Cindy Moore: Artist, Potter, Camphill Villager

Cindy Moore is an ebullient character, quick with math and never short on words. Cindy is an artist, a photographer, and was once an avid skier and equestrian (she still skis and rides, just not so often). She's also one of the 40-plus resident villagers living with an intellectual disability who call Camphill Village Kimberton Hills home.

“Being with people,” Cindy replies when asked what her favorite thing is about living at Camphill. “Nobody likes to live alone. And I love how beautiful this property is.”

Soon after arriving in March 2012, Cindy took her place on the Camphill Village Kimberton Hills Board of Directors, on which she served for nine years (2014–2023). Now 59, Cindy will celebrate 14 years as a resident here in the spring.

These days, Cindy is part of the Estate team that takes care of maintaining the beautiful property that is Camphill Village. “I’ve been doing the Estate before Steven and Dylan were there,” Cindy explains. “Stacking wood, delivering firewood, trimming bushes and shrubs and other plants that are overgrown. I used to mow the lawns—that’s sort of like coloring. When you’re following the grass to make it even. Instead of coloring with a pencil or crayon, you’re doing it with a lawnmower.”

Cindy still likes to color and draw, making vivid cards for the holidays, among other things. And she’s an avid photographer, as well.

“I take pictures, sometimes,” she explains. “Sometimes I can find something interesting to take, and sometimes I don't. I take more outdoor winter pictures—snowy things. That's the kind of picture I like.”

The Estate is just one of the workshops Cindy contributes to—she also works in the pottery, fiber arts, and mosaic studios. In addition to the community she feels here, Cindy is inspired by the active life she's afforded at CVKH.

Before moving here, Cindy was in a group home in Souderton, PA. As Cindy remembers it, her mother Joan discovered CVKH, and after a month trial, getting to know the people living here and the various activities available, she was sold.

“They do more things here,” Cindy quips. “I didn't know anybody, but Diedra and Michael [Babitch, long-standing residents and former householders] gave me a tour and I got to meet a lot of people.”

Now that she is here, Cindy is one of many active resident villagers.

“I do mosaics,” she says. “I do all the craft workshops except the weavery. I do pinch bowls and figurines in pottery. I've done gnomes. I'm making chess pieces. The tricky ones are the horses—the horses are a little more trickier than the others. So it takes a while. I can only make a few or so. It depends on the sculpture. Not everyone can sculpt things like I can.”

Cindy is one of three children in the Moore family, along with her older brother Jeff (“absolutely allergic to horse and deer”) and her younger sister Lori. Her parents, Jim and Joan, are active supporters of CVKH, and can often be seen on site, engaging in community activities.

“I like doing things in Rose Hall, and morning gathering” Cindy says, thinking about what gives her joy here at Camphill Village Kimberton Hills. “As long as I can live here and this community can go on, I’m happy.”