Vacations with Expectations

by Barrett Newkirk

Summer is almost here. This year, instead of booking a flight to some distant shore where “work” is a true four-letter word, you might want to consider staying closer to home and planning a getaway where work is the focus.

In Indiana there are numerous artist residency programs to help refresh your creativity. Stays can last for several months or just a single weekend, but the long-term productivity you gain will stick around long after your beach tan would have faded away.

The two factors to look at first when shopping around for a good residency are location and artistic facilities. Also think about your goals for the trip and what arrangement will best help you meet them. Maybe you want a week of complete solitude to polish up a book draft, or maybe a week mingling with other artists will help inspire a new project.

The Alliance for Artists Communities is a membership organization of about 100 residency programs. It aims to match artists with suitable programs and is a good first step in planning a working holiday. Their Web site groups programs by region and lists critical details on eligibility, facilities and costs, as well as possible fellowship opportunities. Many programs cater to writers, some visual artists. Some do a little bit of everything.

A close option is the Mary Anderson Center for the Arts, which shares a 400-acre wildlife sanctuary in Mount Saint Francis, Indiana, with a functioning monastery. A 15-minute drive from Louisville, it mostly attracts writers, but the art, clay and music studios draw a range of specialties.

Just last year the center got its first musical resident, one of 68 artists who came throughout the year from 13 states. “The artists say the world just falls away,” according to Lisa Angell, the Mary Anderson Center’s executive director. “It allows them the time and space to focus on their work.”

Angell says the center’s goal is to offer minimum distractions. “There is a great deal of respect for the artists’ time, with no intrusion. If they don’t want them, there is no telephone or TV in the rooms.” She adds that the center does have wireless internet, which artists take advantage of when conducting research.

The center’s summer calendar is starting to fill up, Angell says, but many dates are still available. Applications are processed in a matter of days and then you are free to book your dates. The average resident at Mary Anderson stays for one week. Fellowships are available, including a six-month working residency program.

A different spin on artist residencies are municipally sponsored programs like the one in Rising Sun. The southeastern Indiana city provides monthly stipends of $100 to ten artists each year. The selected artists must work from a studio in Rising Sun for the year and show progress in their work through periodic exhibitions.

Richmond hopes to launch its own artists’ colony program very soon. Area residents, officials, educators and business leaders know that attracting artists will help increase tourism, commerce and diversity in their community. You can play a part in planning the colony by completed this survey and sending it to Mary Walker at the Wayne County Tourism Bureau, or by calling 1-800-828-8414 for more information.

In mid-June the University of Southern Indiana will host RopeWalk, a week long retreat for writers in historic New Harmony. Participants will write, participate in workshops and meet one-on-one with prominent authors. For additional information call (812) 464-1863. Programs like these could inspire your next artistic leap, or they may connect you to like-minded supporters, or give your work a promotional boost. All that’s more valuable than a bucket of seashells, or anything else you might bring back from the beach.

Barrett Newkirk is a freelance writer and former Arts Administrator in Indianapolis.

Edited by Robyn Kelly, Web Publications Manager: rkelly@iac.in.gov.
The IAC, a public catalyst, partner, and investor in the arts, serves the citizens of Indiana by funding, promoting, and expanding the arts. Funding is provided by the State of Indiana and the National Endowment for the Arts.