I am writing to protest the just announced sale of Hopscotch House by the Kentucky Foundation for Women. When I established and funded the Foundation with a ten million dollar donation, I bought Hopscotch House with ten acres in the middle of my Wolf Pen Mill Farm. My clearly stated aim was that the income from this endowment, now grown to sixteen million, would be used in perpetuity to endow grants for Kentucky women artists, writers and activists involved in supporting and forwarding women’s rights and to fund residencies and programs for them at Hopscotch.
For three decades under former directors and boards, it functioned in accord with my vision, to the great benefit of many women in the state. For writers, artists and activists, Hopscotch served as a retreat for essential rest and refueling as well as providing studio space and many programs, including a summer writers’ workshop, all very well attended, and free. I furnished the house, bought a collection of art by Kentucky women artists with which the house is decorated, and invested in an important library of hardcover books by Kentucky women spanning a century.
Two years ago all programs were stopped at Hopscotch House, the grants program shrank, and my intention was abandoned. Since then the house has sat empty and deteriorating. Today the executive director and her two board members/officers have placed Hopscotch and its ten acres on the market, abrogating my intention and putting Wolf Pen Mill Farm, which surrounds Hopscotch on four sides, in serious danger.
If Hopscotch is sold, the proceeds will swell the endowment which continues to be both underused and misused. This cannot happen.
— Sallie Bingham
Here is a very small selection of the hundreds of Facebook comments to my recent posts about Hopscotch House. I do encourage you to see for yourself what a difference it has made—and please share yours if you haven’t: Groundhog Day and This Beautiful Weave:
From Facebook:
Laverne: Sallie, I read your full blog. Yes! Do pursue reinvigorating the Hopscotch house. I did my best in an interview. It’s as though the current women in charge don’t truly understand KFW’s history or mission.
Shannon: This was such an important part of my development as a feminist artist.
Connie: Loved our writing retreats there with the Louisville Writing Project
Alexandra: I’m so sad to hear it’s empty! We enjoyed many Francis Parker School Women’s Retreats there in its cozy environs! We had looked forward to many more!
Diane: Our writing retreats for Women Who Write at Hopscotch House were magical.
Nancy: We have created so much during our stays there. My sister Leslie has worked on two books that are now published… Thank you for the ripples you and KFW create!
Debbie: I had wonderful nature adventures while writing at Hopscotch. I hope it can become useful again.
Trish: I stayed there twice; this writing sanctuary can never be replaced.
Barb: Attended many a Minerva event there also 💕💕
Phyllis: Thank you, Sallie, as always & forever. Hopscotch House was a magical place for so many of us for years… It is heartbreaking to imagine how many artists and others have been denied the opportunity to experience the “magic of Hopscotch House” while it sits empty due to lack of administrative support.
Wren: It does make me sad that that big glorious space and that gracious kitchen is no longer filled with women sharing their stories, and laughing as they cook a meal together.
Constance: I did some of my best writing at Hopscotch House over the years. KFW has been an important part of my writing life throughout my 36 years in Ky. Thanks so much, Sallie.
Sandy: I for one would love to see women artist, poets, etc get the kind of support and transformative experiences once available via Hopscotch House. Willing to put in the work as I’m sure others would.
Connie: it was such a blessing space for so many. I would love to see it reborn.
Marie: Lots of wonderful connections and creative energy happened there. A special place and a special time.
Patricia: The special peace and rejuvenating power of this unique place deserves to be recognized. As an artist and artist group participant and leader, I believe Hopscotch could again be precious resource for the women and the artistic future of Kentucky.
Chris: Support from KFW and time at Hopscotch House along with participation in Alternate ROOTS has had a profound effect on my life and career. As I drift into the midst of my seventh decade, I reflect and notice a shift away from intrinsic value toward capitalist gain. When this issue around Hopscotch House first surfaced, I went to the KFW website which was rather thin with no listing of current board members. Lack of transparency is an effective strategy.☯️🌎🕊️❤️
Right on, Sallie!
I am so pleased and impressed by your decision to protest the sale of Hopscotch House in such a public way and for taking direct action to hold KFW accountable for the abandonment of the expressed vision and intent of your endowment to include the funding of residencies and programs at Hopscotch House in perpetuity.
I admire your strength and applaud your on-going commitment and support, not only for those of us who experienced the benefits of Hopscotch House programs and retreats in the past but for all who have more recently been denied such opportunities, as well as those who will be denied such opportunities in the future if Hopscotch House cannot be saved, especially considering the fact that “money is not the issue.”
In addition to my recent sense of heartbreak and sadness, the anger and frustration I experienced more than twenty years ago (during the “interim period,” when it seemed that efforts were underway to abandon Hopscotch House even then) have been rekindled in me full-force since learning about the current state of Hopscotch House and KFW’s intent to sell the property.
I look forward to further updates.
Thank you, Sallie, as always.