Mission

The Espy Foundation advances and encourages the literary and visual arts through residencies at its artists’ community in Oysterville, Washington, and through programs in which writers, artists, and students pursue and discover new ideas and create new work.

Vision

The Espy Foundation operates on the premise that our society benefits from and depends on nurturing creativity and developing artistic excellence.  Artists illuminate the human condition and contribute to the vitality of their communities and to the broader artistic landscape.  They interpret our past and present and imagine the future.  The artists’ community the Foundation has created in Oysterville is situated in a creative natural environment perfect for contemplation.  The facilities fit harmoniously into the coastal ecosystem and provide artists in residence with both private, personal space in which to live and work and communal space in which to gather, exchange ideas, and interact with the larger community through readings, exhibitions, and special events. [more]

History

The Espy Foundation is named for and created in honor of Willard R. Espy (1910-1999), a wordsmith and memoirist whose prolific career celebrated language, word play, and light verse.  Willard was born and raised in Oysterville, a village co-founded in 1854 by his grandfather, Robert Hamilton Espy.  He was an active member of the literary arts community in New York City, where he spent his adult life.  Willard Espy spent time in Oysterville each year, finding that its tranquility, beauty, and isolation made it a perfect place in which to reflect and create. [About Willard R. Espy]