sleeves and
Steve Nygren (36m 58s):
They realized that there, there was a good reason that they had to go through all this process to perfect the plans. It was great, great experience. And I remember when we cut the ribbon, I think a few weeks later, Monica, I remember is we were the number one trending story on Facebook worldwide.
Monica Olsen (37m 16s):
It was crazy. Yeah. We had incredible press, like Fast Company and Curbed and just really a ton of interest because of it. And I think, you know, part of it was the name, right? Can you build a house for 20 K? And so there was a lot of intrigue around that, but I think part of it was just the Rural Studio brand and Serenbe coming together.
Steve Nygren (37m 38s):
And they were great looking houses. And, and I give tours to people a lot of times and people see the house like, oh my gosh, I didn't know. That's where, that they were here. You know, I remember those houses. So they really were an image that stuck with people.
Tom Swanston (37m 51s):
Right. Well, to your point, early on, we did put people in basements and extra bedrooms. And so giving artists an opportunity to come from anywhere in the country and spend time in one of these fantastic studios really was a step up for us as an artist in residence program. It just was an amazing opportunity to, to really, to walk into our backyard. And for, for anybody who's followed Sam Mockbee, being in Rural Studio, you know, the MacArthur genius guy, you just kind of want to rub shoulders with those kinds of people and what they're doing. And so to have that in our backyard, it was just amazing.
Monica Olsen (38m 30s):
Yeah, well it's a testament to your, you making that happen. The tenaciousness, I mean, it was really exciting.
Tom Swanston (38m 36s):
Now that I hear the story, you know, I have reheard this story, kind of more of a, kind of a group effort to make it all kind of happen, but yeah.
Monica Olsen (38m 45s):
It was great. And, you know, and there's more to come, you know, the art farm itself, the Institute has property over there, you know, Serenbe has property and that whole area is going to be dedicated to the arts and, you know, building more cottages and rehearsal space and studio, and lots of studios dedicated to the visual arts and maybe ceramics and lots of other things, you know, visual arts.
Monica Olsen (39m 8s):
And I think that, there, it really will continue to become, you know, a nationally recognized program and, and the arts are, you know, a huge part of, of what we're doing here. And I think it's exciting, you know, I'd love to sort of end on your vision for the space that you're in now. And, you know, the opportunity that we have with Chatt Hills, you know, I think is really exciting as well.
Tom Swanston (39m 34s):
I think it is, hopefully we're going to put a stake in the ground at that location and invite people to come kind of replicate what we did here. I don't know if we have the same kind of energy that Serenbe had early on. My hope is that we have something forming out in Rico wherever, you know, I, it will be interesting. I, I think with the film industry, so close by, with the city of Atlanta so close by. Last, it was a couple of days ago, the Atlanta journal constitution came out with an article about how the arts are moving to the south side. So I think that really, there's an energy that's pushing this way.
Tom Swanston (40m 16s):
And as artists come out and look, there's a lot of home stock in Chattahoochee Hills, and there's potentially the opportunity to build more. So with film and visual arts and the movement, the opportunity to move into spaces, I think we're going to see a lot more, it, you know, activity down here. I certainly hope so in the next 10 or 15 years.
Monica Olsen (40m 35s):
And where can we find you?
Tom Swanston (40m 38s):
Well, you mean like www.studioswan.com?
Monica Olsen (40m 40s):
Exactly. That's exactly what I want.
Tom Swanston (40m 43s):
So you can find us www.studioswan.com. You can find us at Capitol view studios.
Monica Olsen (40m 51s):
You can sign up for a newsletter.
Tom Swanston (40m 52s):
You could sign up for a newsletter. You can. No, you can't not yet.
Monica Olsen (40m 56s):
Well, I get a newsletter.
Tom Swanston (40m 57s):
You get an email.
Monica Olsen (40m 58s):
Okay I get an email.
Tom Swanston (40m 59s):
You can definitely send us information and we'll send you an email.
Monica Olsen (41m 1s):
I get emails to come to your gallery shows, which I like.
Tom Swanston (41m 4s):
Absolutely we will include everybody.
Monica Olsen (41m 6s):
Wonderful. Well, we encourage everybody to sign up and I want to thank you for sharing with us and talking about the arts at Serenbe.
Tom Swanston (41m 12s):
Well thanks. Thank you Steve, thanks Monica.
Steve Nygren (41m 16s):
And I think what you're, you know what you're doing for the Chatt Hills, because you know, Serenbe was the beginning of the city of Chad Hills, but we've always seen it as a bigger vision. And I think you taking art into one of the core communities from the 1800s that's right here, a few miles from us, is a really great step. And you and Gail were such an intricate part of when we started that you had the faith because when you first came out, this was a forest with stakes in the grass. And that you actually opened a world-class gallery because with the great art and, and you lived here and you worked here, so this, you and Gail really demonstrated what we were trying to bring about, and that we were serious about having artists here and, and professional artists.
Steve Nygren (42m 2s):
And so thank you for you and Gail having that courage. Cause that's what it took it those times to, to join us. So you've been a key part of Serenbe and the development.
Tom Swanston (42m 14s):
Well thanks. Wouldn't have happened without the commitment that you and Marie made. So it goes both ways.
Monica Olsen (42m 21s):
We'll put pictures up on the website of your work and how to connect with you. Thank you so much you guys.
Tom Swanston (42m 25s):
Thanks.
Monica Olsen (42m 26s):
Thank you for listening to Serenbe Stories. New episodes are available on Mondays. Please rate and review the podcast and make sure to email your questions for Steve Nygren to stories@serenbe.com. You may even get to hear them on the podcast. More details about episodes and guests are available on our website, serenbestories.com.