The celebration of a heralded book leads to ongoing community projects.
Written & Photographed by Christina Nifong / Photo above: Artist Casey Murano discussed her watercolor, Come On, Surprise Me, at an artist talk.
The spark came from writer Annie Dillard’s seminal work: Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. Its light has continued to blaze for more than a year.
First, the Roanoke Arts Commission organized a book club that read and discussed the text, set in the Roanoke Valley, throughout 2025—50 years after it won the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction. The group gathered for field trips to wade into Tinker Creek and explore themes Dillard pondered, such as mindfulness and the power of observation.
Then, the Arts Commission issued a call for art that investigated contemplative life and the natural world. The result: works by 30 artists, including a playful sculpture of a frog; a watercolor on paper submerged in a stream; a basket woven with plants gathered from Tinker Creek; an original composition for the harp; and a film of improvisational dance performed outdoors.
An exhibit, Pilgrims at the Creek, was installed in Roanoke’s municipal building and seven artist talks were scheduled, where creators described their process and inspiration.
“A lot of the way I work is I make a bunch of chaos and then I have to find a deeper sense of order out of that, which I think speaks to pilgrimage,” said artist Casey Murano, when she explained her swirl of a painting.
Events connected to the book have continued: a community improvisational dance class, a river cleanup date. Roanoke City’s Arts and Culture Coordinator Douglas Jackson expects the project to culminate with the commission of two murals on bridges located along the Tinker Creek greenway.
The project as a whole, shepherded by artist Natalia Michel, is meant to celebrate Roanoke’s streams and sand, insects and animals, flowers and trees—and how Dillard encouraged observers to be enriched by the attention they give them.
“If we’re creating a connection to each other and this place around us,” said Jackson, “won’t we be a stronger community?”
The final artist talk is June 15 at 6 pm, in the fourth-floor hallway of Roanoke’s Noel C. Taylor Municipal Building. The artwork is on display there through Sept. 10. Find more information and a catalog of works at: https://roanokearts.org/tinker.
The story above first appeared in our May/June 2026 issue.
