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The Friends of Salt Springs Park, Inc. • PO Box 541 • Montrose PA • 18801 • 570.967.7275 • info@friendsofsaltspringspark.org


Specialist-in-the-Park Program


To reflect the evolving nature of the Specialist program, it is now called the Specialist-in-the-Park Program. The program operates on a yearly basis and is designed to benefit both Salt Springs Park and the Specialist. We welcome experienced or budding artists, sculptors, naturalists, geologists, photographers, writers, story tellers, historians, musicians, and anyone of visual or performing art creative ability. The Friends of Salt Springs Park hope that specialists will explore and use the park’s rich geological and natural environment, its unique heritage and history, and its amazing beauty to inspire new work.

Together, the Friends and the Specialist will design a specific goal to be achieved with this inspiration and motivation from the park. The opportunities for the creative Specialist will allow not only for a peaceful pallet with which to work but also for public involvement or to educate about his or her medium at the park. To conclude the year, the Friends will advertise and host a weekend exhibit, exposé, concert, or other forum in honor of the Specialist. Any proceeds from this final event will benefit the Specialist as well as provide a small percentage to the park. The program is a wonderful opportunity for all.

Application Process
  1. Click here for a printable application form.
  2. Send completed application to
    Specialist-in-the-Park Program
    Friends of Salt Springs Park
    PO Box 541
    Montrose, PA 18801
  3. All applications must be received by June 30th.
  4. Applicants will be invited to an Education Committee meeting in July to review their work and to discuss the proposal.
  5. The Committee will present its choice to the Board for approval. Candidates will be notified of the status of their application after the August board meeting.
  6. After Board approval, the Specialist will meet with the Board to begin his or her reign at the park.

This is an excellent opportunity to show your talents. Please call the park for further details: 570-967-7275.


2008 Specialist-in-Residence

The 2008 Specialist-in-Residence at Salt Springs was Sara Doane. Sara’s term began May 15th and ran through 2008.

Sara is a historian and specializes in living history. She is the Executive Director of the Tioga County Museum in Owego, NY, a lecturer, and a presenter of living history workshops and presentations. The focus of Sara’s research is nineteenth-century American history, specializing in women’s history and the history of the Spiritualist movement.

As part of her residency, Sara set up an 1850s-1870s parlor in the Wheaton House using her own historical possessions. The parlor was maintained from July through September.


2006-2007 Specialist-in-Residence

Melissa Haertsch is a writer working in the genres of literary non-fiction, fiction, poetry, and children's literature. She lives in the Endless Mountains of Pennsylvania with her children and a large family of animals. She thrives on music, gardening, hiking, and feeding people. You can also find her sitting by the fire or listening to the soothing conversation of chickens.

Melissa's Specialist-in-Residence project will involved a poem cycle written at Salt Springs in the course of the year and two educational workshops open to the public, one for children and one for teens and adults. Participants briefly examined the elements of nature-inspired poetry, hiked to gather some mental material, and then returned to the farmhouse to write a poem.


2005-2006 Specialist-in-Residence

Photographer Renee Coy was the Specialist in Residence in 2005. Renee is a life-long resident of Susquehanna County and appreciates the infinite beauty of the park. She is a graduate of Marywood College in Scranton and has worked as a photographer for the Scranton Times. She is proficient in traditional film photography as well as digital imagery and alternative creative processes. Renee's work was exhibited in the Wheaton House during the annual Friends' Salt Springs Celebration, and she held several photography workshops. Some of Renee's photographs are used in notecards offered for sale at the park.


Penny Rock, 2005, purchased from Renee by the Friends for the permanent collection at the Wheaton House.




Renee's studio, Sapphire Images, is located at 19 Public Avenue in Montrose. To contact Renee, call (570) 278-4504 or email reneecoy@gmail.com.


2004 Specialist-in-Residence

Rodrica Tilley, well-known local artist, was the first Specialist to take part in the Friends' Specialist-in-Residence Program, which debuted in 2004. Over the course of the year, Rodrica produced a series of plein-air and studio paintings inspired by the vistas at the Park through the changing seasons. Rodrica hosted two public programs in the summer, a day of painting at the park and an introduction to field sketching art. In August and September, the Friends sponsored a three-week art exhibit of Rodrica's Park-inspired paintings. The Friends were honored to have two of Ms. Tilley's paintings purchased and then donated back to the Park. They hang in the Wheaton House, where the Friends hold programs and maintain their offices.


Little Red Barn. Pastel. 2004. Collection of the Friends of Salt Springs Park, Wheaton House.

Rodrica Tilley, 2004 Specialist-in-Residence. Ms. Tilley's residency culminated in a three-week exhibition at the Wheaton House. Here, Ms. Tilley welcomes a full house on opening night, August 27, 2004.
To view further examples of Ms. Tilley's work, visit www.rodricatilley.com.