Arts Centers & Residencies
First, always check out your local bookstore! They often have readings, sales, and other events you won’t find anywhere else. But hey, maybe you’re looking for something a little flashier, or just something a bookstore can’t provide. Below are a handful of the best artist retreat, residency, and workshop hosting centers in the country. Most provide a whole host of resources for working artists. We’ve taken excerpts from these institutions’ mission statements to provide a glimpse of what they do and the causes to which they’re committed. Whether you need the space to work, a sense of community, or just something to work on, one of these will likely have you covered.
Bucknell Seminar for Undergraduate Poets
“CantoMundo, in partnership with the University of Arizona Poetry Center, is a national poetry organization that cultivates a community of Latinx poets through workshops, symposia, and public readings. Founded in 2009 by Norma E. Cantú, Celeste Mendoza, Pablo Miguel Martínez, Deborah Paredez, and Carmen Tafolla, CantoMundo, modeled after Kundiman and Cave Canem, hosts an annual poetry workshop for Latinx poets that provides a space for the creation, documentation, and critical analysis of Latinx poetry.”
“Catapult publishes award-winning fiction and nonfiction of the highest literary caliber, offers writing classes taught by acclaimed emerging and established writers, produces an award-winning daily online magazine of narrative nonfiction and fiction, and hosts an open online platform where writers can showcase their own writing, find resources, and get inspired.”
“Founded by Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady in 1996 to remedy the under-representation and isolation of African American poets in the literary landscape, Cave Canem Foundation is a home for the many voices of African American poetry and is committed to cultivating the artistic and professional growth of African American poets.”
“The Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown is a nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging the growth and development of emerging visual artists and writers and to restoring the year-round vitality of the historic art community of Provincetown. The Work Center is internationally known for it's acclaimed 7-month residency program granting fellowships to 20 emerging writers and artists, as well as its open enrollment Summer Workshop Program, an online writing program 24PearlStreet, and an extensive series of year-round cultural events and exhibitions.”
“Kundiman is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to nurturing generations of writers and readers of Asian American literature.”
“Lambda Literary nurtures and advocates for LGBTQ writers, elevating the impact of their words to create community, preserve our legacies, and affirm the value of our stories and our lives.”
“MacDowell's mission is to nurture the arts by offering creative individuals of the highest talent an inspiring environment in which they can produce enduring works of the imagination. The sole criterion for acceptance is artistic excellence, which MacDowell defines in a pluralistic and inclusive way. We encourage applications from artists representing the widest possible range of perspectives and demographics, and who are investigating an unlimited array of inquiries and concerns.”
“The Open Mouth Reading Series is a community-based poetry series located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, founded by poets M. D. Myers and Molly Bess Rector in October of 2015.”
“Poets House is a comfortable, accessible place for poetry—a library and meeting place which invites poets and the public to step into the living tradition of poetry.
Poets House seeks to document the wealth and diversity of modern poetry, to stimulate dialogue on issues of poetry in culture, and to cultivate a wider audience for the art.”
“Publisher of award-winning books of literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry; home to a renowned workshop and seminar series; and partner of a critically acclaimed podcast, Tin House champions writing that is artful, dynamic, and original. We are proud to publish and promote writers who speak to a wide range of experience, and lend context and nuance to their examination of our world.”
“The Vermont Studio Center was founded by artists in 1984. Our location—situated along the banks of the Gihon River in the historic village of Johnson, Vermont—was chosen with the intention of fostering creativity through community, collaboration, and quiet reflection supported by the unspoiled beauty of the northern Green Mountains. [new paragraph] Over the last 30 years, VSC has grown to become the largest international artists' and writers' residency program in the United States. Our mission is to provide studio residencies in an inclusive, international community, honoring creative work as the communication of spirit through form.”
“Yaddo is a retreat for artists located on a 400-acre estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment.”