Artists and Writers Colonies includes residency, retreat, and fellowship opportunities for all types of artists and writers. There are many other opportunities available, such as grants, academic fellowships, and competition awards, but this book is focused on opportunities that provide either the time, the space or the money for you to attempt new creative projects you would not otherwise be able to attempt in your everyday life.

There's a big difference between what counts as a residency for artists and what counts as a residency for writers. In the end, though, both artists and writers are seeking a place to work - without too much interference from the outside world, and without too much hassle from bill collectors. Luckily, there are people who understand us and do their best to support our efforts. Some provide studio space, equipment, and materials for visual artists; others offer theatres, sets, and audiences for performers; still others provide quaint little cottages; and many offer funds to buy time or supplies.

This guide is arranged alphabetically in a simple-to-read format that allows you to scan the 175 comprehensive domestic listings with various personal considerations in mind, then to delve deeper as selection criteria are met and interest in a listing is piqued. Each listing provides the colony's name, address, and telephone number along with other pertinent data divided into eleven categories to help you make your decision. Start with listings in your area (use the appendix in the rear of the book to view listings by state); many facilities restrict their awards to people who live in their geographic region. Then study the other items of importance to you - cost, housing, equipment, etc. Look at the whole picture before you make your choice.

There are five types of listings in this book (and some variations on those). These definitions are general, not literal and sometimes seem to overlap:

Residencies:
Residencies are a specific allotment of time awarded to an applicant to complete a specific project, which was probably predefined during the application process. Most residencies are served on the campus or grounds of a colony, foundation, university, art center, museum, or estate. Residencies provide various levels of physical and financial support for the artist. Some charge minimal fees for food, housing, materials or studio space - some are free.

Retreat:
Retreats are various commercial and noncommercial enterprises who cater to artists. They range from bed and breakfast houses and private lakeside cabins to monasteries and villas. Most retreats offer artists a private room with a private (or shared) bath. Some offer access to communal kitchens and/or studios, others send you into the world to eat. All charge a fee, but because they house artists for long periods, most offer substantial discounts for long-term guests, especially during the winter. Some retreats have an application/selection process so that they can screen candidates and assure residents of the atmosphere, privacy and quiet they have a right to expect - others are booked on a first-come, first-served basis with no application necessary. Retreats are good for those who face deadlines and do not have time to go through the application, selection, notification , acceptance and scheduling processes of colonies. Some retreats cost less than colonies and residencies.

Fellowships (and grants):
Fellowships are awards to artists, usually in the form of a combination of a residency and stipend. Most fellowships require Fellows to participate in the promotional activities of the sponsors, to interact with staff, community, and/or students, and to either teach classes, donate works of art, or allow the sponsors to advertise their affiliation with the artist. The amount of support for the artist varies and can be substantial. In some cases, it is based upon the recipient's pre-award earnings - other times it's a flat subsistence. Some fellowships provide housing and meals - some just give you a stipend. Many are nonresidential.

Opportunities for playwrights:
Because the structure of playwriting programs is a bit different from other programs, I have included those that offer full production, staged readings, and/or participation in developmental workshops, rehearsals, or playwriting festivals in this book. They do not provide undisturbed time as such, but they do provide playwrights with a valuable look at other aspects of their craft - the production experience - and the opportunity to see their work come alive on stage.

Artist-in-Residence Programs:
These programs provide studio space, use of the center's equipment, materials, and sometimes room and board for free or at greatly reduced rates for selected artists. Residencies in these programs are usually long-term (from six months to three years). Since few of us have twelve to fifteen foot ceilings, overhead cranes, kilns, printing presses, or any of the other highly specialized tools these centers may provide, it's safe to say the work could not have been accomplished without the residency. Those who do not provide a stipend or living accommodations for the artists realize the artist must usually work (at least part-time) in order to survive. Some allow the artist to work at the center (either for a wage or for even exchange), others allow the artist to work outside the center as long as they spend a certain number of hours each week in their studio developing their art. (p. xiii-xiv)

CONTENTS
The listings for the and Canada.
Foreign artists and writers centers and programs.
Appendix:
    A. Facilities listed by state.
    B. Facilities for writers only (including researchers and scholars).
    C. Facilities for artists only (including performance and stage artists).
    D. Facilities for multiple disciplines.
Index.
Notice regarding arts organizations.

Alabama:
       1. Creekwood Writers Colony, Birmingham.

Arizona:
       1. University of Arizona Poetry Center, Tucson.

California:
       1. Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Nicholls Fellowships, Beverly
           Hills.
       2. Chesterfield Film Company, Universal City.
       3. Walt Disney Studios Fellowships, Burbank.
       4. Djerassi Resident Artists Program, Woodside.
       5. Dorland Mountain Arts Colony, Temecula.
       6. The Exploratorium, San Francisco.
       7. Franciscan Canticle Arts Center, Palm Springs.
       8. Glenessence, Ridgecrest.
       9. Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito.
     10. Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco.
     11. KALA Institute, Berkeley.
     12. Stanford University, The Wallace Stegner Creative Writing Fellowships,
           Stanford.
     13. UCLA, The William A. Clark Memorial Library, Los Angeles. 
     14. Villa Montalvo Artists-in-Residence, Saratoga.
     15. Yosemite National Park Artists-in-Residence Program, Yosemite.

