Q&A
BEYOND THE BARN
KATHERINE DUNN ’76 CARES FOR ANIMALS WHO INSPIRE HER ART, STORIES AND RELATIONSHIPS WITH ELDERS IN HER COMMUNITY.
Dunn’s Apifera Farm in mid-coast Maine serves as a nonprofit sanctuary for elder and special-needs animals and fosters relationships with elders through animal visits to the local senior care facility. A prolific artist and writer, Dunn finds inspiration in her herd, sharing their adventures on social media and in the newspaper column Tails and Tales. Question: What’s the Apifera Farm origin story? Answer: My husband, Martyn, and I had a farm in rural Oregon. (Martyn’s a landscaper so we started growing lavender; apifera means “bee bearing.”) We were there for about 13 years, farming and raising sheep, but I was taking in old neglected animals at the same time. When we moved to Maine, I had to make a choice because it’s a totally different property than we had in Oregon, and I decided I was just going to focus on the sanctuary. Q: How many animals live at Apifera at one time? A: Right now it’s about 60: 10 equines, 12 goats, a few pigs, a couple of sheep, llamas, chickens, ducks and bunnies. And we take in old cats from 18 Cyrus