Enter the flow of Hidden River

Hidden River Arts is the independent literary and performing arts organization based in suburban Philadelphia, dedicated to the service, support and celebration of all artists. Named after the Schuylkill (Dutch for “Hidden River”) which winds its way through the region, Hidden River™Arts is committed to nurturing the artistic community by providing varied and supportive services to creative writers, and artists of all genres.

Hidden River™Arts is committed to the “Outsider Artist” —  living up to our name — in the on-going search for creative talent and creative activities.  While we would never exclude any artist, we are dedicated to finding the artists who exist outside of the expected places: those creative people developing their craft and finding their voices outside of the MFA programs, those independent writers’ or artists’ groups not affiliated with a university or any funding institution. We will search for the writers who are finishing their novels while working as Emergency Room nurses, sculptures working as steam-fitters, song-writing dairy farmers or choreographer cowboys. We want to reach out to all creative talent, including that which is grown, nurtured, matured in the kiln of “real” life experience. We will endeavor to present information about independent arts groups and support organizations. It is our belief that many, many talented people go unheard because they labor in obscurity or isolation. Many are dispersed throughout the non-academic population with little or no support for the practice of their art. Since it is our position that college campuses should not be seen as the sole training ground for creative talent and skill, Hidden River Arts will always strive to reach out and encourage those more far-flung voices, to aid and support them in their efforts to be heard.
Another of Hidden River Art’s objectives is to offer support and guidance in the form of arts education through outreach and workshop programs for all ages groups. Through our education program, we hope to provide support in all disciplines of the arts. Currently, we have an extensive program called Hidden River Writers, where we offer a variety of workshops, tutorials, on-line teaching or manuscript review, residencies and classes which address the needs of all those aspiring creative writers among us, ages 5 to adult, who want to learn more about the art of creative writing. We are excited to offer support to our very youngest writers. Just as children are given private lessons in dance, or music, or the visual arts, Hidden River Writers believes that lessons in creative writing should be available. Similar outreach and private supports are offered for the teen and adult populations, and we offer private classes, workshops and programs in all kinds of places, including private, public and parochial schools, homeschool populations, Veteran’s Hospitals, Retirement Homes, Clubs (or Communes!) It should also be noted that in all of our creative writing programs, Hidden River is happy to work with individuals or groups with special needs. We are always willing to work with adapted processes, needs for technical support, differentiated instruction. We believe that the study and creation of art should be accessible to everyone.

Our outreach programs now include something we call Hidden River Live. We will be working with venues throughout Philadelphia to create community outreach open mic opportunities for musicians, poets, writers and performers, as well as chances to display for visual artists.

We are always interested in hearing from artists. Let us know how we can better support you and your creative process. And for those independent arts groups out there: please let us hear from you — we would love to partner with others who support the independent artist, in every discipline and genre.  Email us at hiddenriverarts@gmail.com