Colorado:
       1. Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass Village.
       2. Denver Center Theatre Company, Denver.
       3. Ladan Reserve, Steamboat Plaza.
       4. Rocky Mountain National Park Artists-in-Residence Program, Estates Park.
       5. Rocky Mountain Women's Institute, Denver.
       6. The Marie Walsh Sharpe Foundation, Colorado Springs.

Connecticut:
       1. Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, National Music Theatre Conference,
           Waterford.
       2. Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, National Playwrights Conference, Waterford.
       3. Real Art Ways, Hartford.

District of Columbia:
       1. Center for the Arts and Religion.
       2. Dumbarton Oaks.
       3. The Fund for New American Plays.
       4. Howard University Press Book Publishing Institute.
       5. Smithsonian Institution, The Renwick Gallery.
       6. Institute of Peace.
       7. The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Florida:
       1. Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach.
       2. Maitland Art Center, Maitland.
       3. National Foundation for Advancement in Arts, CAVA, Miami.

Georgia:
       1. Alternate Roots/Alternate Visions, Atlanta.
       2. Hambidge Center, Rabun Gap.
       3. Nexus Press, Atlanta.
       4. Ossabaw Island Project, Savannah.

Hawaii:
       1. Kalani Honua, Pahoa, Hawaii.

Illinois:
       1. The Newberry Library, Chicago.
       2. Ragdale Foundation, Lake Forest.

Indiana:
       1. Anderson Center for the Arts, Mt. St. Francis.
       2. Goshen College, Goshen.

Kansas:
       1. Kansas Newman College, Milton Center Fellowships, Wichita.

Kentucky:
       1.  Wolf Pen Women Writers Colony, Louisville.

Maine:
       1. Acadia National Park Artists-in-Residence Program, Bar Harbor.
       2. Carina House, Rockland.
       3. Maine Retreat, Troy.
       4. Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan.
       5. Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts, Edgecomb.

Maryland:
       1. Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore.

Massachusetts:
       1. Cleveland House Bed and Breakfast, West Tisbury.
       2. Contemporary Artists Center, North Adams.
       3. Cummington Community of the Arts, Cummington.
       4. Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Provincetown.
       5. Harvard University, Nieman Foundation Fellowships, Cambridge.
       6. Harvard University, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston.
       7. Jacob's Pillow, Lee.
       8. Medicine Wheel Artists Retreat, Inc. Groton.
       9. Nantucket Island School of Design and Art, Nantucket Island.
     10. Radcliffe College, Mary Ingraham Bunting Fellowship, Cambridge. 
     11. The Yard, Chilmark.

Michigan: 
       1. Isle Royale National Park Artists-in-Residence Program, Houghton.
       2. Lakeside Art and Culture International, Lakeside.
       3. Northwood University, Alden B. Dow Creativity Center Awards, Midland.
       4. Ox Bow, Saugatuck.
       5. Pewabic Pottery, Detroit.
       6. Sleeping Bear Dune National Lakeshore Artists-in-Residence Program,
           Empire.
       7. Urban Institute for Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids.

Minnesota:
       1. The Loft, The Loft-McKnight Awards, Minneapolis.
       2. New York Mills Arts Retreat, New York Mills.
       3. Playwrights Center, Minneapolis.

Missouri:
       1. ACTS Institute, Lake of the Ozarks.
       2. Niangua Colony, Stoutland.

Montana:
       1. The Archie Bray Foundation, Helena.
       2. Montana Artists Refuse, Basin.

Nebraska:
       1. Art Farm, Marquette.
       2. Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha.
       3. University of Nebraska, Great Platte River Playwrights Festival, Kearney.

New Hampshire:
       1. The MacDowell Colony, Peterborough.
       2. Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter.
       3. The Mildred I. Reid Writers Colony, Contoocook.

New Jersey:
       1. Creative Glass Center of America, Milville.
       2. Experimental Television Center, Ltd., Newark Valley.
       3. Peters Valley Craftsmen, Layton.
       4. Princeton University, The Alfred Hodder Fellowship, Princeton.

New Mexico:
       1. Hawk, I'm Your Sister, Santa Fe.
       2. Roswell Museum and Art Center, Roswell.
       3. Sonterra Condominiums, Taos.
       4. University of New Mexico, The D. H. Lawrence Fellowship, San Cristobal.
       5. Vallecitos Retreat, Vallecitos.
       6. The Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico, Taos.

