Wisdom House’s new program director

LITCHFIELD — Wisdom House’s new Program Director Sherri Reed comes from the Pacific Northwest. A recent graduate of Yale Divinity School, with a master of arts in Religion and Literature, she is also a published essayist and poet.

“Making and ‘reading’ art are a very special kind of language,” she says. “going beyond the intellect, art innervates the deeper, if sometimes mysterious, muscles of human connection,” Reed said in a statement. It is here that she works to foster in her own writing and spiritual practice, and that she hopes to share with others at Wisdom House. She is particularly excited about the Marie Louise Trichet Art Gallery and is looking forward to collaborating with artists in exhibiting their work, according to a statement.

During her three years of graduate study, Reed acted as garden coordinator for the Yale Divinity Farm. She developed programming in the garden, engaging students to think theologically about creation and helped educate student gardeners about sustainable practices, food justice, and environmental ethics.

“The grounds of Wisdom House invite contemplation and reflection,” Reed said. “And I am so grateful to be part of that. Welcoming others to experience our space and to be mindful of finding the sacred in the every-day is important and fulfilling.”

“Wisdom House really embraces interfaith dialogue and community, which is important to me. There is no ‘right’ way to connect with the divine,” Reed said. “We are all both teachers and students all the time, all our lives, and when we come together in community, well, that’s powerful.”

Reed holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies in Natural History Writing and continues to write memoir, fiction, essay and poetry. She remains active in a community of scholars at Yale that explore the intersections of art and spirituality and helps organize a monthly writers’ group of alumnae of the Divinity School.