Siglinda Scarpa is founder and primary benefactor for the non-profit cat sanctuary The Goathouse Refuge nestled on her several-acre property in Pittsboro, NC. The unflagging animal activist provides a safe haven for cats that were dispossessed or scheduled for euthanasia by public shelters. A team of dedicated volunteers work year round to provide care regardless of age, medical issues or disposition until a permanent loving adoptive home is secured.

The Italian-born sculptor landed in Chatham County in the mid-1990s after emigrating from the foothills of the Italian Alps to New York to pursue her work. Her home studio is peppered with storage sheds used for work spaces and a towering hand-built outdoor oven to fire the intricate pieces. Her collection includes shelves lined with punctilious vessels reminiscent of sea anemones and sculptures perched on stands evocative of fragile pleating coral. (images of her work will be appear in the next post)

(photographs taken at the Goathouse Refuge in Pittsboro, NC)