New York:
       1. The Edward F. Albee Foundation, Inc., The William Flanagan Memorial
           Creative Persons Center, Montauk. 
       2. Art Awareness, Lexington.
       3. Art/OMI, Omi.
       4. Asian-American Arts Center, New York.
       5. Blue Mountain Center, Blue Mountain Lake.
       6. Center for Exploratory and Perceptual Art, Buffalo.
       7. Council on Foreign Relations, New York.
       8. The Farm, An Art Colony for Women, Poughkeepsie.
       9. Franklin Furnace, New York.
     10. Gell Writers Center of the Finger Lakes, Rochester.
     11. Harvestworks, Inc. New York.
     12. Hastings Center, Journalist-in-Residence Program, Briarcliff Manor.
     13. Henry Street Settlement, New York.
     14. Institute for Contemporary Art - P.S. 1, Long Island.
     15. Ledig House International Writers Colony, Ghent.
     16. Light Work, Syracuse.
     17. Lila Wallace Readers Digest Fund, New York.
     18. Millay Colony for the Arts, Austerlitz.
     19. My Retreat, South Fallsburg.
     20. Painting Space 122, Inc. New York.
     21. Palenville Interarts Colony, Palenville.
     22. Poetry Society of America, New York.
     23. Sculpture Space, Utica.
     24. Siena College, Loudonville.
     25. Studio Museum in Harlem, New York.
     26. Women's Studio Workshop, Rosendale.
     27. Woodstock Guild, The Byrdcliffe Arts Colony, Woodstock.
     28. Yaddo, Saratoga Springs. Zen Mountain Monastery, Mount Tremper.

North Carolina:
       1. Penland School, Penland.
       2. Weymouth Center, Southern Pines.

Ohio:
       1. Pudding House Bed and Breakfast for Writers, Johnstown.
       2. Thurber House Residencies, Columbus.

Oregon:
       1. Gull Haven Lodge, Florence.
       2. Lord Leebrick Theatre Company, Northwest Playwrights Series, Eugene.
       3. Oregon School of Arts and Crafts, Portland.
       4. Oregon Writers Colony, The Colonyhouse, Rockaway Beach.
       5. Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, Otis.
       6. Soapstone, Portland.
       7. Southern Oregon State College, The Walden Residency, Ashland/Gold Hill.

Pennsylvania:
       1. Brandywine Workshop, Philadelphia.
       2. Bucknell Seminar for Young Poets, Lewisburg.
       3. Chester Springs Studio, Chester Springs.
       4. Clay Studio, Philadelphia.
       5. Fabric Workshop, Philadelphia.
       6. Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh.
       7. Moravian Pottery and Tile Works, Doylestown.
       8. Yellow Springs Institute , Chester Springs.

Tennessee:
       1. Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg.

Texas:
       1. Glassell School of Art, Houston.
       2. Syvenna Foundation, Linden.
       3. University of Texas, The Dobie Paisano Fellowship, Austin.

Vermont:
       1. Adamant Program, Adamant.
       2. Carving Studio and Sculpture Center, West Rutland.
       3. Vermont Studio Colony, Johnson.

Virginia:
       1. Dorset Colony House, Dorset.
       2. Lynchburg College, The Richard H. Thornton Residency, Lynchburg.
       3. George Mason University, Institute for Humane Studies Fellowship, Fairfax.
       4. George Mason University, Institute for Humane Studies, Nonresidential
           Fellowship, Fairfax.
       5. Mill Mountain Theatre, Roanoke.
       6. Shenandoah Playwrights Retreat, Staunton.
       7. Theatre at Lime Kiln, Lexington.
       8. Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Sweet Briar.
       9. Yucate Farm, Williamsville.

Washington:
       1. Centrum Artist-in-Residence, Port Townsend.
       2. Hedgebrook, Langley.
       3. On the Boards, Seattle.
       4. Pilchuck Glass School, Seattle/Stanwood.

Wisconsin:
       1. Apostle Islands National Park Artists-in-Residence Program, Bayfield.
       2. Blue Shores, Sturgeon Bay.
       3. The Guest House at New Light Studios, Beloit.
       4. The John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan.
       5. University of Wisconsin, Institute for Creative Writing, Madison.

Wyoming:
       1. Ucross Foundation, Ucross.

Canada:
       1. Banff Centre, Leighton Residencies, Banff, Alberta.
       2. Banff Centre, Playwrights Colony, Banff, Alberta.
       3. Banff Centre, Writing Studio, Banff, Alberta.
       4. National Endowment for the Arts, US/Canada/Mexico Creative Artists
           Residencies Exchange, Washington, DC.
       5. North Pacific Women Writers Retreat, Vancouver, BC.
       6. Saskatchewan Writers Guild, St. Peters Abbey and Emma Lake, Regina,
           Alberta.

Artists and Writers Colonies includes residency, retreat, and fellowship opportunities for all types of artists and writers. There are many other opportunities available, such as grants, academic fellowships, and competition awards, but this book is focused on opportunities that provide either the time, the space or the money for you to attempt new creative projects you would not otherwise be able to attempt in your everyday life.