The Beginning, August 19, 2012
We are working to create something that sparkles and flies and burns and embraces, inviting people to dive into their own imaginations, hopes, and dreams without reservation (well, actually, with room reservations, with any luck, but not many more). We are putting everything we have on the line to do this… I have dragged my family of husband and animals three thousand miles from the convenience of Southern California to the glorious and unforgiving fairyland of the Catskill Mountains. I am both terrified and oddly freed by that move…
So, I invite you to join me – us – my husband Mark and I, and friends and colleagues and connections – as we imagine the birth of something new.
Something that stands at the intersection between the ridiculous and the sublime. A place that invites dream time, in its own dreaming. A place that welcomes our folly, our bold mistakes, our playful preposterousness, and folds it into something that celebrates who we are – we who can be – and what we want the world to be.
Over the next several months, we will be polishing and burnishing and loving this quiet, dreaming, sleeping place that has stood empty for several decades back into a home for sparkling life. As we do so, we will be simultaneously building the first layer of offerings: chances to embrace your inner dragon, celebrate the seasons deep in our memories, dive into the elegance of parkour as movement and metaphor; even as we offer the place to those who might want to construct their own magic independently here.
Come spring or early summer, we will be open and ready for the world. We are building programming that excites us and hope that will excite you, but we also have questions for you…
Are you hungering for a certain experience? Let us know. Do you have ideas you want to share with the world and a sense that you can get people to come and hear them, if only you had a place to do so? Let us know. Do you have a sacred, delighted, fabulous gathering of friends or family or colleagues you want to find a home for? Let us know.
Spillian will be offering independent programming, co-hosted programming, and be available for event rentals. (And oh, mama, if you’re looking for an utterly romantic, real place to declare your love for your beloved, this is the spot for weddings…)
We look forward to hearing from you. Please email me with your deepest dreams, and let’s see what we can make happen for you.
leigh@spillian.com
Leigh Melander, Ph.D.
Founding Fomenter
Spillian: A Place to Revel
So very glad you are saving this wonderful piece of local history! Best of luck!!
Burr, thank you! We are very excited.
Leigh and Mark,
This is an absolutely wonderful endeavor! Best of luck to you, and let me know if I can be of any assistance. Namaste!
Bob, thank you so much! Let’s talk…
holding the dream with you…k
I’m so very excited for you Leigh. What a magical place!
I am interested in the Fleischmann family history and have wanted to see their “digs” for years!
You and Mark are simply magical souls. Capturing this piece of beauty and creating your freedom from it all. Bringing it to the attention of us wee mortals that sit breathing heavily for a moment in your realm and a bit of your extraordinary exuberance…I just adore you, miss you and am determined to enter your portal in July….big embrace to both of you beauties. You are both so special in this world void of risk takers, Amen…xo m
Thank you, Martha! So much. Can’t wait to see you and share…
Congratulations Leigh and Mark!
I just took Phyllis through an online tour of your ‘sleeping beauty’. Your website is so inviting and the pictures are stunning. How full and wonderful your days must be. Wishing you joy as you enter this spring of 2013. With much love and big hugs from magical fish lake…
Thanks so much, Teri and Phyllis! Hope that you can come and visit…