Casey Murano Email & Phone Number

I'm living into the creative contemplative life as a caretaker at Bethlehem Farm, an intentional community in Appalachia. Everything we do is grounded in the cornerstones of prayer, simplicity, service and community. We host service retreats, maintain an organic vegetable garden, and run a low income home repair program. My daily work takes many forms: sometimes I am a site leader teaching volunteers how to install windows, other times I am cooking with fresh vegetables from our organic garden or hiring summer helpers to serve with us. I almost always have a sketchbook nearby--my art practice responds to life in this place, often exploring themes of pilgrimage, placemaking, and displacement. Right now, a lot of my creative energy is going towards protecting the Greenbrier River, which is threatened by the Mountain Valley Pipeline trying to cross just a few miles from where we live. (The MVP also crosses through Roanoke, VA, not far from where I grew up. Before coming to Bethlehem Farm, I completed a year of service with the St. Joseph Worker Program in Minnesota; my placement site was as an artist in residence/caseworker with an intergenerational, intercultural community of women. The community's charism of loving God and neighbor without distinction continues to guide me. My undergraduate education was at the University of Richmond, where I studied Visual and Media Arts Practice. I had the gift of being part of many learning communities that invited me to play and listen deeply and welcome challenge with a growth mindset. Classes I took in the humanities departments, places I traveled to (many traditional pilgrimage sites including Assisi, St. Peter's Basilica, Taize, and the Camino de Santiago), and strong mentoring relationships in the Office of the Chaplaincy continue to shape the artwork I am making today.